smile? “Very nice to meet you, Dr. Stanton.” He stressed the word “doctor,” but it did not sound like an apology. She hadn’t expected one, but neither had she expected to be subtly insulted.
Didn’t he like doctors? If so, he shouldn’t be working in a hospital, even with children. Especially with these children, since many were doctors’ kids. But maybe she’d imagined his inflection.
“Good to meet you, too,” she clipped out, then knelt, gently extracting her skirt from Jenny’s hand. “Okay, sweetheart. Time for me to go, but I’ll be back for you soon.”
“No, Mommy,” Jenny said in her sweet little girl’s voice. “I don’t want you to go.”
Kelley inhaled, knowing the scene that was to come. Hating it, for she always felt as if she were hurting Jenny. “I have to, honey, but—”
“But we’re going to have a great time here today, Jenny.”
Kelley looked up in gratitude as Shawn Jameson took Jenny’s hand and tried to gently lead her away.
Jenny began to cry.
Shawn’s blue eyes widened. Surely that wasn’t fear Kelley saw in them? He glanced at her as if for help, but she mouthed, “Thanks,” and backed away.
Jenny began to cry even louder.
“Would you like a piece of doughnut?” Shawn asked, gesturing toward a box on the tall reception desk. “Or some fruit?” As usual, the treats had been left there that morning.
Kelley swallowed her objection to his bribing her child with sweets. It didn’t help anyway. Jenny did not calm down.
“Then let’s go color with your friends.” Shawn tugged on Jenny’s hand. The child was no match for the brawny man and followed him, but her sobs didn’t stop. He led her to an empty seat at the closest table and urged her into a chair. “Here are some nice crayons and a pad of paper,” Shawn said. “Would you like to draw something?”
“No,” Jenny wailed, pushing her chair back from the table.
“Well…would you like a cup of juice, Jenny?”
Kelley continued to watch from the doorway, wondering if she should go rescue her child. Or the man. He seemed to be growing panicked. None of the other caregivers were in the room. They were probably with kids in the facility’s other rooms. Or maybe in the kitchen, working on the day’s snacks.
In any event, this did not look good.
“I don’t want juice,” Jenny screamed. “I want my mommy!”
She looked at Kelley. So did Shawn. Kelley took a deep, uneven breath but did not move. If things didn’t improve in a minute, though, she would have to step in.
If she did, if she had to complain about this man, he could lose his job. That might be a good thing, but on his first day? Didn’t he deserve a chance?
Besides, Kelley had enough enemies these days. She didn’t need another if she could avoid it.
But why didn’t he seem to know what to do with the child? Worse, why did he appear so rattled? Surely he had worked with kids before. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been hired.
“Mommy!” Jenny shrieked again, rising from her chair. She looked as if she was about to run toward Kelley, who wondered if she should just leave. Maybe things would calm down when she was gone.
Maybe they wouldn’t.
The other children watched the exchange, eyes huge. The lower lips of a couple began to quiver, as if they might cry in sympathy for Jenny. Or for their own absent parents.
Obviously Shawn noticed, for he looked around nervously.
“Hey,” he said, grabbing a pad of paper and some crayons from the table. He looked desperate. What was he going to do? “Do you have any pets at home, Jenny?”
No, Kelley wanted to tell him. Don’t remind her. Jenny wanted a puppy or a kitten. Having a pet was even a recommended therapy to help Jenny recover from the trauma of the fire. But the timing wasn’t right.
If Kelley were a stay-at-home mom, the way Randall had wanted her to be, she would be able to take care of a pet. But that wasn’t reality. It wasn’t what Kelley wanted, either for herself or her daughter. She wanted Jenny to have a strong role model.
Not the kind of role model Kelley herself had had.
“I don’t have no pets,” Jenny told Shawn, shaking her head sadly. But at least she was no longer crying.
“Would you like one?”
It was time for Kelley to intervene. The man couldn’t be allowed to distract her daughter by making her feel bad about other things.
As Jenny nodded in response to his question, Shawn said, “Well, then, you shall have one.”
That was it. Kelley began crossing the room toward them, but Shawn Jameson must have noticed, for he held up one large hand. Kelley paused, but only for a minute. If he didn’t stop—
And then she got it. Kneeling on the floor beside the pint-size table, Jameson used the crayons to sketch on the pad. In a moment, the outline of a fuzzy spaniel puppy took shape, one with big, sad eyes and a lolling tongue. And that with only a few strokes on the paper.
It was an adorable caricature.
“Here you are, Jenny,” Shawn said. “This is your new puppy. And—” he made a few more strokes on the page. A child appeared beside the dog—a child with Jenny’s straight, blond hair and soulful chocolate-brown eyes. She wore a crown, like a princess.
“For me?” Jenny asked in obvious delight. Her tears had dried, replaced by a big, amazed grin.
“For you,” Shawn replied. “But you’ll have to think of a name for the dog.”
“Okay,” Jenny replied, her small brows knit as she gave the matter a lot of thought.
Before she came up with a name, the other kids were crowding around, looking at her drawing. Demanding, “Me, too, Shawn. Please. Me next,” all in a chorus that earned from Shawn Jameson a foolish, pleased grin.
Kelley turned toward the door. No matter what the man’s qualifications, he had obvious talent in one direction. And the kids loved it.
Maybe he would work out after all.
SHAWN WATCHED AS Dr. Kelley Stanton left KidClub.
“Okay, Teddy,” he told the nearest child and began to sketch a kitty-cat, as requested.
Amazing. He had all but forgotten his old ability to draw caricatures. Thank heavens it had come back to him when he’d really needed it. As he’d once really needed it to survive.
“I’ll call my puppy Gilly,” Jenny told him solemnly as he continued to sketch on the pad. “For Gilpin. That’s this hospital.”
“And a
