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“Hey, Dad!” Charlie said. “This is sooo cool.Animal Planethas a show on ve...veminous snakes. Did you know we could have some of those atourplace?”
“Venomous,”Annie corrected Charlie sharply. “They havevenom.” She gave Matt a nervous glance, then disappeared.
That was strange. “Time to go, kids. We’ve bothered Dr. Maxwell long enough.”
Jolie stepped out of the lab door and shooed Charlie into the room with Annie, then crooked a finger at Matt. “Do you have a minute? We can go into my office.”
Today she had her hair up in that same classy knot, and wore trim black slacks with an emerald-green shirt under her white lab coat. Professional. Understated. And those clothes probably cost more than one of his mortgage payments.
He’d practically kissed her on the porch swing last Saturday night, and even now, just following her down the hall, he wanted to run his fingertips over the impossibly soft skin at her nape. Reach for the gold clip in her hair and see that mane of strawberry-blond hair tumble free.
Which was exactly thelastthing he should think of doing. Ever.
Once inside her office, she shut the door behind them, waved him toward a chair, and sat down behind her desk.
This looked like a serious discussion, and again he felt uncomfortable, realizing the kids had probably been an inconvenience. “Look, I’m sorry about the kids hanging around here after school. I’ll make sure they stay at school from now on.”
She looked startled. “Why? It’s no problem having them stop by. They’re always welcome if they prefer to wait for you here instead of the schoolyard.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m expecting you to watch my kids.”
“Well, I don’t feel that way at all. I won’t always have time to talk to them, but they’re great kids.” Was that a wistful look in her eyes? “It’s nice seeing them.”
She’d put up a half-dozen framed certificates and diplomas on the wall behind her desk. Matt shifted in his seat, acutelyaware of the college degree he’d never been able to complete, the career goals he’d never achieved.
With Barb’s illness...the avalanche of debt...and two young kids to raise, he’d done all right. But if things had been different...
“...so I needed to talk with you privately,” Jolie said. “Don’t you agree?”
“What?”
A flicker of concern crossed her face. “I know it’s not my business, but with both Charlie and Annie upset, I just let them talk.”
Already focused on the failings in his life, Matt felt a wave of defensiveness wash through him. What had they been upset about? His lack of attention? Caring? “My kids came toyou?”
“I’ve seen you with your kids. You’re a great father.” She paused, considering. “But with some things, it can be a little easier to talk to a woman or someone else outside the family. A doctor, for instance.”
Matt felt an icy fist clamp over his stomach as a thousand memories flooded back...the first news of Barb’s cancer. All of the other times when there had been cautious hope, followed by bad news.
It looks early.
We’re afraid it’s farther than we thought.
We think we see shadows on the MRI that might be metastases.
With luck, the chemo will help.
We’re sorry, but we’ve found mets to the brain and lung.
We think she has four to six weeks. Maybe.
Feeling a warm hand on his arm, he opened his eyes to see that Jolie had quietly moved from behind her desk and now leaned against its front edge.
Her eyes were clouded with concern. “We’re not talking cancer here.”
Just the wordcancerdrove a stake of ice into his chest.
She must have seen the horror in his eyes, because she added quickly, “Not at all. Though after your wife’s illness, I imagine that was your first thought.”
