She gave a firm nod. “Very sure. Actually, I’m looking forward to it. I’d find an excuse to get out tomorrow even if I hadn’t volunteered to take Alice.”
His deep, rich chuckle made her swallow rather hard, for some reason. “Getting a little stir crazy?”
“Getting a lot stir crazy,” she admitted with a wrinkle of her nose. “If I hadn’t had Alice’s visits to look forward to, I’d probably have been climbing the walls by now.”
“She said you work at River City Medical Center?”
She nodded. “Yes, I—”
“Dad! Waldo’s knocked over a whole pile of stuff in the garage. You’d better come help me.”
Alice’s distant shout sounded more exasperated than frantic. Seth sighed heavily. “I guess I’d better go help her with the disaster dog. I’ve still got to find out how he escaped the backyard. It was very nice meeting you, Meagan.”
“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.