Page 39 of Blessings in Disguise

“You fucking son-of-a-bitch.” She let loose with more expletives. Her voice rose with each one.

Could this get any worse?

From up the staircase to the left of the foyer, a voice filtered downstairs. “Caleb, I heard you yelling. Are you all right?” Harlan sounded scared.

Great, just great.

* * *

“What’s going on, Dr. Kendrick?” Harlan sat against the pillows on his bed. “I never heard Caleb shout like that.”

Gemma had come right up here and sat on the desk chair she’d pulled over. “Neither have I.” And, man, he was a force to be reckoned with. She’d expected to find him wallowing in his house.

“Who was that woman?”

How much to share with the boy? He’d have to know some things. “Caleb was married before. He assumed the divorce went through, but his soon-to-be ex never signed the documents. He’ll file again.”

“She sounded…vicious.”

“I’m afraid she is.” She took Harlan’s hand. “Let’s table that until you get to ask Caleb any other questions you have. I want to talk about you.”

“Is this a counseling session? Caleb said he couldn’t help me professionally if I was living with him.”

“I’m planning to be your counselor, Harlan. I care about you. And you slit your wrists. I want to know how you are tonight.”

“Like I said, I feel stupid for what I did. I don’t want to die.”

“Whew!” She squeezed his hand. “I’ve dealt with suicidal patients before and the majority of them said right after they took pills or harmed themselves physically, they regretted it.”

“Huh. So I’m not such a freak.”

“Oh, you’re anything but. Consider this: if you were such a bad person, would you have two psychologists of our caliber in your corner?”

He blew out a heavy breath. “I never thought of it that way.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Caleb was at the door. What a day he’d had. He looked drained.

“Hi.”

“Hi. To both of you. And Harlan, I apologize that you heard me losing my temper like that.”

“Sounded like she had it comin’, Rev.”

“I guess she did.” He leaned against the jamb. “Anybody hungry?”

“Not me. I wanna sleep.”

“Okay. There’s a bathroom right there.” He pointed to a door to the right inside his room.

“Yeah. I’m gonna use it now.”

“Your suitcase is in there.”

When Harlan got off the bed and went into the bathroom, Gemma said, “The woman’s crazy.”

“She seemed crazed. I’ve never seen her like that before. She definitely needs help.”

---