For the Sake of the Children

Melanie folded her arms across her chest. “I haven’t spoken to her, Dad. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

For a second, Dana considered whether she’d dialed the wrong number, but then she recalled the conversation, her careful check to be sure she had the right Patrick Connor. “Well, I certainly talked to someone who said it was okay for me to stop by. Otherwise, why would I be here?”

Patrick pursed his lips. “It’s okay. Come in. Forgive my manners.” He stepped back, and Dana brushed past him and his daughter.

She knew she wasn’t bonkers. She had talked to someone who said she was his daughter.

“I’m hungry, Mommy.” Kate lifted her head from Dana’s shoulder and tugged at her. “Do they got a snack?”

“No snack, sweetie. We’ll go home in a few minutes, okay?” Dana patted Kate on the back.

“But you said that a while ago. I’m hungry .”

“In a minute. Um, I just had some concerns over the asthmatic kids at school.” Now that she was here, in the man’s living room, Dana had no clue what had possessed her to barge in. This could have waited until Monday.

“Is there a problem?” Patrick seemed to tense from head to toe.

“It’s just that—” Shoot. She should have waited. She was totally unprepared, without any sort of speech or script.

“Dad! Dinner’s getting cold!”

That sounded more like the person on the phone. Of course. He had two daughters.

The owner of the voice arrived into the living room, and Dana saw a girl with long highlighted hair, dressed in a hoodie and skintight jeans——the complete opposite of the dark-haired older daughter in business casual.

“Hi! You must be the nurse,” the younger daughter said. “Sorry, Dad. I completely forgot to tell you she phoned. My bad.”

Out of the corner of one eye, Dana caught the older daughter’s eyes narrowing in disbelief. Ooh, a good case of sibling rivalry here. With two sisters, Dana knew a thing or two about that.

“Uh, Dana, this is my older daughter, Melanie, and I guess you’ve already talked to Lissa, my younger daughter.” Patrick’s mouth jerked in an awkward attempt at a smile, but it was considerably dimmer in wattage than the earlier one at Dana’s clinic. “Girls, this is Dana Wilson. She’s the new nurse at the elementary school.”

Melanie’s smile was as tight and awkward as Patrick’s had been—no small wonder, since she favored him in appearance. Lissa’s grin crinkled the girl’s big blue eyes and seemed ten degrees warmer than Melanie’s.

“Cute little one you’ve got there,” Lissa said. “How old is she?”

“Um, Kate’s three. She’ll turn four in the summer.”

Had Patrick just winced? Was Kate what this cool reception was all about? Figured. He’d been nice enough at the clinic when he hadn’t known she had a kid, but the minute he saw a child, he was like every other guy she’d dated since Marty.

Maybe she should save herself a lot of time and trouble and have single mom tattooed on her forehead. At least then she wouldn’t have to endure a guy’s hot and cold reactions.

“Mommy,” Kate whimpered. “I’m hungry. Please?”

“Hey, why don’t you guys eat with us. Does fried chicken, tossed salad, butter beans, cream corn and rolls sound good?” Lissa rubbed her hands together. “Dad was just saying we had plenty.”

CHAPTER FOUR

F OR THE LIFE OF HER , Dana couldn’t figure out how she came to be sitting at a dinner table with Patrick and his two daughters, one of whom was staring daggers at her.

She cast a glance at Kate, who was eating up Lissa’s attention. Usually, Kate was shy and hesitant with strangers, but not with Lissa. Lissa had her in giggles within seconds—and the fried chicken on Kate’s plate had sealed the deal.

At least one daughter was kid friendly.

The jury was still out on Patrick. After Lissa’s off-the-cuff invitation, he’d heartily agreed. Yes, absolutely, she must join them.

She’d overheard Melanie hiss, “But, Dad! This is your birthday supper!” and Dana had tried to leave then. Patrick wouldn’t hear of it.

“No, no, it’s fine. This is no big deal. Only supper and a cake. You like cake, don’t you? Melanie makes a mean coconut cake.”

The tension at the table dissipated as Patrick shook out his napkin and passed around the platter of chicken. “I was just telling the girls about my two wannabe professional wrestlers this morning. How’d they do, anyway?”

“I didn’t hear a peep out of them all day long, so I guess they must have survived.” Dana took a piece of chicken and handed the platter to Melanie. “This looks great!”

“Lissa fried it. I hope you can eat it.” If Dana was reading Melanie’s underlying sentiment correctly, the truer words would have been, I hope you get an ulcer .

But Dana just ignored Melanie’s remark and switched her praise to Lissa. “You’re a better cook than me. I never fool with frying chicken.”

“My mom is the best cook, and we do a lot of cooking together,” Lissa told her.

Dana recalled Suze’s allusions to Patrick’s divorced status and wasn’t sure what to say. She mumbled, “That’s nice.”

On the heels of that awkward moment came another when Lissa skewered her with blue eyes alight with curiosity. “So are you and Dad seeing each other?”

Dana dropped the piece of chicken she held and Patrick choked on butter beans he was eating.

“Uh, no, actually, we’re not. I met your father for the first time today.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” Lissa beamed. “I just figured, you know, you calling, looking for him on his birthday—you know.”

Dana picked up the drumstick with numb fingers. “No. No. Remember? I mentioned on the phone that this had to do with the clinic at school.”

Melanie seemed to relax a bit then. Dana wondered if perhaps Melanie’s earlier reaction derived from the same wrong conclusion Lissa had jumped to.

“I like this corn, Mommy! Why doesn’t our corn taste this way?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart.” Dana felt her cheeks heat up. She chuckled and said to Patrick and his daughters, “I did say I wasn’t much of a cook.”

“Kate, it’s probably because we grew this corn ourselves,” Patrick offered.

Kate frowned. “My mommy buys corn in cans.”

Lissa laughed; Melanie managed a subdued chuckle and Dana cringed. At least Kate’s confession indicated Dana attempted to cook. If Kate kept going, she’d probably tell them just how many trips to the McDonald’s drive-thru she and Kate made.

Patrick nodded to Kate. “Well, yeah, I guess she does. That’s what a lot of people do. But we grow it.” He turned to Dana. “My older sister and her husband live out in the country and we grow a big garden together.”

“That’s very nice.”

“You have brothers or sisters?”