A Child's Wish

Susan was right. Meredith needed to see the child. Someplace where speaking with Kelsey wouldn’t jeopardize the little girl’s relationship with her friends at school.

“We still friends?”

Kelsey shrugged. “I guess so.”

The child’s expression was hidden in shadows, despite the flickering light of the fire pit and the porch lamp on the house.

“Susan says you picked hamburgers.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Grilled hamburgers have always been my favorite, too.” Too pacifying. Not of interest to Kelsey at the moment.

The little girl said nothing.

“You want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Kelsey pushed off harder, swinging away from Meredith. “Nothing.”

Grabbing the chain of the child’s swing, Meredith slowed her down, careful not to tip her out as she did so. “I don’t like to be lied to any more than you do.”

The words were harsh. She hadn’t meant to be harsh. But they’d come out that way, all the same.

Kelsey stared at her and Meredith could have sworn there were tears glinting in her eyes.

“I’m not lying to you,” she said after a lengthy pause.

But Meredith knew she was. And that, if she pushed, Kelsey would continue to lie.

“Okay, I’m glad. You’re my date tonight, you know, so if anything does start to bother you, you’ll let me know, right?”

Kelsey shrugged, her small shoulders rubbing against the swing’s chain. “Sure.”

And that was the best Meredith could do.

DINNER WAS GOOD, and surprisingly fun. Mark entertained them all with some of the wild and crazy stories he’d heard from kids as excuses for misbehavior during his five years as a principal. Meredith laughed so hard she had tears streaming do

wn her cheeks.

And Kelsey, sitting beside her at the picnic table, was laughing just as hard.

They roasted marshmallows, and laughed again as more of the melting white confections fell into the fire than stayed on their sticks. Susan talked about the s’mores she’d had for the first time the previous year at a hospital picnic, astonished that roasted marshmallows, chocolate squares and graham crackers could be so good together. And Meredith sipped a glass of wine and told herself not to think about anything but the moment.

Kelsey was smiling. Susan looked content, her face peaceful in the firelight. And Mark was…Mark. Solid. Strong. Sure.

And gorgeous in jeans and a beige sweater that almost exactly matched his hair. His face was lined, as though he’d had a hard day—or week—but when he looked at Susan or Kelsey, he smiled.

He didn’t look at Meredith.

And for that she was thankful.

“It’s time for bed, sport,” he announced when every single one of the marshmallows had either fallen into the ashes or been eaten. “Get your teeth brushed, and then I thought it would be nice if Susan came in to hear your prayers.”

With one foot over the bench, Kelsey froze, her eyes like glass as she stared at her father. “No!”

Meredith fell into a pool of feeling so intense she couldn’t begin to identify it.

“Excuse me?”