told me about it. Was it coincidence she woke up during that song? No one will ever know. But the hope that idea carried was amazing. I think I decided that day I wanted to do more than just teach music.”
Dawson witnessed the glistening emotion in Mikala’s eyes that the story brought up in her.
It was only there a short time, though, as she crossed to her desk and fiddled with the corner of a paper on her blotter. “I seem to remember you played the guitar. Do you still?”
That guitar had been packed away for a long time. “I haven’t picked it up in years.”
“Why not?”
“No time.”
At that she crinkled her nose.
Moving close enough to touch her, he asked, “What was that for?”
“We make time for what we want to make time for.”
He didn’t agree with that. “Sometimes there are demands on our time and we can’t do what we want.”
“I don’t know, Dawson. We all prioritize. You said you were working long hours and didn’t spend much time with Luke, but when you did, you enjoyed it. So what kept you from spending more time with him? I mean, why didn’t you make him a priority?”
He couldn’t tell if Mikala specifically meant to or not, but she was getting under his skin. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like the years-old attraction he was experiencing toward her or the way she was probing. Instinctively he knew she wouldn’t accept “work” as an answer, so he really thought about what she’d asked.
He gave an honest answer that caused his gut to burn. “I didn’t like the strain between me and Kelly that last year before she died.” He shook his head. “When I came into the house, she left.” That was hard to admit to anyone, especially Mikala. But he’d already realized she wouldn’t accept anything less than complete honesty.
To his relief she didn’t ask more questions about his marriage. “Did you do things together as a family?”
Dawson didn’t know if Mikala the therapist was asking, or Mikala the friend. He gave a shrug. “Not usually. I drove Luke to his Little League games. Kelly took him to his music lessons. I played catch with him in the backyard. She took him on play dates.”
“That happens with a lot of parents,” Mikala said, seeming to understand.
He didn’t feel any judgment from her and that made him feel less defensive. “I wish I knew how to get Luke looking forward to moving here.”
“Does he like animals? Has he ever asked for a pet, a dog, maybe?”
He took another step closer to Mikala. “You really do know kids.”
She laughed, a sound that resonated with him, that made his heart ache a little. Because he hadn’t known much laughter in the past two years.
“I’m good at what I do, Dawson. Besides, I get around. I often babysit for Clay and Celeste’s little girl, Abby.”
“Clay has emailed me photos and video clips. She’s a charmer.”
“Yes, she is.”
He noticed a wistfulness in Mikala’s voice. Did she want children of her own? Did she feel a biological clock ticking? Why hadn’t she married before now?
Veering away from that train of thought, he said, “I’m considering getting Luke a dog. It’s a good idea after we settle in. Luke’s old enough now to be responsible.”
“Did you have pets?” she asked with a smile.
Dawson wished he’d had a pet. Maybe his house wouldn’t have seemed so cold. “No, no pets. Dad was always at the mill. Mom involved herself in clubs and charity work. She raised money for a lot of causes.”
“As an only child, you must have had their full attention.”
He gave an offhanded laugh. “Yep, full attention.” He wasn’t going to say more. After all, Mikala didn’t have to know everything about him in order to help his son. No need at all. She didn’t need to know that his parents’ marriage had been cold, that they’d seemed to live separate lives, that they had seemed to stay together for convenience sake, for his sake or maybe for the sake of their finances.
This room seemed to magnify everything they were saying to each other, making it important. He turned the tables on her. “Didn’t your aunt dote on you?”
A guarded look came into Mikala’s eyes, and he recognized it as one she’d used even as a teenager.
“She did.” Mikala said simply.
“And your mom became a famous fashion designer who just visited on weekends?”
“Not that often,” Mikala offered nonchalantly. “When she had time.”
“When did she leave Miners Bluff?”
“Dawson, it doesn’t matter.”
“I’ve been answering your questions,” he reminded her.
“That’s different! I mean, I need to know background information in order to help Luke.”
“All of your questions had to do with background information?” He didn’t know why he was pushing this, but he was.
He saw the flush steal over her face, and he knew he’d hit the mark. She was interested in his life, just as he was interested in hers.
“Maybe not all,” she admitted. “After all, we’re sort of catching up.”
Yes, they were. “There’s a motto my parents lived by—appearances count. We all lived by it.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
What did it matter if he told her now? “What was private stayed private. We pretended everything was all right, even when it wasn’t. I have a feeling you might have done a lot of that, too.”
She didn’t say whether he was right or whether he was wrong. But there was something in the way the corner of her mouth quivered a little, in the way she nervously pushed her hair behind her ear that told him he’d hit a sore point for her, too. Mikala pretended her mother’s desertion didn’t matter. Maybe that’s why she’d kept a certain distance from everyone. Maybe that’s why her friendliness and maybe even her compassion were defenses. She got close to her friends, but didn’t let her friends get too close to her.
Except there hadn’t been any distance between them the night of prom, and there hadn’t been distance between them for the few minutes they’d danced the night of the reunion. Now he wasn’t sure what was happening with her. Maybe they were just catching up, but the connection he felt to her unnerved him.
Cutting off whatever was going on, he said, “I’d better get to the office or I’ll be late for my appointment.”
At
