Page 51 of The Scars I Bare
And seeing him with Lizzie, kneeling down and brushing the hair from her face, made him ten times more handsome in my eyes. I’d told myself I wouldn’t get involved, I wouldn’t give away my heart again, but damn if Dean Sutherland wasn’t making it hard.
“Are you ready? Scared? Excited?” he asked her, standing upright to allow her to finish her breakfast.
“Um, can I be all three?” she asked, scooping her last bit of Cheerios into her mouth.
“Absolutely. I am most days.”
“What if they don’t like me? The other kids?”
My brows furrowed. She hadn’t expressed this concern to me lately. I stepped forward, but Dean intervened before I could.
“You’re adorable, and you can rattle off fun facts faster than most adults. What’s not to like?”
Her face went slack as she looked up at him with concern. “Yeah, but I’m kind of weird, you know?”
“Weird? You mean, like this?” He waved his prosthetic arm in her direction.
She giggled as I joined them.
“You’re gonna do just fine,” I assured her. “Besides, you already met most of your classmates at orientation.”
“I only met three kids,” she said.
Dean laughed. “You did explain to her how small Ocracoke was, right?”
I pressed my lips together, trying to keep from laughing as well. “We might need to go over it one more time in the car.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” He gave one more meaningful glance in Lizzie’s direction. “Good luck, brainiac. Let me know how it goes.” He followed it with a quick wink.
She did the same.
I was about to ask where she’d learned to wink, but she ran off to find her backpack, and I was left with Dean.
“I’ll be in the clinic again today, so I’ll see you shortly,” he said before stepping toward the door.
“I never knew filing could take so long,” I joked.
He grinned, turning back around. “Well, I’m very thorough. But, I’ve convinced Jake to invest in an electronic system, so I’m going to start entering everything soon.”
“Are you kidding?” I asked, not bothering to cover up the elation in my voice.
“Yeah, I know they’re expensive, but honestly, it’s either that or he hires someone to manage the place. He opted for the computer system. And, with the extra room, he might actually have room to put in another exam room.”
“That’s amazing. Seriously. It will make our jobs so much easier. Thank you.”
He looked down.
Without thinking, I’d reached out and grabbed his hand as I was talking. It was a meaningless gesture.
To anyone but me.
My gut reaction was to pull away. To take it back and pretend like it had never happened. But I didn’t. I let out a breath and squeezed his hand, feeling the flesh beneath my fingers, letting him know I meant it.
Letting him know it meant something. For both of us.
The feeling of it stayed with me long after he left. I felt almost dazed from it as I went through the motions of the rest of the morning, loading the dishwasher and drinking my coffee. I was finally pulled out of it when Lizzie came bounding back into the kitchen, backpack on, ready to go.
“Can you watch over my flowers while I’m at school today?”
