“Could that be Dr. Kim Reggis’s daughter?” Kelly asked.
“I know her father’s a doctor,” Caroline said.
“How do you know?” Kelly asked.
“She goes to my school,” Caroline said. “She’s a year ahead of me.”
“Well, bingo!” Kelly murmured. “This must be serendipity calling.”
“I recognize that beady look in your eye,” Brian said. “You’re like a cat ready to pounce. You’re plotting something.”
“I can’t find my shoes,” Caroline complained.
“I just had a brainstorm,” Kelly said. She picked up Caroline’s shoes from the bench and put them in her daughter’s lap. “Dr. Kim Reggis would be perfect for this merger story. He was chief of cardiac surgery at the Samaritan before the merger and then, bang, he became one of the Indians. I’d bet he’d have something saucy and sexy to say.”
“No doubt,” Brian said. “But would he talk to you? He didn’t come off too good in that ‘Poor Little Rich Kids’ piece you did.”
“Oh, that’s water over the dam,” Kelly said with a wave of dismissal.
“That might be the way you feel,” Brian said, “but I doubt he’d feel the same way.”
“He had it coming,” Kelly said. “I’m sure he’s figured that out. For the life of me I can’t understand why cardiac surgeons like him don’t realize their moaning about Medicare reimbursement rates strikes a hollow chord with the public when they’re earning six-figure incomes. You’d think they’d be more street-smart.”
“Deserved or not, I can’t imagine he wasn’t pissed,” Brian said. “I doubt if he’d talk to you.”
“You’re forgetting that surgeons like Kim Reggis love publicity,” Kelly said. “Anyway, I think it’s worth the risk. What do we have to lose?”
“Time,” Brian said.
“Which we don’t have much of,” Kelly said. Bending down to Caroline, she added: “Sweetie, would you know if Becky’s mother were here?”
“Sure,” Caroline said. She pointed. “She’s over there in the red sweater.”
“How convenient,” Kelly said, as she straightened up to peer across the ice. “This truly is serendipitous. Listen, Chicken, finish getting your shoes on. I’ll be right back.” Kelly turned to Brian. “Hold the fort.”
“Go for it, girl,” Brian said with a smile.
Kelly walked around the end of the skating rink and approached Becky’s mother. The woman appeared to be about her own age. She was attractive and well groomed, although her clothes were conservative. Kelly hadn’t seen a crew-neck sweater over a white collared shirt on a woman since she’d been in college. Becky’s mother was deeply absorbed in a book that couldn’t have been bestseller fiction. She was carefully underlining with a yellow felt-tipped pen.
“Excuse me,” Kelly said. “I hope I’m not disturbing you too much.”
Becky’s mother looked up. She was a dark brunette with auburn highlights. Her features were chiseled but her demeanor was gentle and her spirit immediately empathetic.
“It’s quite all right,” the woman said. “Can I help you?”
“Are you Mrs. Reggis?” Kelly asked.
“Please call me Tracy.”
“Thanks,” Kelly said. “That looks like serious reading for the skating rink.”
“I have to take advantage of every moment I get,” Tracy replied.
“It looks like a textbook,” Kelly said.
“I’m afraid it is,” Tracy said. “I’ve gone back to school in my early middle age.”
“That’s commendable,” Kelly said.
“It’s challenging,” Tracy said.
“What’s the title?”
Tracy flipped the book over to show its cover. “The Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality.”
“Whoa! That sounds heavy,” Kelly said.
“It’s not too bad,” Tracy said. “In fact it’s interesting.”
“I’ve got a nine-year-old daughter,” Kelly said. “I probably should read something about teenage behavior before all hell breaks loose.”
“It can’t hurt,” Tracy said. “Parents need all the help they can get. Adolescence can be a tough time, and it’s been my experience that when difficulties are anticipated, they happen.
“Sounds like something you know a bit about,” Kelly said.
“Some,” Tracy admitted. “But you can never be complacent. Before going back to school last semester, I was involved with therapy, mostly with children, including adolescents.”
“Psychologist?” Kelly asked.
“Social worker,” Tracy said.
“Interesting,” Kelly said to change the subject. “Actually, the reason I came over here was to introduce myself. I’m Kelly Anderson of WENE News.”