Doctor Holliday (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter 17

Wednesday, December 20 th

Lucy

Callie didn’t have to be brilliant to understand that something significant had changed. True, Lucy had been seeing Keaton less than a full week, and no, they hadn’t rushed to get their daughters together or make plans to move in after several dates and several intimate moments. But Lucy knew she was different.

Before Keaton, she had been happy. She had always considered herself a strong, independent woman, with a positive mindset. After all, she loved her life. Callie was her number one person, she was close to her parents and siblings, and she loved her career. She didn’t need a man to make her smile, to make her laugh, to make her enjoy day to day life.

But spending time with Keaton, falling for Keaton, had put so much joy, contentment, in her heart, that it was spilling over. The first time it happened, she and Callie were watching a sappy holiday movie, and she cried when the couple finally professed their love for each other. The next time, she was on the phone with Kim, and she was trying to answer her sister about how things were going with Keaton. Callie, of course, was in the kitchen while Lucy was talking. And blushing. Even though she wasn’t talking about the sexy things she and Keaton liked to do when they were alone, she blushed like a schoolgirl when she talked about him, and Callie noticed.

“Are you inviting him to Christmas dinner? At Marty and Deanna’s?”

Lucy looked up from the sandwiches she had in the cast iron skillet. When she felt Callie watching her, she aimed an overly dramatic scowl in her direction. The trouble with being a fun but fair mom was that Callie always knew those looks weren’t serious.

“I gotta quit putting you on speakerphone,” she mumbled.

“Callie’s there?” Kim asked with a laugh.

“She is.”

“Hey, Cal.”

“Hi, Aunt Kim.” Callie sidled up to the counter and sat down on a stool.

“Talk your mom into bringing the boyfriend to Christmas dinner. I want to meet him.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Lucy argued.

“You’re dating, Mom,” Callie reminded her. “You’ve been inseparable since the two of you delivered that baby.”

“We’re not inseparable,” Lucy argued. “He’s not here now, is he?”

“No, but he dropped by earlier. Remember? Brought you the Italian dressing you needed for dinner. And a bouquet of flowers.”

“Flowers?” Kim asked. “That’s nice, Luce.”

“When you see each other all the time, and you come home looking like you do after your dates, then you can call him your boyfriend.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Lucy held her hands up, her mouth agape, as she stared at Callie.

“What’s she looking like, Cal? Like, are we talking walk-of-shame looks?”

“No!” Lucy yelped, but her laugh spoke volumes. She didn’t love being teased, and she felt too old to consider Keaton her boyfriend. And yet, here she was. “No walk-of-shame business. I have never spent the night with him.”

“Not yet.” Callie shrugged. “And you come home with messy hair. Lipstick gone?—”

“Callahan.” Lucy pointed a finger at her in warning.

“Call it what it is, Mom.”

“Kissing, Callie. He kisses me good night.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve seen that, Aunt Kim.”

“You two are impossible.” Lucy groaned and flipped the sandwiches.

“You’re in love with him,” Callie announced.

“Too soon for that.”

“Mom.”

Lucy jerked her gaze up from the sandwiches to meet Callie’s eyes. But Callie’s observation rattled her. She turned her back to her to get plates from the cabinet. She was just shy of forty. Was it too soon for love? Could she fall that quickly? Feel so much so soon?

“You’ve dated,” Callie started. “When you decided I was old enough to understand that my mom went out on dates now and then, you went out on dates. Right?”

“Mmm.” Lucy nodded. “Nothing?—”

“You had fun. There were some okay guys. Some nice-looking guys. But no one you talked about, outside of telling me you were having dinner with Jon. Or seeing a matinee with Alex. You talk about Keaton all the time.”

“No, I don’t.” Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Hear me out.” Callie shrugged. “I don’t mean you talk about him like a starstruck sixteen-year-old girl. I mean you talk to me, and Keaton is part of our lives now. You tell me that Keaton called about Ruby’s dance recital. You tell me Keaton read the latest David Baldacci book. You tell me about Keaton being frustrated with the Bruins. You’re not flirty and goofy about him.”

Lucy reached to remove one of the sandwiches from the skillet, but she froze, eyes locked with Callie’s.

“You talk to me like he’s part of us. Like he always has been.”

“Cal.” Lucy swallowed hard.

“On that note.” Kim’s voice startled Lucy. She had forgotten her sister was part of this conversation, that her sister had instigated it. “I’m gonna let you go. And I’ll let Deanna know you’ll be bringing a guest.”

“Callie!” Lucy called. “I’m bring Cal?—”

She stopped talking when she saw the home screen pop up on her phone. For once, Kim had actually let her go when she said she was going to.

“It’s okay.” Callie spoke softly. “You know that, right?”

Maybe because her heart was in her throat and she couldn’t speak clearly, maybe because she had no idea what to say and needed a second to think—whatever the reason, Lucy pulled in a long, deep breath and held it for a moment, and finally, let it out slowly. In control.

Because right now, she didn’t feel in control of anything else.

“If you love him.” Callie quirked her eyebrows at her.

Lucy cleared her throat and turned her attention back to dinner. She plated the sandwiches, disgusted that she had let them burn just slightly.

“How can I possibly love someone I just met?”

“You didn’t, though.”

Callie shook her head when Lucy peeked at her.

“Your first date was only five days ago, but you knew him before that.”

“I’ve known him for thirteen days, Cal,” Lucy reminded her daughter. “Do you think you could fall in love with someone in thirteen days?”

“But we’re talking about you,” Callie said simply. “Smart. Book smart, but you understand people. You deal with people. You bring people into the world.”

Lucy sliced both sandwiches and pushed a plate over the counter to Callie.

“That has nothing to do with how I feel about Keaton.” She shook her head, anxious to put the conversation to rest.

“It has everything to do with who you are, and that has everything to do with how you feel about Keaton.” Callie rolled her eyes. “You know yourself, Mom. And you are completely wonderful all by yourself. But he makes you laugh. He makes you smile. He makes you sing.”

Lucy snapped her gaze up to meet Callie’s again. Was she referring to last Sunday when Keaton had come over for pizza? And they had snuck into the laundry room? She thought she had been quiet?—

“I heard you singing the Mariah Carey song yesterday,” Callie told her. “The Christmas one.”

Finally ready to eat, Lucy sat down on a stool next to Callie. She took a drink of her water, feeling the heat in her face as her daughter continued to stare at her.

“I don’t know if you think you need my blessing.” Callie took a bite of her sandwich. “But I just want you to know it’s okay.”

Lucy, feeling schooled by her daughter, and a little bit foolish because of that, simply nodded and turned her attention to her own sandwich.