Dr. Dad by Judith Arnold

toward him, smiled and waved.
    Susannah smiled, too. The late-afternoon sun made her hair shimmer with streaks of platinum and gold.Her smile wasn’t as broad as Lindsey’s, but it was knowing and genuine.
    Evidently, they’d made friends.
    He was pleased, but other emotions mingled with that pleasure: worry that Lindsey needed more than he could give her; apprehension that it would be too easy for Lindsey to become attached to Susannah; and a strange, selfish anger because he wanted to be Susannah’s friend.
    Being her friend wasn’t a good idea. And Lindsey’s being her friend was a good idea. He shoved the anger out of his way and pulled into the driveway, pressing the automatic garage door opener as he drove.
    By the time he’d parked and emerged from the garage, Lindsey had jogged across Susannah’s front lawn, her backpack slung over her shoulder. Susannah followed a couple of steps behind her, holding the cat. “Daddy!” Lindsey’s voice bubbled with excitement. “We hung pictures in Susannah’s house! I helped. I did my homework, too, and I ate a banana. And we played with MacKenzie—he’s so smart, Dad. He’s smarter than some of the kids in my class. You tell him to go and bring you his little mouse toy, and he does it.”
    â€œOnly if he feels like it,” Susannah interjected, her eyes bright with amusement as they met Toby’s.
    â€œAnd we had a problem,” Lindsey went on. “Susannah wants to hang a full-length mirror on the back of a door, but we couldn’t do it. It’s too heavy and complicated. I told Susannah you’d do it for her. You will, won’t you, Dad?”
    He would have said “Yes, of course,” if only Susannah wasn’t looking at him that way, her eyes so blue they nearly blinded him with their beauty. If shewasn’t so damned attractive, he’d have no problem hanging a dozen full-length mirrors on her doors.
    But she was Susannah Dawson, and he’d been thinking about her the way he hadn’t thought about a woman since Jane died. And that troubled him.
    â€œI told her you could do it,” Lindsey continued, apparently unaware of his hesitation. “You do all kinds of stuff around our house, and you’re strong. This mirror weighs like a ton, Daddy. So maybe you could do it tonight.”
    â€œYour father just got home from work,” Susannah pointed out. She must have noticed his reluctance.
    â€œWell, I meant, like later. I did my math homework sheets already, so we can have dinner right away, and then we can go back to Susannah’s and hang the mirror.”
    â€œThe mirror can wait,” Susannah insisted, directing her words more to him than to Lindsey.
    â€œOf course I’ll do it,” he said, thinking her mouth might be even more beautiful than her eyes. Her lips were soft and pink, the lower lip slightly fuller than the upper. “But we do have to have dinner first. I could call you after we’re done—”
    â€œOr maybe she could eat with us,” Lindsey suggested.
    To his great relief, Susannah bailed him out. “I don’t think so, Lindsey. Why don’t you have dinner and visit with your dad. We can take care of the mirror another time.”
    He thanked her with a nod. “I’ll call you,” he promised.
    â€œTonight.” Lindsey nudged him.
    He gave Lindsey a quelling look. “Susannah and I will work it out.”
    Lindsey wriggled through the hedge bordering the driveway. “‘Bye, Susannah. And don’t forget what I told you—the movie theater on Hauser Street is much better. They use real butter on the popcorn and the seats in the front rock. Forget the other movie theater. The popcorn sucks.”
    â€œOkay.” Susannah backed up a couple of steps.
    â€œTalk to you later,” she said to Toby, then waved, turned and headed back to her house.
    He forced his gaze away from