Kara Lennox - For The Right Reasons

“You’ll see what it’s like.”

She grabbed on to Eric’s hand. New situations and new people made her nervous. No, more than nervous. Really stressed.

“Will there be people there?”

“Yes. We’re going to meet a nice lady named Bree. You’ll like her.”

“No, I won’t,” she said decisively.

Eric didn’t challenge her. He couldn’t make her like people and she certainly knew that not all adults were worthy of her esteem. Eric himself wasn’t sure he liked Bree—although he was looking forward to seeing her again. She wasn’t exactly all sweetness and light, and clearly she had a sharp tongue when she had a mind to use it. But he admired her passion. Passion was attractive, even if it was for a cause he didn’t agree with.

Eric and MacKenzie entered the diner and stood next to a please-wait-to-be-seated sign. The place was busy, but there were still a few tables and booths available.

A hostess with a mile-high beehive greeted them, fitting right in with the retro theme. “Two for dinner?” she asked brightly.

“Actually, I’m meeting someone here. Her name is Bree. About so high, black hair, blue eyes you can’t miss—”

The hostess was nodding. “That’s Dr. Bree.”

“And a friend of hers, too. They’re not here yet, are they?” He scanned the whole seating area and didn’t see Bree, and she wasn’t the sort of woman easily overlooked.

“No, haven’t seen her, but I’ll keep an eye out. Come right this way.”

Eric started to follow the hostess, whose name tag identified her as Molly, but MacKenzie suddenly dug in her heels and wouldn’t move.

“No, Daddy, let’s go home.”

“What? We just got here.”

“I don’t want to meet the lady! I want to go home!”

CHAPTER THREE

ERIC PRAYED MACKENZIE wasn’t about to throw one of her fits. “Why don’t you want to stay here?”

“I just don’t.”

“Well, we came a long way, and I’m hungry, and we’re not leaving until I get some dinner. Don’t you want your grilled cheese? And ice cream?” He knew bribing a child with food wasn’t the recommended way to get her to cooperate, but he didn’t want to risk a tantrum, not now.

“I’m not hungry. I want to go home.”

“I’m sorry, MacKenzie, we can’t go home right now. Daddy promised to be here, and I have to keep my word.”

“You want a coloring book, precious?” Molly asked. “I have Goofy and Cinderella.”

MacKenzie pressed her lips together in a mutinous frown.

“Go with Cinderella,” Eric said to the hostess. Then he scooped up MacKenzie and carried her to their designated booth. He would lie down and die any day of the week for this child. But the psychologist had emphasized that he had to be firm, too, and not let her walk all over him. Just because she was troubled didn’t mean she couldn’t also learn to be manipulative.

Once they were seated, he tried to get MacKenzie interested in the menu. She was a good enough reader that she could make out a lot of the words by herself.

“It says this diner has been here for more than sixty years,” Eric read, pointing to the words. That answered his question about whether it was authentic.

MacKenzie didn’t seem interested. She kept looking over her shoulder, as if she expected the bogeyman to be after her.

“MacKenzie, what’s wrong? What are you afraid of?”

“I don’t want a shot!” she said, bursting into tears.

“A shot? What makes you think... Oh.” Dr. Bree. “She’s not going to give you a shot. She’s just a nice lady.” A nice lady who was late. If he’d driven all this way for nothing, he was going to be more than irritated.

“No shots?”

“No. Just dinner. It says here they have a soup-and-sandwich special. How about a grilled cheese and tomato soup?”

After thinking about it, MacKenzie nodded.

A couple of minutes later Bree bustled through the door, looking a bit harried. Molly smiled at her and pointed toward their booth, and Bree hurried their way, waving as she caught Eric’s eye.

The sight of her had a stronger effect than he’d anticipated. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail now, and several unruly strands had escaped to frame her face. She’d changed clothes since this morning, opting for a simple white blouse and gray pants. Again, he could tell at a glance that the clothes were high quality. Could a woman even buy clothes like that in Tuckerville?

Didn’t matter. The sight of her made his mouth go dry. He couldn’t recall reacting that strongly to a woman since...well, since Tammy. Tammy, the supposed love of his life, who’d turned out to be aggressively unfaithful.

You can’t trust a sweet smile. Bree had already proved she had a sharp side. During their very first meeting, no less.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she slid into the booth opposite them. “I got held up at work. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.”

“Just a couple of minutes.”

Then Bree’s attention focused on MacKenzie, and her face was transformed with a look of such sweet maternal softness that Eric found himself struggling to breathe.

“And who have we here?” Bree asked.

MacKenzie ignored her.

“This is my daughter, MacKenzie,” Eric said. “MacKenzie, this is Dr. Johnson.”

“Hi, MacKenzie. You can call me Bree.” Her voice was soft, nonprovoking. “Nice to meet you.”

MacKenzie kept her eyes on her coloring book, where she was filling in Cinderella’s dress with a brown crayon.

“Is that Cinderella?” Bree asked.

“Mmm-hmm,” MacKenzie replied.

“You’re good at coloring. You really know how to stay inside the lines. Me, when I color, I’m really messy. I bet you get gold stars in your art class.”

“I get all As,” MacKenzie said matter-of-factly.

“Where’s Philomene?” Eric asked. “I’d like to move this along so I don’t keep MacKenzie out too late.”

“Of course.” Bree looked around. “I’ll go ask if she’s here. If the waitress comes, order me a meat loaf special and a coffee.”

“Caffeine doesn’t bother you this late at night?”

“Unfortunately, no. If it did, maybe I wouldn’t drink so much of the stuff.” She slid out of the booth and headed for Molly. Eric studied her retreating form at leisure, especially those gently swaying hips.

MacKenzie was staring, too.

“See, she’s not so scary,” Eric said.

MacKenzie shrugged and turned her attention to the menu. “I don’t see ice cream on here.”

Eric flipped the pages until he found desserts. “Right here. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.”

She put her finger on the menu where Eric had pointed and attempted to sound out the words. The waitress stopped back, and Eric dutifully ordered Bree’s meat loaf special. “I’ll have the same thing,” he added. “And a grilled cheese and tomato soup for the little one.”

“You want a soda with that?” the perky waitress asked.

MacKenzie nodded, but Eric shook his head. “Milk.” Bree might not be bothered by caffeine, but it made MacKenzie spin like a top.

As soon as the waitress left, Bree returned, a worried frown on her face. “Philomene’s not here. She should have gotten off work at six.”

“Maybe she got held up.”

“Maybe. But wouldn’t she call?”

“You’re asking me? I’ve never met this woman.”

“She should have called,” Bree said decisively.

Eric stifled a groan. He should have known this was a fool’s errand. “Sounds like maybe she had a change of heart.”

“When I talked to her yesterday, she sounded really eager to unburden herself. The guilt has been eating her alive.”

“You said she was nervous about changing her story. She probably just got cold feet.”