Page 18 of Blessings in Disguise

His eyes widened like saucers. “I can’t talk to her about sex.”

“You don’t have to. This is more about your relationship with her and your father. She took your side once.”

“Maybe I could talk to her. Would you come?”

“Absolutely. Jackson’s meeting with all the parents of the kids who are graduating. Maybe we can ask her to come early and talk to us.”

“Okay.” He watched him again. “Would you call her?”

“Sure. Now let’s talk about strategies for getting along at home.”

“Stayin’ out of my father’s way. I don’t have to be home when he is.”

Caleb knew the chances of that were slim. “That might work for a while, but it’s not a long-term solution.”

“I guess.”

“Something has to change. Let’s start with your mother.”

“I guess. If you say so.”

“Now that’s settled, I want to discuss your sketchbook. I’ve been giving it some thought. The images are disturbing, especially the last one. The boy had a knife to his own throat.”

“Yeah.” His brow furrowed. “The boy ain’t me, Rev. Honest.”

“I’ve got to ask you directly. Do you ever feel like you want to hurt yourself?”

“Nah. I told you the kid wasn’t me.”

Caleb wondered how far he should go with this.

“All right. For now. But I want you to promise me if you start feeling you want to hurt yourself, you’ll call me no matter what time of day it is. I’ll answer a call from you.”

“Yeah. Sure. But it ain’t going to happen.”

When the session ended, Harlan stood and walked out. Caleb followed him to the hall and watched him walk down the corridor. Had he done enough for the boy? Should he have kept him longer and probed more?

There was no clear answer to that.

Chapter 3

Annie said, “Lara, this is Gemma Kendrick, a psychologist I work with.”

Gemma looked over at Lara and gave her a warm smile. “Nice to meet you. Annie told me that you’re married to Joe Romano.”

She grinned. “I am.” The two of them went off to an island to elope. Neither wanted fanfare. She sighed. “Sometimes I still can’t believe everything worked out for us.”

Gemma said, “One of you had to move firehouses, I assume.”

“Yes, luckily Joe got a promotion to Battalion Chief.”

“Congratulations to him.”

“So you work at Pathways?” Lara asked. “I’ve heard such wonderful things about that place. Joe taught a class there.”

“The school is a life saver. Literally. We have a small population but that’s one reason we’re so successful.”

“Amen to that.” Maisy was beaming these days. “I worked there, too.”

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