last fall, the rent on her office. Her savings wouldn’t hold out long. The desk clock, a memento she’d saved through countless childhood moves, rang the hour. Nine tinny chimes.
Her first appointment was due at ten. She had to start making calls.
First, she made a list of local therapists and called the two men and one other woman to ask if they’d be willing to take on some of her client list. Then she started calling her clients. She couldn’t even offer to see them one more time, to ease them into the change.
She came to Leila Sloane’s name. She’d tried not to let her feelings for Leila be colored by her attraction to Jake, but helping Leila find a safer way to endure the pain of her parents’ divorce had also let Maria feel closer to him.
Leila said she’d survived on the outside of her family all her life. She had been the good girl whose understanding Jake and his ex-wife had taken for granted. They’d assumed she hadn’t noticed the dark silences and the soft, cold arguments. They’d assumed the better relationship that had come with their postdivorce truce, with Kate living in D.C., had been as much a relief to Leila as it had been to them.
Of all Maria’s clients, Leila was the one most unprepared to be abandoned again.
The young woman, barely nineteen, answered her cell phone. “Hey, Dr. Keaton. What’s up?”
“We need to talk.” That was a mistake. She couldn’t bring Leila into the office. The suspension was effective immediately.
“I have some time now,” Leila said.
“Where are you?” Leila worked at a day care in town.
“At my house. I’m off today, and Mitch is due any minute. We’re going for a coffee, but I can try to put him off.”
“No, that’s fine.” She wanted Leila to have someone around. “I’ve had some news today that affects you and all my clients.”
“What news?” A wary note crept into Leila’s voice.
“You heard what happened during Griff’s trial?”
“Those ridiculous accusations Buck Collier brought up?”
“Naturally, the Psychology Review Board had to take them seriously, so I’m under investigation.” Silence as profound as the grave thickened from Leila’s side of the conversation. “I’m not allowed to see you or any of my clients until the board clears me.”
“What?” Leila’s voice climbed higher.
“It’s nothing,” Maria said. “A bump in the road. But you shouldn’t discontinue your therapy, and I have some suggestions for you. Doctors I’ve already spoken to.”
“My father did this.”
The phone went silent but Maria barely noticed. All she could hear was the drumming of her pulse in her ears.
Leila had finally confirmed what Beth had hinted at—the horrifying idea that Maria had kept at bay since the day of the verdict.
Jake actually thought she’d had an affair with Griff Butler. And, now, he was going to do what he always did—the right thing. Without even bothering to ask for her side of the story.
CHAPTER FIVE
J AKE RAN HOME at the first recess to pick up a file he’d left on his desk the night before.
But when he reached his desk, the file was nowhere to be seen. He rummaged through the detritus of last night’s work and finally remembered he’d taken it upstairs when he’d gone to bed.
After a quick dash up the stairs, he snatched the file off the nightstand beside his unmade bed. He’d just made it back to the bedroom door when the phone rang. Late for court, he thought of ignoring it, but he hadn’t ignored a phone call since Leila had moved out of the house in anger.
“Jake?”
Maria. He still hadn’t made that call to the review board. When he heard her voice, and his pulse stuttered like a failing engine and his body grew heavy with wanting, he understood the depth of his problem. He’d never willingly taken a step outside of the straight and narrow, but he’d ignored his responsibility to the community by not reporting Collier’s suspicions about Maria. Worse, he’d
Her first appointment was due at ten. She had to start making calls.
First, she made a list of local therapists and called the two men and one other woman to ask if they’d be willing to take on some of her client list. Then she started calling her clients. She couldn’t even offer to see them one more time, to ease them into the change.
She came to Leila Sloane’s name. She’d tried not to let her feelings for Leila be colored by her attraction to Jake, but helping Leila find a safer way to endure the pain of her parents’ divorce had also let Maria feel closer to him.
Leila said she’d survived on the outside of her family all her life. She had been the good girl whose understanding Jake and his ex-wife had taken for granted. They’d assumed she hadn’t noticed the dark silences and the soft, cold arguments. They’d assumed the better relationship that had come with their postdivorce truce, with Kate living in D.C., had been as much a relief to Leila as it had been to them.
Of all Maria’s clients, Leila was the one most unprepared to be abandoned again.
The young woman, barely nineteen, answered her cell phone. “Hey, Dr. Keaton. What’s up?”
“We need to talk.” That was a mistake. She couldn’t bring Leila into the office. The suspension was effective immediately.
“I have some time now,” Leila said.
“Where are you?” Leila worked at a day care in town.
“At my house. I’m off today, and Mitch is due any minute. We’re going for a coffee, but I can try to put him off.”
“No, that’s fine.” She wanted Leila to have someone around. “I’ve had some news today that affects you and all my clients.”
“What news?” A wary note crept into Leila’s voice.
“You heard what happened during Griff’s trial?”
“Those ridiculous accusations Buck Collier brought up?”
“Naturally, the Psychology Review Board had to take them seriously, so I’m under investigation.” Silence as profound as the grave thickened from Leila’s side of the conversation. “I’m not allowed to see you or any of my clients until the board clears me.”
“What?” Leila’s voice climbed higher.
“It’s nothing,” Maria said. “A bump in the road. But you shouldn’t discontinue your therapy, and I have some suggestions for you. Doctors I’ve already spoken to.”
“My father did this.”
The phone went silent but Maria barely noticed. All she could hear was the drumming of her pulse in her ears.
Leila had finally confirmed what Beth had hinted at—the horrifying idea that Maria had kept at bay since the day of the verdict.
Jake actually thought she’d had an affair with Griff Butler. And, now, he was going to do what he always did—the right thing. Without even bothering to ask for her side of the story.
CHAPTER FIVE
J AKE RAN HOME at the first recess to pick up a file he’d left on his desk the night before.
But when he reached his desk, the file was nowhere to be seen. He rummaged through the detritus of last night’s work and finally remembered he’d taken it upstairs when he’d gone to bed.
After a quick dash up the stairs, he snatched the file off the nightstand beside his unmade bed. He’d just made it back to the bedroom door when the phone rang. Late for court, he thought of ignoring it, but he hadn’t ignored a phone call since Leila had moved out of the house in anger.
“Jake?”
Maria. He still hadn’t made that call to the review board. When he heard her voice, and his pulse stuttered like a failing engine and his body grew heavy with wanting, he understood the depth of his problem. He’d never willingly taken a step outside of the straight and narrow, but he’d ignored his responsibility to the community by not reporting Collier’s suspicions about Maria. Worse, he’d
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