Free Practice Makes Perfect (Single Father) by Janice Macdonald Page B

Elizabeth… Hey, Matthew. You think Lucy will like me? I’m not exactly a kid person…well, that’s not true. The girls at Saint Julia’s liked me, but…okay. I’m going to shut up. Good night, Matthew.”
    And then she’d left a second message. “Hey, I just wanted to say I’m glad we’re doing this. Okay, now I’ll really shut up. Good night again.”
    Matthew had played the messages twice, smiling as he listened to her. Talking fast, rapid burst of words. Just as she’d always spoken, he remembered, when she was nervous. It had been after midnight by the time he got home from the hospital, too late to call her. Although, knowing Sarah, the time wouldn’t have mattered.
    He lay with his hands behind his head. Lucy was still at her friend Sierra’s house where she’d spent the night. He’d left a message with Sierra’s mother that he’d be by at seven to pick up his daughter. She’d laughed and said something about that being the middle of the night as far as kids were concerned. He’d said nothing about the beach expedition. He rehearsed his response to Lucy’s inevitable protest. “Lulu, you need to do more than hang out at the mall. We live in one of the most beautiful areas in the Northwest and it’s time we started taking advantage of it.”
    After a while he became aware of a new sound. Rain beating against the window. He dragged himself out of bed and shuffled downstairs to make coffee. It was not an auspicious start. He turned on the TV. The rain would clear, the relentlessly cheerful announcer informed him. He showered and dressed, then made two fried-egg sandwiches.
    “Why couldn’t we just go to McDonalds?” Lucy complained when he presented her with the sandwich, doubled wrapped in foil to keep it warm.
    “This is just like McDonalds,” he said, biting into his as they drove. “I even put cheese on it. And it’s better for you.”
    Lucy, cocooned in a red goose-down coat, her hair hidden under a square hood, took a cautious bite. Then another.
    Matthew shot her a sideways glance. “Good?”
    “It’s okay.” She flipped the hood of her jacket, shook out her hair and turned to look at him. “So what’s going on? How come we had to leave so early?”
    “We’re going to Agate Beach,” Matthew said. “To check out tide pools.”
    “Huh?”
    Matthew explained the day’s itinerary, trying to make it sound every bit as exciting as a trip to the mall. Lucy’s expression told him he’d failed. “You’ll enjoy it,” he said with more conviction than he felt. “There’s a lot to see. Starfish, sand bars.” He reached out to ruffle her hair. “Come on, Lulu.”
    “But I don’t get it,” she said as he parked outside Sarah’s apartment. “Why do we have to do this?”
    “I already explained.” Matthew saw Sarah at the window as though she’d been watching for them. Knowing Sarah, she probably had been. A moment later, the front door opened and she appeared wearing a yellow oilskin slicker, black boots and carrying a large canvas bag. He smiled. A blue felt hat and she’d look like the Paddington Bear he’d once tucked into Lucy’s crib. “Remember you were asking me about Sarah? Well, you’re going to get a chance to meet her.”
    M ATTHEW ’ S DAUGHTER LOOKED just as she had in the picture Elizabeth had shown her. Glossy dark hair, green eyes, a rosiness to her cheeks that, as it used to with Elizabeth, reminded Sarah of Disney’s version of Snow White. But while Lucy had been smiling in the picture, the Lucy who greeted her from the backseat of the car, huddled into a bulky red parka, just barely managed to be civil.
    “I’ve heard so much about you,” Sarah said as she reached to shake Lucy’s hand. “And your dad was right, you look just like your mother.”
    Lucy frowned and met Matthew’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
    “Sarah means when your mother was your age.” Matthew started up the car and winked at Sarah. “Right, trooper?”
    “M OM GOT