A Match for the Doctor by Marie Ferrarella Page B

a beat or two, well, so much the better. If she was going to dream, she might as well go all the way.
    â€œI never met the right man,” she told Edna. And with that, she closed the subject.
    â€œWere you the oldest in your family, then?” Edna asked. “The one your mother depended on to look out for the others?”
    There were no others. Her parents were divorcedbefore she could get any siblings. She had always regretted that. A lot of her time as a child had been spent imagining what having a brother or sister would have been like. Even inventing an imaginary one when she was very young.
    â€œSorry to disappoint you, Edna,” she said with a smile, “but I’m an only child.”
    â€œThen it’s a true gift you have,” Edna pronounced. “You’ve been blessed.”
    She didn’t know about being “blessed”—it was just something that came rather naturally to her. Maybe it was even born out of that desire for a sibling. But before she could say anything to the contrary, Madelyn had caught her by one hand while, not to be left out, Meghan took hold of the other.
    â€œThen we’ll help you do the dishes,” Madelyn declared.
    Amused, Edna laughed. “Like I said, Miss Cassidy, you’ve got a gift. You’re not all that bad at healing, either.”
    Kennon looked at her quizzically over her shoulder as she was about to be pulled away.
    â€œI’m feeling much better, thanks to you and your chicken soup,” Edna told her.
    â€œIf that’s the case, that would be more due to the chicken than to me,” Kennon told her. She wasn’t one to take praise unless she believed she really deserved it. All she’d done in this case was try to make the woman feel a little better—and comfort food had always accomplished that for her.
    The next moment, Kennon found herself being taken off to the kitchen again by her pint-size helpers. It was time to address the dishes in the sink.
    â€œAnd modest, too,” Edna said to herself with an approving nod. “I think you’d like her, Nancy,” she said softly under her breath.
    Â 
    When Simon came down from his study an hour later, he expected to find the kitchen in darkness and his daughters either in their room for the night or in the family room, taking advantage of the fact that he wasn’t around. He was rather strict about the amount of time they could spend watching television.
    He was rather strict about most things when it came to his children.
    Instead, he found the kitchen ablaze with light. Not only that, but he heard the sound of laughter coming from there, as well.
    Curious, he went to the source. And discovered that the woman he’d just hired as his decorator was there, sitting at the head of the table, with his daughters flanking her on either side.
    Schoolbooks were spread out on the surface of the table and, from what he could discern as he drew closer, the girls were doing homework—with a little help from the overly effervescent blonde.
    Laughter, he realized as he listened and allowed it to warm him, was a sound that had been missing from their lives for much too long.
    He’d been right in his earlier assessment. Apparently he’d not only hired a decorator but a sorceress, as well.

Chapter Seven
    O ut of the corner of her eye, Kennon saw Simon walking into the kitchen.
    Even if she hadn’t, she could tell he’d entered the room because of the way Madelyn and Meghan reacted. They became a little more subdued, a tiny bit less relaxed. A little more anxious to please. It was obvious to her that they loved their father, but were hemmed in by not quite knowing how to behave around him. As for the good doctor, he wasn’t exactly cold—she could sense that he did care about his daughters—but he was reserved, as if he was following some sort of a strict code that only he was aware of.
    Meghan saw him first. “Daddy,