Sam wouldn’t fidget, though she wanted to.She had to approach this like an investigator, because that was what she was.Maybe they were kind of folding her into the friend group, but it all tied back to investigating, didn’t it?And right now, they needed her to be a… disconnected voice.
So that was what she aimed for.“I think there’s an endless amount of possibilities, and it’s no use going through all the worst ones until we figure outifhe is related to you all, and if so, how.And even if hedoesrelate, it doesn’t have to be sinister.”
“Everything Dad touches is fucking sinister,” Cal muttered.
He pushed back from the table.
“Cal, you didn’t eat,” Aly protested.“You can’t just…”
But he didn’t stop.He stormed out of the room.Aly looked helplessly at Landon, who held her hand on the table.They seemed to have a whole conversation through gazes alone.The conclusion seemed to be not to go after him.And finish their dinner.
Sam stopped tasting it, but because she felt badly for Aly, she made sure she cleaned her plate before she stood.
“I better head out.Thanks for dinner, Aly.I appreciate it.”
She smiled thinly.“You’re always welcome, Sam.”She didn’t get up.
She just sat there, clutching Landon’s hand.Nate didn’t say anything, but he got to his feet and walked with Sam to the door.But once there, he hesitated, not reaching for his coat.
“I think… I think I better crash here tonight.”
Sam nodded.“I think that’s smart.”
“If you get a chance to tell Bo we’ll take his case, go ahead.It’s best if we handle it.It’ll be hard around the trial, but it’ll be best.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Night, Sam.”
“Night.”She turned and walked away.
No lingering gazes tonight.He had a family to take care of, and she was glad he was doing it.Moving forward with Bo.Hanging around to hopefully defuse any issues with Cal.
But when she got back to Honor’s Edge, and noted the back door was ajar, she wished she’d made some other choices.
Chapter Nine
The Bennet Ranch
Cal woke upto an alarm he considered ignoring.Because if he got up, he’d have to go to the virtual therapy appointment on his calendar.
Funny timing, that.He wanted to skip it, but considering the way he’d fucked everything up yesterday, he supposed that was sign enough.Maybe he didn’t think therapy washelpingany, but he also knew…
Sometimes it was a bit of a lifeline from falling into some pretty terrifying thoughts.He definitely needed a lifeline at the moment.He would have even if Nate hadn’t dropped a bomb they had some John Doe look-alike wandering around.
Add that?Yeah, he couldn’t skip it.
He got dressed and got his laptop set up to have the video call.When Dr.Michaels came on the screen, she smiled pleasantly.Cal tried to smile back.Failed.
She was a straightforward woman.She didn’t get emotional.He’d expected her to in the beginning, before he’d really known anything abouttherapy.
She started the session by asking him to recount the last week, particularly his emotions around the trial.He went through it all, and didn’t leave anything out.Sometimes in these sessions he didn’t fully divulge, but he figured if he wanted to not feel this badly right now, he probably needed to be fully honest.
He told her about Landon’s comment about the drinking, about the almost fight with Nate.About the fact they made sure there was no alcohol at dinner—and since they hadn’t picked up his car, he’d essentially beenstuckthere.Like a prisoner.
“Is there a history of alcoholism in your family?”Dr.Michaels asked casually, writing something down on her little notepad.
She didn’t get riled up, tell him not to create enemies where none existed.But something about her calm question made that clear all the same.
