She shook her head at the food. “Eat,” he said firmly. “You have to stay strong.”
“Okay, doc.” She used to call him that, her voice teasing. She must remember, too, he thought as he saw her cheeks redden. She stared at the crackers, unwrapping them carefully, then methodically folding the paper. She picked up a cracker, took a bite and grimaced.
“Eat,” he repeated.
She nodded, dutifully finished the cracker and sipped her tea.
Kent put his cup down. “Tell me about Nick.”
Her shoulders tensed, and she looked at him for a moment, as if gauging the reason for his question. Then she let out a breath. “He’s a typical ten-year-old. He does pretty well in school, loves math, likes reading and would like writing, too, if it weren’t for punctuation. He plays Little League, and he’s really good. This spring he led his team in home runs before he—” her voice trembled “—got sick.” She looked up, and tears welled in her eyes. “Will he…will he be able to play again?”
Kent sighed. “There are no guarantees, but the chances are good. Maybe not this year, but eventually.”
“Then I can hope for that.” She smiled but he sensed it was forced. “At least he can watch baseball on TV.”
“The Yankees.”
Her eyes flew to his, and she tensed again. “Yes, how do you know?”
“He told me. We were talking after I examined him this morning.”
“He wants to grow up to be Rick Howard.”
“Reminds me of myself at the same age, only I wanted to be Reggie Jackson.” Kent smiled, but Mallory didn’t smile back. Instead, she stared into her tea cup. She picked it up, but her hand shook and she set it back on the table.
Hoping to distract her, Kent changed the subject. “How are your parents?”
“They’re fine. They’d have been here but my dad’s recuperating from a knee replacement.”
“I’m sorry. I know that’s a painful operation. I’m sure they’re here in spirit.”
“Yes. I have a lot of support from back home. My business partner, Lauri Gold—”
“You have a business?”
She smiled. “A florist shop. Buds and Blossoms.”
“I’m surprised. If I remember correctly, you talked about going into psychology.”
“If I’d gone with that, I’d still be in school.”
Her perfume wafted across the table to him. The same scent she’d always worn. He cleared his throat. “Hard to be in school with a kid to raise.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve done a good job, Mallory. Nick’s a great kid.”
“Thanks.”
He wanted to keep her talking, to know about the Mallory of today, so he asked more questions. The room was quiet, strangely intimate, and he felt the pain and outrage he’d carried all these years slipping away. Melting in the warmth of her presence. Maybe this was one of the vivid dreams he used to have of her, dreams that left him aching, wanting.
Finally, she glanced at her watch. “It’s after two.” She stifled a yawn. “Won’t your wife worry?”
“My…? I’m divorced.”
She stared at him for a long, charged moment, then dropped her gaze. “I’d, um, better get back to Nick’s room.” She began gathering the cups.
“Sure.” He helped her clear the table, and they walked back together.
She stopped in the doorway to Nick’s room. “Talking to you helped a lot,” she said softly. “Thanks for getting me through this night.” She reached out, almost touched his arm, then abruptly dropped her hand. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Mallory stepped inside the room, listened as Kent’s footsteps receded down the hall, then shut the door. Divorced, she thought as the full implication sank in. Oh, no.
Chapter Four
Two days later, Mallory sat in Nick’s room, entering information in her laptop. She’d met several other mothers of young cancer patients, and one had suggested she keep a daily log of Nick’s progress.
Nick was feeling better. This afternoon he was engrossed in a baseball game on TV. “Not the Yankees,” he’d complained, “but better than nothin’.”
“Nothing,” Mallory corrected automatically.
“Aw, Mom.”
As she continued typing, Mallory heard the commentator say, “A high pop fly to short right field.”
“Come on, get it,” Nick urged.
Mallory looked up, pleased by the excitement in his voice.
She glanced at the TV screen. The right fielder jogged in, lifted a glove and bobbled the ball.
“Aw, man, can’t you hold on to the ball, you jerk?”
“Nick,” Mallory chided. “Watch your language.”
“Geez, Mom. Don’t you ever get excited about a ball game?”
“Never…well, hardly ever.”
“Dad did.”
“I know,” Mallory sighed, as the next batter struck out.
“Sure. You and Dad knew each other forever.” He grinned when she glanced up at him. “Tell me the story of how you met.”
Her fingers poised on the keyboard. “I thought you were watching the game.”
“Mom, hel-lo. End of inning. Commercial break.”
“You’ve heard the story a hundred times.”
“Yeah, but I like it better than listening to someone go on about oatmeal.” He pointed to the screen, where a family was cheerfully devouring their breakfast, and broke into the endearing little-boy grin she loved.
How could she turn him down? She saved her file and turned the computer off. “Okay, when your grandpa became the rabbi at Beth Jacob and we moved to Valerosa, our house was across the street from your Brenner grandparents. The first morning we were there I went outside to check out the neighborhood when I saw this kid across the street, scowling at me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘My mom said the new rabbi has a kid named Mallory. Are you Mallory?’ And when I said yes, he said, ‘I thought Mallory was a boy’s name. You’re a girl.’”
“Yeah, he was disappointed.”
“He was, but I fixed him. I chomped my gum, blew the biggest bubble I could and popped it, and then I said, ‘Yeah, so what? I can run as fast as you.’”
Nick chuckled. “And he said, ‘Prove it.’ And you beat him to the corner.”
“Well, almost. It was a tie, but I guess he was impressed because he said, ‘You’re not bad for a girl. Wanna see my bug collection?’”
“And you said, ‘Sure, got any scorpions?’”
“I did, and from then on, we were best friends.”
“And you grew up, got married and had me and lived happily ever after, well, until—” He broke off and turned. “Oh, hi, Dr. Berger.”
“Hi, pal.”
“We were talking about my dad,” Nick said as Kent strode into the room and