His answering smile filled my heart with joy and that feeling of lightness persisted on my way to the kitchen to make dinner.
I was almost done preparing an oven meal kit for dinner when Jace carried Ryla inside, piggyback style. Ryla was chattering and giggling in Jace’s ear and that light feeling turned to a glowing, so much so that my chest practically ached. I’d never seen Ryla do that with anyone except Giselle. Certainly, never with her dad. David was more like a distant relative than a father. He was away from home more often than not since she was one year old. When he was home, he was a very hands-off father, particularly with anything that involved a traditionally female task. And of course, I wanted to make it so that I was the perfect mother, wife, and doctor, thinking that if I did that, everything would be okay. Instead, I enabled the passive relationship he had with the kids, until he acted more like an elderly great-grandfather than a father. Like he was someone you tell happy stories to but never make happy memories with.
“Polly! When did you get home?” Jace exclaimed as Ryla continued to giggle on his back.
“A few minutes ago,” I answered, playing along. “Ryla was outside with her new dog, Kevin. It looked like training was going well.”
“That Kevin is a menace! Don’t let him fool you. We left him outside with a bone and some water. No inside sleeping for that rangy mutt!”
“How did everything go today?” I asked as Ryla climbed down.
“I think it went ok, what do you think?” Jace had his hands on his hips, smiling down at Ryla, who smiled impishly at him, shaking her head teasingly, her entire body vibrating as she giggled.
“Not good?” I teased, taking a knee in front of her. “Then what’s with all this giggling, huh?” Peals of Ryla’s laughter rang through the kitchen as I tickled her belly.
“I missed you,” I whispered after her laughter quieted, giving her forehead a kiss. “I was just finishing up dinner. You want to head upstairs and wash your hands? I need to talk to Jace for a minute and then you can help me if you want. Or do you want some tablet time before dinner?”
“Tablet time!” Ryla shouted and ran out of the room.
Jace held out a hand to help me up, but I popped up on my own despite longing to take his outstretched hand. Would his grip feel as safe and strong as it did yesterday?
I plucked a dish towel off the island and folded it, playing off any hint of how I was feeling. “It sounds like the day went well. I was worried for a minute when I saw that rope around your neck. I thought I’d need to get a lawyer on the phone.”
Jace leaned against the island counter on his hip, facing me. “I was worried for a minute, too,” Jace teased, putting a finger in the collar of his shirt and turning his head from side to side. Picking up an apple to slice it, I quietly ignored how the movement of his neck made my mouth go dry.
“How was your day?” Jace asked.
I stopped mid-slice. “My day?”
Jace narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. Your day.” He raised his eyebrows. “You alright?”
“Fine! My day was fine. I’m fine. Work was fine,” I stammered, then rolled my lips over my teeth and pressed them together. I couldn’t admit that it’d been so long since someone genuinely asked how my day was going, that I actually misunderstood the question.
He cocked his head to one side. “You sure? You can tell me. I know your job must be hard.”
“Sometimes. But today was kind of great, actually.”
“So more than fine?” Jace teased.
“Yes,” I chuckled, peeling some of the apple slices. Max didn’t like the texture of the skin. “I recently accepted the position to be the medical director of the school district. I met with the special education coordinator at the school today, and I’m kind of excited about it. Even if it’s strangely more political than I expected.”
“How so?” Jace asked, stealing an apple slice. He winked as he crunched it between his teeth. I had to tear my eyes away from his jaw as he chewed.
He is your employee. He is NOT a steak. He is your children’s nanny.
“The school district received a grant this spring to support special education programs. Apparently, there are members of the board, including the school board president, that wants to use a large portion of the grant to resurface the school’s basketball courts and football field. I guess the old medical director was always a sure supporter for him.”
“It’s that what you did back in Chicago? Work with school districts?”
“No, this is new. I was aware of what an IEP or 504 plan was, only becoming more familiar with it when I tried to get one for Max this past spring. They never taught us much about specialized education plans in medical school or my pediatrics residency. But I do see a lot of kids with mental health problems and the system is so backed up, it takes months for kids to get care. If we can have kids see the providers they need faster and work in concert with the school and their families, it could change a lot of lives, including my son’s life.”
“That sounds pretty incredible, Polly.” Jace’s voice was closer than I expected. I glanced up and startled, not having noticed that Jace was so close that I could feel the heat of him against my side.
I cleared my throat nervously and shifted away from Jace. “Uh ha! I don’t know if I’d go that far. I’m not counting my chickens, as they say. How did things go here?” My tone was too bright.
“I’m afraid we didn’t follow your schedule to the letter.” Jace nodded and I followed his gaze to Barry, the tablet.
“What do you mean?” I wiped my hands on a towel and turned on the tablet.
