Wife by Design

No way could he handle a child.

“Darin and Maddie are never really alone. They see each other in therapy, and maybe to walk across campus once or twice a week. That’s it. Maybe this friendship is a good thing.” Once he got going, he was on a roll. “The change in Darin these past weeks is stupendous, really. He’s up before I am, doing all he can, pushing himself, eager. Hell, he’s remembering our schedule better than I am somedays. I can’t speak for Maddie, but I know that Darin would never hurt her. He’s just not the type.”

“Sara believes that Maddie needs to get through this if she’s ever going to recover from her past. So while I’m apprehensive and would very much like to see the whole thing disappear, I’m to understand that it’s good for her.”

And really, other than making certain the two didn’t ever have an opportunity to make a baby, what could a friendship hurt? It wasn’t like either of them had the ability to take it any further than a walk or a talk.

“I have to ask, since you mention Maddie’s recovery, mentioned her past, what happened to bring her here?”

“I can’t talk about my patients. But I don’t see Maddie professionally. Unless she gets sick. I came to you as someone who cares deeply for her as a friend, as someone who looks out for her and—”

“Lynn.” He leaned forward, covering her hand with his. “It’s okay. I know you’d never betray your professional ethics. But, as you said, we have a situation here and since I’m directly involved, as my brother’s caregiver, I need to know what we’re facing. For Maddie’s sake as well as Darin’s. He might have questions. I need to have answers.”

She turned her hand over. A very small movement. He slid his fingers softly between hers.

“Maddie was integrated into a regular school curriculum. From what she’s said, and what I’ve been told, some of the kids teased her, were mean to her, but overall, it was a positive experience for her. Mostly because from grade school on there was one little boy who was her self-appointed bodyguard. From the first time he noticed her hovering at the back of the classroom, he was her instant friend and protector.

“She has a pretty good sense of humor when she’s relaxed, and he appreciated her jokes. Laughed at them with honest humor. He was impressed by her good heart, is what her parents said he told them.

“He saw her through junior high and high school. She was actually on the cheer squad because of him. She didn’t get all the cheers, but they had her join in for the easy ones. She was on student council with him, too.

“When, after graduation, he approached her parents and told them he wanted to marry her, they were skeptical at first. He was a perfectly normal, intelligent young man with his whole future ahead of him. He’d trained in high school to be an auto mechanic and had a decent job with benefits. He bought a house. Put money in savings. And approached them again. This time he asked Maddie first, though. And, of course, she was elated.”

“It must have been hard for her when her parents said no.”

“They didn’t.”

“Maddie was married?”

He’d been expecting caregiver abuse. Or maybe parental.

“Yes.”

Dropping Lynn’s hand, Grant sat back.

“Apparently, as he matured, and was ready to move up in the world, go to college and get a degree in business, he grew increasingly frustrated with her inability to keep up with him. Her parents did what they could to free up his time so he could focus on school and he ended up with a whole new set of friends. And was embarrassed by his noticeably slow wife.

“She’d make a stupid choice, and rather than patiently helping her see the right way, he’d hit her. He was smart, though. He kept the abuse to parts of her body that didn’t show. And told her that his temper was her fault. He always held her afterward. Told her that he was sorry. He told her that he’d love and protect her forever. Remind her that he’d always been her bodyguard. And he’d tell her that if she told anyone what was going on, they’d take her away from him and she’d be put in a home because her parents were getting too old to care for her. Maddie’s parents had no idea what was going on.”