Page 57 of Tango

“Hummm, I like our kind of physical.” I smiled under his lips and slid my arms around his midsection as he took over my mouth. Let it go, Ivy. He’s only trying to protect you.

“See, we make a great team,” he murmured and dove deeper.

The alarm on my smartwatch rudely went off. I had to get to my next appointment.

“I have to go,” I huffed.

“Are we good?” He searched my face.

“We’re good.” I smiled honestly. “Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, and for wanting to protect me.”

“I will always protect what’s mine.” He kissed my fingers then let me leave. I loved the fact we communicated and tried to clear the air in the moment rather than let it fester inside. Look at us being all grown up. I chuckled at the thought.

I found Keith sitting on my couch as I went into the office.

“Gosh, I’m sorry, Keith. How long have you been here?” I moved quickly around to my desk to get my iPad. Scoot was sitting in his spot on the arm of the chair, and the where the hell were you look he gave me made me raise a brow at him. Keith didn’t move; he just stared toward the window. “Keith?” I walked over to him and realized he had earbuds in, and his eyes were glossy. As he realized I was there, he pulled them out and clicked a button.

“Hey, Doc.” He gave me a sad smile and sniffed. “Sorry. Your office was quiet, and I knew we weren’t meeting until later, so I used the time.”

“No problem at all. Please feel free anytime it’s not in use.” I went back and unplugged my iPad from the charger, turned my phone to vibrate, and settled in the chair across from him. Scoot seemed more than ready to start the meeting.

“Sorry I’m late.” My uncle rushed in. “I hope you got my message, Ivy. I’m here to observe you today.” We both glanced at Keith, and he nodded his permission with a shrug.

“Thanks.” I smiled warmly at Keith. “Sure, take a seat, Doc.” After he settled, I pointed to his cheek. “Ah, you got a little something.” He took a tissue and dabbed at his skin then turned bright red as he realized it was lipstick.

“Well,” I focused back on Keith, “where would you like to begin?”

“Let’s start with my wife’s last few days.” He set a small recorder on the table between us as I looked up at him, confused.

He took a few moments to fill me in, and I blinked at him as I wondered how he stayed so calm.

“I won’t lie, that’s the last thing I expected.” I tried to smile, but really, I was more than a little concerned about his mental state after he apparently listened to some pretty dark stuff. I knew the Blackstone guys were a different breed, but literally hearing your wife’s last words, not to mention her death, was on a whole different level.

“You can come in anytime, Doc.” Keith waved him over. “I want you to hear this, too.” Doc did get up and moved closer but didn’t comment. Keith remained hunched over the table.

“Keith,” I looked at him and waited until he looked up at me, “would you say you’re better or worse after hearing all that?”

“Shockingly, better.” He gave a small shrug.

“Good.” I nodded and let my gut guide my next question. “Why?”

He rubbed his forefinger and thumb together, and I could see he was choosing his words carefully. I caught his drift.

“Keith, it’s okay.” I stopped his thoughts. “You’ve got my word if you share something dark with me, I won’t pull you off the Mexico mission.”

“Ahh,” my uncle started to speak, but I shifted my gaze to him quickly.

“My patient, my rules.” I wouldn’t let him interfere. The mission was too important to Keith, and to even suggest he shouldn’t go would cause him to completely clam up. We’d never know the truth about how all this really affected him.

“Understood.” Doc fixed his glasses and pressed his lips together with a nod.

“This whole thing is certainly heavy.” I pointed to the little listening device. “It would be unfair not to expect you to have a strong reaction to it. But I know you got this,” I reassured him. “So, this place right here,” I indicated the room, “is your safe space. Let me in your head, and let me help.”

“Yeah, okay.” He flexed his neck and wiped his hands on his thighs then leaned back into the couch. “I’ve been trying to sum it all up in my head.” He looked up. “She went from a fighter, to breaking down, to seeing clarity in what she did. How she wronged us, I mean. Our family. Then she acknowledged the consequences of what she’d done.”

I noticed my uncle seemed impressed by his explanation, but this was Keith with me. He opened up, trusted the process, and found solace in my kind of therapy. Sometimes you just needed to spew the ugly on the wall, hurt something, then move on.

“You know people will sometimes say they’ll have a lot of explaining to do at the pearly gates?” I nodded. “I think being in that basement was like that for her. She told Paul things about us that makes me see she was truly sorry about everything. And then there’s her final words to me.” He leaned forward, tapped two buttons, and hit play.

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