Page 44 of Doctor Grump

I did. But not here in front of him with all these people surrounding us.

“We’ll talk about it later at home,” I said. “But for now, your parents are right there and have been watching like hawks since we arrived. We can’t look like there is any trouble in paradise. Let’s walk around and mingle. We have the facade of a happy couple to keep up with, don’t we?”

“You’re not going anywhere with her,” Santiago hissed as he stepped even closer to me. Instinctively, I completely closed the gap between us. To hell with propriety and civility. I was ready to lay the motherfucker out once and for all. I was sick of him and his interference and might have even gone lethal on him if his wife hadn’t picked that opportunity to get between us.

“Okay, that’s enough,” she said before turning to her husband. “Leave the man alone.”

Santiago gave her an incredulous look. “Leave him alone? Did you not hear what I just told you?”

“Yes, I did. But I also know you very well, Santi, and I know that if you truly thought Dr. Graham here was someone like you described, you would have had him thrown out of town and far away from Piper. Isn’t that right?”

Santago didn’t say anything, but his lips tightened. Lucia smiled, satisfied.

“That’s what I thought.” She glanced at me. “I understand that sometimes even PIs can get the information wrong, and you probably know that too, Santi. But this isn’t the time or place to try and get the truth out of him.”

“You should explain what happened,” Santiago grouched at me.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I snapped. “Think whatever you want about me. I don’t give a fuck.” And with that, I wrapped my hands around Piper’s waist, finally steering her away to play our ruse of a lifetime.

* * *

The house wasquiet when we got back.

Kendy was in bed, and the babysitter was asleep on the couch. We woke her up and paid her, including a generous tip, before she went on her merry way down the road to her home.

A punctuating silence descended after she left. It was finally time to deal with the aftermath of the implosive news today.

With a sigh, I headed to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. Piper was still standing in the living room when I got back, and she smiled wryly at the items in my hand.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she said. “The last time we did that, it didn’t turn out so well.”

“I would say it turned out fucking fantastic,” I muttered under my breath, but she must have caught it because her eyes widened. Instead of elaborating, I poured us both a glass, waiting for her to take a sip before throwing mine back.

“You don’t have to tell me, you know,” she said softly.

“I do,” I iterated. “You’re the one person I owe an explanation to, who needs to know what really happened. I don’t want you to ever be scared of me.”

She blushed, then nodded, waiting patiently.

“It’s a short and very stupid story. Essentially, I was a grunt in the army at the time, and I wanted to eventually work my way up to Officer. Until I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“What happened?”

I sighed, reluctantly remembering. “I walked in on another soldier trying to force himself on a woman, a female soldier. I didn’t know who it was at the time, and I didn’t care. That shit wasn’t happening on my watch. I threw the guy off, and we fought. I subdued him and told him that if I ever saw him bothering her again, I would feed him his own teeth. I suppose he felt humiliated by the entire thing.”

“Probably,” Piper said, nodding in understanding.

“Later, I found out that the guy was a big shot. His father was a political honcho, and his grandfather owned a pharmaceutical company. Also, the woman he was trying to force himself on was his girlfriend. I still didn’t care when I found out, but the guy was really mad at what I had done, and he demanded an apology. I refused to give one, so I guess his dad talked to a few higher-ups and got me the dishonorable discharge. He even got his girlfriend to accuse me of assaulting her too.”

“Oh God, that’s horrible.” Piper’s hand came up to her mouth. “How could they just…I mean, was there no way of fighting it?”

“No. My parents weren’t important enough, and to be honest, by that time it happened, I was sick of the military anyway. So I just took the discharge, got out, and decided to do something else. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because if I had stayed in the army, I may not have ended up studying psychology and may not have come to this damn town. I probably would not have met you.”

She blushed when I said it but then frowned again. “Still. You’re remarkably cool about the whole thing.”

I shrugged. The anger had fueled me for a long time, but I got sick of it long ago. “I was furious after I got out, mad at the world and the unfairness of it all. But eventually, I mellowed out. Therapy helped. It was one of the things that actually made me want to become a psychologist myself, realizing how much people needed it.”

“And that’s probably why you’re so great at it, too.” She reached out and took my hand, laying her small soft palm over it. “Thanks for telling me. I know it must have been hard.”

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