Джина Уилкинс: The M.D. Next Door

“Nice meeting you, too. Thank you for dinner.”

“I hope you can join us again sometime.”

He was probably just being polite. She smiled and replied vaguely, “That would be lovely. Good night, Seth.”

“Good night, Mea—”

“Dad!”

“I’m coming, Alice.” Giving Meagan a rueful smile, he closed the front door behind her when she stepped outside.

The short walk to her house was much easier without a squirming mutt in her arms. The air was cooling and deepening dusk cast purple shadows on the street around her. She had enjoyed the spontaneous dinner party, she thought as she pulled her keys from her jeans pocket to unlock her front door. She really had been suffering from cabin fever lately. The only time she’d left home this past week was for a couple hours that morning to see her doctor and then visit briefly with her mom and grandmother. She could hardly even remember the last time she’d spent an evening with an attractive, amusing man.

But no, that didn’t sound right. She’d shared a meal with Alice and her dad, hardly with Seth alone.

Maybe it had been too long since she’d been out for an adult evening, considering the little tingle still lingering inside her as a result of Seth’s parting smile.

“Honey, we have to do something with that hair!”

Alice lifted a hand self-consciously to her riotous mass of curls in response to Madison’s blunt assessment. “I guess it needs a trim.”

Madison laughed softly and patted Alice’s shoulder. “Sweetie, you need more than a trim. You need a good cut and style. The walk-in place upstairs is hit-and-miss, but I know which stylists there can be trusted. Let’s get up and see how long the waiting list is.”

Frowning, Meagan followed in her younger sister’s wake, as she usually did when Madison took charge. “Um, Maddie? I’m not sure we should get her hair cut without her father’s permission.”

Alice looked over her shoulder with a frown. “I’m not a baby, Meagan. Dad lets me choose how to wear my own hair — well, as long as I don’t get a mohawk or dye it purple or anything,” she added with a little laugh.

Because Meagan had no intention of sanctioning either of those options, she decided maybe a simple haircut wouldn’t be so bad.

As she had expected, Madison and Alice hit it off immediately. No surprise. Everyone liked Madison, with her ebullient warmth and contagious laugh. A second year psychiatry resident, Madison wanted to specialize in adolescents. Their brother said it was because Madison had never really grown up, herself, an accusation with which Madison cheerfully agreed.

Slim and animated, Madison had shoulder length hair that was naturally the same rather mousy brown as Meagan’s. Like Meagan, she dyed it a more interesting shade, though Madison had gone even blonder than Meagan’s honey color. Madison’s eyes were a shade lighter blue and her features, at least in Meagan’s opinion, were a little more classically pretty. Madison never seemed to run out of energy or enthusiasm, which had come in handy during medical school and her first year of residency.

They were lucky enough to arrive at the walk-in salon at a lull in business. One of the stylists Madison knew and trusted just happened to be available. Madison and the stylist, Kiera, put their heads together for a lengthy and serious-looking consultation while glancing sideways at Alice, who shifted her feet self-consciously.

“You know you don’t have to let them do anything you don’t want,” Meagan reminded the girl.

Alice nodded resolutely. “Madison’s so pretty. She’ll know what I should do.”

And then she added quickly, “I’d trust you, too, of course. You’re pretty, too.”

Meagan laughed, patting Alice’s arm to show there’d been no offense taken. Meagan, too, thought her younger sister was beautiful. “Thank you, but Madison’s the one who knows all the latest styles and fashions. That’s why I asked her to join us today.”

They both looked at Madison, who had dressed in a trendy top and skinny jeans with wedge-heeled sandals for their shopping excursion. Typically, Meagan’s look was more classic — a crisp white shirt with jeans and comfortable loafers. The traditional style worked for her, but Alice needed a guide for younger fashion.

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’svery 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 holdingyou 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.