Leaving Alice in Kiera’s capable hands, Meagan and Madison sat side by side in the waiting area.
“So, how good-looking is Alice’s dad?” Madison asked with a grin.
Meagan lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”
Madison laughed. “He must be cute for you to agree to spend a morning shopping with his teenage daughter. You’ve never really liked shopping.”
“I was glad to have an excuse to get out of the house for a few hours, but mostly I just wanted to help Alice. She’s a very sweet girl. This has nothing to do with Seth.”
“Oh. He’s very cute.”
Meagan studied her sister in exasperation. “What brought you to that conclusion?”
Her expression mischievous, Madison replied, “I could tell by the way you said his name. Seth. My guess is that he’s quite the catch.”
Meagan sighed. “If you’re interested, I’ll arrange an introduction.”
“I’ve got no time for a fella right now, but there’s nothing holding you back. Go for it, sis.”
Meagan couldn’t help smiling in return. It was hard not to be amused when Madison teased so good-naturedly. “He’s just a neighbor. A busy single father, at that. You know how I feel about dating guys with children. Too many potential complications in my schedule that’s already hectic enough.”
“Chicken.”
“Cluck, cluck.”
“You’re hopeless, Meagan. What’s it going to take to make you pay a little attention to your own needs, for a change?” Madison’s smile disappeared abruptly. “You nearly let yourself die because you wouldn’t stop long enough to take care of your own health.”
Because she knew her illness had frightened her sister, Meagan replied patiently. “I didn’t almost die, Maddie. I went to Meilin as soon as I realized I needed attention.”
“It took you too long to reach that realization. Because you were so busy taking care of everyone else.”
“Look who’s talking, Dr. Baker. Who’s training to spend the rest of her life taking care of troubled kids?”
“A job,” Madison said with a wave of her hand. “I don’t plan to spend my every waking moment doing it. That was one reason I chose psychiatry over surgery, remember? Better hours.”
Knowing career demands had much less to do with her sister’s choice than the calling of her heart, Meagan didn’t even bother to argue that point. “This is an academic conversation, anyway. Seth and I spent all of an hour together, and that hour was mostly focused on Alice. It’s not as though he asked me out or anything.”
“And if he should?”
Meagan shrugged, trying to hide the little ripple of nerves that coursed through her at the suggestion. “I doubt he will. I’m Alice’s friend, not Seth’s.”
“Mmm.”
She didn’t even ask what her sister meant by that enigmatic murmur. Instead, she glanced toward the chair where Alice was being worked on. “Ouch. That looks like a lot of hair falling.”
Madison shrugged dismissively. “She needed a good cut. She has pretty hair, but you couldn’t even see her face in that mop of curls. Wonder how her dad feels about contact lenses.”
“We’re not getting her contact lenses today.”
Laughing, Madison shook her head. “I’m not sure we could arrange that on such short notice, anyway. Just saying.”
Meagan was relieved that the conversation had drifted away from her dating life—or lack of one. Maybe she privately agreed that it was time for her to get back into the social scene, and had thought about doing so quite a bit during the past few days but that didn’t mean she regarded every single man she met as a viable partner. No matter how intriguing Alice’s father might be.
Seth arrived home just over half an hour before he was scheduled to drive Alice to her party. He was rather proud of himself for concluding his work early enough that he didn’t have to make a mad rush to get her there. He had time to change and have a cold glass of tea before they walked out the door.
“Alice?” he called out as he walked into the kitchen from the garage, dropping his car keys on the counter and setting his brief case on the kitchen table. “I’m home.”
“Hi, Dad,” she called from another room. “Just a sec, I’m almost ready.”