Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (9 page)

“Are you okay? Dan said you were tired.”

“I'm fine, honey. Now, what do you want for
dinner? You can tell me all about it while I fix us something.”

Dan cleared his throat. He was standing in the
doorway, watching them.

“Can you stay for dinner?” She knew
he'd have to leave, but she didn't want him to.

His eyes searched her face. “I should go. I
can go get dinner for you both before I leave though. Save you having
to make anything.”

“Great!” said Scot. “Can we get
pizza?”

Missy gave him a stern look. “On a Sunday?”
His face fell.

Dan grinned. “I think after winning State
Championships, a guy should be allowed a celebration dinner. Don't
you, champ?”

Scot grinned back at him and nodded. “Yeah,
Mom. Don't spoil my victory.”

Missy laughed. She wasn't going to win when the
pair of them teamed up on her like that. Besides, Dan was right, it
should be a celebration dinner. “Okay then. Pizza it is, but
you don't need to go for it. I'll call Giuseppe's for a delivery.”

“I'll call it in,” said Dan. “You
want the usual, champ?”

“Yes, please.”

“How about you, Miss. Want your lasagna?”

“Yes, please.” She was surprised
again. He knew she saved her pancakes for dessert. He knew she always
got lasagna when they ordered from Giuseppe's. He was turning out to
be full of surprises. All good ones too, so far. She snuggled with
Scot on the sofa while he called in their order.

“Should be here in half an hour. I'll eat
with you, but then I'll have to get going.”

Missy nodded. He'd be cutting it fine if he was
supposed to meet Olivia at eight. She wasn't going to say anything
though. It was none of her business. She was just glad he was staying
a little while longer.

Scot wriggled off the sofa. “Dan, Dan, Dan,
did you see the files I left you?”

“I sure did. I think we're making progress.”

“Will you show me what you've done? Come on,
let's go see before the pizza comes?”

Dan looked at Missy.

“Go on,” she smiled. “Don't make
him wait ’til next weekend.”

Dan nodded and followed Scot out to the RV. Missy
got up. She would have to wait ’til next weekend for what she
wanted to do with Dan. She was glad for Scotty's sake that he didn't
have to. She made her way into the kitchen. She could get the table
ready for when the food arrived. She felt a little unsteady on her
feet and leaned on the table for support. After a few moments she
straightened up, hoping it had passed. That was when everything
started to spin. And went black.

***

Dan was laughing with Scot as they came back into
the house. Missy was gone from the sofa. He went into the kitchen.
She was sitting on the floor, looking dazed.

“Miss! What happened?” He was at her
side, picking her up off the floor.

She tried to focus on him, but looked woozy. “I'm
okay,” she mumbled.

“Mom!” Scot's eyes were round and
scared. “Are you okay?”

“She's going to be just fine, champ.”
Dan's voice didn't sound like his own. It sounded calm and soothing.
Inside he felt anything but calm. His heart and his mind were racing.
“Do you think you can call Uncle Ben and ask him to send
Michael over here?” He hoped Scot would fare better if he had
an important job to do. Dan carried Missy back into the living room
and sat down with her still in his arms. She looked more with it now.

“I'm okay, hero.” She gave him a weak
smile.

“Jesus, Miss. What happened? You scared me.”

“I blacked out.” She gingerly touched
at her forehead, where he could see a bruise and a big lump starting
to form. “I think I gave myself a doink on the way down too.”

“Looks like you did. That's going to be a
doozy.”

Scot came in, putting his phone back in his
pocket. “Uncle Ben's going to call Michael. He said he'll come
himself later, too.” Dan knew he'd done the right thing when
Scot asked, “Can I do anything else?”

Dan was proud of the kid, trying to be the man for
his mom. Dan knew what he probably needed most though. “Actually,
there is. Can you swap places with me while I get some ice to put on
her head?”

Scot looked at him as though he'd gone completely
nuts. “You're going to put ice on her head? Why?”

He felt Missy shake in his arms as she started to
laugh. He had to laugh with her at the incredulous look on Scot's
face. “He means an icepack, honey. I bumped my head when I
fell.” She lifted her hair with her hand to show him.

“Oh! Ouch. I get it.” He came and sat
on the sofa and stroked his mom's shoulder. “You'll be okay,”
he reassured her.

Dan slid out from under Missy and went into the
kitchen. He leaned his forehead against the fridge, his head filled
with memories. Fetching ice packs for his own mom's bruises and black
eyes. Telling her she'd be okay, hoping it would be true. He shook
his head to clear it, and opened the freezer. Did anyone ever eat
frozen peas? Or were they just kept in every freezer for moments like
this? He pulled a bag out and wrapped it in a dishcloth. With a smile
he opened the freezer again and squeezed three ice cubes out of the
tray. He put them in a dish and took it back to the living room.
Missy looked less ashen. Scot, with his arm around her, less scared.

Dan knelt on the floor at their feet. Taking an
ice cube from the dish, he winked at Missy and placed it on top of
her head. Scot's eyes grew wide again. Dan took another and put it on
top of Scot's head, trying hard not to laugh as the kid's eyes almost
disappeared into his hairline as he tried to watch. He took the third
ice-cube and put it on top of his own head. “There, she'll be
fine now. It's an old Texan ritual to heal the sick.”

Scot looked at him as though he really had gone
crazy.

Missy burst out laughing. She definitely looked a
bit better. “He's teasing you, honey!”

Dan grinned and held out the frozen peas. “This
is the more conventional treatment though.” He gave them to
Missy.

Scot rolled his eyes and laughed. “You
ass...tronaut! I thought you'd lost it!”

They all laughed now. Dan was pleased Missy didn't
call Scot out on his language. He had been scared out of his wits for
a minute there. She obviously had something going on with her, but it
wasn't anything imminently life threatening. She smiled gratefully at
him as he plucked the ice-cube off her head and tossed it into the
dish along with his own. He grabbed Scot's and pressed it against the
kid's nose for a second.

“Eww!” Scot swatted at him laughing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked Missy.

“No worse than I did this afternoon. Except
now I have a big lump on my head.”

He smiled at her. “Well, your friend, Dr.
Michael is on his way to give you the once over.”

“Thanks, but I'm fine, really.”

“I'll be happier when I hear him say that.”

The doorbell rang. Dan went to answer it. He took
the pizza and gave the guy a huge tip because he didn't want to wait
for change. As he turned to go back in he heard a shout. “Hang
on, Dan.” Michael came hurrying down the street carrying his
bag.

“Thanks for coming so fast.”

“What happened?”

“She blacked out and keeled over. Gave
herself a good knock on the head, too.”

Michael frowned.

“You know how tired she's been? Well, today
she started to get off balance, feeling dizzy. Come on in, she's in
the living room. He took the food through and dumped it on the
kitchen table before following Michael, who squatted down next to the
sofa.

“What you been up to, critter?”

Dan watched her smile at Michael. He didn't feel
any of his earlier jealousy, just gratitude that Michael had come so
quickly.

“You know me, causing trouble as usual. Do
you think I'm going to make it, Doc?” she asked as he strapped
a blood pressure cuff to her arm.

“Hold still and we'll see.” After he'd
taken her blood pressure and her pulse, he gently pulled her lower
eyelid down. “Have you been eating properly?”

Dan smiled when she looked up at him. “Yessir.
You can ask Dan.”

“I can vouch for quantity consumed,”
he said. “I don't know about nutritional value. What are you
thinking, Michael?”

“I'm thinking anemia. Symptoms are classic,
but we'll need a blood test to make sure.”

“Is that just iron deficiency?” asked
Dan.

Michael stood up. “It can be, or it can be a
couple of other things, too. Decreased volume of blood itself, which
would account for the low blood pressure, or a decrease in red blood
cells. Which is why we'll need that blood test. Miss, can you come in
and see Dad in the morning?”

“I can't. I'm at work. I could stop by
later?”

Dan shook his head. “You're not going to
work, Miss.”

Michael nodded his agreement. “No chance,
critter. I'll meet you at Dad's office at nine, okay?”

Missy looked from Dan to Michael and back again.
“I have to go to work.” She sounded desperate.

Dan hated to see her like that, she looked pale
and defeated. He didn't know what the problem was, but it couldn't be
anything they couldn't work out. “You have to get yourself
sorted out first.”

She rested her head back against the sofa. “Okay.”

Michael looked at Scot. “Will you help Dan
keep an eye on her and make sure she comes in tomorrow?” Scot
nodded. “Okay. I'll leave you guys to it then.”

Dan walked him to the door. “Thanks,
Michael.”

“Not a problem, but you might have to drag
her into the office in the morning.” He lowered his voice. “And
make sure she knows it's my favor, not an official visit, so no
charge.”

That puzzled Dan. “Doesn't her insurance
cover office visits?”

“It might, if she had any.”

“What?”

“Shh! I shouldn't know that. You sure as
hell shouldn't know that. My dad's been the town doc for years. You
can't help but know who has which insurance, who's self-pay and who
tries to stay away. Point is, you need to bring her in in the morning
and that's only one of the reasons it'll be hard to get her there.
Good luck. I'll see you tomorrow.”

Dan watched Michael walk up the path then closed
the door. He stood in the hallway, trying to assess the situation.
She said she had to go work. It must be for the money. There was no
way she could, though. She needed to get the blood test and he knew
she wouldn't go if he didn't take her himself. He went back into the
living room.

“You hungry, champ?” Scot nodded. “How
about you, Miss?” She nodded too. She was getting a little
color back in her cheeks, but now she looked worried.

After they'd eaten, Dan cleared the dishes. Scot
came to join him. “She's fallen asleep,” he said.

“Good. She needs the rest.”

“Want to go in the RV and go through that
code?” asked Scot hopefully.

Dan grinned at him. “I'd love to, but do you
think maybe we should stay in the house and keep an eye on your mom?”

Scot nodded.

“What do you usually do on Sunday night?”

“Get my backpack ready for school.”

“You want to do that while I see to the
dishes?”

“Okay.” Scot didn't look thrilled.

“You got any homework you need to do?”

Scot pulled a face.

“I'll take that as a yes?” He couldn't
help but smile as the kid nodded reluctantly. He remembered only too
well how it felt to have to write boring essays about irrelevant dead
people when there were programs waiting to be written and systems
waiting to be designed, or hacked. “If you get it done quick
enough, we can maybe see if you can beat my high score before you
have to go to bed.”

Scot brightened at that. “Okay, I'll be
quick.”

Dan laughed. “Not too quick! Get it done
properly, okay?”

“Okay,” sighed Scot. He picked up his
backpack and headed upstairs.

Dan peeked in at Missy. She was fast asleep on the
sofa. He went back to the kitchen and closed the door behind him.
Sitting down at the table, he pulled his phone out and called Ben.

“Hey, man. Hang on.” It sounded like
the restaurant was busy. “Okay. I can hear you now. How's Miss?
What happened?”

“She fainted, but she's fine now. Thanks for
getting ahold of Michael.”

“No problem. I'll come over when I get a
minute.”

“No need. She's sleeping.”

“Alright then. It's crazy in here tonight.
What did Michael say?”

“He thinks she's anemic. Wants me to bring
her in for a blood test in the morning.”

“You sticking around then?”

Oh, shit!
Dan had completely forgotten that
he was supposed to be leaving. “Yeah.” He looked at his
watch. It was almost seven thirty already. “Listen though. She
can't work ’til she gets sorted out. She needs to rest. Do you
know what she's supposed to be doing this week?”

“She's got a crazy schedule. I've got her on
the cabins all week.”

“She can't do it. I don't want her working
at all this week, but I'll cover it.”

Ben laughed. “You offering to clean cabins?”

Dan laughed with him. “You've seen the RV, I
don't think you'd want me on the cleaning crew. I mean I'll pay you
whatever it costs to find cover for her.”

“You don't need to do that. I can take care
of it.”

“I want to. Seems like Miss needs the money,
so I need you to pay her whatever she would have made this week. I'll
pay you to actually get the work done. I may be able to get her to
stay home tomorrow, but I can't stay all week. There's no way she'll
rest up if she's losing money.”

“You've got a point, but we could split it?”

“No need. You're going to have to hustle to
find someone to do the work. I get the easy part and just hand over
the money.”

Ben laughed. “True. I'd happily trade with
you. Listen I'd better get on it. See who I can find to fill in. Tell
her I'll stop by tomorrow?”