Doctor Holliday (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter 12

Thursday, December 14 th

Keaton

“Wait.”

Keaton squeezed his eyes closed and hung his head over his phone laying on his kitchen counter.

“Did you say you have a date?”

Ruby wasn’t prone to squealing. Not since she had turned ten and deemed herself too old to act like a silly baby. And yet her voice had just jumped a few octaves—Keaton hoped it was just surprise and not disapproval.

He had been with a woman since he and Alyssa divorced. Not that Ruby needed to know that. The woman had been a quick little rebound thing, and she knew it. She had suggested it, actually. A businesswoman, a few years younger than him, breezing in through town on a quick trip. They met at a bar. She invited him to her hotel. They spent a few nights kind of using each other and kind of having fun. Neither of them had believed anything would come of it. Neither had wanted anything to come of it. Hence, Ruby never had any idea and never would.

But this.

Lucy.

Lucy Holliday was different. And she mattered. Already .

He needed Ruby, the number one woman in his life, to be okay with him dating.

Maybe more.

“I do.” He rested his hands on the Formica countertop and waited for her reaction.

“Cool.”

Her one-word response was so chill, so absent even , that Keaton wondered if she was talking to him or if she was carrying on another conversation with her mom or stepdad.

“Cool?” He cleared his throat.

“Yeah.” This time her tone sounded a little bit like she was thinking it’s about time . Parents got divorced. Happened all the time. Keaton knew that. It wouldn’t surprise him if half the kids in Ruby’s class were being raised by divorced parents. And yet, the casual way Ruby sounded right now made him sad. His parents had been married fifty-seven years when his dad passed away. His aunts and uncles were all still married. Sounded dumb, because after all, it was he and Alyssa who had destroyed their marriage and damned near destroyed each other in the process, but Keaton sort of missed the good old days.

When marriage was a commitment. Not the thing that happened after a show-stopping wedding.

“Okay.” He straightened and made his way to the refrigerator. He had made a seven o’clock reservation but suggested to Lucy he could pick her up around six. It would take a bit to get to her place, a bit to drive to the restaurant—weekend traffic wasn’t wonderful—and they could have a cocktail before dinner.

Keaton was a beer man. But if he was going to put on nice clothes and take Lucy Holliday out for dinner at The Harbourview, he could drink an Old-Fashioned.

“But wait. Dad?”

“What?” He froze again, waiting for his little girl to give him hell for his planned date.

“Where’re you going? What’re you wearing?”

Keaton chuckled as he pulled the fridge door open. He grabbed a plate of leftovers from last night and carried it to the microwave.

“I’m taking her to dinner. The Harbourview.”

Silence.

Keaton held his breath. Maybe that made her snap. Saying the word her. Taking her to dinner.

“That’s fancy, isn’t it?” she asked him. “Mom! Is?—”

“Rube!” He cringed as she hollered at Alyssa, asking her if his restaurant choice was fancy. Alyssa wouldn’t give a damn if he took the Queen of England out for dinner. But still. It wasn’t her business.

“Yep.” His ex-wife’s voice carried over the phone. “Why do you ask?”

“Dad has a date.”

“Nice.”

“Okay, so what are you gonna wear?” Ruby asked him. He waited a moment before answering, wondering if Alyssa was still there. When he was pretty sure it was just him and Ruby again, he took a deep breath.

“I don’t know. Dress pants. Dress shirt.”

“I should come and help you!” Ruby definitely squealed that time. “I could come over and help you get ready for your date.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Well, first of all, you have a sleepover tomorrow night,” he reminded her and continued over her sigh, “and second, I’m a guy. And I don’t need fashion advice.”

Ruby’s snicker made him lean forward to examine his current clothing. Thick work socks. Old, faded jeans. And probably an older crewneck sweatshirt.

“That’s why you need advice, Dad. ‘Cause you’re a guy.”

“I promise I’ll wear something nice.”

“Okay.” Her sigh was overly dramatic, as if she needed him to understand how his refusal of her help irritated her.

“How’s school?” The microwave beeped.

“Wait.”

“What now?” He took his plate and set it on the counter, but he didn’t sit just yet. What if now she had a reason why he shouldn’t go on a date? He needed to be standing for that.

“Who’re you going out with, Dad?”

He hated that she had asked, and yet, he was surprised it wasn’t her first question. Not that he would hide it from her. But Keaton would have preferred to have the first date out of the way, to know if there would be a second date, before telling Ruby about Lucy.

“Lucy Holliday.”

“That doctor?” Another squeal. Keaton cringed. Good thing Ruby was at home and not around friends. After all, she was too grown up to act like a silly baby. “The one who delivered that kid in your store?”

He snorted as he perched on the stool at the counter.

Not the lady they talked to Sunday at the mall. The doctor who delivered that kid in his store . Keaton felt a pang of regret. Ruby, his sweet daddy’s girl, was in fourth grade. She probably had a hell of a potty mouth when she was with her friends. Not because she understood what she was saying. Not because she had any venom or even bad behavior tucked away in her big heart. But because she was a fourth grader, and kids grew up way too damned soon these days.

“The very one,” he told her as she cut a bite off the ham steak he had grilled the night before.

“I like her.”

“Good. I’m glad.” He was. He actually felt the tension drain out of his shoulders at Ruby’s announcement. Would he let her control his social life? No. But on the other hand, if he and Lucy got involved and Ruby didn’t like her, it would be difficult.

“Tell me all about your date when I see you Saturday.”

“Oh, I will.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his fingers. He would tell her exact details of what he wore, what Lucy was wearing. What they ordered for dinner. Maybe even what kind of liquor he had in his cocktail. But that was it.

Because Keaton had lived that goodnight kiss over and over in his head until it was as much a part of him as his right elbow and the memory of Ruby’s birth. He absolutely planned another goodnight kiss. And while he didn’t want to rush anything with Lucy Holliday, he wouldn’t be upset if there was more.

More kissing. Some pawing around. The thought made him grin. He was sure Lucy would find it funny, too.

“And take pictures!” Ruby added.

“Not in a million years,” he told his daughter as he chewed and swallowed.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a grown man taking a woman to dinner. Not prom.”

He half expected a fight, but Ruby only broke into a fit of giggles.

“Good thing.” She caught her breath. “You sure can’t dance.”