“So, there’s a jealousy matter there,” Lynn said, squinting her eyes at him. “Is that something you’d like to work on? In our future sessions?”
Jeffrey glared at her. “You mean that? I can come back even if she’s not with me?”
“Absolutely.”
He sighed and leaned back, a look of relief on his face.
“Thank you, Doc. You have no clue how much that means to me. I felt like I was going to die this past week. I know I can talk to you. I feel like we have a real trust-thing going on here.”
That made Lynn smile secretively. She felt that too, and she also felt that Jeffrey could be a good patient to work with, work through this break-up, while secretly suppressing that gnawing feeling inside of her that her motives for taking him on weren’t as honorable as she made them out to be.
Chapter 6
“I’m giving Amy and the baby your room. So, you and Olivia will have to share a room from now on,” I said as I drove up into the driveway and killed the engine. “Olivia agreed to it if I promised to get her a new computer, so she shouldn’t give either of you a hard time.”
A car I didn’t know was parked on the street outside my front yard, and I glared at it as I got out, wondering if Olivia had company. I slammed the car door shut, then went to the back to help Amy out with the baby in her arms. She had been in the hospital for two days and was ready to go home, which was now in my house.
I held the door for Amy while she got out and carefully, holding the baby tightly, walked up to the house. Olivia came to the door as we walked up and held it open for us. I smiled at her and our eyes locked for a second. She grabbed me by the arm as I walked in.
“Someone is here to see you.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Who?”
She shrugged, annoyed. “How am I supposed to know? He’s in the kitchen talking to Matt.”
“Christine, can you show Amy to her room?” I asked. “Olivia, you help them too.”
Olivia smiled and looked at the baby in Amy’s arms. “Oh, my God. He’s so tiny. And cute.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” I said to her.
She stuck her tongue out at me when Alex, my seven-year-old son, came tumbling down the stairs.
“Mo-o-o-om, Mo-o-om!”
He ran toward me and bumped into my stomach head-first like a bull.
“See,” I said. “This is what they turn into eventually.”
I grabbed him and lifted him, even though he was a little too heavy for me. Then, I kissed his nose.
“What’s up, buddy?”
He leaned his head on my chest. “I just missed you, is all.”
I held him tight.
“Do you have a name for him yet?” Olivia asked Amy as they walked to the stairs. I had been busy the past two days, rearranging Christine’s room into a nursery. I was pretty proud of my accomplishments and running on only a few hours of sleep since Angel kept waking me up every two hours. But I had experience enough to know it was only temporary.
“I was thinking about Owen,” I heard Amy answer on her way up. I smiled, feeling pretty good about myself for helping her out this way, even though I knew it would be tight in our little house. Matt was very skeptical still, but I was hoping to get him onboard eventually. The last thing I wanted was for Amy to end up in some foster care and risk being separated from her baby. I couldn’t live with myself if anything like that happened. I had assisted at her birth, which gave me some sort of attachment that I couldn’t just let go of. You could say I felt responsible for the girl. After all, we were supposed to help out where we could. That had always been my mantra in life. Yes, it meant the girls had to squeeze together and that there would be two crying babies in the house instead of just the one, but so what? If anyone could do it, it was us.
I heard Angel cry, then walked into the kitchen where Matt was sitting with her, holding her on his arm, trying to feed her the bottle. The sight made my knees soft.
“There she is,” Matt said.
I turned to look at who he was talking to. My smile stiffened as I laid eyes upon him, and suddenly all I wanted to do was turn around and run.
Chapter 7
“S-Scott?”
I put down my purse, my heart racing in my chest. I could barely look at the man. He was so handsome, sitting there on the stool, a cup of coffee in front of him. I was suddenly very aware that I hadn’t showered in two days and was wearing no make-up. My hair was up in a ponytail, so you couldn’t see how greasy it was. I was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt I hadn’t even looked at before putting it on this morning in the darkness, afraid I might wake up Angel, who finally fell asleep around seven when I had to get the older kids ready for school.
He smiled. I had forgotten that teeth could be so straight and pearly white. Didn’t this man age or drink coffee that would stain his teeth?
It wasn’t fair.
A few strands of gray on the sides of his head told me he had, after all, aged, but they looked good on him, a little too good.
“Eva Rae.”
He got up, opened his arms, and pulled me into a deep hug.
“Okay, we’re doing that now,” I mumbled as I felt his arms around me. I blushed and tried to avoid his eyes as he let go of me.
“How have you been?” he asked, trying to catch my eye. “It’s been ages.”
I lifted my gaze, and our eyes locked, even though I tried not to. “You look great. Really great.”
Again, I blushed, and I worried Matt would see it, so I looked at him instead and then at our beautiful baby.
“Thanks, I am great, actually. Life is good.”
“Sure looks like it. You got the house full. Lucky you. And you and Matt are a couple now, huh? That’s amazing.”
I nodded, my eyes still avoiding his. I reached out my hands to take Angel, and Matt gave her to me. Feeling her close to my chest again made me calmer. She was dozing off in my arms.
“So… Scott? What brings you here?” I asked, puzzled. Being in his presence made me nervous, and I kind of felt like I was a teenager again. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, that’s for sure.
Scott’s expression changed to a serious one. He sat back down. “As I was just telling Matt, I’ve come because I’m in trouble.”
I rocked Angel from side to side, looking down at her beautiful face, then back up at Scott.
“What kind of trouble?”
“Maybe I should take Angel upstairs,” Matt said and got up. “She’s asleep.”
I looked down at my gorgeous child, then sighed. He was right. She needed to be somewhere quiet. I was just disappointed since I had been looking forward to holding her again. I handed her to Matt, who smiled at the sight of his daughter. He looked so sexy with our baby on his arm.
“I’ll get her to bed.”
I exhaled and sat down, yet felt strangely at unease as Matt left me alone with Scott.
Scott’s green eyes lingered on me, and I saw almost despair in them. They were begging me, as he said, “The kind of trouble only a former FBI-profiler can help me out of.”
Chapter 8