Page 33 of Falling for Keeps

Penny nods vigorously.

“What’s your favorite book?”

“Laura Ingalls and Dork Diaries.”

Her smile widens, and she shoots me a conspiratorial look before turning her attention back to Penny. “I love how well-rounded your reading is.”

“I haven’t read the one where Nikki goes to Paris. My best friend Sarah read it, and I was supposed to borrow it from her, but then we moved.”

“We might have it on the shelves. I’ll look.”

“Thanks,” I say.

“No problem.” Emma’s still talking to Penny. “If we don’t have it, we can probably request it from another branch.”

“Can we pick it up when we come in?”

“If it’s there, I’ll pull it from the shelf for you as soon as I get to work.”

“Thank you!” Penny races across the room and throws her arms around Emma’s waist.

“Pen,” I say with warning.

“It’s fine.” Emma’s arms go around her back, squeezing lightly. “I understand how it feels to be excited for a book.”

This is almost painful to watch. I clench my jaw, swallowing the emotion building in my chest.

“Wait!” Penny shouts as Emma goes to leave. “Would you rather be forced to sing every time you hear a song or dance when you hear music?”

Emma stops, her hand resting on the doorknob. She looks thoughtful, and I want to thank her heartily for not brushing my daughter off, but I have the feeling we aren’t special. I bet Emma always makes people feel like they have worth.

“Sing,” she says decisively. “I couldn’t handle being forced to dance to the music at a funeral. But I could sing so quietly, no one knew.”

“You’re really smart,” Penny says.

“Which one would you choose?” Emma asks.

I know for a fact she’s going to say dance. The girl was always making up dances with her friends back home. She also answered this one for me at breakfast this morning.

“Sing,” Penny says, her blue face crinkling into a smile. “Just like you.”

When Ben offers to get started on the cabinets on Monday, I can’t tell if he’s doing me a favor or if he really has the time. I finish showing him the rest of the office and explain what I’m hoping for.

“Each exam room needs the same set up?” he asks, gesturing down the hall.

“Yeah, drawers on the bottom, cabinets on top.”

“We can do deep drawers here.” He points to the lowest area. “Two of them, then a shallow one on top.”

“That sounds good. I’ll need some of them to have locks.”

“Easy.” Ben runs a hand through his dark hair, then leans back on the Formica countertop. “You open this week?”

“I have to start taking clients if I don’t want to go totally bankrupt, so yeah. I’m planning on a soft open Friday. I don’t want to drive everyone to Burlington just because this is taking too long.”

“Vance already did that, man. You can’t make it worse.”

It’s true. The old dentist was so cranky and ill tempered, most of the town drove the thirty minutes to Burlington so they wouldn’t have to go to Vance. “It’s a good time of year to open a business, at least. There are so many town events coming up to promote this place.”