Page 44 of A Twist of Faith
Reese sat back in the booth and allowed the silence to distance her anger. She stored a heap of hurt behind those words, recoiling into the pain like a shell. The last thing the woman needed was more time away from people.
She looked up and offered a fake-smile. “Did you like living in Charlotte?”
“You’re real good at deflecting those personal questions, aren’t you?”
“Some things are best left unsaid.”
“And some things only heal when you say them.” He tapped her fingers that lay on the table. “Or have others help you carry ’em.”
Her expression remained closed, but that pouty lip of hers appeared. “Thank you, Mr. Mitchell, but I find I handle things much better privately, on my own.”
“Where people won’t fail you? Or where you won’t fail them?”
She flinched. “How can you possibly know anything about it, Reese? Loneliness? Rejection? Crying out to a God who wasn’t listening?”
The emotions waved across her face from soft to hard. But the softness came first—a small breach in her stubbornness, but one all the same. Hurt, deep and painful, etched in the lines on her face. Sheneededsomebody to show her what love really looked like—how much God listened. How his strong arms held weak people.
The big question now was why did Reese care about Dr. Adelina Roseland discovering those things? Why did this woman draw him in with such curiosity, with such need? Just maybe he was as stubborn as the backside of a tractor too.
Reese softened the blow of his words. “People are going to fail, Dee. It’s human nature. The real issue is what we do when they fail that matters most. Do we hold it all inside or do we let it go?”
Her chin stiffened. “I’ve spent thousands on counselors. I’ve had hundreds of hours of sleepless nights. If I want another opinion about how I should manage the emotional affairs of myprivatelife, you’ll be the first to know.” She released a shaky breath and pulled her hand away from his on the table. “Until then, vowels and consonants remain safe topics. Okay?”
And she did it again—threw him headlong right out of her business, but not before giving him more information in one admission than she had the previous weeks. She opened the door to her past and, for better or worse, his traitor-feet and heart, pushed him right through it.
Chapter 9
But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul. (Pygmalion, Act 3)
Reese turned from the sink in time to hear a knock at the door. Last night’s conversation with Dee still hung in his mind, sparking more interest with each memory. She harbored some mighty big wounds to cause such a violent reaction. Wounds he should leave alone if he was smart.
The knock came again. Without hesitation, Lou ran from the living room to the front door, Brandon close behind. Dee’s voice greeted him before he even saw her. “What a sweet welcome, guys.”
“Daddy says you’ve come to work on his words some more,” Lou bounded into view.
Dee looked up from his little girl, her smile broad and beautiful. She’d worn her hair pinned back at the sides, but the length of it fell around her shoulders in the back. Soft, like the brief glimpses behind the wall of her heart. Good grief, he was thinking in poetry. He could practically hear Trigg laughing at him like a fool, but it didn’t stop his fingers from aching to scoop up a handful of those locks. He stiffened his jaw. Nope, he’d never been very smart.
“Oh, yes, we have to get your daddy ready for his big meeting.”
He tossed the dishtowel over his shoulder and met the ladies in the living room, trying to ignore the added scent of apples she brought with her. Good enough to taste.
Heat trailed up his neck and he swallowed a groan, the Trigg-in-his-head still laughing.
Lou looked up at him. “They don’t speak English where you’re going, Daddy?”
“Not mountain English, Lou.” He touched his daughter’s cheek and nodded to the living room. “Would you go ahead and put the movie in for Brandon while Doc and I work in my office?”
Lou leaned close, cupping her words to a whisper. “I ain’t picking the dinosaur movie again, Daddy. It’s about ready to drive me plum crazy.”
He matched her volume. “I don’t think Brandon will care which movie you pick so long as it has lots of songs on it.”
Lou heaved a ten pound sigh. “Yeah, it’s always about the songs.”
He looked up to find Dee watching them, all the frigid energy from last night gone. Her gaze melted into his, soft-like. He cleared his stuck voice and grinned. “Ready to work?”
At her nod, he led the way to his office, which he’d rushed through cleaning before she came. It still looked like a tornado hit it, but at least now it was a little tornado. The room boasted all the things he loved. Family photos, favorite books, a few old-fashioned maps, and a prize bass he’d caught three years ago and mounted to the wall.
“I heard we were going on a picnic this weekend.” Reese weighed each word, using all thoseingsand final consonants.
