Page 49 of Luke, The Profiler

“Here’s the thing, Jenna,” I said, stalling and wondering what the hell I’d missed. “Forget your sister. In fact, forget everyone else on the planet for a second. What is it thatyouwant? Right now, this very moment?”

She made a vague gesture with the hand holding the tissue. “You mean if I could wave a magic wand and make my life perfect?”

“Exactly. What would you magically take care of first?” Honestly, that was something I’d like to know, since I hadn’t been paying attention.

Jenna shook her head, a lost little movement. “I don’t know. Maybe make my sister disappear.”

“But hasn’t she already checked out of all the things that need to be done after your father’s death? It sounds to me like she’s already disappeared.”

“And that’s the real problem,” Jenna said, firing up. “That’s what I would fix. I’d make her come back and pull her own weight in going through all of Daddy’s things. When she told me she couldn’t handle it, I should have said something then and there that I couldn’t handle it, either.”

“I take it you didn’t say that?”

“No.”

“What did you say?”

Her sigh shook. “I told her it was fine, and that I could handle it.”

“And as I recall, the decision of putting your father in hospice and having to become his power of attorney was something she wanted nothing to do with, correct?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

“Because you told her you could take care of that, too. Right?”

“I…” Jenna’s ire faded, and she looked like she was about to dissolve into tears once more.

That was a big nope for me.

“Jenna, I see a pattern in your life, and I suspect that through all this pain and misery, you’re beginning to see that pattern as well. Am I right?”

Tears dripped from her eyes as she stared hopelessly as me. “You’re saying this is all my fault.”

“There is no fault or blame, for you or your sister. You’ve experienced the worst possible tragedy anyone can go through—the death of an adored parent.” For a moment the sound of flesh impacting flesh filled my ears. I shook my head to clear it and tried focusing on my client once more. “That’s the reality that both you and your sister are experiencing. But you’re the one bearing the brunt of it all, because unlike your sister, you can’t seem to say no.”

She blinked red-rimmed eyes at me. “No?”

“No is a powerful word,” I said gently, nudging a tissue box on the coffee table closer to her. “Nois the thing that can set rock-solid boundaries that people like your sister must acknowledge and respect.Nois the thing that can keep the emotional vampires of the world from draining you dry.Nois a word I doubt you use very much, because you seem to be carrying the weight of your family’s world all on your shoulders.”

“That’s what everyone expects, though,” she whispered, grabbing up more tissues. “I’m the oldest. I’ve always been the responsible one while my sister, the baby of the family, has always skated scot-free from any responsibility.”

“Then don’t you think it’s time for her to shoulder some of that responsibility? You’re both adults now. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that she help carry whatever family burdens there are. It’s either that or let those burdens you’re carrying all by yourself crush you.”

“That’s exactly how I feel. Crushed.” She heaved another woeful sigh. “But I guess that’s my fault since I never said no.”

“Again, our time here should never be about looking back and assigning fault. My hope is that it’s about looking forward into a better, more livable future by making more positive choices on how you live your life. So now, let me ask you again—what is it that you really want to have in your life, right this very minute?”

“A plan,” Jenna said, the tears drying as she seemed to look inward. “A solid, workable plan for the next day, and the next week, and the next year.”

“Let’s start with the day, and go from there.”

An hour later I walked my much more determined client to her car, then glanced up and down the street in a now-familiar appraisal of my surroundings. No sign of an unfamiliar, dark pickup truck, or of Luke’s Lexus.

Two days. Two days since we had crazy desk sex where I came not once, not twice, but three glorious times… and then nothing. Not a call. Not a text. Not even a visit on the pretext of being my bodyguard. I even asked Echo when Luke would be on-duty as my bodyguard, and he informed me that Luke was no longer assigned to my security detail.

Even an idiot could have read that particular writing on the wall.

And I was no idiot.

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