“He was, but he had to get home. His mom was looking for him,” Shannon said, her anxious glance partially obscured by the bandage above her right eye.
“How did you get hurt?”
Shannon toyed with the neckline of her hospital gown, a frown darkening her features. “Kyle was walking with me to the mall. I needed to get to the drugstore.”
“And?” Dragging answers out of Shannon was like an inquisition. Why was she so reluctant to talk? Was there more to this fall than she was admitting?
“And I tripped. I fell down...” Shannon’s voice shook.
The tremor broke the control Andrea had on her emotions, and tears escaped. “I’m so sorry you’re hurt. But how could you have hit the ground so hard? Where was Kyle? Didn’t he grab you? Surely he didn’t let you fall without trying to help.”
“Mom! Stop! I don’t need you crying when nothing really happened. I wouldn’t have come to the hospital if Kyle hadn’t insisted. He did everything he could to help me.”
“Where is Chloe? She’s your best friend. Why didn’t she come to the hospital with you?”
Shannon closed her eyes briefly then looked up. “I called Daddy. He told me you’d freak out, but I didn’t believe him. I wish he was here.”
Irrational anger tore through Andrea, settling in her throat. She wanted to scream and throw something. Scott hadn’t shown an iota of concern for Shannon since he’d left and married another woman. If it hadn’t been for Andrea’s attempts to maintain a connection between her daughter and her ex, Shannon would have known how little Scott cared. But she’d always made a point of reminding Scott of their daughter’s birthday and anything new or different in Shannon’s life. She’d done it all for Shannon, and this was how her daughter responded?
Shannon’s words brought painful memories to the surface. Scott had done everything to gain custody of Shannon, including having a psychologist, Jake Polegato, do an assessment trying to prove Andrea was an unfit parent. She would never forget those days when Jake interviewed Shannon and gained her confidence. Shannon had been happy that Jake showed her so much attention and understanding. But when he made the case that Shannon might be better off with her father, that staying with her mother was not necessarily the right decision for Shannon, Andrea had been furious.
As far as she was concerned, the man was a fraud. At the very least he was acting in Scott’s best interests, not Shannon’s.
She shook off the memory. She couldn’t stand to be reminded of Scott or Jake. Neither of them mattered to her anymore. The only person who mattered in her life was here in this room.
“Sweetie, there was no need for you to call your dad. He’s too far away to be of any help,” she said, fighting to keep her voice even.
Seeing the loneliness in Shannon’s blue eyes and knowing how much she wanted her father to care about her, Andrea eased her daughter into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m here and everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
She felt Shannon’s tears on her shoulder, the heaving of her daughter’s chest against hers. She stroked her daughter’s blond hair gently, loving her as she had never loved anyone in her life. Shannon meant everything to her.
A nurse entered the curtained space. “We’re taking your daughter for an X-ray, then if everything is okay, she’ll be going home.”
Giving Shannon one more hug, Andrea whispered, “This will be over soon.”
Shannon’s glance was a blend of bravado and uncertainty as the nurse moved to unlock the brakes on the stretcher then pushed it toward the corridor.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” Andrea murmured, clutching her purse tighter to ward off the chilling thought that in the past few hours so much had changed between them.
In the four years since the divorce, Andrea had watched her daughter blossom into a beautiful, independent teenager. A young woman who was carefree and happy, who shared everything in her life with her mother. And that’s why the call Shannon had made to her father hurt so much. She had been there for her daughter, had cared for her and loved her, and now when she needed Shannon to show a little appreciation for all her efforts. Shannon had called Scott, the one person in her life who had hurt her in ways she was still trying to deal with. It wasn’t fair.
Despite everything, she and Shannon were best friends. No one could come between them. Not now. Not ever. Shannon had always confided in her...always.
Until now. Suddenly her anger shifted, twisted in her chest, forming a ball of fear. Fear mixed with foreboding as Andrea waited for Shannon’s return. They were a team. They would get through this together.
CHAPTER TWO
JAKE POLEGATO TOOK a moment to calm the disbelief and anger building in him as he observed the behavior of these two very difficult parents. For two months he’d been working with this family to give their daughter a chance to express her needs. She was a seventeen-year-old private-school student struggling to get her parents to accept who she was and what she wanted out of life. The parents couldn’t address each other without yelling and screaming, behavior that clearly upset their daughter.
She wanted to go to the University of Michigan and study genetics rather than the Ivy League school they were pushing her to attend. She wanted to make a difference in the world, not continue living the pampered lifestyle her family espoused. What had started out as a disagreement had escalated into a standoff between the parents, Jessica and Don Parker, and their only daughter, Elaine. He turned to the father whose sullen expression he found particularly annoying today. “Don, do you hear the excitement in your daughter’s voice when she talks about the class visit to the university’s department of genetics?”
“Yeah, Dad, I would really love you to meet Mr. Duncan, the professor who’s heading up all the research I’m interested in.”
The father swung his gaze to his daughter. “You can take genetics at lots of different universities, don’t you know that?”
“There you go again, Don, trying to belittle what Elaine wants,” Jessica yelled, her face red, tears dampening her high cheekbones.
“Okay, let’s try to remain civil here. Each of you feels the other isn’t listening, but this can’t be resolved until each of you is ready to simply hear what the other says. Now, let’s give Elaine a chance to explain one more time why she loves the field of genetics.”
As he tried to find common ground, Jake was reminded of another case he’d been involved in, one that had haunted him since he’d offered his opinion four years ago. This afternoon he’d received a phone call from the guidance counselor at the local high school, asking him to be part of a meeting involving the young woman from that case. She’d been in some sort of altercation in which she’d been injured. The school psychologist was ill and he’d requested that Jake attend tomorrow’s meeting in his stead.
As Elaine finished her explanation, he turned to Mrs. Parker, took a deep breath and used a gentle, inclusive tone when he addressed her. “Can you speak to what your daughter has just said? How you feel about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you rephrase what your daughter just told you in your own words? It would give you and Elaine a chance to understand each other better.”
As he proceeded to engage with the Parkers his mind kept going to the call he’d gotten. The school had identified recent issues with the teenager that, when combined with the incident today, had the administration worried. She was a high achiever both scholastically and in extracurricular activities but was now getting into fights and not doing well in class.
The student’s name was Shannon Taylor—a name he wasn’t likely to forget. His testimony and opinion had nearly resulted in Shannon living with her father and leaving her mother behind. After observing Andrea Taylor—a mother whose obsessive need for control had manifested in explosive bouts of anger that raised
Shannon’s anxiety—he’d felt compelled to suggest Shannon live with the father, who seemed much more easygoing and less controlling.
At the time it seemed like the best recommendation, but he knew in his heart that he’d acted out of his own deep-seated fears. The year before he met the Taylors, his wife, Maria, a strong-willed, brilliant psychologist and his business partner, had died giving birth to a daughter who had never drawn a breath. Maria had been addicted to painkillers as a result of a car accident and had refused treatment for her addiction, yet Jake hadn’t taken precautions to prevent a pregnancy. He’d failed his wife and his daughter.
An outburst from Don Parker forced his mind back to the issues at hand. “I think what I’m going to get each of you to do is to write down the reasons for and against Elaine going to the University of Michigan. I want each of you to give two reasons why it’s a good idea and why it’s not.”
“It’s not a good idea,” Don Parker said emphatically.
“Just be willing to remain calm and do as I ask,” Jake said, glancing at each in turn to get their consent to what he considered to be a very simple exercise. He’d run out of ideas with these parents and was quite frankly willing to admit defeat if something didn’t change soon.
Watching Don Parker’s angry approach, he was reminded of another parent’s similar response.
When faced with Andrea Taylor’s behavior and her anger about his role in the child-custody issue, he’d been reminded of his wife and her response when confronted with someone who didn’t agree with her. He couldn’t help but feel that Andrea, like Maria, was intolerant of anyone else’s opinion.
He shouldn’t have let similarities to his wife have any role in his assessment of Andrea Taylor. His personal feelings were not relevant to the case. That his past behavior still sparked guilt, made him all too aware of his fallibilities.
The last time he’d seen Andrea Taylor, she’d been very angry. While he could understand her reasons for feeling that way, he did have to take into account the fact that she had anger issues and hadn’t sought any form of professional help to deal with them. She didn’t have problems with drug use. And as far as he knew, she was now a successful real estate agent who worked hard to provide a good life for Shannon.
But four years ago Shannon had been a child struggling with her parents’ acrimonious divorce, which made her frightened not only of the future but also of her father moving away and her mother’s sudden outbursts. Andrea had been a very driven woman determined to control all aspects of her daughter’s life.
He hoped things had changed since then. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to meeting her again.
He refocused on the parents in session with him now, wanting to yell at them. He wanted to shout how lucky they were to have a daughter, how good their lives could be if they would only stop and listen to what their daughter wanted out of life.
Instead, he calmly reminded them of the listening strategies they had agreed upon last session.
* * *
WHILE SHE WAITED for Shannon to return, Andrea’s loneliness pressed around her like a blanket. She remembered Shannon’s first day at kindergarten—how impossibly empty the house had seemed when Andrea returned from walking Shannon the two blocks to the school...
Her cell rang.
“I got your message, and I’m on my way from Chicago.” At the sound of her mother’s voice, Andrea’s anxiety eased. “I’ll be there in a couple of hours. How is Shannon?”
“She’s been checked over, a few tests run and I’m taking her home soon.”
“How are you doing?” her mother asked softly.
“I’m—I’m worried. Scott called me, and he’s angry.”
“That man! What is the matter with him?”
Andrea rubbed her forehead, her mind racing over the past few hours. “You know Scott. Nothing’s changed.”
“Listen, honey. Forget him. You take care of yourself. I’m sure everything will be fine. Tell Shannon I love her and I’ll see her as soon as I get back in town. In the meantime, if you need anything, my cell phone is on.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Andrea said, pushing her hair off her face. “Call me when you get home.”
“I will.”
Andrea hung up. What was taking so long? Had they found something? Were they consulting with another doctor? She wasn’t very good at waiting for anything, but especially not in this situation. She leaned against the wall just inside the cubicle.
If anything was wrong with Shannon, Andrea would have to get Scott involved, something she dreaded. As usual, she hadn’t gotten anything remotely like kindness from him, but maybe if she’d tried a little harder, she might have been able to calm him.
She clutched her cell phone, checking for messages. None. Scott could have called back if he was so concerned about Shannon. Thinking about her ex made her head pound and her neck tighten. Why did this have to happen now, when her life was going so well and Shannon seemed so happy? Shannon’s sudden interest in talking to her father felt like a betrayal of the relationship they’d built. Andrea tried to move her thoughts away from Scott but couldn’t escape the hurt that one phone call sparked. She feared Scott would use this incident to drive a wedge between her and Shannon.
If Scott saw this as a chance to take Shannon to join him and his new wife and children, knowing Shannon’s desire for a family... Andrea took a deep breath to ease the foreboding feeling inching its way around her heart.
She was so tired of the pressure of being in charge, of being the one responsible. She’d give anything right now to have someone to rely on, to help her get to the bottom of what was going wrong in Shannon’s life. Why hadn’t Shannon talked to her? Was she in shock? Could she have a head injury? Something was desperately wrong because, to Andrea’s knowledge, Shannon had never done anything even remotely like this before. Shannon loved school, and all her school activities. Shannon had always shared everything with her, and even now she couldn’t help but believe that given time Shannon would tell her everything leading up to the fall that landed her in the hospital. But how could she be sure? She hated going behind her daughter’s back to discover what was really going on, but she would if she had to. Exhausted, she tilted her head back to keep the tears from flowing.
There was a rustling sound as the nurse approached her. “Mrs. Taylor, Shannon’s tests were normal and she is ready to go home. I’ll run through the discharge instructions with you.”
Andrea followed the nurse to where Shannon sat slumped in a wheelchair, her hands in her lap, her head down.
“Shannon has several cuts on her knee, which we’ve dressed. Those dressings can come off in a couple of days, unless there’s further bleeding. Check in with your family doctor if you have any concerns.”
“Thank you,” she said as her gaze moved to her daughter, seeking signs of how Shannon was feeling. Shannon had always been such a stoic child, but tonight might have changed that.
“We’ll get you home and tucked into bed. We’ll talk about all this tomorrow when you’re feeling up to it,” she said, pushing the wheelchair ahead of her.
Shannon tossed her long blond hair off her face, stared up at her mother from the wheelchair and squared her shoulders. “What happened was no big deal. I fell and Kyle was there to help me,” she said as if annoyed by her mother’s presence.
Andrea saw the shift in her daughter’s gaze and had this awful feeling that she was lying. But she didn’t know what to say, how to approach her over this. “You could have been seriously injured, Shannon,” Andrea said, surprised at her daughter’s dismissive tone.
Shannon grabbed the wheels of the chair, stopping it, and jumped up. “I want to walk,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact. There was a pronounced limp as she hurried away.
“Shannon, wait for me,” Andrea called as she followed her toward the entran
ce.
She caught up just as the automatic doors leading to the parking lot whirred open. “Wait here. I’ll bring the car around.”
Shannon scanned the parking lot. “No, I see it,” she muttered, wincing as she stepped off the curb.
Andrea’s concern mixed with irritation. Pushing aside her feelings, they headed toward the SUV, Andrea clicked the remote door opener and climbed into the vehicle. Shannon got in the passenger side and snapped on her seat belt as she groaned in pain.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s the seat belt. I hit my shoulder when I fell.”
Andrea’s breath stalled in her throat at the image of her little girl being hurt. She reached across the seat and hugged her daughter. “Oh, sweetie, I’ve never been so afraid in my life as when the call came saying you were here.”
“Mom, I’m sorry for worrying you. I didn’t mean to,” she whispered before kissing her mother’s cheek.
They held each other for a few moments, their closeness an instant reassurance. If Shannon was hiding something, not telling her the truth, it would work itself out once they were home. If necessary, she and Shannon would stay up all night to talk this out. They’d done it before during the divorce proceedings.
She hugged Shannon again before settling in and buckling her seat belt. “Let’s go home. I’ll make a pitcher of peach smoothies—” Shannon’s favorite “—and we’ll watch a movie together. What do you say?” Andrea turned into the flow of traffic while she watched Shannon out of the corner of her eye.
“I’d rather just go to bed.” Shannon pulled her cell phone out of her knapsack.
“Who are you calling?” Andrea asked as she changed lanes before stopping at a red light.
“Kyle. I want to tell him I’m okay, that I’ll see him at school tomorrow.”
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