Page 4 of Operation: Discovery

“I’ll take some time with her to see how she would like me to help her. I don’t want to simply take over everything for her. If I do that, she may lapse into depression.”

“Greater depression,” Connor corrected. “She’s already suffering from a feeling of complete inhumanity. She came right out and told me she doesn’t want anyone to do anything for her because she’s not worth the effort, her words not mine. While that sentiment isn’t abnormal here, her depression seems more advanced than others. I’d like you to keep an eye on her and watch for trouble signs. When it comes to a suicide watch, she has three of the highest risk factors.”

She wasn’t a counselor. That was Brendon’s job. But she knew what he was talking about. Rebecca’s recent injury would be one, a victim of human trafficking would be another. She wasn’t sure about the third, but those two alone would put her at a great risk. She would do her best to make sure Rebecca had someone she could confide in, someone to help her learn to dress herself and bathe without assistance. Those things, little things that if taken step by step, could help Rebecca see her own worth and independence. Especially when she’d had neither for quite a long time.

“How long was she with her captors? Do you know?”

Connor glanced at the folder, then back up at her. “She was with them from the age of twenty-three to the age of twenty-eight.”

Twenty-three was exactly how old Brendon had been when he’d broken his spine and landed in her care. Would she fail Rebecca the same way she’d failed Brendon? Then again, Brendon was incredibly successful now. She couldn’t take credit for that, but she also couldn’t have ruined him, or he wouldn’t be here.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

He gave her a curt nod and stood, then reached out to shake her hand. “I’m glad to have you on the team. Feel free to join our evening meetings if you wish. They are right before supper, at 5 P.M. Don’t feel like you have to, but you’re welcome.”

She took that to mean she might need the information. If she was there, she would have another opportunity to see Brendon. If absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder, perhaps a surplus of seeing one another would regrow the seeds of their past. Or she’d be left holding a broken heart again.

Her mind fought the implications. What was she doing here at this ranch full of second chances? Why couldn’t she have one? Instead of heading to the cabin Lacy had shown her upon her arrival, she headed back to Brendon’s office and prayed he wasn’t with a client.

She knocked, waiting for admittance.

“Come in.”

She slowly pushed open the door and refused to beg for what she wanted. She would act with the same tenacity and backbone she’d needed in emergency care. “You say this is a place for second chances. This is a place where people can come and heal. But I can feel the hesitance in you to even consider that I might deserve one. Why is that?”

She hated pushing him into a corner, but Brendon had always been a man of his word. If he said it, he’d do it. So, she wanted to hear from him exactly why she was unforgivable.

A split-second narrowing of his eyes was the only clue that she’d broken through his defenses, but that wasn’t enough to call this a win. Not before he answered.

“A second chance at what? What are you looking for from me?”

Her insides deflated a bit. He was going to make her say what was wrong when she’d never had a clue. She was here in a professional capacity, but she’d hoped for more. Yet, if she said she wanted a second chance with him, that would ruin any chance of a professional relationship if he said no. “You’ve seen my credentials. I know you have. I can do this job. I deserve the chance to show you without the past hanging over us.”

He shifted in his chair. “I have, and you’re right. They match what we need perfectly.”

“So?” She waited.

“What, exactly do you want from me, Dee?”

Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them back, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Her name on his lips was like a balm over all the hurt, all the questions, all the doubts. “To start over,” she forced the words through her tight throat.

Brendon’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but his mouth remained firm. “I don’t know how to do that … but I’ll try.”

ChapterTwo

Brendon rolled into his office the following morning and asked his smartphone to turn the light on. He’d assumed that he’d come into his office and hear arguing from across the hall. Rebecca hadn’t seemed to want anything to do with anyone the day before. When he’d passed her door, he’d heard water running for a bath and two sets of laughter. He’d forgotten there was a bathroom attached to the storage room since it had been a bedroom before Wayside had become a place for healing.

Laughter. How had Dee gotten Rebecca to laugh? He hadn’t been able to get her to crack a smile. He had to remember that Dee was very good at being friendly. It was one of her biggest strengths. Even military service hadn’t dampened her bedside manner. She was a diamond in a sea of coal. But if she pushed Rebecca too hard, sending her into a deeper depression, he’d be on it. He wouldn’t see one of his clients hurt.

He rolled into place behind his desk and found it just as he’d left it, in perfect order. A clean desk always helped him settle into the day more quickly. If he had to arrange things or clean up a mess from the day before, he was mentally behind the rest of the day. Sliding open the top drawer of his desk, he pulled out a shallow bowl of tiny, wrapped chocolates. He wouldn’t take one yet, those were in case of emergency, but he always put them on the corner of his desk first thing in the morning.

No matter what task he tried to start, he found himself listening for sounds across the hall. Sounds of unease or distress. Anything. The only noises coming across the hall and through his open door were occasional bursts of quiet laughter and for a moment, Dee singing a children’s church song, which also got Rebecca laughing.

He tapped on Dee’s file, then opened it once again. Her picture stared up at him from the color printout. Even her work identification photo managed to look good. Or was he still so in love he couldn’t see any imperfections? Was he simply blind? He tried to focus on the picture, to see something he was missing, but the more he looked, the more beauty he found until he slapped the folder shut and flattened his palm over it like she might push it back open.

Irrational. His mind mumbled at him. Of course, Dee didn’t have any special powers to control him. Well, that wasn’t specifically true. Love could be like a power. It wasn’t rational, and it could make people do things others couldn’t or wouldn’t. But he wasn’t in love. Not anymore.

Someone knocked on his door and he looked up to find just the woman he’d been thinking about. “Hey.” She waved. “Morning. Can I come in?”

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