Redemption (Desire Never Dies)

by Clara Grace Walker

  Chapter 27

  He might miss Mindy’s visit.

  Earl could think of nothing else as he followed Rory to Shirley’s office. She’d summoned him like some disobedient student being sent to see the principal. And with no explanation other than it concerned Mindy. And it was important.

  He decided in that moment he didn’t’ like Shirley. Her voice rang false to him, no matter how pleasantly she spoke. He didn’t like the way she looked at him either. Like she was a cop and he was the last donut on the planet. He thought now of what Mindy had said and was left with an uncomfortable pit in his gut. Had she really been hallucinating? Or were there sinister things going on here? If this were a movie set it would come equipped with a script, and he wouldn’t have to spend his time guessing.

  They arrived at Shirley’s office and Earl steeled himself. She could be about to throw his ass out, he realized. She’d been reluctant to let him in to begin with. Anthony Howard’s guardianship over Mindy presented a real problem. Unfortunately, it would be the first week of December before his lawyer could get in front of a judge and press his case to undo this mess. With Mindy stuck in rehab, the judge hadn’t seen any urgency in setting a hearing date.

  “Ms. Cantwise is waiting for you inside.” Rory stopped in front of a door bearing her name in raised gold letters. “I’ll be waiting outside to take you back to the hotel when you’re done.”

  Of course he would. The CRC rehab building might look like an open, inviting place, with all its windows and glass, but inside it was run like Fort Knox. Earl entered, half-expecting to be greeted by a stern, frowning face. Instead, he found Shirley smiling, beaming practically. He sat down in a plump, mauve chair without being asked, throwing a Storm Jackson smile her way. “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yes. Mr. Grayson. Earl, that is. Do you mind if I call you Earl?”

  He shrugged, making a quick visual inspection of her office. It was done in mauve, the same color as her chairs, with gold paint on the crown molding. Gold and white drapes covered the glass wall. They’d been drawn, blocking the view outside, except for a length of wall above the curtains. Sunlight peeked in from above the curtain rod, dancing off the opposite wall. Behind her desk, a partially open door led to what appeared to be her living quarters, done in the same mauve, gold and white color scheme. Taken together, the place felt like being inside a Hallmark card. He brought his gaze back to her shining face. “You can call me Earl if you like.”

  “Wonderful! Please, feel free to call me Shirley.” She clasped her hands together, smiling even wider. “I’m glad you came. I find our patients do so much better when they have a proper support system in place after they leave and return to their daily lives.”

  “Is that why you’ve asked me here? To discuss Mindy’s support system?” Maybe this nightmare was about to end. Maybe his lawyer had made some progress with the judge. “Will she be released soon?”

  He’d expected Shirley to sit down in the chair at the desk opposite him, but she continued standing, taking a step closer, staring down at him, still smiling.

  “I’m afraid not, Earl.” She shook her head slowly from side to side and gave him a doleful stare. “I’m afraid poor Mindy has a lot of serious issues to work through.”

  “Then why do you want to discuss her support system?”

  “Because I’m not sure who will be providing that support when she leaves. Will that person be you, or her guardian Anthony Howard?”

  It seemed like a reasonable enough question, he supposed. Yet, the way she asked it, drawing out every word and treating him to her expectant stare, made him uneasy. “I’m not sure I follow you.”

  “Really?” She rested her chin on her hand, frowning at him. “How can I say this without being indelicate?”

  “You don’t need to be delicate with me.” She didn’t need to be anything with him actually.

  “Fine.” She smiled again. “As you know, I allowed you into our facility because you claimed to be a close friend of Ms. LePage’s, and because you threw quite the ruckus at our front gate.”

  “I am a close friend of Ms. LePage’s,” he said, not trying to hide his irritation. “And whatever it is you’re trying to insinuate, why don’t you just come right out and say it?”

  “Well…” She moved closer to him, leaning against the desk in front of his chair, so that her knees brushed against his. “I’m wondering why you didn’t intervene and obtain guardianship of her yourself when she was so clearly out of control.”

  “It’s complicated. Let’s just say, however, I’ll be rectifying that situation very soon.” He spoke through gritted teeth and moved his knees to the side. He didn’t like her touching him, or standing so close she had him gagging on her rose-scented perfume.

  She responded by readjusting her stance, until her knees brushed his once more. “Does that mean you’ve hired someone to try and terminate Anthony’s guardianship? Is that why you called your attorney?”

  “What?” He rose from the chair, stepping to the side and taking two steps back. “What do my personal phone calls have to do with any of this? And how would you even know about them?”

  Shirley frowned, looked up at the ceiling and drew in a breath before returning her gaze to his. “I’m sure you realize your phone calls are monitored, Earl. It’s a precaution we find necessary to prevent our addicts from relapsing and trying to bring illicit drugs onto our premises. Sadly, some family members think they’re doing their loved ones a favor by trying to help them out in this endeavor.”

  “Whether that’s actually your concern or not, you have no business listening in on people’s private phone calls. Especially ones covered by attorney-client privilege. And just so we’re clear, my personal phone calls are none of your business and not up for discussion.”

  “Please, calm down, Earl.” She moved away from the desk, stepping closer to him. “The monitoring of your personal calls is fully-disclosed in the fine print of your registration packet. Read the How We Help brochure, page 43, the third paragraph of footnote 7. And any legal maneuverings that might affect the recovery of a CRC patient do, in fact, concern me. I think it would be helpful if you told me what you and your attorney talked about.”

  He moved toward the door. “My discussions with my lawyer are none of your business. We’re done here.”

  “No, Earl, we’re not.”

  He stopped short of the door, raising an eyebrow. “We’re not?”

  “Your continued stay on these premises is subject to my approval. Unless you want to be asked to leave, you should reconsider answering my question.”

  The woman was obviously on a power trip. And nosier than the now-defunct News of the World. Briefly, he weighed his options. Put her in her place and give her a real black eye in the PR department, but lose the ability to stay here, or at least appear to answer her question, and be allowed to stay. “Fine,” he said. “We were talking about a new Storm Jackson movie I’m in talks for.” It was a lie, but not one she’d be able to uncover.

  “A new Storm Jackson movie!” Shirley clapped her hands together, the manic smile returning to her face. “How exciting! I do hope you’ll keep me posted.”

  “Be happy to.” Another lie. She’d pushed him into two lies in as many minutes, and he disliked her all the more for it.

  “That’s wonderful! I really appreciate it. I was also hoping you might be able to help me out with one other matter.”

  He itched to get out the door and away from her, but stood unmoving. “What might that be?”

  “Well.” She moved to where he stood, staring up at him. “I’ve been wanting to get a dog. A small one that won’t take up too much space inside my quarters. As a fellow dog-lover, I was hoping you could help me pick one out.”

  Earl looked down at her gleeful expression and beady brown eyes and gritted his teeth. “What makes you think I’m a dog-lover?”

  She frowned, biting on her bottom lip. “You have a dog, don’t you?”

>   Monitoring his phone calls was an understatement. She’d clearly been listening in on every single word. “The dog is Mindy’s,” he said. “She left it with me when she moved out. Perhaps she could advise you on getting a dog.”

  “But I…well, no. That’ll be quite alright. Thank you.”

  The crushed and confused look on her face was priceless. Earl wished he could laugh without pissing her off. Instead, he opened the door. “Keep me posted on Mindy’s progress. I’ll talk to you later.”

  She made another move toward him, but he scooted away and darted out the door, power-walking down the hall, Rory chasing along behind him. He didn’t know what Shirley Cantwise was really up to, but whatever it was, his gut told him it was no good.

  Chapter 28

  Mindy knocked on Earl’s door three times, softly calling his name, but he never answered. She could think of no reason he wouldn’t be there. He’d been so receptive to the idea last night. He’d also been sorely upset about Vince though. And maybe seeing Vince had dredged up memories he didn’t want to deal with. Mindy blinked away a rush of tears. Maybe Earl had finally had enough of her drama. Could be he’d packed up this morning and left.

  Checking both ways down the hall, she noted nothing but emptiness and silence. No muffled voices, or shuffling footsteps, or dinging elevators. She tapped once more on the door. “Earl? Are you in there?”

  Still nothing.

  Her tears came faster than she could blink them away. He’d left. Realized there was no movie-scripted ending waiting for them at the end of the day, and gone home. He was probably sitting in a first-class seat winging his way back to California, while she stood here knocking on the door of an empty room.

  She sucked back a sob, wiping tears from her eyes, and headed for the stairwell. Why couldn’t she get Earl out of her heart?

  Chapter 29

  Shirley sat frustrated in her office. She’d spent hours planning her meeting with Earl. Envisioned every detail of their conversation a dozen times. Planned clever segues from one subject to another, each designed to result in him asking for her help; confessing his self-destructive feelings where Mindy was concerned; and his distress at his inability to form a functional relationship.

  In her fantasies, Earl explained how he’d shown up wanting to help purge the guilt he felt over how badly Mindy had taken their break-up; and how that guilt had goaded him into thinking he was still in love with her, thinking that he might somehow help. He’d gone on to explain how he needed a woman to talk to about the situation with Mindy. Help him untangle his dysfunctional relationship with her without sending her back to the bottle. In her fantasies, Earl asked her to be that woman; pleaded with her to help him understand why he’d never met that one woman with whom he felt a special connection. A soul mate. In her fantasies, she laid a hand on Earl’s arm, and he covered her hand with his own, feeling the unspoken destiny between them. It was the spark of passion preparing to ignite.

  The reality of their meeting had gone in a starkly different, and very disappointing, direction. He basically told her to mind her own business; treated her like some star-struck groupie, rather than an educated woman who could help him sort out his unhealthy feelings. She could show him the true love and guidance he needed in his life, but she’d been unable to steer their conversation where she needed it to go. He did not recognize her as his equal, let alone his superior. He’d never given her the chance to show him she could be someone he could look up to, admire, and yes, love.

  People frequently lacked insight, she reminded herself. She tried to comfort herself with that knowledge, but she was used to people behaving as she expected. Maybe that was what bothered her. Her failed prediction of his reaction. She’d have to observe him more closely. She needed to know all his buttons and exactly how he’d react when they were pushed. In the meantime, she had business to attend to. Picking up her phone, she dialed Anthony Howard’s number.

  “Hello.” He answered the phone sounding tired and grumpy.

  She ignored his irritable greeting and got right to the point. “It’s Shirley,” she said. “You need to get down here. We have a problem with Earl Grayson.”

  Chapter 30

  Being at CRC was like being dumped into a fishbowl. With people watching his every move and little chance for escape. In that respect, it resembled Hollywood.

  With nothing to do but read CRC literature, attend CRC seminars or hang out on the resort grounds, Earl felt himself going stir crazy after just a couple of days. He thought of Preston, stuck here for a month already and he no longer questioned why the guy sounded so weary.

  CRC’s other resemblance to Hollywood was the sideways circulation of gossip. While Preston had a pretty grudging dislike of Nick, his wife Maggie and Nick’s wife, Jamie, were fast becoming friends. In this way, every bit of news gleaned from group therapy quickly made its way around the hotel. Everyone knew everyone else. Except for Walter’s wife, who continued to shut herself inside her room reading her Bible, and whose name no one knew.

  What Earl had learned thus far was that Vince had declared himself done with Mindy unless she cleaned up her act, and he spent all his time talking to Belinda. Mindy, for her part, didn’t seem to care. That part came courtesy of Preston, via Scott, and lessened the hurt inside his heart. The news regarding Mindy’s continued arguments with Darla came from Rod. Nick, according to Jamie, didn’t have much of anything to say, and while Earl didn’t pretend to be any kind of an expert on addiction, he didn’t buy Nick’s alcoholism story. The guy was way too in control of himself to be addicted to anything. And the surrogate father role he’d assumed with Mindy puzzled Earl. What interest he had in her, beyond fishing for gossip, was anyone’s guess. It clearly wasn’t sexual. The man looked at Jamie in a way Earl recognized and identified with. It was the look of a man in love.

  “What do you think of Nick from a professional standpoint?” he asked his two companions. Preston and Rod walked alongside him, en route to the treatment facility. Maggie and Jamie chased their daughters up the path ahead, while Walter’s wife lagged far behind.

  “I don’t think much of him personally or professionally,” Preston answered quickly. “Why?”

  “I was wondering about his sudden interest in Mindy, and whether you think it’s connected to a story.”

  “Of course it’s connected to a story.” Again, Preston answered swiftly.

  “Why do you dislike him so much? And why did you sell him your business if you disrespect him?” That part made no sense. “Do you think he publishes stories that aren’t true?”

  “No,” Rod answered. “He’ll publish whatever dirt he digs up on a person. Take it from someone who knows firsthand. But I’ve never known him to publish anything that wasn’t true.”

  “True or not, the man has no sense of discretion.” Preston continued to speak with scorn. “Any man who’ll publish details of his dead wife’s affair will publish a story about anything. And if I had known at the time I sold my company to him how everything was going to turn out, I’d have looked for another buyer.”

  “I see.” Earl noticed Rod’s face had gone pale at the mention of the affair. It was the closest any of them had come to speaking openly of the guy’s past. “Why do you think he’s really here?” he asked. “Do you think he’s really an alcoholic?”

  “Hell no!” Rod laughed. “That guy’s way too much of a control freak to be an addict.”

  “I don’t know,” Preston disagreed. “He was boozing it up pretty heavily after Janelle died.”

  “That was four years ago,” Rod said. “I really don’t think he’s an alcoholic. Then or now.”

  “Then why do you suppose he’s here?” Earl asked the question and waited to see who would answer it first.

  “He’s got to be here for a story,” Preston answered. “Even if he had an alcohol problem, I doubt he’d seek treatment for it here. I can’t see him wanting Rod or I to know about it. He’s too proud for that.”

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nbsp; Rod nodded. “He’s definitely here for a story. If you ask me, he’s probably looking into Regina’s death.”

  “Regina? You mean the girl who killed herself?”

  “Her mother didn’t want to believe it was suicide,” Rod said. “She kept saying at the funeral that Regina was getting better. That she wasn’t the kind of girl who would kill herself.”

  Earl thought for a moment. If Nick was here to investigate a girl’s death, maybe his interest in Mindy wasn’t just an attempt to pry gossip out of her. He thought about what she’d told him yesterday. “Do you know if there was a girl named Pauline working here?”

  Preston and Rod both nodded. “She left the other night,” Preston said. “Patty said her aunt was in a car accident and she went home to be with her.”

  Earl stopped walking, staring at the building looming in front of them, the one the women and the girls had already entered. “When did Pauline leave exactly?”

  Rod shrugged. “The night you checked in, I think. Why?”

  “No reason.” His thoughts filled with disturbing possibilities, and he was unsure when or where would be a safe time and place to discuss them. “We’ll talk later,” he said. “I really need to see Mindy.”

  Arriving for visiting hour, he found her alone on the love seat in the corner. She jumped up when she saw him, her smile lighting her eyes.

  “You’re here!”

  Moving quickly to join her, he kissed her on the cheek, breathing in the scent of soap and noticing a trace of dampness stilling clinging to her hair. The sensations brought instant memories of making love to her in the shower, and he sat down before the arousal springing to life in his jeans could be noticed. “Of course I’m here. Did you think I’d gone somewhere?”

  She looked cautiously around the room before reclaiming her seat and whispering into his ear. “You weren’t at your room today.”