The Listener by Kay David

Author:Kay David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE PHONE was ringing when Maria stepped into her office. She’d left in such a fog for Ryan’s, she’d forgotten some reports and had been forced to go back to pick them up. She’d called Christopher from the car and told him she’d be late. She picked up the phone now, half expecting him to be on the other end.

“What did he say?”

Maria shook her head at Lena’s anxious question. It wasn’t what Ryan had said, Maria thought, it was what he’d done. Or almost done, she corrected. Still in shock, she stared at the lights twinkling in the harbor. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Before Ryan, she’d never been attracted to a client, never even given one a second glance. But she’d told him the truth when she said she was talking to him as a friend.

Everything about Ryan—from his dark-blue eyes, so full of grief, to the wall of pain that he hid behind, even the dog he couldn’t bear to name for fear it’d abandon him, too—all these things made her want to pull him into her arms. She wasn’t accustomed to the need to comfort him and didn’t know what to do with the feeling. In that brief second, when she’d felt the warmth of his lips sweep over hers, she’d realized just how much she wanted to do that, and more. From the look on his face, he’d felt the same.

She pushed aside her thoughts with sheer determination. “He and Christopher are getting together Saturday morning,” she said briskly. “I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do, but he offered again so I said yes.”

“So we were right! He is making the first step—”

In spite of her revelation, Maria protested. “He’s offered to do something with my son, that’s it. I can’t tell you if it’s a first step or a step at all. I don’t know the man well enough to say that, Lena.”

There was a small silence. “You sound upset.”

Maria sat down heavily in the chair behind her desk. “I am upset,” she said. “This doesn’t feel good, okay? I’m totally caught in the middle. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing as a mother and I seriously doubt if I’m doing the right thing as a therapist. Letting these two get together goes against everything I’ve been taught. It’s a personal dilemma that’s eating my lunch.”

Another silence rolled down the telephone line. Lena didn’t often take this much time to think before she spoke. It made Maria nervous. “What are you telling me, Maria? That you can’t do your job?”

“I’m telling you I’m confused.” Maria said after a long moment. “I’m just not sure I’m doing the right thing, that’s all.”

Another hesitation came over the phone, then Lena spoke. She sounded confident, maybe too much so. Was she trying to convince herself as well as Maria? “Stay the path,” she said. “I know Ryan and I know you. You’re the best there is. If anyone can help him, you can, I’m sure.

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