“Can I help you?” Maggie scooted off the desk, smoothing her skirt and attempting to look professional.
“I’m looking for Joelle D’Angelo,” the woman said. “We have a lunch date.”
“Dr. Shire.” He held out his hand to her. “We met at my wife’s nursing home. I’m Liam Sommers.”
“Yes, Mr. Sommers.” She smiled and held his hand for a moment before letting go. “And you were not at all pleased to see me there.”
Liam looked at Paul and Maggie, who were staring at him with frank curiosity. Paul probably recognized the Shire name from the Mind and Body Center, but Maggie wouldn’t have a clue.
“Listen,” he said to the healer, taking her elbow. “Why don’t you and I go into the conference room for a minute? I’ll tell you what’s going on with Joelle.” He led her through the short, narrow hallway leading into the conference room and closed the door behind them.
The woman sat down at the long table and looked up at him with concern. “Is Joelle all right?” she asked.
“She’s in surgery for appendicitis,” he said, taking a seat across the table from her.
“Oh, my goodness.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Has it ruptured? That could be terribly dangerous in her—” She stopped herself from saying more.
“In her condition,” Liam finished the sentence for her. “You know that she’s pregnant?”
“Yes, I know,” she said, and she was eyeing him so intently that he was afraid to ask her his next question.
“Do you know if it…if the baby…”
“It’s yours,” she said bluntly.
He looked away from her, shaking his head. “Man, oh, man,” he said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Well, I think she had a few very good reasons,” she said. “At least, they seemed good to her. One, she knew you’ve been overwhelmed dealing with your wife and son. And two, you haven’t…been inviting her to share much with you lately, have you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He looked across the table at the diminutive, gray-haired woman, trying not to turn away from her penetrating blue eyes.
“You’ve been pushing her away,” Carlynn said.
“I haven’t been pushing her away,” he said, but he knew she was right. He sank lower into the chair. “Maybe I have. I’m angry at both of us for what happened. We can’t let it happen again.”
“It happened. Guilt does no one any good.”
He studied her for a moment. “Is Joelle losing her mind?” he asked. “What on earth can she possibly think you can do for my wife?”
“Mara belongs to Joelle as well as to you, Liam,” Carlynn said. “They were extremely close friends, and Joelle suffered a loss as great as your own. She needs to grieve in her own way. If bringing me in helps her, I don’t understand why you should object.”
“Because I don’t believe there’s anything you can do to help my wife,” he said, biting off the words. “I think… what you’re all about is a…a crock of bull. Sorry. But that’s what I think.”
She looked unoffended by his words. “I’m not a quack, Liam,” she said. “Not a charlatan. The truth is, sometimes I can help, and sometimes I can’t. Often, the help doesn’t come in the form we expect it to.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean, that sometimes getting well,
“Then what the hell is the point of it?”
Carlynn Shire stood up and rested her hands on the table, leaning toward him. “Do you love Joelle, Liam?”
He felt his jaw tighten at the intrusiveness of the question. “That really isn’t any of your business.”
She didn’t respond, but didn’t let him loose of her gaze, either.
“It doesn’t matter if I do,” he said.
“Do me a favor, Liam,” she said, sitting down again. “Describe Joelle to me.”
“You already seem to know her very well,” he said.
“I want to hear
He sighed. Why was he giving this woman so much control over him?
“She’s very capable,” he said. “Compassionate. Caring. Ethical.”
“Moral?”
“Yes, absolutely. And so am I,” he insisted. “We didn’t plan this to happen, Mrs…. Dr…. Shire. We didn’t mean it to happen.” God, that sounded trite.
“I know,” she said. “Go on.”
