“Lots of doctors are shorter than their patients. I’d imagine that’s typically the case with Dr. Leung, the lady who gave us Jenny’s scrubs,” Eric told Brendan mildly. “A good surgeon has a strong heart, a quick brain, a sharp eye and a steady hand. I’d say Jenny has all the makings of one.”
Brendan gave a big-brother snort at this, but Jenny just smiled up at Eric proudly. She jumped and hooted in excitement when someone knocked.
“Look at our costumes, Mommy!” she squealed as she flung open the door. “Eric helped us. See? A real stethoscope…and look at my surgeon’s pants and shirt and hat and see this here?” She reached into her pocket. “This is one of those things…a tongue presser…”
Colleen glanced at him in the middle of Jenny’s exuberant demonstration of tongue-depressor use, her aquamarine eyes wide in amazement. She’d obviously just come from work. She looked very lovely, wearing a soft-looking, fuzzy ivory sweater, a skirt and a pair of calf-hugging leather boots. Her briefcase hung on her shoulder and her hair was styled up on her head with a few wisps brushing her cheeks.
“And I’m the patient,” Brendan said, grinning. “Eric said if I had to use the crutches, I might as well have them work for me instead of against me.”
“He was overenthusiastic with the blood,” Eric said as he hung the mirror back on the wall. “But I might have gone a little crazy with the bandages.”
Colleen laughed as she examined her son’s costume. “You’re right. Every square inch of him is bloodied or bandaged.” Her gaze met his. Her curving mouth and sparkling eyes made him feel a little…
…warm.
“Mom was in on this, too? She said she dropped them off at your office half an hour ago. How long have you four been planning this little scheme?”
“Just since Brendan’s appointment yesterday,” Eric replied. “He was so disappointed about not being able to get rid of his crutches before Halloween, I wanted to do something to help.”
“Now I don’t mind the crutches at all,” Brendan said as he flew across the room in order to retrieve his empty candy bag. “Can we go now? It’s almost four o’clock. All the good candy will be gone.”
“The good candy doesn’t disappear in the first minute, Brendan,” Colleen remonstrated with a laugh. She shook her head and glanced at Eric. “Thank you for helping them with their costumes. They’re fantastic…and so realistic.”
“Only if I’m a psycho-doctor,” Jenny mumbled darkly as she eyed her bloody patient.
Colleen burst out laughing. Eric caught her eye and grew two degrees hotter. She had an amazing laugh.
“Mom, can we go, please?” Brendan begged.
“Okay,” Colleen agreed, her laughter ebbing. “Tell Eric thank-you for all he’s done and say goodbye.”
“He’s coming with us,” Jenny said as she charged for the door, Brendan on her heels.
“Yeah, he said we could trick-or-treat near his house on Buena Vista Drive. I’ll bet they have the best candy in that neighborhood....”
Brendan’s voice faded as he scurried down the hallway. She regarded him silently, all the humor gone from her expression.
“It was his idea to go on Buena Vista Drive, not mine,” Eric told her quickly. He was quite certain she was going to pull the old frosty routine with him, as usual, but instead she smiled uncertainly. These occasional displays of her vulnerability were damn near killing him.
“Do you really want to come?”
He reached for his jacket. “I can’t wait.” He spread his hand at the back of her waist, his fingertips caressing slightly. The sweater was every bit as soft as it looked, but he mostly appreciated the feeling of her firm flesh beneath it. He urged her toward the door. For a second or two, she didn’t move, but just looked up at him quizzically. Her long, golden bangs spiked sexily around her eyes; there were a thousand points of green and blue and every shade in between in them.
Finally, she shook her head and headed toward the hallway.
Seeing no signs of protest, Eric gladly kept his hand just where it was. He’d never looked forward to trick-or-treating more in his entire life, childhood included.
It was dark by the time they walked back to her car, Brendan’s and Jenny’s bags stuffed with candy. Children’s laughter and the distant “trick or treat” refrain punctuated the autumn night.
Colleen watched Eric as they strolled down Buena Vista Drive. His chin was tilted down as he listened to Brendan’s story about a boy at school who’d been bullying some of the smaller kids. The topic had come up when they’d caught a glimpse of said boy—Dave Irkness—trick-or-treating across the street with a group of older kids. She’d never heard Brendan mention Dave before and was a little shocked he had so much to say.
Was he opening up to Eric because he was a good listener, or did Brendan just require a male ear to discuss such a boy-related topic? Her son was close to both Liam and Marc, but her brothers had been unusually busy lately. There hadn’t been an opportunity for much one-on-one guy time. At least the kids would be visiting Marc and Mari in Chicago for the Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully, Brendan could get in a little male bonding with his uncle then.
Even though she felt a little sad her son hadn’t felt comfortable broaching the subject of Dave the bully with her, she was impressed with the way Eric handled the interaction. He affirmed Brendan had been smart in the way he’d dealt with things thus far by standing up for the bullied kids without stooping to Dave’s level. The few questions he directed toward Brendan assured Colleen that the teachers and administration had recently become aware of Dave’s bullying. She’d be sure to follow up quietly in the background with Brendan’s teacher, knowing how much he would hate it if she made a fuss.
“Why don’t you guys come inside and warm up? I have something special I want to show you,” Eric said, turning toward her and Jenny.
Colleen blinked and glanced toward the sleek, modern structure of wood, fieldstone and glass at the end of the driveway. She hadn’t realized where they were while she’d been so focused on overhearing Eric and Brendan’s conversation.