by Nella Tyler
“I don’t want to get your hopes up too much,” she said slowly, “but he’s actually beating my original expectations. He may finish PT early by a few sessions.”
“That would be great,” I said, smiling. It occurred to me that if Landon did recover completely ahead of schedule, that I wouldn’t have an excuse to see this woman several times a week anymore; part of me thought that was for the best, while the rest of me hated the idea.
“Dad! We have to go home! We’re going to miss the show!”
I turned to see Landon hurrying as much as his still-weak leg would allow him, coming up to me from the restroom.
“Did you wash your hands?” I asked him.
He held his hands up for inspection; they looked clean, but of course I didn’t have a positive way to know whether they were or not. “I’m going to trust you this time,” I told him, and Landon dropped his hands at his sides, swinging them a little bit. I turned back to Mackenzie; she had picked up a bottle of water and was in the midst of taking a sip from it. “Thank you so much for the good news,” I said, at a loss for anything else to mention.
“It’s my job,” Mackenzie said with a little smile. “And with a patient like Landon it’s a lot of fun.” She set the bottle down and stood, gesturing that she would follow us to the door leading into the lobby. “I’ll see you guys again soon; I think maybe tomorrow, right?” She looked at the woman in charge of the front desk.
“I think that’s right,” I said, nodding. “Let’s get going, bud. Mackenzie has more work to do.”
I helped my son up into the back seat of the car and made sure his seatbelt was buckled properly before climbing into the driver’s seat to start back from home. I had a lot of shopping ahead of me; in addition to Landon’s Christmas list, I had other families I had to buy for, and I thought I would probably order most of it off of Amazon if I could—that way I could have it giftwrapped and make sure I got it on time.
“Dad, I want to add something to my Christmas list,” Landon told me from the back seat.
“Is that so? You know I’ve already started shopping for you,” I said. “But maybe Santa can work something out, depending on what it is.”
“I don’t think Santa can do it,” Landon said, his voice surprisingly serious. “It’s not a toy.”
“Sometimes Santa makes things that aren’t toys,” I pointed out. “Remember last year he got you that fish.”
“Yeah,” Landon said. In the rearview mirror I saw him nodding thoughtfully. “But this is different.”
“What is it?” Landon pressed his lips together.
“I’ll ask Santa.”
I frowned. If there was something my son really wanted, I definitely wanted to know what it was—and if I could get it for him, then I would. Anything that Landon was this serious about, if it was really possible, I wanted him to have.
“What’s on your mind buddy?” I changed lanes to avoid a snarl in the traffic and bit back the angry comment that rose to my lips at a near miss. I’d made a promise to myself that Landon would never see me having road rage—I didn’t want him to ever feel afraid in the car, and I didn’t want him to inherit my tendency in that respect.
“I was thinking,” Landon said after a moment. “I have a lot of things on my list, right?”
I shrugged; Landon’s list seemed to be fairly standard to me. He had about five items he had told me he really wanted, and a few more that he “only sort-of” wanted on top of those. It would be pretty easy to get them all.
“It’s a respectable list,” I said.
“I want to bet you something,” Landon told me.
“Oh? That sounds interesting.” I was torn between feeling amused and worried about the fact that my son wanted to make a wager with me.
“The thing I want to add to my Christmas list is a mom,” Landon said quickly. “But Santa can’t bring me that, can he?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not really in his wheelhouse.”
“So you’d have to get it for me.”
I cringed slightly at the unfortunate phrasing. “You want a mom for Christmas?”
“I want a mom,” Landon confirmed. “If…if you could find me a mom, I would be willing to not have the rest of my list.”
“Really?” It hadn’t occurred to me that Landon could be that interested in having a new mom.
“So I want to bet that you can’t find me a mom,” Landon explained. “If you can find me a new mom by the New Year, then I’ll…”he hesitated. “I’ll give my toys from my Christmas list to someone else.”
“Like a charity for other kids?” Landon nodded. “That is a good thing to do. What if I can’t find you a mom by the new year?”
“Then you have to get me double the toys,” Landon said quickly.
I laughed. “That’s a fair bet,” I told him. I thought about Mackenzie without quite knowing why. Her beaming smile and bright eyes just appeared in my mind. “I’ll take that wager,” I told my son. “If I can find you a new mom by the new year, you donate your toys to a charity, and if I can’t, I will buy you double your list—but the second half will be in the new year. Deal?”
“Deal!”
Chapter Nine
Mackenzie
I was the last one left in the office; I’d stayed late after Landon and Patrick left, and even after the other PT staff left, so I could catch up on a few things that absolutely had to be done in the files on the computer—no way to take them home, because of confidentiality laws. So even as everyone slowly made their way out of the building, calling out their goodbyes as they made for the door, I sat at my desk and filled in reports and evaluations and updates to files for each of my patients, including some information that would have to go to insurance companies.
Even with the pile of extra work on my plate, I was only willing to stay after hours for so long. I started to think longingly about getting a hot chocolate from the café one block down from the building, and drinking it in my nice arm car while I made my way to my apartment. “Maybe I’ll make some stroganoff for dinner. Or reheat some of that chili I made last week,” I said to myself in the empty office. As December wore on it was getting colder, and there was enough snow outside that I didn’t really want to do any Christmas shopping that night—besides, I was exhausted. Maybe, I thought, I could make a mug of spiced wine when I got home, and I could drink it in the bathtub, soaking and getting the cold out of my bones, relaxing until I was ready to get some sleep.
The thought started sounding better and better in my mind, and I decided to wrap everything up for the evening and get into my car before it got much colder out. I started shutting everything down, getting my things together, making sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. Just when I was about to pick up my purse and head out of the office, I heard my phone ringing.
I slipped my hand into my pocket as I gathered up my purse, yawning slightly. The number on the screen was familiar—but it wasn’t one of the contacts I had in my phone; there was no name assigned to it. I decided it must be someone I knew, if the number looked familiar to me, and tapped accept.
“Hello?”
“Hey Mackenzie.”
This time—unlike the first time that he’d called me—I recognized Patrick’s voice.
“Is something happening with Landon?”
I felt a little flurry of apprehension at the possibility that the cute little boy who was making so much progress might have gotten injured.
“No—I mean, he’s fine,” relief from the worry flowed through me. “He was complaining earlier that his ankles hurt sometimes.”
“Oh—that’s probably normal,” I said, sitting down in my desk chair as I thought about Patrick’s almost-question. “In addition to the fact that he’s working muscles that he hasn’t done a whole lot with in his life, he is a growing boy. Is it a sharp pain, or is he just achy?”
“I think he’s just achy,” Patrick told me. “If it happens again I’ll ask him.”
“You can also check and see if you notice any swelling or bruising around his ankles or feet, if it comes up,” I explained. “If he injures himself—playing on the playground, or something like that—we can take a look at it. Otherwise, if the pain is bad enough for him to notice, get him to rest for a bit, keep his weight off the ankles for a while.”
“That’s good to know,” Patrick said. I heard a weird sort of hesitation in his voice, and wondered what was on his mind. “Hey—so, Mackenzie, I just wanted to apologize again for Landon prying into your personal life.”
I grinned to myself. “It’s no big deal, really,” I told Patrick, shrugging even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “Kids are always curious about the adults in their lives, and by now Landon probably sees me the same way he does his teacher. I’m used to getting personal questions from kids.”
“Then let me apologize for the fact that I’m kind of glad he asked,” Patrick said, I frowned to myself. “Not—not that I would prompt him or anything like that, you understand. But since you’re single, I was wondering: would you maybe like to get some coffee sometime? Or maybe catch a movie?” My stomach gave a lurch inside of me, and I felt my cheeks burning.
“I—I—thank you, Patrick, but I’m not supposed to date patients’ parents,” I said weakly, even as my heart began beating faster and faster in my chest. “It’s not anything personal, I just—it’s an ethics thing. I could maybe get in trouble for it.”
“I thought that specialists couldn’t date patients; you’re not treating me.” I looked around the office, grateful for the fact that I was the only one there.
“I think…” I remembered Amie’s comments. “I—it’s not that I don’t like you, Patrick.”
“If you like me, and I like you, then what’s wrong with grabbing a coffee? I swear, I won’t push for anything more than you want. I just thought…” he went quiet for a moment. “I wanted to do something nice together.”
“Maybe?”
I bit my bottom lip. I couldn’t deny that I found Patrick easy on the eyes—and he was charming to boot. He obviously loved his son, and I put a lot of credence on the way that parents treated their kids. “I don’t know, Patrick. I don’t want to…to mess up the relationship between us.”
“It’s just coffee, Mackenzie,” Patrick said again, his voice wheedling. “I swear if it’s weird and awkward and bad, I’ll never pester you about it again.”
“When would you want to go out?” I looked at the calendar on my desk; it was empty, of course—save for the holidays when I would be with my family, I didn’t have any plans for the month. I hadn’t had any solid plans for almost half a year. The calendar really only ever saw professional stuff—never anything personal. Sometimes I wondered why I even had it.
“How about tomorrow night? It’s the start of the weekend, we could get started in style.”
“Let me check,” I said. I’ll be damned if I let him know I have no social life. At least, I’m not letting him know right away. I flipped through some papers on my desk, blushing at the silliness of what I was doing. I was even more grateful than before that there was no one in the office with me. “I think I can make tomorrow night,” I said finally. “I should be able to get out by five?”
“I can give you until six-thirty, that way you have some time to get changed and all that.” I smiled wryly to myself, thinking that it was nice of him—but also that he apparently didn’t want to be seen with me in scrubs. Can you blame him? It’s a date, not a consult.
“Where do you want to meet?”
“How about La Colombe? Can you make it there?”
I considered. It wasn’t super close to where I lived, but in Chicago nothing was ever super far.
“I think I can manage to make it there by six-thirty,” I said, smiling in spite of all the apprehension I felt. My skin tingled and my cheeks were warm, and I knew that even if I’d told Patrick that it wasn’t appropriate for me to go on a date with him, I was glad he’d asked. I would do whatever it took to make it to our date. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then,” I said. “I’m actually just about to leave the office, and if I wait too much longer, I’ll freeze my butt off when I do walk outside.”
“Don’t let me hold you back, then,” Patrick said quickly. “I’m so glad I’ll get to see you tomorrow night. Get home safely Mackenzie.” I told him goodbye and hung up the phone; I didn’t think that I’d be cold once I stepped outside, no matter how the temperature had dropped after the sun went down. I was too warm on the inside to care.
Chapter Ten
Patrick
The sidewalks were full of people as I walked up to La Colombe. I’d forgotten that the time of night that I’d suggested meeting up with Mackenzie was the time when everyone was doing their Christmas shopping and taking family members out and about in the city. It had taken me a full fifteen minutes to find a parking spot, and I had been out of my mind thinking that I was going to be late to meet with her; not the impression I wanted to make.
I hadn’t exactly hidden what I was doing from Landon when I went home to get ready and drop him off at his grandparents’ house; I told him that I was going to be having coffee with Mackenzie, and he’d asked if we were going to talk about him. “Probably a little bit, but I really just want to spend some time getting to know her.”
“She’s nice,” Landon had said. “Are you going to kiss her?”
“I don’t know yet, shrimp. If she wants me to kiss her, then maybe.” Landon had turned to look at his Christmas list, up on the fridge. “Your Granny and Pop are going to take you to see Santa while I’m hanging out with Mackenzie—that’ll be fun.”
“It will,” Landon had agreed. “Are they going to get my picture taken with him?”
“I hope so!” I’d made sure that Landon had his toys and his warm clothes, and hurried him off to my in-laws’ house to spend a few hours. I hadn’t told them that I was going on a date, but I knew that Landon would probably drop the dime on me. I didn’t think that Bill and Sherry would mind; after all, it had been five years since I’d lost Joanne, and I hadn’t dated anyone since then. They knew that I’d never bring anyone into Landon’s life who I didn’t know for sure would be good for him.
As I got closer to the café, I saw that it was packed and my heart sunk. It wouldn’t be easy to talk to Mackenzie with the dining room so busy, and I wanted to have as much of a chance as possible to get to know her—and for her to get to know me. I could get where she was coming from about the issue of going on a date with a patient’s parent, but I hoped that I could change her mind. I thought about Landon’s wager as I navigated around some gawking pedestrians and got to the front door of the café.
I stepped into La Colombe and looked around. Oh shit. Are you even going to be able to recognize her in regular clothes? For a second I almost panicked, and then I thought of the fact that I had her phone number; if I couldn’t find her, I’d text her and ask her if she’d arrived—and then I’d figure out where she was. I looked over the crowd of people in the café slowly, looking for Mackenzie’s face in the swarms of people. Everyone was moving around—of course they were—but it made it harder to spot any individual person.
Just when I would have grabbed my phone out of my pocket to text her, I spotted Mackenzie sitting at one of the tables. Her cheeks were still a little pink from the cold outside, or maybe she was anxious as I was; she looked somehow softer, sweeter away from the office, her hair down around her face. Since she was sitting down I couldn’t see all of her body, but she’d taken her coat off, and the sweater she was wearing fit her like a glove—much better than the scrubs I’d seen her in during the sessions.
I made my way to her through the crowd, sidestepping and dodging people carrying big, hot coffees and hoping that I wasn’t running late. Finally I arrived at the table and she looked up, almost startled. “Oh! Hi, Patrick,” she said, and the pink-red flush in her cheeks deepened, spreading down onto the part of her chest that I could see a
t the neck of her sweater.
“You look beautiful,” I told her, smiling down into her face. Mackenzie stood up quickly and I gave her a quick hug, barely pressing my cheek against hers. The touch of her skin on mind sent a hot jolt through me—a tingle that worked down my spine, something I hadn’t felt in years.
“You look good yourself,” Mackenzie said, stepping back and taking her seat once more.
“Can I get you a coffee? Or do you want something else?” I glanced around; there was a line at the register but it wasn’t too bad.
“Coffee is fine,” Mackenzie said, smiling a little nervously.
“Then I will be right back,” I said. I gave her a pretend stern look. “Don’t run away on me now—I spotted you, so I know you’re here, and I’ll know if you run away.”
“I won’t run away,” Mackenzie said, her smile warming up a bit. “I’ll be right here.”
I stepped into the line and tried not to fidget as I waited for the people ahead of me to put in their orders. Get it over with and you can sit down with her for an hour or more. You won’t have to get up again. I’d never been close enough to Mackenzie to smell her, and of course it’s not like I go around sniffing people; but when she’d hugged me, I’d caught a whiff of her soap and shampoo, and maybe a hint of perfume. Mack smelled sweet and warm, just like I’d thought she might, and I could feel that while she was strong, she was soft, too—in all the right places.
The line moved forward bit by bit and I lost myself in thought for a minute, wondering if things were just going to be awkward, or of Mackenzie was going to actually give the date a real chance. The fact that she’d gone to the trouble of getting cleaned up—and I thought she might have put on makeup, too—said that at least she had invested some thought in meeting with me.
Finally I got to the registers and put in my order for two regular coffees. I realized I hadn’t asked Mackenzie how she took her coffee; I told the woman behind the register to leave room in one of the cups, just in case. I waited off to the side, and glanced at Mackenzie to make sure that she was still there—and not terribly bored. I grabbed the two coffees and made my way back to the table, being as careful as the crowd around me would let me be; the last thing I needed was to spill coffee all over myself or someone else because I was hurrying.