“Nooo!” the child cried, clearly trying to stop Jared from leaving.
Melanie expected Jared to brush him off in a pleasant but firm manner. Instead he reached down and swooped the child into the air.
“It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s Superkid!”
The child screamed with laughter.
Jared laughed, too, and Melanie’s breath caught in her chest. The laugh completely transformed his face. He had dimples for one thing, not childlike little dents but manly smile lines. She hadn’t noticed them before, although he’d smiled politely once or twice yesterday. But not real smiles like this. His eyes crinkled at the corners, making him look as kind as a favorite grandfather.
In fact, for just one crazy moment, Melanie could see him as a grandfather many years down the road. In her mind’s eye, she saw him, a little older, a little gray at the temples, reaching down in the same motion for a little boy with dark hair and green eyes….
“Okay, sport, I’ve gotta go,” Jared said, giving the child a final toss-and-catch before placing him gently on the floor.
“Nooo!” the little boy cried again, clutching at Jared’s pant leg. “Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go! Play ba!”
Jared knelt in front of the child and took his tiny hands in his. “How about if I come back and play ball after lunch?”
The boy chewed his lip, as if considering. “Lunch?”
“After lunch,” Jared said. “If you’re a good boy till then, we’ll play a little ball before I go back to work.”
The child’s face brightened. “I be good!”
Jared laughed. “Then I’ll see you after lunch.”
Em walked up behind Melanie and watched the scene with her. “That’s little Johnny Souffel. Last month he turned three and still hadn’t said a word. Dr. Cross has been treating him for just over four weeks and the difference, as you can see, is remarkable.”
Melanie was surprised. Granted, she didn’t know much about children, but she wouldn’t have believed that a month ago Johnny didn’t talk. “So Dr. Cross does something here other than family planning?” she asked Em.
“Oh, my, yes. Dr. Cross is the finest child psychiatrist in all of Texas. Maybe even in the whole United States.”
Melanie turned to Em. “Child psychiatrist? Are you serious?”
“Yes, indeed.”
She wanted to ask why on earth he was wasting his time and talent trying to talk people out of having children, but she didn’t know Em well enough for that. “So he just volunteers at the clinic or something?”
“Oh, yes, he’s done it for years. He’s a fierce child-welfare advocate. He’s done a lot of good work at the clinic, and arranged more than a few very successful adoptions.” Em clucked her tongue like a proud mother hen. “The children are so lucky to have him.”
Melanie watched little Johnny go over to an older boy and hold a block out to him. “You play?” he asked, and the older child took the block and set it on the pile he’d already arranged into a wall.
Then Johnny went over and knocked the whole thing down.
“You had a different impression of Dr. Cross, didn’t you?” Em asked gently.
Melanie began to object, but the director held up a hand and said, “A lot of people get the wrong impression when they first meet him.”
Melanie smiled. “I guess it’s fair to say that I didn’t think he was the kindly type when I first met him.”
Em chuckled. “I don’t think I’m telling tales out of school when I say that Dr. Cross has a more natural rapport with children than adults. But he’s a good man. I like him very much.”
Although Melanie couldn’t go so far as to agree with everything Em said, she nodded. “It certainly looks as if the children like him.”
“There’s no better gauge of character than that,” Em said, then let out an alarmed exclamation and called, “Allison, Paul, we do not pour water on each other’s heads!” She gave Melanie a quick, exasperated smile. “Excuse me. Duty calls. Why don’t you get to know the children?”
But how? Melanie wanted to ask, but the director had already gone to tend to the crisis. She’d simply approach one of the kids and get started that way. It wasn’t that big a deal. She’d chatted with dignitaries from all over the world; she’d been to state dinners at the White House and tea at Buckingham Palace.
Children couldn’t be that much more intimidating.
A nurse walked in holding a small toddler. She approached Melanie and shifted the child from one hip to the other. “Hi, I’m Linda Darrow,” she said. “Do you know where Em is?”
Melanie started to point to where Em had just been with Allison and Paul, but she was nowhere to be seen. “She was just here. I’m sure she’ll be back in a moment.”
Linda looked at her watch. “Oh, rats, I’m already late for my shift.”
“Is there something I could help you with?” Melanie asked, hoping she sounded more confident than she was.
The woman frowned. “Do you work here?”
“No. Well, yes, but only temporarily. You see, I—”
“Wait a minute. You’re Melanie Tourbier!” Linda gasped. She clapped a hand to her cheek. “Oh my gosh, I thought that was just a rumor!”
Melanie felt her face go hot. “You thought what was a rumor?”
“That you were here at the hospital.” The nurse shook her head. “I thought you looked familiar…You don’t look like your pictures.”
“Pictures can be manipulated. Believe me.”
“I know it,” Linda said. “My husband was at the airport last month and got a picture taken that looks just like he’s standing there with the President. Of course, it’s just a cutout.”
Melanie laughed.
“What on earth are you doing working in the nursery?” Linda asked, then lowered her voice. “Are you trying to escape the paparazzi?”
That was a fortunate by-product of being in South Texas. So far, the paparazzi didn’t know she was here. With any luck, they’d concentrate on more interesting people and not even look. Although she was modest about how interesting she was to the public, Melanie was realistic enough to know that, thanks to Roberto’s book, her being here to get artificially inseminated was newsworthy to the tabloids.
“Actually, Linda,” she said in a confidential tone, “I’m here for a medical procedure, but I don’t really want people to know I’m here, if I can avoid it.”
Linda made the sign of locking her lips and throwing away the key. “They won’t hear it from me. In fact, I’ll squelch the rumors if I can.”
Melanie smiled. “Thanks. Now, since I am working here for the moment, what can I do for you?”
“I need to leave Dan here for a couple of hours this morning.” Again she shifted her grip on the squirming toddler. “My mother normally takes him but she has a dental appointment. Em knows I have to spring this on her every once in a while, but usually I’m able to give her at least a little warning.”
“No problem,” Melanie said, hoping she was right and that it wasn’t going to be a problem for Em. “You just leave little Dan with me and I’ll see to it that he gets the very best care.”
“Thanks.” Linda shuffled