CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Zack
Sunday, May 19
A LITTLE BEFOREeight in the evening, I knock on Quinn’s front door. I hear Ruffles bark, and I have a moment of anxiety, wondering if I should have called first.
Well, duh, of course I should have called first; it’s what civilized people do. Jessica would have a cow if someone just dropped in unannounced. But if I’d called, I would have gotten the update about Lily over the phone, and I would have lost my excuse to stop by.
I’m relieved that Quinn is smiling as she opens the door. She’s wearing shorts, flip-flops, and a pink T-shirt, and she looks more like a college student than a thirty-six-year-old business owner. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, but little wisps have escaped around her face.Pretty, I think. I squelch the inappropriate thought.
“I’m making rounds,” I say. “I just saw Margaret, so I thought I’d check on our littlest patient.”
“How’s Margaret doing?”
“She’s better. The physical therapist got her up today. She’s exhausted and sore, but being able to get around will be a game changer for her.”
“That’s great.”
“How’s Lily?”
Quinn opens the door wider. “Come in and see for yourself. The way she’s bouncing around, you’d never know she’d been sick.”
I step into the foyer and bend down to pet Ruffles, but before I can even touch the dog’s fur, a yellow-nightgown-clad Lily barrels toward me, her arms flung wide. I hunker down as she throws herself at me. Her face is alight. “Daddy! I’m so, so glad to see you!” She hugs me as if I’m an adored family member she hasn’t seen in months instead of just since this morning.
I hug her back, my chest tight. When I move to Seattle, monthswillpass between the times I see her. I inhale the sweet baby shampoo scent of her damp hair, then look at her as we draw apart. “You look like you feel much better.”
“I do. I just had a bubble bath an’ it feels so won’erful not to be sick anymore!” She grabs my hand. “Come see the pitchers I drawed for you an’ Auntie Quinn an’ Grams!”
I raise my eyebrows and look at Quinn. “Is it okay?”
Her mouth curves in a wry grin. “As if I could say no after the hazard duty you pulled last night.”
I let Lily pull me into the kitchen, Ruffles cavorting beside us. Lily leads me past the island to the refrigerator, where Quinn has posted the latest round of artwork. Lily points a chubby finger to a crayon picture of stick figures with big heads and hands. “That’s you an’ me an’ Auntie Quinn on the sofa when I was sick,” she says. “An’ that’s Auntie Quinn an’ you with the sick bucket takin’ care of me. An’ this one is when I got sick on your shirt.”
“Hey, Quinn wasn’t standing there smiling!”
“No, but she was in the house, an’ she woulda laughed if she hadda been. An’ this one is when you carried me in, an’ this is when you came back with groc’ries.”
I can’t help but be struck that all three of us are in every drawing.
“Nice, Lily.”
She points to the urp picture and the carrying-in picture. “These two are for you, an’ the others are for Grams an’ Auntie Quinn.”
“Thank you very much, Lily.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I was just about to put Lily to bed,” Quinn says.
“Can Daddy help tuck me in?” Lily whips around to face me. “Can you read me a story? Pleeease?”
Quinn smiles. “It’s okay with me, if he can spare the time.”
Lily fixes me with a pleading gaze. Like the Grinch—I remember reading that book aloud to my niece and nephew a few Christmases ago—I feel like my heart grows three sizes. “Sure.”
Lily jumps up and down. Ruffles jumps, too. “I’m gonna pick out some books!” She runs upstairs to her room.
