Husband by Choice

Feeling sick to her stomach, Jenna fell silent. She’d been the only one without a seat belt on.

That was why she’d been thrown from the car.

That was why she’d been separated from her family. And had to grow up alone.

“I’d say that a young girl who thought she’d lost her family because she’d disobeyed might be subconsciously driven to do whatever she was told from that point on,” Lila’s soft words, several silent minutes later, held possibility and no conviction, but hit her powerfully.

Was that why she’d stayed with Steve for so long?

And was still doing what he wanted? Leaving Max and Caleb because she knew Steve would never allow her to live her happily-ever-after with them?

Could it be that she’d thought she didn’t deserve a family because she’d disobeyed her father and lost the one she’d had?

Was she dreaming up this whole Steve thing then? Had the note on her car really been a mistake? Meant for another van, another person? Had there been no one following her after all? And no reason to leave her beloved husband and son?

CHAPTER TWENTY

“DR. BENNET? THERE’S a woman here to see you.”

The words came over Max’s intercom as he was finishing up some charting Tuesday afternoon.

“Did she say who she is or what she wants?” he asked the office assistant, Jennifer.

“She said it’s personal.”

It had to be about Meri.

Tripping over his bright red high-tops, he smoothed back blond hair that had grown a little shaggy and burst through the door into the waiting room.

Chantel stood there, her eyes filled with a nervous energy that reminded him of Jill.

Nodding to Jennifer, he ushered his friend back into his private office.

“I’m sorry to bother you here, Max, but you pick up Caleb on the way home and then we can’t talk until after his bedtime, and I couldn’t wait that long.”

She glanced around, seemingly taking in the full wall of books, the leather chairs with gold braid and cherry frames and the cherry wood desk with one quick look. And then she made a slow perusal of him, up, down and back up again.

“Did you find Steve’s place?” he asked. He’d been watching the clock all day, wondering if they’d get lucky.

And wasn’t sure what lucky would have meant: Finding that his wife’s stalker had purchased a home nearby? Or that he hadn’t?

Lifting one hip onto the corner of his desk, Chantel shook her head, giving her messy blond hair a sexy windswept look. “Not for sure. But maybe.

“There’s an older one-bedroom home across the street from the beach. It was purchased four years ago and is titled in the name of what appears to be a bogus company. Neither Wayne nor I could find record of it doing business anywhere. The problem is the buyer paid cash so there’s not much of a paperwork trail.

“I called Diane and she’s never heard of the business, either, but get this, it’s the name of a dog she’s certain that Steve Smith used to own. Pepper, Inc. is the name of the company. Did Meri ever mention having a dog named Pepper?”

He stood with his hands in the pockets of his cartoon scrubs, rocking back and forth in his high-top tennis shoes, and listened to his heart pound. “No.”

She’d never mentioned having a pet at all.

Or wanting one, either.

“The place sits off by itself,” Chantel continued, her gaze locked on his. “No one was home, and there wasn’t anything to tell us if it had been occupied recently. The outdoor trash can was empty, but he could take the trash with him when he goes. There’s no city service to the place. It’s on septic and a well. The yard is hard dirt, so wouldn’t show footsteps. It’s in decent repair. Blinds were closed. Not a lot of cobwebs or debris on the front step.”

Max just didn’t know what to do with any of this. He didn’t need more possibilities. He needed answers. Needed to know that the man who’d spent years stalking his wife wasn’t after her now.

Or needed to know that he was and stop the guy before it was too late.