Hannah's List (Blossom Street #7)(77)

"Oh, Michael," she said, still smiling. "I had the most fabulous morning. I can't wait to tell you about it."

"You'll have to tell him later," Linda said, placing her hands on my shoulders and steering me away. "Right now, Dr. Everett has to get back to his patients."

"Okay, okay." I glanced over my shoulder and nearly drowned in Macy's smile. It was all I could do to focus on my work.

Our eyes stayed connected for a moment and then she picked up her paintbrush and I went into the exam room to check on Ted Malcom, a five-year-old who'd broken his right leg falling off a swing set. He'd destroyed three casts in less than a month, which was something of a feat. The poor kid wanted to play with his friends, run and swim in the summer sunshine. He tried to do all those things despite the cast, which was repeatedly ruined by water and rough treatment.

His mother was frustrated with her son and worried about his recovery.

"Hi, Lucy," I said as I knelt down in front of the boy. His mom smiled tightly.

"Ted," I began.

"Yes, Doctor."

"I think I see the problem here."

Ted looked at the floor. "I don't want to wear a cast."

"I wouldn't, either. You can have a lot more fun without a cast weighing down your leg, can't you?"

With his head so low his chin was practically on his chest, Ted asked, "Are you mad at me? My mom is." He squinted up at her through his lashes.

"I'm not mad," I told him, "because as I said, I think I understand the problem. This cast is boring. You need it decorated."

"Decorated?"

I got up and opened the door. "Macy, could you step in here for a moment?"

She looked confused, but did as I asked. I explained the situation to her and, as I spoke, I saw her eyes light up. "I have just the solution," she declared.

"You do?" Ted asked.

"Let me get my supplies."

I left the three of them and went into the adjoining exam room. I saw three patients, one after another, and when I returned to the first room, Macy was nearly finished. She'd painted dinosaurs of different kinds all around the cast, cleverly positioning them.

"Do you like it?" I asked Ted.

He grinned from ear to ear. "It's way cool."

"Cool enough for your friends to admire?"

He nodded eagerly.

"That's what I thought, too. Do you want to keep this one?"

Again he nodded.

"Perfect. I'll see you back here when it's ready to come off."

He grinned again and we bumped fists and added a high five.

Ted's mother grasped my arm. "Thank you for coming up with this. And, Macy, thank you. It's a work of art. Would you sign it, please?"

Macy shrugged off the praise, but used my pen to write her signature on the cast. She collected her paints and returned to the hallway. I was feeling good about my solution for Ted and wanted to thank Macy myself. But when I went in search of her, I discovered she'd gone for the day.

"What do you mean she's gone?" I asked Linda in bewilderment. "Did she have another appointment?"

"Not that she said." Linda appeared as baffled as I was. "I have a feeling Macy does that fairly often."

"Leaves for no reason? Why?" I didn't understand it, but I shouldn't have been surprised. Macy had warned me, after all, that she frequently lost interest in projects halfway through.

"I don't think she knows. But then again...maybe she does."

Linda liked to speak in cryptic sentences. "What does that mean?" I asked bluntly.

"She likes you."

"So she avoids me?" Which, of course, was the same thing I'd done after her accident.

"Maybe you should just ask Macy," Linda advised.

"Ask her what?" I said. "Ask her about being here one minute and gone the next?" I despaired of ever understanding Macy. Give me a cranky four-year-old any day.

Linda patted my arm sympathetically, then clapped a file in my outstretched hands. "Talk to her and you'll both feel better."

An hour later, I tried Macy's home phone. She didn't answer. Nor did she pick up thirty minutes after that. When I was done for the day, I decided to stop by her house and find out what was going on. I hoped Linda's advice worked. Maybe I'd invite Macy to dinner....

By the time I parked in front of her house, I was happily anticipating an evening in her company. As Hannah had promised, when Macy wasn't frustrating me, she did make me smile.

I let myself through her gate and walked up the sidewalk to her front door. I rang the bell and waited. A cat, Peace, I believe, leaped onto the living room windowsill. Peering into the house, I saw the other two cats asleep on the sofa. Macy was nowhere in sight.

"You looking for Macy?" Harvey called from his porch. Sammy stood at his side, tail wagging furiously. "In case you're too dumb to figure it out, she isn't home."

"Where is she?" I asked, choosing to overlook the insult.

He didn't answer. "I wondered if you'd come by," he said in the gruff tone I'd come to expect from him. "If I was twenty years younger I'd punch your lights out."

I bounded down Macy's steps and hurried around to his porch.