I nodded.
“But I doubt that’s what brought you in here.”
“You are good,” I said sarcastically.
“Well, it didn’t take any of my education or experience to figure that out.” She smiled.
Uneasiness wove a path through my brain. Jagged pieces of the previous evening mucked up my mind. Couldn’t start there. Not yet. “I really don’t know where to begin.”
“I usually tell my patients to start at the beginning, but I’m not sure that will work for you. The last time I asked about your past, you didn’t have the greatest reaction.”
“Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.”
“There’s no reason to be sorry for fainting. But I have to warn you, you will continue to have these kind of physical responses until you work through whatever is gnawing at you inside.”
“What makes you think there’s anything gnawing at me?”
“Talon. I’ve been doing this for ten years. I can tell. In fact, I’m pretty sure a layperson on the street could tell.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My hackles rose.
“Calm down. I didn’t mean anything by it. But you called me for a reason.”
I clenched the arms of the chair. My fight-or-flight response was kicking in. Adrenaline coursed through me. I wanted either to run or beat something.
“That’s not the answer,” she said.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but you’re thinking. You’re thinking you want to get the hell out of here. I can see it in your body language, in your eyes.”
“So you’re a body-language expert now?”
“Of course I am. I’m a psychologist.”
I relaxed my hold on the chair and willed my heart to stop thundering against my chest. “All right,” I said. “I’m ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jade
“Jade”—Marj’s voice was urgent—“you’ve got to come over here now.”
The phone had rung while I was brushing my teeth, and I could barely talk through the toothpaste.
“What’s wrong?”
“I found some stuff hidden in Jonah’s room.”
“What are you doing in Jonah’s house?”
“I was curious. I’m tired of the guys not telling me anything. I knew Joe was going to be out in the pastures this morning, so I came over, let myself in, and did some digging around.”
Marj… What had she gotten herself into now? “When is he going to be home?”
“Any minute. Or at the end of the day. I don’t know. I don’t rightly care. What’s he going to do? Arrest me for breaking and entering? My brother wouldn’t do that. Especially not after what I found.”
“What did you find?”