hospital in town, he was often busy and sometimes absent-minded, but always seemed like a good dad. Over the years when he had to work or got called in for emergencies Brynn had spent countless nights at my house, and Jonathan repaid my parents by having me over on school holidays and taking me along with them on trips to San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.
It wasn’t until I pulled up in front of their house that I realized that with Brynn leaving he would be completely alone in that vast, empty place. Sympathy squeezed at my heart—however difficult this was for me, it had to be even harder on him.
“Is that you, Molly?” a voice called from the shadows as I started up the steps. A moment later Dr. Sanders poked his head around one of the tall, white columns that lined the porch. “Thank God you’re here. I was afraid she was going to spontaneously combust if she didn’t have a chance to tell you all about it six or seven times.”
How the man had managed to stay single all this time was one of life’s great mysteries. Ebony hair framed a lean, aristocratic face set with sea-green eyes that could shift in an instant between placid, sunlit ripples and storm-tossed, hoary deeps. Running and hiking were his passions whenever he wasn’t working, and he had a toned athlete’s body that belied the fine age lines around his eyes. By rights every woman in the county should have been beating on his door—and maybe they were. But so far as I could tell none of them had managed to get so much as a foot inside. Their loss.
“I’ll see if I can get her calmed down,” I promised, “but you might want to call in a prescription for tranquilizers just in case.”
“I should have thought of that hours ago,” he sighed, then with a wink at me he stretched back out on the porch swing. “In the meantime I’m staying out here where it’s safe. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Brynn popped the door open before I could knock and dragged me inside.
“I can’t believe it,” she gushed, bobbing on her toes. “I’m so freakin’ excited I feel like I’m going to explode.”
“Congratulations,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to free my arm. “You know, if you yank that off your dad is going to have to reattach it.”
It took a second, but then she realized what she was doing and let go. “Sorry. But can you believe it? I’m going. I’m really going!”
For two years she had battled disappointment and frustration at not being admitted to the veterinary school at A&M. In high school we had both been far too interested in other things—mainly boys—to worry about our grades much, so she had worked like a fiend after graduation to make up for it by excelling in college. Now her hard work had paid off and she was on her way to make her dreams come true. I just didn’t know what I was going to do without her.
“I know,” I told her. “You deserve it.”
“Come on, I’ll show you the letters,” she said, and grabbing my arm again bounced her way up the stairs to her room.
For two hours she told me all about it; I read the letters from the university half a dozen times, and then she pulled up the campus maps on her computer and we looked at pictures of dorms and the buildings where she would attend classes. I truly was happy for her, but at the same time my heart felt hollow. Whatever time we spent together before she left, she already had one foot out the door and would be looking ahead to her new life rather than thinking about me and the little town where we had grown up. I felt like I had lost her already.
“Oh, shoot,” she said, casting a guilty eye over her shoulder at me. “You never had dinner, did you? I’m sorry; I’ll bet you’re starving.”
“It’s fine,” I shrugged. “I didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.”
Big, blue eyes focused their full attention on me. “Molly, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve been
It wasn’t until I pulled up in front of their house that I realized that with Brynn leaving he would be completely alone in that vast, empty place. Sympathy squeezed at my heart—however difficult this was for me, it had to be even harder on him.
“Is that you, Molly?” a voice called from the shadows as I started up the steps. A moment later Dr. Sanders poked his head around one of the tall, white columns that lined the porch. “Thank God you’re here. I was afraid she was going to spontaneously combust if she didn’t have a chance to tell you all about it six or seven times.”
How the man had managed to stay single all this time was one of life’s great mysteries. Ebony hair framed a lean, aristocratic face set with sea-green eyes that could shift in an instant between placid, sunlit ripples and storm-tossed, hoary deeps. Running and hiking were his passions whenever he wasn’t working, and he had a toned athlete’s body that belied the fine age lines around his eyes. By rights every woman in the county should have been beating on his door—and maybe they were. But so far as I could tell none of them had managed to get so much as a foot inside. Their loss.
“I’ll see if I can get her calmed down,” I promised, “but you might want to call in a prescription for tranquilizers just in case.”
“I should have thought of that hours ago,” he sighed, then with a wink at me he stretched back out on the porch swing. “In the meantime I’m staying out here where it’s safe. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Brynn popped the door open before I could knock and dragged me inside.
“I can’t believe it,” she gushed, bobbing on her toes. “I’m so freakin’ excited I feel like I’m going to explode.”
“Congratulations,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to free my arm. “You know, if you yank that off your dad is going to have to reattach it.”
It took a second, but then she realized what she was doing and let go. “Sorry. But can you believe it? I’m going. I’m really going!”
For two years she had battled disappointment and frustration at not being admitted to the veterinary school at A&M. In high school we had both been far too interested in other things—mainly boys—to worry about our grades much, so she had worked like a fiend after graduation to make up for it by excelling in college. Now her hard work had paid off and she was on her way to make her dreams come true. I just didn’t know what I was going to do without her.
“I know,” I told her. “You deserve it.”
“Come on, I’ll show you the letters,” she said, and grabbing my arm again bounced her way up the stairs to her room.
For two hours she told me all about it; I read the letters from the university half a dozen times, and then she pulled up the campus maps on her computer and we looked at pictures of dorms and the buildings where she would attend classes. I truly was happy for her, but at the same time my heart felt hollow. Whatever time we spent together before she left, she already had one foot out the door and would be looking ahead to her new life rather than thinking about me and the little town where we had grown up. I felt like I had lost her already.
“Oh, shoot,” she said, casting a guilty eye over her shoulder at me. “You never had dinner, did you? I’m sorry; I’ll bet you’re starving.”
“It’s fine,” I shrugged. “I didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.”
Big, blue eyes focused their full attention on me. “Molly, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve been
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