a persistent one. “But if you get married, I’m involved, too, because your husband would be my daddy, right? So I should be part of it, right?”
Sherri changed tactics slightly because Sydney wasn’t giving in yet. “Why have you decided that you want a daddy? I thought we did really well, just the two of us. We live in a nice place, I have a good job, we have really nice friends who love us and treat us like family and you and I have lots of fun. I think our life is pretty good, Sydney.”
“It’s very good, Mommy,” Sydney assured her. “That’s why I want Lucas to be in our family, because then it would even better. I have lots of fun with him, Mommy, and so do you. Don’t you want to be with him all the time? I do.”
After more discussion Sherri was fairly sure that she’d convinced Sydney that while her intentions were pure, her interference was inappropriate and that anything to do with marriage should be left strictly to the adults involved. Sydney said she understood and promised to stay out of her mother’s love life. Sherri was, however, dreading her next encounter with Lucas because this time it was bound to be uncomfortable.
She couldn’t stop replaying the rest of the weekend like an endless live-feed loop on her mental computer screen. Her mind was occupied as she addressed patients whose asthma treatments needed upgrading or who were recuperating from sprained ankles, measles and other childhood ailments. She forced herself to keep her mind clear and focused on her patients and their parents. It worked wonderfully until it was time for her to take a break for lunch. “Break” was somewhat of a misnomer because she usually stayed in her office and dictated notes on all her patients while she ate something she’d brought from home. When she went to her office, Lucas was waiting for her with a fancy bag from Seven-Seventeen.
Sherri entered the room warily, asking, “Why are you here, Lucas?”
Lucas gave her the easy grin that never failed to melt her heart and said, “I thought I’d bring you lunch and say hello. Come on in. I don’t bite unless you want me to.”
She straightened her shoulders and walked to the coat hooks behind her desk to hang up her white coat. Sitting down behind her desk, she clasped her hands together before giving him a stern look. “I thought we agreed to take things slowly,” she said.
Lucas didn’t answer her right away; he was occupied with taking her lunch out of the bag and arranging it on the coffee table in front of the small sofa. “This is slow, Sherri. Believe me, I can move a lot faster,” he teased. “Come eat your lunch. You skip too many meals, sweetheart.”
There it was again—that tender tone that made her body respond every time she heard it. As if she had no will of her own she rose from the desk and went to the tiny lavatory to wash her hands. When she was finished she seated herself on the sofa and looked at the delicious food. She smiled in spite of any misgivings and thanked Lucas properly.
“This looks wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this. You didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it.”
“You’re more than welcome.”
Sherri sighed deeply before turning her attention to the gorgeous spread in front of her. A salad of arugula, romaine and spinach adorned with thin slices of sirloin with marinated artichoke hearts and hearts of palm awaited her. It was garnished with avocado, tomatoes and cucumber and it looked like a magazine cover, right down to the little glass jar that held her favorite dressing, red wine vinaigrette. There was a crusty roll, still warm from the oven, a bunch of tiny champagne grapes and a bottle of green tea. He’d also had the pastry chef from Seven-Seventeen make up a huge box of cookies for her to share with her hardworking staff. Lucas had thought of everything. Sherri spread the cloth napkin he’d provided over her lap before attacking the salad.
After the long, slightly worrisome mother-daughter talk with Sydney, Sherri tried not to fret, but it was impossible. She wasn’t a person to act on impulse; the serenity of her life depended on her ability to plan things out calmly and rationally. Her plan had included a life of celibacy until her daughter was safely in college, and she’d neglected the plan. She’d destroyed