The worst part wasn't that she asked the question. It was that she felt the need to ask it in front of everybody and put me on the spot. I'd already felt embarrassed enough by my dad doing it, but Cynthia's question was even worse.
“I just haven't met the right guy yet,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “That's all.”
Cynthia stared at me for a moment too long and I could tell she was judging me. She didn't say anything else, though, and eventually went back to eating.
“Has anyone seen Katie?” Karina asked, changing the subject for me. “I thought she'd be here.”
Finally, after what felt like an agonizing eternity, Cynthia answered.
“No, she's working at the bakery today. She's got her baking competitions coming up so she'd been practicing like crazy.”
“That's too bad,” my mother replied. “I always like having her here. I am excited about her being on that baking show, though. It's going to be so exciting to have someone from our town doing something amazing.”
Everyone began talking about Katie's new baking TV appearance, and I was just grateful that the attention was no longer on me. I exhaled a sigh of relief and the blood finally drained from my cheeks. I didn't mind being the center of attention, but I didn't want it to be because I didn't have kids.
Karina leaned toward me, whispering in my ear. “Just ignore them, Hannah. You know how it is in this town. People think you're from another planet if you're not married with children by the age of twenty.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, no kidding.”
I'm starting to wonder myself if I'm from another planet, though, I thought. I sure do feel like it sometimes. Maybe an alien from my home planet will come down and deliver me a kid if I pray hard enough.
I ate the rest of my meal without saying much. The food was amazing and the company was good, I just wasn't in the mood for small talk any more. As I dove into my pulled pork, I gazed over toward the kid's table. There were at least ten children there and two of them were having a food fight. They were laughing as they flicked potato salad at each other using their plastic forks. Seeing it made me smile.
As much as I hated to admit it, Cynthia had been right when she said that time waits for no one. Time was passing and it was passing quickly. My body wouldn't be thirty-something years old forever and the longer I waited to have kids, the less likely it was going to happen.
I looked over at my dad as he laughed at something my mother said. It wouldn't matter how soon I had kids, though. My dad wouldn't get the chance to meet them. I'd have to get pregnant in the next few weeks just to have a chance, and the odds of that were beyond minuscule. I knew I couldn't adopt that fast either. Especially not as a single woman.
My thoughts were temporarily distracted when I heard the kids at the picnic table yell out with glee. They all shouted the same name with the kind of excitement that a child would have on Christmas morning.
“Dr. Matthews is here!” they called out. “Dr. Matthews is here!”
Chapter 6
I nearly dropped my ear of corn onto the plate when I saw the most handsome man I knew walking around the corner and into the back yard. Sure enough, the kids were right. The good doctor had shown up to the party. He strolled across the grass, waving at the kids as he moved. I didn't get to see him in regular clothes very often, but when I did, I was always reminded of how good
he looked.
He was wearing a simple red polo shirt with dark jean shorts and flip flops. The outline of his muscular chest was easily visible and the sleeves of his shirt were short enough so that his biceps were exposed. The kids all got up from their picnic table and swarmed around him, hugging his legs and squealing with joy.
“Hey, kids,” he said, ruffling up their hair with his hands. “Are you guys having fun?”
“Yes!” they shouted in unison. It was almost as if they'd choreographed the whole thing. It was so damn cute.
“Good!” he said. “I'm so happy to see you guys.”
After saying a few more words to the kids, Jacob strolled over to our table. Our eyes met and he smiled.
“Hey, Hannah,” he said, his voice calm and soothing.
“Hi, Jacob,” I said. “I mean, uh, Dr. Matthews.”
He laughed softly. “Call me Jacob. You know that.”
My dad spun around and gave Jacob a firm handshake from his seat. “Dr. Matthews is at our party? Well, this is a fantastic first. Glad to see you, Doc.”
“Happy to see you, too, Frank,” Jacob said. “Hannah told me about the party yesterday and I figured it was too nice of a day not to spend outside with you all. Plus, I could smell this amazing food from all the way at my house.”
“Let me fix you a plate,” Dad said, hopping up from his chair. “Have a seat, Doc.”