“Dad told me not to bore you with them, because I took a lot, but I’ll show you my favorites and if you get bored, you can just say so.”
Meagan held her smile firmly in place. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy them.”
They sat side by side at the table, the netbook arranged where both could see the little screen. Meagan had made herbal tea for them and set out some cookies for Alice to munch on while they caught up. Meagan made appropriately admiring noises over the snapshots passing on the screen at a medium speed. Most of the photos were quite good; Alice was a competent photographer for her age. Quite a few of the shots featured her mother.
Meagan couldn’t help but study those pictures of Colleen a bit more closely than the European landmarks and countryside. She was a little taken aback at her first sight of Seth’s ex-wife. She hadn’t expected Colleen to be quite so striking.
Alice had gotten her brown eyes from her mother, but where Alice’s were a warm mahogany, Colleen’s were almost black. Slightly almond shaped—an impression likely enhanced by skillful makeup. Alice’s curls came from Seth’s side of the family; Colleen’s hair was a luxurious mane of chestnut waves. Like Meagan herself, Colleen probably resorted to salons for the color but it looked quite natural and attractive. She was slender to the point of thinness, dressed in fashionable dark colors, and looked competent, intelligent and successful.
Though Alice had inherited a few of her father’s features, Meagan saw signs in Colleen of the woman Alice would become once she’d left adolescent awkwardness behind. At least physically. Meagan didn’t know exactly how much Alice resembled her mother in other ways.
Meagan had been home from her mom’s house only fifteen minutes when Alice had called half an hour ago to ask if she could come over with the gift and her pictures. Looking forward to seeing the girl again, Meagan had agreed with pleasure. She wasn’t surprised when Alice had shown up alone, nor had Meagan extended a specific invitation for Seth to accompany her. Not that she would have turned him away, of course.
“It looks like you had a wonderful time,” she said after half an hour of admiring the slideshow. “You were probably reluctant to return home.”
“I had a fantastic time, but I was ready to come back. I missed my dad and Waldo and my friends. I missed you, too,” Alice added a little shyly.
“I missed you, too,” Meagan assured her—and she was being honest, she assured herself. It was nice to see the girl’s sweet smile again, to laugh with her and hear her cheery chatter. Those weeks alone with Seth had been blissful, but the days just hadn’t seemed quite complete even to Meagan without having Alice there at some point.
“I was afraid my dad would be really lonely with me gone.” Alice’s tone was just a bit too casual as she reached out to close the lid on her computer. “I heard you and he had dinner a few times. I’m glad he had you to keep him company.”
“He, um, told you that?”
“Well, I asked if he’d seen you and he said yes, a few times.”
He wouldn’t lie to his daughter, Meagan thought. But he wouldn’t have told her the whole truth about those weeks, either, of course.
“Yes, we visited a few times when neither of us had other plans.” There. That sounded quite friendly and casual. “Can I get you any more tea, Alice? Or something else? I have juice and soda.”
“No, thank you, I’ve had plenty. Dad said I have to be home by six because we’re going out for dinner.”
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“That will be nice.”
“You could come with us.”
Meagan doubted that Seth would have appreciated Alice extending the invitation without consulting him first—and she would bet that there had been no such consultation. “Thank you for asking, but no. I have a few things to do here this evening to prepare for work tomorrow.”
“I understand that you have to work a lot, you know. You’ve got lives to save. That’s really important.”
Meagan wasn’t sure what to say. “Um, yes. My job does require long hours, but I think it’s important, too. And I love doing it.”
“It’s good to love what you do. It makes you happy, and when you’re happy, the people who love you are happy.”
Maybe this oblique conversation had little to do with Seth. Maybe Alice was referring to her mother, perhaps implicitly defending Colleen’s choice to pursue her dreams so far from her only child. “That’s right. I hope you’ll love being an orthodontist—or whatever you ultimately choose to do—as much as I love being a surgeon, and your parents enjoy practicing law in their own fields.”
“I just wanted to say that, you know, I don’t have a problem with you working so much. It doesn’t hurt my feelings or anything when you can’t do something because you have to save someone’s life. I just like seeing you when you have some time.”
“Um, thank you, Alice. I enjoy seeing you, too. Maybe you’d like to come for a swim next Sunday afternoon? I should be here for a few hours then. Of course, you’re free to use the pool whether I’m here or not, as long as there’s someone with you. I don’t want you to ever swim alone.”
The look Alice gave her held exasperation, as if she wondered whether Meagan was being deliberately obtuse. Meagan could have told her it was no act. She wasn’t at all sure what the girl was getting at.
Alice looked as though she wanted very much to say something else, but after what appeared to be a mental struggle, she sighed and picked up her computer. “Okay. I’d better go. But just so you’ll know, I’ve got a very busy summer ahead, myself. You know, swim team and hanging out with my friends and stuff. Dad will probably be on his own quite a bit. Now that I’m old enough to have my own life and stuff, you know.”
Well, it couldn’t be more clear than that. Meagan had a feeling Seth would not be happy that Alice was still trying to push them together. She wasn’t particularly comfortable with the girl’s machinations, herself.
Pretending to still be oblivious to Alice’s hints, Meagan walked her to the door where she thanked her again for the scarf and promised to see her again soon. Alice was shaking her head a little when she walked down the sidewalk toward her house and Meagan could almost see the girl thinking, “Grown-ups!”