Teresa pressed the button on the intercom, and Cammie answered. “Need anything?”
“Can you please let me know when Benny is here?”
“Sure. And welcome.”
Teresa smiled as she sat back. Hopefully everyone would still be feeling welcoming toward her at the end of today.
Dennis tried not to read anything into why Teresa just breezed by his office and into hers without even saying hello. She was probably nervous.
Guilt picked at him for pushing her so hard to help Benny. What if he’d gone too far? What if she really wasn’t ready?
He’d prayed on it last night and wondered if the reason he’d pushed was as much for him as it was for Benny. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been as interested in a woman. Even his relationship with Donna had been slow to build. In the beginning, he’d thought that was a good thing. Slow and steady. He’d seen too many relationships burn out after starting strong. But their relationship had never fully won them over. They’d never truly committed themselves to each other, which, in the end, made it all too easy to let go.
From the moment he’d met Teresa, something inside him had clicked. He liked having her around and felt like a teenage boy having the girl he has a crush on accept his invitation to the prom when Teresa agreed to stay in the guesthouse.
Ridiculous. He was a grown man. He was a doctor, after all. Men didn’t have crushes. But he found his radar was up whenever Teresa Morales was near. Yet his feelings for her went beyond simple attraction. He also had enormous admiration for her work and for the commitment she showed to it—taking on Benny’s case even when he could see that it scared her, just because she couldn’t bring herself to abandon a child in need.
And though he did worry that he might have pushed her too hard, Dennis was glad he’d resolved Teresa’s housing problems and found a way to keep her in town. Not just for him—but for Teresa, too. He still didn’t know what had happened to her in Hartford, and he wouldn’t search for answers without her permission, but he could tell it had wounded her deeply. He hoped that helping Benny would allow her to regain her confidence and overcome her past, but it called for a delicate balance. He didn’t want to push her too hard or too fast and end up setting her up for another fall. Especially not now when he was coming to realize just how deeply, personally important it was to him to see her happy and whole once more.
“Who do you think you are?”
The deep voice from the man standing in the doorway of Dennis’s office was familiar. He tried to defuse the angry tone with a greeting as he stood up from behind his desk.
“How are you doing, Frank? Are you here to pick up Benny?”
His brother-in-law scowled. “He’s my son. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Karen said you were working. That’s why I offered to bring Benny home when he was done with his session with Ms. Morales.”
Frank’s face turned red with frustration. “John Peterson cancelled the week. I can’t say I blame him, having to bury his wife and all. But it means no paycheck for the house. And before you go offering, I don’t need your money. We don’t need it.”
“I wasn’t going to offer. I know how you feel about that.”
By all accounts, Frank was a proud man, with a strong sense of personal responsibility for his family. That wasn’t a bad thing. But the pride he had could also be destructive when it meant his family suffered the consequences of his refusal to accept help. Still, Dennis treaded lightly.
“I know you’d tell me if there was anything I could do.”
“Haven’t you done enough damage already?”
Dennis suppressed a sigh. “Benny is in a lot of pain.”
“And I’m his father. You go around talking to Karen and telling her he needs a shrink, and she’s convinced she’ll be a bad mother for not bringing him here. You think you’re so smart. You always did. Big college degrees and big-time war hero.”
Anger had Frank’s face twisted into an ugly mask. There was so much pain behind it that Dennis couldn’t help but wonder where it all came from. This wasn’t the man he’d known all these years. He wasn’t the same man Dennis had seen marry his sister and sit down at the dinner table at his parents’ home so many times before.
Something had happened to his brother-in-law. Times were hard. But they’d been hard for everyone in Stockington Falls when the plant shut down. Hard times were no excuse for Frank’s behavior.
“This isn’t about me, Frank.”
“Of course not. And like I said, Benny’s not your kid. You don’t have a right to butt in where it’s none of your business.”
“Karen is my sister, and Benny is my nephew. That makes it very much my business. And since I’m also Benny’s physician, it’s also my duty.”
The sound of Teresa’s footsteps coming down the hall cut into the argument. Frank’s mouth twisted into a grim line as he pointed in the direction of where Teresa was coming from.
“She’s just as bad. Big-city girl comes up to the small town to save the world. She has no right here.”
“That’s not why Teresa is here. But I’m glad she is.”
“She’ll leave. They all do. The sooner the better if you ask me.”
The knock on the open door was expected. It was clear Teresa had heard the raised voices and concluded Frank’s yelling was in part about her.
“Am I interrupting?” she asked, looking from Frank to Dennis.
“Yes,” Frank said coldly.
“No,” Dennis said at the same time. He didn’t relish the idea of having Teresa assaulted by his brother-in-law’s foul moods. But since she was counseling Benny, perhaps she knew how to convince Frank about the importance of Benny getting help.
Instead of being taken aback by the obvious tension in Dennis’s office, Teresa smiled, no doubt in an effort to defuse tempers.
“Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up. Did you want to speak with me, Mr. Dulton?”
“How did you know who I am?”
“Benny showed me a picture of the two of you fishing on Lake Champlain. It looked like the two of you were having a good time. He was a bit younger than he is now, but you haven’t changed. Besides, he looks a lot like you.”
Frank wasn’t affected by the comparison to his son.
“Where’s Benny?”
Teresa remained calm. “I sent him out to the truck. When I heard the two of you…talking I thought it was best.”
Frank drew in a controlled breath. “I want you to leave my son alone.”
“I understand your concern, Mr. Dulton. Your wife explained your feelings—”
“Obviously not enough for you to stay out of our lives.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can’t mess up my kid’s head without my permission.”
She nodded and remained calm, which Dennis knew was probably infuriating Frank even more. He wanted a battle, and that was why he’d come to Dennis’s office. He thought he’d get one there.
“You’re right, Mr. Dulton,” Teresa said. “But I only need one parent’s permission, and I have your wife’s. Unless you want to exercise your right to get a court order to stop me, I’ll continue working with Benny. I certainly hope you don’t do that though. Benny has a lot of problems.”
Frank’s eyebrows drew together. “What did he tell you?”
Teresa shook her head unapologetically. “That’s confidential. I’m afraid I can’t—” “You told her though.”
“Who? Are you talking about Karen?” Dennis asked.
“Yes.” Darting his eyes from Dennis to Teresa, he added, “You probably told him what my son told you, too.”
“No,” Teresa said resolutely. “Unless he specifically talks about intent to harm himself, I can’t disclose anything Benny tells me without his permission. He knows that because I’ve made that promise. And I will keep it.”
“But he’s a kid.”
“He still has rights.”
Teresa’s face turned
sympathetic. Dennis wondered just how many times she’d had to talk to worried parents about what their children had disclosed to her.
“Look, I know it feels odd not to have control over this. But I work with a lot of students. If they believed their every private thought was going to be broadcast, they’d never come to me in the first place. Kids need a place, a safe harbor of sorts, to vent and work through their feelings. It helps make them stronger and able to cope with the pressures of being a teenager.”
“He can come to me. I’m his father.”
“That’s not always possible. Some kids—”
“You don’t know my son!”
“No,” she said. “But I want to know him.”
Teresa had learned years ago how not to react when people came at her in anger. In the end, it was never about her. She knew that. It was about their own frustration that made them lash out at a convenient target. Frank Dulton was no different than Benny in that way. He was simply using her as a vehicle to express his anger.
Her usual response was to ask the Lord to give her strength to help ease the burden from the shoulders of the person who was obviously in pain. She did that again in silence.
“You people don’t know anything at all. You come in here, and you think you can save the world. All my son needs is a little discipline. His mother spoils him too—”
Dennis interjected. “Frank, Benny tried to kill himself twice! That’s not from spoiling or lack of discipline. You can’t ignore that.”
“Is that what Karen told you? He had some accidents is all. You’re making a bigger deal out of it than it was.”
Frank breezed by Teresa, making her quickly step into the office for fear he’d collide with her on his way to the door. Then he turned back to Dennis. “You couldn’t even keep your own relationship with Donna together. I know. Karen told me all about how she packed up her stuff in the middle of the night and just left. You did nothing to try to get her back. And now you want to butt into my life and ruin my family by filling Karen’s head with all this crazy stuff? Stay away from my family, Dennis. Things were fine when you weren’t here. We don’t need you here now.”
“Whether you like it or not, Karen, Benny and even you, Frank, are my family. I’m not going anywhere.”
With anger that could stop a rhino in its tracks, Frank Dulton swung around and stalked down the corridor of the clinic.
“Well, that went well,” Dennis said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry you had to be subjected to that.”
Taking a quick peek down the hallway, Teresa said as she closed his office door, “I can see there is no love lost between the two of you.”
Dennis dragged his hand across his head. “It’s probably hard to believe but it wasn’t always like this. I actually got along really well with Frank when he first married Karen.”
“Did you two have a falling out of some kind?”
“No. But time did change us all. Maybe being away is making me see things now that I wouldn’t have seen if I’d been home all those years they’d been married. I can see now that I missed a lot of what was going on with my family when I was gone.”
“How often were you home?”
“Weekend visits during college and during my residency, when I could spare the time. But I saw the most noticeable change when I got home from Iraq—in both Frank and my sister.”
Teresa shrugged. “Maybe it wasn’t there before. Things happen and people change. In this case, Benny was growing up. I’m sure his problems have become a problem for the entire family.”
“It’s not just Benny. Frank is different now. We got along, but we weren’t particularly close as brothers-in-law. But I always knew Karen loved him, and I knew he worked hard to provide for the family.”
“What changed that?”
“Losing his job when the plant closed changed things, but I don’t know if Frank started acting differently right away. I wasn’t here when it happened, and Karen doesn’t say much. Then there was the fact that Karen had to go to work. That hit Frank hard. He’s very old-fashioned that way. Needing the extra money after he got laid off was bad enough, but when Karen found work before he did, it probably made things worse. So he took the first job he could find. Good jobs are scarce in small towns, and unless your work has something to do with the ski resort, you have to take what you can get. In his case, it was construction work with Peterson’s Construction.”
“Sometimes losing a job is all it takes to make a marriage unravel. Not that I’m saying that’s where they’re headed. I don’t know them.”
“Karen’s different, too. More timid. Like I said, she doesn’t say much. But she’s not as happy as she once was. I can tell.”
“Have you really talked to her about it? I mean, asked her directly if there is something going on at home? It’s not like you’re a stranger. You’re her brother.”
He shrugged. “I pray on that all the time. Where is my boundary? I mean, yes, she’s my sister and I love her. But do I really have the right to meddle in her personal relationship with her husband?” He sat down at his desk and fiddled with a pencil. “It’s crazy. I find myself looking for bruises, other signs that maybe Karen is in trouble. I hate that I do that. So far I have never seen anything. But I wonder if I really don’t want to see it, too. It’s sometimes easier to see what’s going on when it’s a stranger instead of the people you love.”
A flicker of pain stabbed at Teresa, and then it was gone. “You’re right. Sometimes you can be too close to a situation to see things clearly.”
“Do you have any more sessions this afternoon?”
“No, I’m done.”
“Are you going to be sticking around the clinic for a while or heading back to the guesthouse to air it out? Or is it no longer standing?”
Her lips pulled into a crooked grin. “It’s fine. How’d you find out? I wanted to tell you myself.”
“Carlos called me right after he left. Told me I needed to give you some woodstove 101 lessons.”
She laughed. “And here I was planning to take you out to lunch to butter you up so I could tell you about it. That is, if you can get away.”
His face split into a grin that erased the worried lines that were there earlier. “That sounds like a good plan. It’s slow here today. And after my run-in with Frank, I could use some air. I’m sure Cammie can hold down the fort. And I know just the place we can go.”
Chapter Nine
Vermont was filled with little hole-in-the-wall diners as well as quaint restaurants that were part of bed-and-breakfasts tucked away on quiet country roads. If you weren’t paying attention, it was easy to miss them. Dennis suggested one such place near the river in the next town.
He pulled his SUV up into the small parking lot and killed the engine.
Teresa pulled her jacket tighter against her chest to ward off the cold wind that had picked up since this morning. The smell of snow to come hung heavy in the air.
“They have the best homemade bread here. I hope you’re not in a hurry, though. Roma cooks everything to order.”
“I have no plans. But aren’t you needed back at the clinic?”
“Slow day. As long as no one gets hurt skiing on the mountain today, Cammie won’t need me.”
“Then let’s hope for careful skiing and snowboarding.”
“Yes.”
Like the gentleman he was, Dennis opened the restaurant door and allowed Teresa to walk in before him. The foyer was decorated with fine period antiques and a large oriental style rug. The heavy desk sitting in the center of the large foyer had a guest book and a stack of pamphlets that highlighted tourist attractions in Vermont. Next to the pamphlets was a stack of menus.
When the face of the elderly woman seated behind the desk lit up with recognition, Dennis returned the smile and showed two fingers.
“Well, I don’t often get to see you for lunch, Dennis. If I’d known you were coming, I would have put the pot roast in the oven a bit earlier so you
could take some home for dinner.”
“That’s okay, Roma. Much as I love your pot roast, I’m going to stick with something a little quicker on the menu.”
“Things are busy at the clinic, I take it? I heard about that terrible accident a few days ago. Terrible shame. Just terrible.”
“Yes, it was.”
The woman turned to Teresa. “My name is Roma. It’s so nice of you to join us here.”
Teresa grasped the woman’s outstretched hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Roma. I’m Teresa.”
“Did you just move to the area, or are you vacationing?”
The question, while innocent, stumped Teresa, and she didn’t exactly know how to answer. She’d stayed longer than most people who vacationed in Stockington Falls. She had no plans to leave yet, but that didn’t mean she was a permanent resident by any means.
“I’m new to the area,” she finally answered.
“I’m sure you’re going to love it here. If you’re both in a hurry, I do have a few things on the menu that I can whip up quick. Why don’t you both come with me? We have a fire burning nicely in the dining room. I’ll get you a warm loaf of maple bread to start with while you look at the menu.”
Teresa quickly glanced at Dennis, who mouthed, “The most fabulous bread in the world.”
She chuckled softly as she followed the elderly woman into the next room. There were no more than five small tables in the dining room. Roma seated the two of them at the table closest to the commanding stone fireplace that was large enough for a person to stand inside. The stonework covered the entire back wall. The fire was inviting and did wonders to dispel the chill she’d felt from the wind outside.
Teresa removed her jacket, hooking it on to one of the hooks nailed to the wall where two other ski parkas were already hanging. Dennis did the same. As she sat down, Teresa rubbed her hands together against the heat radiating from the fire.
“This beats the Twin Falls Café for charm,” she said.
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