It's One of Us(48)

The ringing stops, then starts again immediately.

“Oh, for God’s sake.” She pulls out her cell phone. “Whoops. This is dead. Might be work, trying to reach me. I told them I was taking the afternoon off and not to disturb me unless someone died.” She opens a slick maple drawer and plugs in her phone, then picks up a black chunk of metal that looks more like the dark side of the Washington Monument than a phone and puts it to her ear. He’s reminded of Maxwell Smart, talking on his shoe.

“Hello? Whoa... Whoa... Stop. Take a breath. I’m sorry. My battery died. I—”

She goes silent, eyes closed, as if memorizing what’s being said, breathing in hard through her nose. “No, you did the right thing. Jesus. Go back to the house, I’ll meet you there.”

She hangs up. Her cell phone has come to life, and he can see the multiple missed calls lighting up the screen.

“Got an emergency? I can handle myself—”

“It’s Olivia... And Park... There’s been... Oh my God.” She sits down on a black leather stool with champagne metal legs and only a few inches of back, biting her lip and running her hands through her hair.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“I’m a big boy, Linds. I can hear their names without falling apart. Time heals all wounds, right? What’s happened?” She starts to take a breath and he, recognizing a sister about to tell a story, says, “CliffsNotes version.”

“Okay. Park donated sperm and has like a gazillion kids, one of them is a murderer, the body was just found this week, the police had both Park and Olivia in for questioning, another woman is missing, a sketch of the suspect is coming out, and we are going to have to move up our press conference.”

He assimilates this information. “Press conference?”

“We need to get ahead of the story. That Park is the suspect’s dad, all that.”

At the look on his face, Lindsey says, “Yeah. I might be late.”

Perry is already on his feet. “I’m coming with you.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, big brother?”

“She needs me.”

Lindsey cocks her head to the side like a spaniel. “And how do you know that? You haven’t talked to her in ten years.”

“She needs me,” he repeats, because now he knows why he’s come, why Nashville was calling him, why he felt compelled to come home. Olivia’s world is spinning off its axis. He is the only one who can put it back.

“I don’t think now is the time, Perry. This situation is fraught enough.”

“I—”

“Listen. I don’t know how much you’re in the loop—”

“I’m not.”

She hesitates. “They’ve been trying to have a kid. Doing fertility treatments, the works. Olivia has miscarried multiple times now, and sadly, again just this week. So seriously, stay here. She’s already stressed out. Adding her old boyfriend to the mix isn’t going to play well, for either of you. Let me ease her into seeing you, okay? I warned her you were coming, and I know she wants to see you. And I know you want to see her, too. But to drop you into the middle of...”

“Of a family crisis.” His voice is cold; he can’t hide the hurt.

Crestfallen, she tries to apologize. “I didn’t mean—”

“That’s exactly what you meant. I’m not a part of this family anymore. I get it, Linds. You go. I’ll stay here like a good dog.”

“Perry—”

“Go!”

She hesitates a moment before grabbing her phone and her keys and disappearing out the door.

Good job. Now you’ve upset her, too. You really do have a way with women, Bender.

A run. He needs to move. It’s his normal activity upon arrival at a new location. Settle in, take a run, get the lay of the land. It will work here in his hometown, too.

Outside, he notices the van only because the extension ladder looks like it might fall off, perched so precariously on the top. Apparently, the van’s owner has realized the problem, has pulled over to the side of the street to tie it down. But he’s struggling with the weight.

“Need help?”

A relieved smile. “Sure.”

It’s easy to get the ladder back into place with two of them, and five minutes later, the van drives off, the workman sticking a hand out of the window in a wave of thanks and goodbye.

At least he was able to help someone today, Perry thinks, and takes off down the hill in the opposite direction, feet slapping the pavement in time with his heart.



23


THE WIFE

Dr. Benedict’s office is designed to be calming. The room is painted a light greige, Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray—second in popularity in her own designs only to Olivia’s favorite, Repose—complemented with a few pen-and-ink silhouettes hanging on the wall. The throw pillows on the plump sofa are lapis lazuli velvet and down-filled, perfect for hugging to your chest as a shield, and the doctor’s slipper chair is a lovely dove-gray leather with silver accents beneath a globe floor lamp. Olivia likes the space; there is nothing showy, nothing loud. Quiet and gentle, like Benedict.

But right now, Olivia is deciding whether to rip one of the pillows in two in frustration after Benedict’s last probing question, the quintessential therapy staple: “How does this make you feel, Olivia?”