THREE

Squinting immediately from the brilliant August sun, Patrick began to regret his decision to take his fifteen-minute lunch break outside. His office had felt particularly stuffy that morning, which was why he'd warmed up his Tupperware container of leftovers and headed down the stairs to the exit leading directly out to the picnic table outside. Feeling the sun beating down on his forehead had almost made him do a one-eighty and return to his office until he caught sight of the picnic table's only occupant.

Smiling to himself, he approached and when he was a few feet away he called out, "Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, no; not at all," she replied.

She had been sitting in the center of the bench on one side of the table and scooted down to the end presumably to make room for him, but he gestured towards the opposite end of the bench. "You can sit on the shaded side if you want."

"Actually, I'd rather be in the sun. The air conditioning is making it freezing in the office today!"

Patrick, who had already begun to feel sweat droplets at his hairline, was certainly not going to fight her for the sunny seat, so he sat on the shaded side and popped open the lid to his lunch container. They ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes. Him, regretting not packing a real fork and struggling with the disposable one that seemed to have the unusual feature of collapsible tines, and her munching on some apple slices while scrolling through her phone.

When he noticed she had only one slice of apple left, Patrick felt a flutter of nerves in his belly. For several days he'd been quite curious about something he'd overheard her saying to Timothy and he desperately wanted to ask her about it but did not want to come across as rude or invasive. The gentleman in him truly felt it was impolite to ask but the man in him could not shake the niggling curiosity.

In the six weeks since she'd started babysitting for Tim, they'd become reasonably friendly with one another. After a second successful Saturday, he asked if she'd be interested in babysitting one weekday evening in addition to Saturdays. He half expected her to say no considering that she worked full time, but she agreed right away. They arranged it so she would watch Tim on a day when she worked the early shift, so she would pick up Tim from the day camp at four and watch him until he came home at seven, which gave him extra time to catch up on paperwork and do any research needed to help his patients. During those evenings she even started making meals for them, which he absolutely had not asked her to do, but was grateful for nonetheless, especially since Tim had yet to refuse to eat one of the meals she made.

Of all the things he appreciated about her, the way she cared for his son was at the top of the list. She was obviously a natural with children as they seemed to equally enjoy their time together. She played with any toy he wanted and had even once talked Tim into doing a craft, though it was obvious he did not like that as much as when they played with Legos. Her presence in his life seemed to urge him over the final hurdle of getting past the grief of losing his mother. He still had sad moments now and then, which was perfectly understandable, and Patrick imagined starting school again in a few weeks would not be the easiest, but he was confident they would get through it, especially with Shelagh's assistance.

As Patrick watched the nurse reach for her last apple slice, he feared her lunch period was almost over, which meant they might not have another opportunity for them to speak just the two of them. The fear of a missed opportunity urged him to say, "Er, Shelagh?" even if he still wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

"Hmm?"

"I, ah, don't mean to pry, but I'm curious. Last Thursday when I was getting ready to leave, I believe I heard you tell Timothy that you had never been on a date. Is that true?"

Unlike the other nights she babysat, Patrick had rushed home from work after his last patient so he could change his shirt, which had been stained during a wayward incident with some soy sauce during lunch. He did not want to wear the white shirt with the large brown splotch on the chest to his dinner date with a lovely woman named Cara, who he'd met at the grocery store. They had reached for the same bunch of bananas and laughed it off, but then, ten minutes later, when they reached for the same packet of chicken they got to talking and she asked him out. He was rushing to re-tie his tie using the hall mirror when he overheard Shelagh and Tim chatting in the kitchen. The boy had asked her if she went on dates, to which she responded no she did not and in fact she had never been on one. When the curious boy asked why, she casually said she'd never had the opportunity.

As Patrick rushed out the door, he thought she surely must have just been making a joke for the benefit of his son. Perhaps she did not think it appropriate to tell him that she actually went on many dates. The more he thought about it, though, the more he wondered if she might be serious. Other than working she did seem to have an incredibly vacant schedule and had yet to turn down one of his babysitting requests. True, not quite two months over the summer did not dictate her entire social experience, yet he could not help but wonder.

"Oh." She dropped her apple slice back into its container and pulled her hands down into her lap as she gave a reluctant nod. "Yes. I know it sounds quite ridiculous, but it is true. I…I don't think I even know how to date, and it feels like I'm much too old to learn."

"No—no of course not," he said reflexively. "You're only in your early twenties."

"I'm twenty-six," she clarified.

He shrugged. "Still not too old."

She reached for her apple slice again and picked it up, taking a nibble out of one end. "I just…well, I think I'd only end up making a bad impression."

Patrick dropped his now-bent disposable fork down into his container and scratched his fingers against his jaw, considering. He could hardly imagine that Shelagh had never been asked out on a date before. She was a pretty girl with bright blue eyes, porcelain skin, and a warm smile. She hadn't struck his fancy because foremost he did not think it was exactly appropriate to ask out any of the women who babysat for Tim, but also because he was generally more attracted to bolder, more outgoing women. Shelagh was decidedly shy and reserved, but that wasn't a bad thing. Surely there were many men who would be attracted to a quieter girl; he just wasn't one who tended to notice them.

This led him to wonder if perhaps she had been asked out in the past but turned down those dates because of the reasons she stated: she feared making a bad impression. If this was the case, he felt bad for her. Even those with a lot of relationship experience could have an awkward first date now and then, as was proved by his dinner with Clara. While he had appreciated her take-charge attitude when she asked him out, their dinner wasn't very interesting. She spent most of the time complaining about her chicken being overcooked and didn't seem much interested in discussing anything about her life. Despite her not giving the best first impression Patrick very much doubted that was her first date. No, he was sure Shelagh would be fine once she started dating, she simply needed to get over the initial hurdle.

"I doubt you would make a bad impression, but if you'd like some guidance, I'd be happy to help."

Her brow crinkled as she gazed at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, ah, we can go on a practice date if you'd like," he said. Though it sounded a bit strange as the words came out of his mouth, he didn't mind doing it if it would make her feel better about the idea of going on a real date with someone.

"You…you want to take me on a practice date?" she said in a tone that made it clear she was waiting for him to start laughing and loudly insist that he was just joking with her.

Trying to keep things light and casual he shrugged. "Sure, why not? You helped me by getting my son to eat a weeks' worth of proper meals for the first time in months. Let me return the favor—if you're interested, that is. I don't want to twist your arm into doing something that would make you uncomfortable."

"No, it's not that," she said quickly. "I'm just…I guess I'm surprised someone would make an offer like that."

He shrugged again, thinking it really was not that much of a hardship to take her out to dinner. From everything he knew about her already, he did not think it was possible for it to be a bad date. In fact, he imagined the date would be quite far removed from his "worst date ever" experience, which still made him shudder nearly a decade later.

"It's no problem. Let's see…oh, well you already know Tim will be at his grandparent's this weekend. They're picking him up from day camp on Friday, so I have the evening free. Would you like to go to dinner?"

"I…alright," she responded, her tone making it sound as though she was in a bit of a daze.

He smiled. "Excellent. I can pick the place—any dietary restrictions I should know about?"

"I…I don't like anything too spicy, but I don't have any allergies."

He nodded. "All right. I'll find a place and text you later tonight. Since we're pretending this is your first date with someone you don't know, we should probably meet at the restaurant, because I assume that's what you'd typically do."

She nodded. "Yes. Right."

"Great—it's a date—a pretend date!" he added coyly.

With that, he picked up his Tupperware and headed back inside the building. Only once he was back in his office did he second-guess his decision to invite Shelagh on a pretend date. Had he ambushed her with the idea? He certainly did not mean to make her feel uncomfortable, but he simply couldn't get past it. Never going on a date at age twenty-six? It was rather…sad. It would be one thing if she had chosen to never go on dates, but that was not the impression he got. Well, regardless, that fact would change for her on Friday evening, and he was glad to have done it. He only hoped it would not cause any awkwardness between them if she continued to babysit Tim. He truly hoped not; after all, how bad could one dinner possibly be?

Feeling as though she was living in some sort of dream-state, Shelagh returned to the employee breakroom to put her now-empty lunch container back in her locker. She shut the door to the locker and then leaned forward and rested her head against it, letting the feeling of the cool metal on her forehead calm her.

Why on earth had she agreed to go on a pretend date with Dr. Turner? It was going to be so awkward! It was bad enough she had stupidly confessed to never going on a date in her whole life. He probably already thought she was a complete loser (which, frankly, she probably was!). Even if he went into the date knowing how inexperienced she was, that didn't mean he wouldn't be shocked and frustrated by how bad she was at dating. And then she'd have to see him again the following Wednesday, which was the next time she was scheduled to babysit Tim!

She continued to panic about all the ways she could embarrass herself during the date until a few minutes later when the door to the breakroom opened and she stood up quickly, pretending she had just shut her locker. Turning around, she saw Trixie, a nurse midwife, approaching. If Shelagh had been asked to pick the friendliest nurse on staff, it was Trixie by a mile. They had worked together for as long as Shelagh had been at that practice and, though she was a few years older, Trixie had treated her like a dear friend from the start.

"Um, Trixie, can I ask you for some recommendations on what I should wear on a date?"

The blonde's face lit up instantly. "Ooh sounds like a great opportunity to do some shopping!"

Shelagh smiled politely as she said, "Well, that's not exactly in my budget right now…" In fact, the babysitting money she had been earning from Dr. Turner had put her in near reaching distance to her goal and she did not want to spoil her progress in any way, which was why she'd gone back to her old ways of eating mostly rice and beans for dinner, except for two nights a week when she splurged on some canned chicken.

"Oh well that's okay; I'm sure you have something that will work. What kind of date is it?"

"Dinner on Friday night."

"Where?"

"I don't know; he said he'd pick the restaurant."

Trixie nodded, considering. "Well, I think a skirt with a nice blouse would be good—not too casual or too dressy. Or maybe a nice summer dress and a cardigan?"

Shelagh did not think she had a dress that would be fitting, but she had plenty of handmade skirts. One of the black ones would go nicely with the light blue blouse with some sparkling threads she'd picked up on clearance at the end of the prior summer. "Thanks, Trixie; I think I know what skirt and blouse I'll wear."

"Excellent. How exciting for you! A first date! I love first dates," she added wistfully.

"Oh, well, it's not a real date; it's a practice date."

Trixie blinked. "What's a practice date?"

"Well…exactly what it sounds like, I suppose."

The midwife let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah but why would you need to practice dating? You're not going out with a nineteen-year-old, are you?"

"Wha—no. It's…It's me." She confessed, feeling some heat creep into her cheeks. "That is, I-I've never really been on a date before and when he found out he said he would take me to dinner so I could practice and see what a real date was like."

"Who is 'he'?"

"Dr. Turner."

"Ohh I know that name."

Shelagh whipped her head to the side to see another nurse, a younger girl named Jenny, who had joined the practice earlier that year, was holding on to the back of one of the chairs at the round lunch table and leaning towards them with intrigue. "Why do I know that name? Oh! He's one of the GP's across the hall, right?"

"Yes," Trixie answered.

"Which one is he?"

"The brooding one with the accent."

Shelagh's brow knit together. "I don't think he's brooding. Is he brooding? He's always been friendly to me."

"Hang on, hang on." Trixie held up her hand, waving it back and forth to disrupt the conversation. "How did Dr. Turner even find out that you had never been on a real date? Why would you tell him that?"

"I didn't. I told his son Timothy last week while I was babysitting, and he overheard. Then, when I was eating lunch today, he asked me about it and…well, I'm really not sure why he's doing this. I…"

Shelagh's doubts were interrupted by Jenny saying, "Ohh, that guy."

She looked over to see that Jenny was staring at her phone, presumably having pulled up the practice's website on it, where photographs of the doctors on staff and their brief bios were displayed. As Shelagh had looked up Patrick's bio when she first volunteered to babysit his son, she already knew what it said: he received his undergraduate degree at Drexel University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in emergency medicine until the year prior when he had joined the practice in Malvern as a GP.

"I suppose he's kind of hot in a Mr. Darcy sort of way," Jenny concluded.

"Who?" Shelagh asked.

Jenny looked up at her and blinked. "Mr. Darcy. From Pride and Prejudice."

"Oh, that's a book, isn't it? I've never read it."

"You should."

"Especially if you're going to go on a date with him," Trixie added with a laugh.

"But it's not a real date," Shelagh reminded her. "I'm sure after this dinner we won't really speak about it again. He might not even want me babysitting anymore," she added as sadness settled into her belly. She had begun to look forward to her time with Timothy. He was so funny and interesting and had taught her practically everything there was to know about whatever "Ninjago" was.

Trixie smiled and said, "Well, you never know. Maybe after your pretend date he'll ask you out on a real one."

Shelagh laughed inwardly as she gathered up her things so she could continue with her afternoon patients, very much doubting that would ever be the case.