Almost There

- 13 -

Tess's mom had come to greet them. She stood watching from the door leading into the house, her arms folded, as Tess's dad pulled into the garage.

After one of the most stressful weeks of her life, Tess was more than ready to begin the weekend. Not only did she have the date with Isaac to look forward to—and she could hardly wait for that—she had a meeting with her counselor, Dr. Mark. Going to counseling wasn't easy; it was usually the opposite of easy, but she almost always left feeling better than she'd felt when she went into a session, and over time she'd come to look forward to the regular engagements.

Tess climbed out of the car as soon as it had stopped.

"Hurry, honey. You're running a little late," said her mom, stepping aside to allow Tess into the house.

"Thanks, Mom. I'll be in my room."

"Tell him I said hello. Hi, dear."

Tess heard her mom and dad exchanging a kiss—she certainly didn't stay to watch. She hurried inside and up the stairs. As she tossed her backpack onto the bed, she glanced at her alarm clock: 2:34.

Oops. The appointment had been for 2:30.

Slumping into her computer chair, Tess woke her laptop and opened Skype. Dr. Mark was already online. She opened an instant message with him.

[TESS] Are you there Dr Mark? Sorry Im late.

[DR. MARK PATTERSON] Yep. Give me a call when you're ready.

Tess called him, and he picked up almost immediately. She smiled as the video came through. Dr. Mark Patterson—frowning and squinting at his screen as he set up his side of the call—was almost too young in the face for his mostly silver hair. He looked the same as he always did in his collared shirt, bow tie, and glasses. On either side of him were the tall bookshelves Tess remembered from his office, laden with a variety of titles, from picture books she assumed he used for his youngest patients to intimidating door-stoppers only a doctor would understand.

"Hey, Dr. Mark," she said. Tess thought addressing a doctor was weird. When she'd first met him, he'd insisted she use a name she was comfortable with, so she'd traded the stuffy-sounding "Dr. Patterson" for a slightly less formal alternative.

"Hello, Tess. How are you?"

"I'm glad it's the weekend. How are you?"

Dr. Mark smiled. "It's nice of you to ask, as always. I've had a good week."

"How's Arthur?"

He leaned to one side, reaching for something that was outside of Tess's view, and when he sat straight again, he had a picture frame in his hand. He turned it toward Tess, peeking around the side of it as if trying to ensure it was coming into focus. "Can you see it? I have a new photo from the dog park."

Tess leaned in, grinning. It was a great picture: in it, a golden retriever lay in lush grass with his paws tucked in to his chest, three tennis balls in his mouth. "He got a new collar!"

Dr. Mark turned the photograph and looked at it in surprise. "I guess he did since the last time you've seen him. You might not be able to see, but you will not be surprised to learn that it has small tennis balls on it."

Laughing, Tess sat back in her chair again. "He's so cute."

"Thank you. I think he knows it, and he uses it to his advantage." He set the photo aside again and looked at Tess. "All right: last time we chatted, you were gearing up for the first day of school. Do you want to talk about how the first week went?"