Husband by Choice - Page 50
And right then, he wanted to end one.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LITTLE OLIVIA HAD a G-tube, which they’d planned for. She needed it only until she could swallow on her own.
That was where Jenna came in. Helping the little girl learn to swallow again.
She worked with Olivia for an hour, in five minute spurts, in between which she kept up a steady flow of light conversation to avoid any chance of Yvonne asking personal questions.
The woman whose house they were using wasn’t at home, but had already arranged different homes for them to meet at every day for the next week. Jenna agreed without hesitation to the plan. One thing she and her sister victims had learned was how to be savvy.
It was good, felt healthy, to be living part of the life she’d loved. To stay in touch with that self, even if only for an hour a day.
Or so she told herself.
In the end, this time wouldn’t change things for her. But it could matter a whole lot to Olivia. And Yvonne.
Still on a high from seeing Yvonne’s relieved smile as Olivia moved her tongue slightly, in the manner they’d practiced before surgery, she left the house, slipping through trees in the neighborhood, silently apologizing to homeowners as she cut across lawns, and made it to the closest bus stop just as the bus was pulling up.
She’d planned the trek well, and had waited out of sight until she saw the bus one street over, on its way to the stop.
She had to know the routes. And she prayed that if Steve was in the area, if he’d already figured out that she hadn’t run, that she was off her normal course, that he wouldn’t try anything out in the open.
That had never been his way. Steve had a reputation to protect. His public image mattered to him.
It was a fact that had nearly gotten her killed the time she’d dared to tell someone at the LVMPD about his problem. The LVMPD family counselor she’d sought out had gone straight to Steve, supposedly out of respect. Steve had been humbly embarrassed, begging for the whole thing to be forgotten for her sake, because she was a jealous fool who’d lied to try to make him pay for a supposed liaison that had never happened. She’d had no bruises at the time, no proof. She’d expected her cry for help to be protected by confidentiality laws. Apparently those didn’t apply when the psychiatrist worked for the police force.
She’d never spoken to an LVMPD official again. Partially because he’d made certain she never dared get close to one. The scar on her thigh was her reminder.
Two stops, a transfer and a shortcut through a neighbor’s yard and she was at her next carefully planned destination.
A place for necessary business. Nothing more.
Keeping her eyes trained only on what she had to see to complete her task, she pulled the spare shed key out of her pocket, a key she’d stored with a spare house key in the magnetic holder on the underside of the glove box in her car. Coming from the back side of the shed, keeping trees between herself and the house, she hurried to the door, had it unlocked and was inside in fewer than thirty seconds.
The box was right where she knew it would be. Right where she’d left it. She only had the one pair of black dress pants and a white blouse to go with them and she tried to keep them clean as she climbed over the lawn mower, up onto the trunk behind it, and reached behind a can of nails for the box that held all of the drill bits.
Opening the box, she lifted out the top tray and reached inside for the mint tin. That was all she needed. The mint tin.
Shoving it into the waistband of her pants, she reversed the order of her activity, until she was once again standing on the floor in front of the lawn mower.
She didn’t glance out the shed’s small window. If the roses were wilting there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
And if... No, Caleb wasn’t there. He’d be at the day care, going every day now, she was sure, which was just what his father had thought in his best interests from the beginning.
Children needed to be socialized. They needed to learn how to take turns and stand up for themselves at the same time. They had to learn pecking orders and how to get along in groups. They had to find their own inner strength, without relying twenty-four-seven on the parents who were there to protect them.
She didn’t disagree with any of that. They were all necessary lessons. She just didn’t think Caleb needed to learn them before he was able to speak up for himself. Until he could tell someone if he was mistreated.
She didn’t think he needed to join the track team before he could run.
Still, Max had never taken an unscheduled day off from work since she’d known him. He had patients and he’d be at the office. Which meant Caleb wouldn’t be home.
Which was why she’d chosen that particular time to visit.
With fumbling fingers, she pulled open the little metal tin in her hand. The five one-hundred dollar bills were there, just as they’d left them. Max had teased
her the day she’d insisted on stashing the money. He’d had both hands on her waist as she climbed up to reach the shelf, and had lifted her down, sliding his hands up her body as he’d done so.
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