Doctor Holliday (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter 8

Sunday, December 10 th

Keaton

“Well, Mr. Charvat said his dad had lung cancer,” Ruby announced. “He said it makes him love teaching this unit, but he also sounded sad.”

Keaton nodded as he sipped his iced tea. If Ruby’s science teacher lost his dad to lung cancer, that made sense. After all, educating kids about the dangers of smoking and vaping would be about all one could do in hopes that kids would say no. But Keaton couldn’t imagine standing around every day talking about something that had killed one of his parents.

“I’m sure it’s hard,” Keaton agreed, “but Mr. Charvat thinks it’s important, too, or he wouldn’t be spending so much time on this unit.”

“Keaton?”

He snapped his head to the left, surprised to see Lucy Holliday in the booth across the aisle from them.

“Hey.” He scooched back a bit and turned some in the booth to look at her. Assuming the girl across the table from Lucy was her daughter, he offered her a smile and a nod. “Lucy. How are you?”

“Good.” She glanced at her daughter with a laugh. “This one wears me out every year when we Christmas shop. We always stop here to refuel.”

“Brutal,” he answered with an exaggerated frown. “Rube and I come here for lunch every other Sunday.”

Lucy turned her attention to Ruby.

“Hi.” She spoke to Ruby with her usual warm, friendly tone. “What’s your favorite thing here?”

“Grilled chicken tacos.”

“Mine, too!” The girl across from Lucy lifted her hand like she was giving Ruby an air high-five. Ruby giggled.

“This is Callie,” Lucy told them.

“I’m Ruby.”

“Do you visit Santa here, Ruby?” Callie tipped her head and quirked an eyebrow at his daughter. Keaton flinched. He held his breath, hoping Ruby wouldn’t say something rude.

“Eww.” She scrunched her nose up. “No. I’m ten.”

Callie laughed softly. “See, Mom?”

Keaton slumped his shoulders, relieved Ruby had been honest but not rude.

“I tease her every year,” Lucy told Ruby. “Try to get her to sit on Santa’s lap.”

The waitress appeared to take Lucy and her daughter’s orders, so Keaton turned back to his daughter.

“So, did you finish the homework you had? The science questions about the lung model?”

Ruby nodded and fidgeted with her fork. “Yeah. There were a lot of weird questions, though.”

“Like what?”

“Stuff about smoking and vaping.”

Keaton gritted his teeth. Maybe that was a good thing—surely, there were kids Ruby’s age who did those things or admired older siblings who did those things. And yet, there were other kids, like Ruby, who had no interest in those things. And Keaton felt like it was wrong to hammer on the topics to those kids who wouldn’t give them the time of day if the teachers didn’t focus on them.

Rock and a hard place, he supposed. Lots of that in education these days. But then, he wasn’t an educator. He was a parent, and his child was his most important concern.

“Can I go to the bathroom, Dad?” Ruby asked him. She had finished all but two bites of her tacos. Keaton often wondered if the whole body image thing would rear its ugly head with Ruby. She was an average sized little girl. His ex-wife had been slender when they met, but her body had changed slightly with age and of course, with the pregnancy. But Keaton wasn’t privy to the things Alyssa might have said about her body in front of Ruby. He was aware most children, most girls, picked up on body image from their mothers, the negative comments they made about themselves as well as others.

“Sure.”

After the waitress took Lucy and her daughter’s order, she collected his and Ruby’s empty plates and left the check for him.

“You’re not carrying many bags,” he commented with another look toward Lucy.

Callie laughed. “Mom’s a very particular shopper. She has to study everything ten times before she makes a purchase.”

“That true?” Keaton flicked his gaze from Callie to Lucy.

“Maybe.”

“You should see her in the grocery store. She can hold an avocado in her hand and study it long enough for it to ripen right there.”

He laughed with the two of them. Lucy’s daughter had dark hair and dark eyes like she did, but her cheekbones were softer and her forehead a bit wider.

“I don’t even know how to tell an avocado is ripe.”

“I’m guessing you don’t eat them.”

He pointed at Lucy with a grin. “I don’t go out of my way to eat them, but I will if it’s on my plate.”

“Do you like guac?” Callie asked him.

“If it’s spicy, yes.”

Callie nodded in approval.

“Ready, Dad?”

He looked at Ruby as she returned to the table.

“Gotta pay first.”

She nodded and parked her rear end on the edge of her side of the booth. Keaton felt Lucy’s eyes on him. He wanted to ask her to dinner. Or coffee, even. And yet, it felt weird to consider it with both of their daughters sitting here watching them.

“You know.” She cleared her throat. “You have my number.”

Uncertain where she was going, Keaton answered with a jerky nod.

“If you want to catch up.” She shrugged. “After the other night.”

Their eyes locked.

Was she suggesting he contact her to see how Logan and her baby were doing? No. Couldn’t be that. Because she couldn’t tell him anything. But Ruby didn’t know that, so maybe she was talking in code?

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Yeah, I will.” With a glance at Ruby, he shot his thumb in Lucy’s direction. “Lucy is the doctor who delivered that baby in my stockroom the other night.”

Ruby knew that much, because Alyssa had told her the night it happened.

“Oh.” She stared at Lucy with big eyes. “That would be scary.”

Lucy’s smile turned soft. “It can be. But I’ve delivered a lot of babies.”

“Do you deliver babies?” Ruby asked Callie.

“No.” Callie shook her head. “But I want to go to medical school.”

Keaton watched Ruby, sure he saw the wheels turning in her head. He handed the waitress the check and cash to cover it when she returned with Lucy and Callie’s drinks.

“Ready?” he asked Ruby.

“Yeah.” She slid off the booth and stepped a smidge closer to Lucy and Callie’s table. “That’s cool that you delivered that baby.”

“I’m glad I got to meet you, Ruby Thatcher,” Lucy said sincerely. She held the eye contact with Ruby for a moment and finally looked up at Keaton.

“Nice to meet you, Callie.” He glanced at Lucy’s daughter but looked back at Lucy immediately. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Great.” Lucy nodded.

Keaton heard Callie whisper something to Lucy as he herded Ruby away from the table to the exterior door. Unlike Ruby, Callie would be well aware of the HIPPA laws that made it impossible for Lucy to share anything at all with him about the baby or girl from the other night.

The thought of Callie teasing Lucy about him getting in contact with her put a smile on his face.