Second Time Around. Carol Steward

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      His thoughtfulness and boyish sense of humor were what had first caught her attention so many years ago. She had been sitting solemnly by herself under the golden leaves of the grand old maple tree at the college-sponsored concert, when Kevin spied her staring at him. Even from a distance, she’d seen the way he made everyone around him feel. He had a contagious laugh and a quick wit. As she blushed, he introduced himself. A few minutes later they were sharing the shade, deep in conversation and laughter.

      For three years he’d courted her, throughout it all putting up with her mother’s ridicule. But Emily had stayed, falling ever more deeply in love with the man her mother had predicted would love her and leave her, just as Emily’s philandering father had done.

      “I’m going to Lincoln next week for a show. Do you want me to take anything to Mom?” If her sister noticed Emily’s distraction, she didn’t mention it.

      Emily welcomed the interruption.

      “Mom… Oh, yeah, would you take her birthday present?”

      “What did you get her? I haven’t found anything yet.”

      “It’s an airline ticket. Thought I’d take her to the mountains. Care to join us? I’ve borrowed Laura and Bryan’s cabin for a week.”

      “Sounds fun. I’ll check my schedule. With the move, I may have to make a last-minute decision depending on how everything is going.”

      “I thought I’d see if Lisa can join us, too. We’ll make it a family reunion.”

      After catching up on the latest on Lisa and her beau, they discussed Kat’s growing business and her worries of keeping up with the demand for her designer dolls.

      Clearing the dishes while Katarina called her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Emily let her thoughts return to their mother’s influence on the three daughters’ relationships. Katarina couldn’t take that final plunge into matrimony. Lisa didn’t date any man long enough to fall in love.

      And Emily—the broken engagement to Kevin had been enough to send the frightened child in her running as far as possible from love and commitment.

      Eight years later, she was still running.

      Two weeks had passed since her sister’s visit, and since she’d seen Kevin. Emily walked into the church’s preschool to tell the children about being a doctor. She and the teacher visited for a few minutes before a little boy from Emily’s Sunday school class grabbed her hand. “Dr. Emily, come see what a tall tower I can build.” She followed Ricky, welcoming the chance to visit with the little boy away from the examination room.

      For the next half hour, Emily watched as Ricky played with the children. After Circle Time, they prepared for the guests to talk about their careers. A cake decorator was first, and gave each child an ornately decorated cookie to keep each busy while she turned a mound of cake into a stand-up penguin.

      Emily was next. She looked at the cake and the children eagerly eating cookies. Great, how do I top this?

      After telling the children about how much she enjoyed being a doctor, she pulled the stethoscope out of her pocket.

      “Dr. Emily, can I listen to your heart?” Ricky blurted out, his raised hand flapping back and forth.

      “Sure. You can each have a turn. Come up one at a time.” The familiar boy with streaked brown hair jumped to his feet and nearly leaped over the kids sitting in front of him. Emily recognized most of the children, either from Sunday school or the medical clinic. Before she knew it, all the children were crowded around.

      “Shh,” Emily prompted. “We must be very quiet.”

      Ricky listened for a minute, then expertly moved the stethoscope. She wanted to cry at the extent of his knowledge of the workings of the instrument, which came from more hands-on experience than any child his age should have.

      “I don’t hear anything, Dr Emily.” He frowned. “I think you have a broken heart.”

      A deep chuckle rumbled behind them. “An insightful young man.”

      Emily’s heart raced at the sound of Kevin’s voice.

      The little boy’s brown eyes grew larger. “Wow! There it is. It’s beating as fast as Thumper’s paw. ’Member, in Bambi?”

      “Are you twitterpated, Dr. Emily?” a precocious little girl asked.

      “Twitterpated?”

      “You know, in love.” The little girl sighed. “Like Bambi and Faline.”

      Emily felt the blood rush to her cheeks. “No, I’m not. We’d better let someone else have a turn now, Ricky.” She gave him a hug and watched as he ran across the room…to Kevin.

      Kevin knelt down and spent several minutes in conversation with the child. From the corner of her eye, Emily watched, angry at herself for paying Kevin any attention.

      The other preschoolers filed past, and Emily helped them listen to each other’s hearts beating. Ricky moved back to the circle of children after giving Kevin a high-five. Then Kevin visited with a parent, while Emily finished talking with the children and gave them the disposable masks and hats.

      Then she turned the stage over to Kevin. He leaned close as Emily walked past. “Any time your heart needs a jump start, let me know.”

      “You’d be the last person I’d call,” she mumbled, wishing she could dispel her reaction to him. Emily silently joined the parent volunteer in the back of the room. She and the other woman listened as Kevin told about the construction business, demonstrating with a toy log set.

      The children were mesmerized by the rugged-looking man with the contagious smile and rumbling laugh. Other than the uncustomarily clean blue jeans, he looked every bit the brawny construction worker. A red-plaid flannel shirt over a blue T-shirt and a bright yellow hard hat completed the irresistible image. His strong hands moved the tiny logs with the same delicacy one would use to move fine china.

      All the little boys proclaimed they, too, wanted to be builders after his enthusiastic description of tearing walls apart and building others. The energy in the room began to escalate.

      “Why did you become a builder?” The teacher prompted the conversation back to the subject, her calming voice reminding the children to listen.

      “My father was a builder, and it was something I always enjoyed. It’s hard work, but I like bringing families together in a new home,” he said.

      It was obvious that he loved talking to the youngsters. The children drilled him with questions, and he took time to answer each one. He still had his way with kids.

      Emily wondered why he hadn’t married. Coming from a family with six children, he had wanted to have at least four of his own. He had chivalrously promised Emily that he’d support them all, yet that wasn’t enough for Emily. She wanted a career of her own, one through which she could provide for her family, if necessary. She wasn’t about to watch history repeat itself.

      Emily stared critically at Kevin. Why was he here? How had he, of all people, come to be asked to speak to the preschool?

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