Chapter 4
IT TOOK LONGER FOR Chad to break free of the ER than he’d planned, so he made it only for the tail end of Mary Alice’s presentation to hospital staff on Fountain of Hope. She was explaining how to fill out the paperwork that would allow people to adopt a child for the holiday season. He slipped in at the periphery, where he could watch and listen.
“Each coin has been anonymized, so it’s important that the people doing the record-keeping make note of the identification number on each coin before releasing it to adopters.”
Chad and Mary Alice had spent long hours after work the last two days getting all the coins filled out for each child and divided up for each participating local business. Long hours they’d spent talking about anything and everything. He knew someone else was doing the drop off and explanation of process everywhere else, but Mary Alice had made the time to come to the hospital. He hoped she’d made the effort because of him.
She hadn’t spooked after their kiss—not exactly. But she’d clearly needed room to process, so he’d focused on the business at hand rather than finding a way to get his mouth back on her. But he’d thought about that kiss and her. It had been a helluva kiss.
“Any more questions?” She looked around, waiting, and Chad started easing through the pack toward her. “Okay, hearing none, I’ll simply say thank you for your participation! You’re going to help make a lot of children’s lives brighter this holiday season.”
The crowd broke apart, heading back to their duties, and Mary Alice finally caught sight of him. Her sunny smile was a serious bright spot to a very busy day.
“Hey! I didn’t see you back there.”
“Got caught up, but I managed to sneak in for the end. Buy you a cup of coffee?” He was aware of the raised eyebrows from a trio of lingering nurses.
“Isn’t hospital coffee supposed to be terrible?”
“Only the stuff in the vending machines. The cafeteria is a different matter. It’s not The Grind, but it’s pretty good.”
“I could do with a pick me up,” she agreed, falling into step with him.
He led her downstairs. “How did the kids like the movie?”
Mary Alice glanced over brows lifted. Did she think he’d already forgotten?
“Loved it. It’s a pretty decent adaptation of the book. Best of all, I finished all my grading for the weekend, which is cause to celebrate.”
Chad filed that little detail away as they reached the cafeteria. He took her through the line, grabbing his own cup of medium roast and waiting, while she doctored hers with cream and two sugars. He filed that away, too, as they went to check out. “Hey there, Louise. How’s your day going?”
“Just fine, Dr. Phillips.” The older woman looked Mary Alice over, then gave him a nod of approval enthusiastic enough to make her tower of silver hair shiver.
Chad just grinned. “Louise, this is Mary Alice Reed. She’s heading up Fountain of Hope this year.”
“Chad’s been a big help.”
“Nice to meet you, honey. Good to see someone getting this one involved in the community. He needs more life outside the hospital.” Louise pursed her coral-painted lips and arched both brows, as if to say she knew exactly how much time he spent up here. Which probably wasn’t far from the truth.
He swiped his ID badge to pay. “I’m working on it.”
They sat at one of the tables by the long bank of windows. Mary Alice took the top off her coffee and blew. Because he knew exactly how fast he could get pulled away, he did the same.
“So, it seemed like your presentation went pretty well today.”
“There are several folks here who’ve participated in years past, so that helps. They know the ropes already.”
“The hospital seems kind of an odd place to set up. I’d think most people coming through here are preoccupied with whatever brought them in.”
She angled her head in concession. “You’re not wrong. Most of the children who get adopted from here are adopted by the staff. It makes sense because they often can’t get out to one of the other locations due to work, which you know something about.”
“Fair point. What about you? Do you ever end up adopting a kid from the program?”
“Usually several. Often former or current students. It’s technically cheating that I know who I’m shopping for, but I love it because I know them, and I can personalize a bit more.”
She was a school teacher in one of the poorest states in the country, so she couldn’t be making much. But she gave back on so many levels. It impressed him. She impressed him.
“That’s both generous and awesome.”