A Match for the Doctor by Marie Ferrarella Page A

trying to break you in slowly.”
    Simon was surprised when she moved in closer to him.
    Kennon glanced over to the girls and said, “Excuse us for a minute, girls.” Taking hold of Simon’s arm, she guided him over to one side of the room. She knew she was crossing a line and that he probably wouldn’t appreciate her doing so, but he had to be made to understand before it was too late.
    â€œI think it’s pretty clear that your daughters want you in their lives, Doctor. I’d say that makes you pretty lucky and I’d suggest that you take them up on it.” She saw a flicker of annoyance entering his eyes. This would be where most people would back off. But most people didn’t have her ability to empathize with children. She plowed on. “It won’t be long before they’ll just be streaksacross a room as they dash out the door to go off with their friends. After that’ll come boys and college, and all this will be just a memory. A memory you won’t have,” she emphasized, “if you don’t do anything with them now.”
    He was a private man and he didn’t like anyone meddling in his life. But he supposed the woman did have a point, and she knew it, too.
    â€œYou’re going to keep talking until I give in, aren’t you?”
    Her mouth curved just enough to tell him that he was right. “Just thinking of you—and them,” Kennon added deliberately.
    Right, he thought sarcastically. And while she was thinking, she wasn’t above manipulating the situation and the players to get what she wanted. Him at the furniture store. Still, he was forced to admit that he hadn’t been as available to the girls as he should have been. But that was, for the most part, because he didn’t know what to say.
    â€œTomorrow’s Saturday,” Kennon was telling him. “You do have the time to spare.”
    How did she know that? He frowned. “Now you’re psychic?”
    â€œNo,” she said simply. “Just resourceful.”
    Edna had been the one to tell her that Simon had become part of the Newport Beach Cardiovascular Group, which was housed in a very modern-looking two-story building located two blocks away from Blair Memorial Hospital. It took nothing for her to call the office and ask if Dr. Sheffield was going to be on call this Saturday. The woman scheduling appointments at the front deskhad informed her that Dr. Champion was on call the entire weekend. It was all Kennon needed to know.
    â€œResourceful,” Simon repeated, scrutinizing the dynamo before him. “I’d ask you what that meant, but I have a feeling I’m better off not knowing.”
    Simon sighed inwardly. Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, the woman had made a valid point. And there was the fact that he had made a silent vow to Nancy at her funeral to become more actively involved in their daughters’ lives. So far, he’d only managed to live up to his word in the most marginal sense. He supposed that spending a few hours with them on Saturday, even if it was in the pursuit of furnishing their bedrooms, would be a decent start.
    He capitulated.
    â€œWhat time?” he asked Kennon.
    She had anticipated at least another round of going back and forth, if not more, before she wore him down. This was almost too easy. Maybe he was a reasonable man after all.
    â€œThen you’ll come?” she asked, relieved that she could stop playing at being his conscience.
    Damn, but the woman had one hell of a radiant smile, he thought. It was one of those rare smiles that seemed to instantly pull you in and made you feel that all was right with the world.
    He caught himself looking at her left hand, wondering why there wasn’t a wedding band, or at least an engagement ring, on her finger. For the first time since she had steamrolled into his life, he found himself wondering about her backstory.
    As if to deny the very thought,