Prejudice Meets Pride (24 page)

“Hey, I’m only thinking of you. Just trying to give you a nice, clean palette to work with.”

“Somehow, I’m not feeling the love,” came her reply.

He chuckled, and they continued to work—him, with nice, even strokes, and her, with rapid, almost stuttered strokes. Kevin tried not to think about how much sanding would have to be done on the other side of the wall or the inches of dust that would come from it.

“Hey, can I get your opinion on something,” he said.

“Sure.”

“There’s a machine I’ve been looking at purchasing for a while. It’s crazy expensive, and I don’t really need it, but it would give me the ability to make crowns in less than an hour, and for a kid who needs one—or needs to be put under—it could be really beneficial. Do you think something like that would be worth adding a few years of debt to the practice?”

The rapid, stuttering scraping noises stopped, and Emma’s head appeared around the side of the wall. “I hate debt.”

“I know.”

“But, if one of the girls needed a crown and I had to put them under more than once, I’d hate that even more.”

“Which is why I refer those patients to a friend of mine who has that machine.”

Her eyes softened, and a smile touched her lips. “I like that you do that.”

He returned her smile. “So? What do you think I should do?”

She disappeared behind the wall, and the light scraping noises sounded. “It’s like my dad always says,” she said. “The minute someone starts caring about money more than people is the minute they have a serious problem.”

It was Kevin’s turn to peek around the wall, though he wished he hadn’t when he saw the unevenness of her mud. “So you’re saying I should get the machine.”

“No. I’m saying that you already know what’s most important, and because of that, whatever you decide to do will be the right thing.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said dryly, returning to his side. “That was about as helpful as… well, your mudding job.”

“Watch it,” she said. “Or I’ll come after you again. I know your weakness, so it’ll be easy.”

Kevin smiled, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was right. Was Emma his weakness? Sometimes, she sure felt like one. He slapped some more mud on the drywall and methodically pushed it down. “Would you get the machine, Emma?”

Her head appeared again. “Tell me this: Does it bother you to refer patients to another dentist?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe that’s your answer.”

Maybe it was. Maybe he should get the machine, and maybe his practice would be better for it.

As the uncomfortable weight of indecision lifted from his shoulders, Kevin had another thought. Maybe Emma wasn’t his weakness after all. Maybe, she was his strength.

“What in the world happened to the waiting room?” was the question that greeted Kevin when he walked into his office Monday morning.

“Good morning to you, too, Janice,” he said.

Her footsteps quickened to catch up. “You didn’t answer my question. The waiting room is a mess!”

As he passed the reception desk, Kevin glanced through to the room. A mess? Hardly. When he and Emma had left Saturday night, they’d cleaned up everything. They’d even cordoned off the new wall with some heavy duty plastic to keep little fingers away. It didn’t look great, but it was clean.

“Give it a couple of weeks, and you’ll change your mind.” He entered his office and flipped on the light before dropping his briefcase on the desk.

“Kevin, there’s a large wall in the middle of our waiting room. Are you going to explain why it’s there and where it came from?”

Kevin sat down at his desk and sighed. He should have told her before now, but he knew exactly what Janice’s reaction would be when she found out that Emma was behind the “mess.” Ever since Emma had stopped coming in, things had been going so much better and smoother, and he hadn’t wanted to ruin it.

“The waiting room is being redesigned, that’s all. I’m having some murals painted, and that wall is part of the design,” he said, purposefully keeping Emma’s name out of it.

Janice lowered herself to the seat across from him and rested her hands stiffly in her lap. “How long has this been in the works, and why didn’t you bother telling me about it? As your office manager, it would be nice to know things like this. After the whole Emma debacle, I thought this wouldn’t happen again.”

“But that’s just it. This isn’t something you have to worry about. All you have to do is sit back and let it happen.”

“Yes, this
is
something I have to worry about. Who’s going to make sure no kids are going to crawl under the plastic or tear it down or suffocate themselves?”

“Hopefully the parents,” he said wryly. But when that didn’t seem to pacify her, Kevin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Listen, I didn’t set out to keep you in the dark. This was all thrown together pretty quickly. I saw this particular painter’s work and knew it would look really good in our office, so I hired her.”

“Her?”

And here we go again
, he thought. Kevin really didn’t want to have this conversation right now, but she was bound to figure it out sooner or later. “It’s Emma.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Emma?”

Kevin suddenly felt like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before supper. Which was ridiculous. He was an adult. He could eat a cookie before dinner if he wanted. Just like he could hire Emma to paint his walls if he wanted. “Turns out she really is an artist. You should see the room she made for her nieces.”

“So, when you told me that the problem with Emma had been solved, what you really meant was that you switched her responsibilities from filing and data entry to painting?”

When she put it that way, it sounded like one of those rash decisions Kevin might come to regret later. “It’s going to be amazing. Just wait.”

Shaking her head slowly, Janice stood. “Seems to me like you’ve traded in one problem for an even bigger one. What if you don’t like the end result? What then?”

For a moment, Kevin worried about the possibility of that happening. But then he pictured that fairy room and shook his head. “Even you’ll like the end result. Trust me. And if not, we’ll repaint it with the ugly tan that’s in there now.”

Janice opened her mouth to say something more, but was cut off by the ringing of Kevin’s cell phone. His mother. Not the interruption he would have chosen, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and he was definitely a beggar.

“I need to take this,” he said to Janice.

She nodded and left the room, closing his door with a bit more force than necessary. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?” He cringed the moment the words slipped out.

“Kevin, you get more colloquial every time I speak with you. What happened to the son I raised?”

“I blame my patients. They don’t understand big words.”
Nothing like letting innocent children take the fall
, Kevin thought wryly. “What can I do for you?”

“I haven’t talked to you in a while, so I thought I’d call to see how you are.”

“We talked Saturday.”

“No, I
called
Saturday, but you were too busy flirting with some woman to talk. And since you decided to avoid my calls yesterday, here I am again.”

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.” Kevin mentally kicked himself for answering the phone on Saturday. Now, she’d want to know all about the mysterious woman he’d flirted with.

“So tell me,” she said. “Were you with Nicole? Was that her I heard you kissing in the background?”

Kevin felt like cursing. So he hadn’t disconnected the line after all. Not good. “I’m not seeing Nicole, Mom.”

A pause. “Then who was she?”

This was the second time today—and at only seven thirty in the morning—that Kevin had been reluctant to give out Emma’s name. But, like with Janice, his mother would find out sooner or later. “Her name is Emma.”

“And does this Emma have a last name?”

“Mackie.”

“How did you meet her?”

“She lives next door.”

A lengthy pause. “You aren’t referring to the woman you told me about before, are you? The single mother whose lawn you mowed?”

Kevin groaned inwardly. He’d forgotten all about their earlier conversation and the less than flattering way he’d talked about Emma back then. His shrewd mother, on the other hand, never forgot anything. It was one of the things that made her a wonderful politician’s wife. “That would be her.”

“I see.” More silence, though her disapproval was coming through the line loud and clear.

“For the record, she’s not a single mother. The two girls she’s looking after are her nieces.”

“Why is she looking after them?”

“It’s a temporary thing. Just until her brother gets back on his feet. His wife passed away.”

“Oh.” She didn’t sound too sympathetic. “Where is Emma from, and who are her parents?”

Kevin glanced at his watch. His first patient would be arriving soon, and he needed to get going. “She’s the daughter of Gerald and LuAnn Mackie. They work for a humanitarian organization and currently live in Guatemala. They’re wonderful people.” Not that Kevin knew from firsthand experience, but Emma seemed to love them.

For a moment, Kevin thought his mother had hung up, but then she said, “That may be true, Kevin, and this Emma might be wonderful as well. But is she really right for you?”

Yes, she is!
Kevin wanted to shout. But his mother had succeeded in sowing a seed of doubt. Well, not “sowing,” per se, more like watering a tiny seed that already existed. Combined with Janice’s concern about the waiting room, he suddenly didn’t feel so great. “I have to go, Mom.”

“Just make sure you think things through,” she said quietly. “You were made for great things, Kevin. You need a woman who will complement you, not someone who will hold you back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He hung up the phone, wondering what great things his mother referred to and how Emma would keep him from fulfilling them. He was a pediatric dentist, not a lawyer. He lived in an average home in an average neighborhood in an average city. He made a good income and drove a nice car. He had good friends and a life that made him happy.

Why then, did he suddenly feel like he’d veered off course?

The uncomfortable feeling in his gut intensified. Maybe it was good that he was leaving in a week. His relationship with Emma had gone from zero to sixty, and some time away would probably be good for both of them. He could clear his mind, re-evaluate the unexpected turn his life had recently taken, and figure out what it was he really wanted.

“Ouch!” Emma dropped the fabric she held and shoved her index finger into her mouth, sucking away the small drop of blood that had oozed from the tiny hole. Last night, Adelynn had announced that she didn’t want to be a princess for Halloween anymore. She wanted to be a genie. Where she came up with that idea, Emma wasn’t sure, and trying to talk her out of it was the equivalent of trying to talk Kajsa into wearing a princess costume. Wasn’t going to happen.

As soon as the girls had left for school, Emma called Becky, and together, they had gone through all of Sam’s old Halloween costumes and dress-up stashes. Emma had planned to spend the day researching undersea life, as she had the past couple of days, but that would have to wait until the weekend. Tomorrow was Halloween, and Emma had already committed to help with the school’s parade and Kajsa’s class party.

“Prick your finger?” Becky said from the other side of the table.

“Yes.”

A small smile appeared on Becky’s face. “Does that mean you’re going to fall into a deep sleep and make me call Kevin to come kiss you awake?” she teased.

“You’re forgetting that princesses are for babies, and I am
not
a baby,” Emma said, mimicking Adelynn’s argument from the night before.

Becky laughed. “Princesses might be for babies, but kisses aren’t. And from the looks of things, you could use a restorative kiss right about now.”

“Too bad Kevin’s not in the mood to give me one,” she muttered under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Becky leaned across the table, her eyes drawn together in concern. “Is there something you’re not telling me? I thought things were going great between you two.”