Hot Single Docs: Meeting His Match. Susan Carlisle

very funny. Coming from a woman I couldn’t get a smile out of a week ago.”

      The ferry docked and they followed the other passengers down the gangplank. They spent the next two hours exploring the grounds of the statue and listening to a park ranger tell the history of the lady.

      “Can we climb to the top?” Lucy asked.

      “They’re doing repairs. I’m sorry, it’s closed. We’ll come back when it opens.”

      “Oh, I had hoped to look out of her.”

      She had the sweetest pout on her face. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, unable to resist her pucker.

      Lucy put her hand to her lips. “Why did you do that?”

      “Because you look so sad.”

      “Oh.”

      He looked up at the top of the statue. If he didn’t focus on something else he was afraid he’d kiss her again. She looked so adorable in her confusion. “My father brought my sisters and me here when we were kids. It was an experience to remember. Every year my father let us take turns picking some place in the city that we would like to go. This was mine. I wasn’t nearly as happy with one of my sister’s picks.”

      “What was that?”

      “She wanted to go to the Met.”

      Lucy’s laughter made him feel good deep down inside. “You don’t like art?”

      “I do. But as a twelve-year-old it was a punishment.”

      She giggled some more.

      “Dad’s rule was that we were to go as a family. I went but I wasn’t happy about it.”

      “Those memories must be fun to share now.” Her voice had taken on a melancholy sound.

      He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “The holidays are something when we all get together. Loud and lots of fun.” He stopped abruptly. His father wouldn’t be here this year. That’s the first time he’d allowed a thought like that to enter his mind.

      This time Lucy returned his comfort. “You’ll miss him.”

      She’d known without asking what was bothering him. He recognized her counseling voice and found it comforting. “I will.” This was supposed to be a fun day for them both, and he wasn’t going to let sad memories overshadow the day. “Hey, you interested in seeing Ellis Island?”

      “Sure. If we have time.”

      “Then come on. I’ll show you the name of the first O’Doherty to come to America. We can look and see if any of your family members came through too.”

      * * *

      Lucy wasn’t as confident that they would find any of her family noted as being on Ellis Island as Ryan was. Edwards was such a common name that if they did, there would be hundreds or thousands. It didn’t matter. She was having such a good time that she’d go along with any idea he had.

      Ryan’s view of family was so different from hers. Her family life was so fractured that she could hardly remember the last time they’d all been in the same room. Could they do that now and be civil? No one had tried to get them together in a long time. Maybe it was time someone did. Yeah, right, she couldn’t even face her sister.

      She and Ryan stood atop the ferry taking them from Liberty Island over to Ellis Island. No other tourist braved the chilly air. The wind was cold but Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she burrowed into his warmth. He gave her a history lesson on the two islands and the museum over the roar of the engines. After he finished one story, she looked up at him and said, “You’re a great tour guide but...”

      Ryan raised a brow as if she’d dared to question his skills.

      “Sometimes you talk so fast I only understand the first and last words.” She grinned at him.

      “Let me see if this is slow enough for you.” His lips brushed hers, teased and tasted.

      She was falling for the guy. Falling hard.

      Was it that he’d offered her the first real happiness she’d had in months or was she just so desperate to be noticed for who she was that she’d fall for anybody who gave her attention? She’d always been the youngest, had stood in Alexis’s shadow as the quieter one, had been the baby carrier, and now she wanted to be the one who stood out.

      Ryan made her feel special. She was going to go with that feeling, revel in it, experience it, grasp it and hold it tight for as long as she could.