‘So, your father’s happy you found a dress?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Lizzy replied with a broad smile and then, holding on tight to her special purchase, she walked over to a store with some pretty shoes in the window.
Molly followed behind quickly and together they stepped inside the upmarket boutique with designer shoes and beautifully groomed sales assistants. Lizzy picked three styles and sat down while the store assistants disappeared in search of the shoes. Suddenly Molly noticed a worried expression replace Lizzy’s happiness.
‘I don’t feel well. I want to go home,’ she announced as she stood up and left the store. Molly quickly followed her to a seat in the shopping mall. Lizzy’s face was flushed and she was very agitated. A change had swept over her with no warning.
‘Of course,’ Molly said, sensing the young woman was overwhelmed. ‘I’m sure you have pretty shoes at home you could wear tonight anyway.’
‘I’m not going.’
Molly sat down beside her and patted her hand affectionately. ‘Maybe after a rest you’ll feel better.’
‘I can’t go. I need medicine for my tummy,’ Lizzy said and inched her hand away.
Molly tilted her head a little, confused by what Lizzy had said and her abrupt change in demeanour.
‘I’ll take you home, then, and you can get some rest.’
‘I want Dad. Dad knows what I need when I get the pain.’ Lizzy’s voice was beginning to spike. Her anxiety was palpable.
Molly stood up and reached around for her phone within her handbag. ‘Of course, he does,’ she said softly as she dialled the surgery number and Stacy put her through to her new boss.
‘Hi, Molly, did you find everything for Lizzy so she’s all set to attend the dinner?’
‘Yes, and no,’ Molly began, then lowered her voice as she turned away.
‘Yes and no?’
‘Well, we do have the dress and Lizzy loves it but now she is quite distressed, needs some medication and says you will know what it is. I think I can guess what’s happening but she doesn’t want to talk to me about it. I assume she’s having her period.’
Ryan sighed into the phone. ‘She gets embarrassed and doesn’t like to talk about it. I’ll catch a cab to you. She won’t be able to go anywhere. Where are you now?’
Molly looked around to quickly find a landmark Ryan might know. ‘We’re two stores down from the information kiosk. Not too far from the valet parking entrance.’
‘Okay,’ he began. ‘Please stay put and I’ll be there in less than ten minutes. Please stay by her side. I don’t want another episode.’
Molly heard the line go dead.
‘Is Dad coming?’
‘Yes,’ Molly told her in a calming voice. ‘He’s on his way. He won’t be long at all.’ Molly wasn’t sure what Ryan meant by another episode. She assumed it was that time of the month for Lizzy, but she wouldn’t ordinarily call that an episode. She sat by the young girl’s side and chatted about things that would keep her distracted. A puppy passed them by dressed in a matching outfit to her owner and that made Lizzy smile for a few minutes until they disappeared into one of the upmarket boutiques and out of sight. Suddenly Lizzy’s stress began to escalate again. Molly wondered what was causing the panic attack as at nineteen she surely would have experienced numerous periods. Perhaps it was that combined with the idea of attending the dinner, she mused. It was disappointing that Lizzy was feeling so unwell, as she had been quite excited to buy shoes to match her princess dress.
‘You know, Lizzy, I had terrible periods too. The worst and then as I got older they improved.’
‘They did?’
‘Yes. It’s still not a fun time but it’s not so awful any more.’
Lizzy seemed a little happier with the news Molly had given her but she was still terribly distressed.
* * *
‘There you are.’ A familiar husky voice coloured by concern came from behind them. Ryan knelt down in front of Lizzy and affectionately stroked her forehead.
‘I want to go home,’ Lizzy said loudly as she looked at her father with eyes so sad they melted Molly’s heart.
‘That’s why I’m here. I’ll take you both home. Let’s get you both to my car.’
Molly knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed by her home but she still had some pride so she was horribly embarrassed and she couldn’t change the way she felt. ‘Truly, it’s okay, you take Lizzy and I’ll get a cab.’
Ryan looked at Molly and she felt a shiver run up and down her spine. She was being drawn towards him once again and it was unnerving. He had rushed to his daughter’s side like a knight in shining armour and that only compounded feelings that were already growing for the man on one knee.
‘It’s the least I can do.’
‘No, seriously, you take Lizzy home, get her settled and get yourself ready for the dinner.’
Ryan shook his head. ‘I’m not going to the dinner. My date’s unwell.’
‘But you’re getting an award,’ Lizzy replied.
‘An award?’ Molly asked Ryan with a curious frown.
‘Well, an award of sorts.’
‘Of sorts?’ Molly replied, taken aback by his casual response. ‘The AMA don’t give awards of sorts at their annual dinner. It must be something special.’
He reached for the shopping bags. ‘I’m being presented with the AMA State Award but I can call through my apology tonight and send a thank you email tomorrow. They can courier it over next week.’
Molly knew how prestigious it was to be nominated, let alone win an award that was voted by medical peers. ‘Then you have to be there,’ she said. ‘I can stay with Lizzy and keep her company and you can go and collect your award.’
‘I’m not going to fly solo. Besides, you have to be home for your brother.’ Ryan kept his eyes on Lizzy. ‘I assume you parked the car underground.’
‘Yes, in the bay nearest the escalators.’
The three of them walked in the direction of the exit to the car park. Ryan’s arm was around Lizzy.
‘Tommy would be fine watching television for two or three hours,’ Molly added. ‘I just like to make sure he’s had a good dinner, but then I could head over to your place in time for you to leave and keep Lizzy company.’
‘Sooty can stay. You can get your award,’ Lizzy announced.
‘Sooty?’ Molly said with an enquiring tone, having no clue who Sooty was or what Sooty might be. Perhaps it was the family dog. There was clearly so much that Molly didn’t know about Lizzy and Ryan, and that wasn’t surprising after such a short time, yet she also felt an unexpected level of ease being with them. A realisation swept over Molly that it felt almost natural to her for the three of them to be together outside Ryan’s practice. It was a strange feeling but she couldn’t deny she liked it.
‘Sooty is Lizzy’s grandmother. Her real name is Ann.’
Molly couldn’t help but wonder how Sooty was an abbreviation of Ann. It didn’t come close.
As if he read her mind, Ryan continued as they walked together. ‘Lizzy adored the British television show Sooty. She and Ann would watch it together regularly. One day Lizzy told Ann that she wanted to call her Sooty instead of Grandma. It just stuck. All these years later she calls her Sooty and she even signs messages to Lizzy with that name.’
‘That’s wonderful. Is she your mother?’
‘No, she is Lizzy’s maternal grandmother,’ Ryan told her as they stepped off the escalator and headed towards the car, which was just outside the sliding glass doors. ‘She’s a lovely lady, we get on well now, but there were some issues early on. Fortunately, we moved past the challenges we faced.’
Molly assumed it had something to do with Ryan and Lizzy’s mother parting ways but she wasn’t going to ask questions that weren’t her business.
‘Ann’s house is abo
ut fifteen minutes away from ours so she stays over if Lizzy needs her and I have to work back and the three nights that I visit St Clara’s.’
Molly reached into her bag and handed the keys to Ryan without him asking. She knew that St Clara’s was the residential care for single mothers where Ryan consulted three nights a week.
His fingers brushed hers as he took the keys from her upturned palm. Once again, his touch made her heart skip a beat.
‘Please let me drive you home,’ he implored as the remote unlocked the car doors. ‘Lizzy will be fine once I get her settled in the car and give her some analgesics. She just panics if I’m not around when this happens.’
‘No, honestly, I want to pick up some fresh bread to have with dinner anyway. I’ll get a cab from over there.’ She pointed towards the cab rank and began slowly walking in that direction, then paused to check that Ryan and Lizzy were okay. She wanted to ensure they got away. Molly’s maternal instincts were kicking in where Lizzy was concerned. She felt a bond had formed from the moment they met. She couldn’t explain why and it defied logic but it was there nonetheless.
‘I want Sooty,’ Lizzy announced as Ryan held the car door open for her and she climbed in. The pain was clearly growing and, with it, an increasing level of distress.
Molly watched as Ryan secured his daughter’s seat belt and then, standing upright again, he paused. Molly couldn’t hear the conversation but he kept raising his eyes and glancing over in her direction and nodding. Then she watched as he made a very brief phone call. Molly shifted a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She didn’t know what was happening and whether she should go or stay.
Molly noticed Ryan’s expression suddenly change from concern to something she didn’t quite understand as he shut the car door, then slipped his mobile phone in the inside pocket of his overcoat and crossed to her without saying a word. He looked almost nervous, his eyes randomly roaming the car park. It was an expression she hadn’t thought a man like Ryan would ever wear.
‘Molly,’ he began, then paused as his fingers ran thoughtfully across the cleft in his chin. ‘I have a second favour to ask of you today.’
‘Sure, anything,’ Molly replied without hesitation, in a way that completely surprised her. She had not imagined she would ever think let alone say those words to a man after everything that had happened to her.
Ryan looked relieved by her reply. ‘Is there the possibility...that perhaps you might accompany me to the awards dinner at the convention centre tonight? I know it’s short notice but I’m hoping you might consider it.’
Molly had to steady herself. She had no idea what to say. But by the intense look on his handsome face only inches from hers, he was clearly not going anywhere until she gave him her answer.
CHAPTER SIX
MOLLY COULDN’T THINK what to say as she stood in stunned silence. Her mind was again spinning and Ryan McFetridge was again the cause.
‘I must apologise,’ Ryan said ruefully, bringing the silence to an end. ‘It was presumptuous of me to think you would be free, it’s just that Lizzy suggested it to me in the car and I had to agree it was a great idea.’
‘I’m not sure... I mean, it’s just not something I was expecting you to ask...’ Molly hesitated and then decided, like Lizzy, she needed to be upfront. No game playing or hiding her situation. ‘To be honest I’m not sure I can. It’s just that I don’t think I have anything suitable to wear on such short notice for a black-tie event.’ Molly didn’t think, she knew very well that she didn’t have anything in her wardrobe close to what she would need for a black-tie dinner. With the pay rise she could go to a department store and find something but only if she had a few days to search the sale racks. ‘I don’t want to let you down but perhaps there is someone else you could ask.’
‘Perhaps...but I would very much like to take you,’ he told her. ‘Please be honest, is the dress the only reason you can’t make it? Would Tommy be okay alone?’
Molly knew the answer to both questions. ‘Tommy would be fine, as I mentioned to you before, as long as I go home and prepare his dinner. He spends most nights watching his television programmes in his room but, that aside, I just don’t have time to find something suitable. It’s the AMA dinner, not dinner at a local café, so I would need to head into the city to find something and it’s already almost three.’ She paused. ‘That reminds me—you will need to cancel Lizzy’s hair appointment.’
Ryan tilted his head a little to one side. ‘Do you always make sure others aren’t put out?’
‘Well, the salon might have a waiting list for clients and I don’t want you to be charged for an appointment that Lizzy won’t make.’
‘I’m not sure how you manage to keep everyone’s schedule stored front and centre, Ms Murphy.’
‘It’s in my job description.’
‘I have to disagree on that. I’m beginning to think that you go over and above.’ He smiled. ‘But if the dress is truly the only issue, then I have already solved that and I can pick you up at seven.’
‘What do you mean you’ve solved that?’
‘Well, Lizzy told me about a green dress that, according to her, made you look like a princess. I wanted to give you something in appreciation for you helping me out this afternoon and taking care of Lizzy, so I bought it for you.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Molly gasped. ‘You bought me a dress? But I was very happy to spend time with Lizzy. You don’t have to give me anything.’
‘I wanted to give you something.’
‘Fine, that’s a lovely gesture, but chocolates or a longer lunch break one day this week would have more than been enough. A dress is definitely too much.’
‘No, it’s not, and apparently it looks lovely on you, according to my daughter. I must say she has impeccable taste like her father. It was going to be delivered to you at the office tomorrow but it’s now on its way down here,’ he said, looking behind him towards the escalators. ‘Actually, perfect timing. I think this might be it coming down now.’
Molly turned around to see the sales assistant making her way down the escalators towards them.
‘But, Molly, honestly, I do understand if you can’t make dinner tonight. Let me know how you feel when you get home and if Tommy wants you to stay in or you’re too tired after today’s running around. Just call or text me...but I want you to have the dress anyway,’ he told her as he stepped away towards the car. ‘I better get back to Lizzy and take her home before the cramps set in. And thank you again. It would have been a disaster if this had happened when she was on her own.’
‘Ryan, I’m not sure...’
‘It’s fine, Molly. If you can’t make tonight, I’ll see you at work tomorrow.’
Molly watched as Ryan quickly climbed into the car and then drove away, leaving her mouth gaping slightly.
‘Hello again, Molly,’ the sales assistant greeted her and handed Molly a black fabric garment bag and a white gift bag, both emblazoned with the store insignia. ‘I put a pair of nude pumps in there as well in your size and a small matching clutch as Dr McFetridge said he wanted you to have everything you would need. He’s such a lovely man.’
Molly was speechless as the smartly dressed sales assistant smiled and walked away in her very high black patent stilettos, leaving Molly with her own thoughts. So much had transpired in a few short hours. Molly wasn’t sure how she felt about Ryan McFetridge except confused.
Very confused.
Staring straight ahead, a garment bag across one arm and the other holding the gift bag along with her handbag, she followed the signs to the cab rank. Her gaze was just a few steps ahead of her as she climbed the half a dozen cement steps to the street and the line of cabs waiting. Feeling overwhelmed and undecided as to whether she should even consider accepting Ryan’s gift, let alone the invitation to attend the dinner, she kept glancing at the bags. H
er steps were as considered as her thoughts as she put one foot in front of the other and made her way into the bitterly cold breeze.
She approached the first cab in line and the driver hurriedly jumped out, and, looking up at the heavy grey clouds and the imminent downpour, quickly took her bags and opened the door for her. Molly climbed in, still in a dazed state, and he shut the door and made his way to the other side and placed the bags on the seat beside her.
‘Where to?’ he enquired as he jumped inside the cab himself, secured his seat belt and pulled out into the traffic.
Molly gave him her address and collapsed back into the seat. Her mind was still spinning and she didn’t much like where her thoughts were heading. She just hoped that Lizzy would be okay.
* * *
Three hours later, Molly dialled Ryan’s mobile. It was almost six in the evening. It was dark outside as it always was in winter at that time, and Molly had the heater warming the living room and another on in Tommy’s room. As she pulled back the drapes Molly could see the stars were sparkling in the midnight-blue sky.
Her first question was about Lizzy.
‘Lizzy’s fine, thank you for asking,’ Ryan answered. ‘She’s tucked up in bed, and I’ve given her strong pain relief and she’s resting her back on a hot-water bottle, with another one on her stomach. She finds the warmth comforting and it helps her to relax. And I called Ann over as she does seem to be able to make Lizzy feel less stressed about the whole situation. I guess it’s a woman thing and Ann’s the only mother figure Lizzy has in her life.’
Molly learned so much about Ryan and Lizzy in that one statement. Lizzy had no mother or other female relatives in her life. And if there was a girlfriend, she wasn’t filling the role.
‘It’s wonderful to hear that Ann is so close to Lizzy but I had no idea that Lizzy suffered from such chronic painful periods.’
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