Page 55 of Driving Me Mad (Sanity 1)

“About what?” What is there to be confused about?

“This Trace is the same Trace who was your therapist, right? I didn’t know you still talked to him. Why are you getting a new therapist there if you could just continue talking with Trace? I know you really l

iked him.”

Oh, god. Dear lord, no. “Mom,” I begin. “Trace isn’t my therapist and he doesn’t work at that office anymore.”

“Then how are you talking to him now? I assumed you were having phone appointments like you sometimes do with Dr. Gunner.”

Shit, shit, shit! “I…” God, how am I supposed to tell her? Stupid, stupid, stupid! I’ve been so careful to avoid saying his name, and I’ve let it slip.

Mom has caught on that something is going on. “Brittany, what are you hiding?” I don’t answer fast enough and Mom figures it out. She gasps. “He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he? Brittany, what are you thinking? What is he thinking? You can’t date him! Isn’t he married?”

The only good thing is she didn’t ask if he took advantage of me.

“Get in here,” she hollers to my father. “Brittany is dating her married therapist!”

God, this is so bad. I pull into Trace’s, and I hate that I’m about to bring this on him on top of his bad day. First, I need to explain things to my mom. “Mom, he’s not my therapist. Can you take a breath and let me explain first?”

“Explain,” my dad demands. Great. Now, I’m on speaker.

“First, Trace is divorced and has been for a few years. After I left for college, he’d check in with me, or I’d email him if I was having issues. I eventually gave him my number because I didn’t want to email anymore and texting was more convenient. By that time, he was in the middle of his divorce. We just started talking more and more often as time went by, he called me sometimes, and that was it. Then, he got a job opportunity here. He took it, moved, and I ran into him. That’s when we started dating.”

Trace opens the door to let Lily out, and I can see his frown from over here that I’m sitting in the car still.

“So, his divorce had absolutely nothing to do with you?” Dad asks.

“God, no. We were still walking the professional and friendly line at that point.”

There’s a small silence. Mom speaks next as Trace starts walking to the car. “He’s older,” she points out before adding, “Trace has depression?”

“Yeah.” I hold up my finger to him, so he won’t open the door yet. “Look, Mom, he’s so good for me. He treats me well and keeps me sane. Can we please talk about it later? He’s had a bad day, and I’ve come to see him because I help keep him sane, too.”

“Okay,” she agrees. “We’re still coming up next month, and we expect to see him.”

“Brittany, just be careful and take things slow, okay?” Dad tells me.

“I will,” I promise. “I’ll talk to y’all later. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I hang up and Trace opens the door as soon as I pull my phone away from my ear. He pulls me into his arms. “What’s wrong, Britt?” he whispers.

“How bad was your bad day?” I murmur into his chest instead of answering.

“Not bad enough that I don’t want to know what’s wrong.”

Lily starts pressing her nose against my leg to get my attention. I sigh and pull away from Trace to pet her. “Nothing is really wrong.” I look up at him when Lily walks away from me to explore the yard some more. “My parents know, but it’s okay,” I rush to say when his hand starts rising to grip his neck. I grab it and hold it in mine. “I accidentally said your name, so then Mom started asking questions. She thought I was having phone appointments with you, and I had to explain to her what was actually going on.”

“Did they question my professionalism from when you were my client?” he interrupts.

“No, they never questioned that. Their biggest worry was that they thought you were still married. They’re okay with it, and they want to see you when they visit me next month.” He takes a big breath. “I’m sorry,” I finish.

“Don’t be. It was an accident, but everything has turned out fine if they’re okay with it. I was expecting a panic attack about school or something, so you caught me off guard. Let’s go inside and eat dinner.” He pulls me aside, so he can reach in to grab my bag and purse for me. “Lily, house,” he calls to get her running toward the front door. Trace shuts my car door, takes my hand, and leads me to the house. He takes my things to his room before joining me in the kitchen.

“Want to talk about your day?” I ask, grabbing a slice of pizza to put on my paper towel and sliding the fried pickles between us.

Trace shrugs. “Wanted to call the grinch the moment I woke up.” I can’t help but smile at him using my phrase. My smile fades once he continues with, “And it’s worse now. I thought calling you might help. I’m not in the mood to go anywhere though.”

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