Page 54 of Carver’s Craving

Seth nodded. “We’ll do our best.”

Which was all I could ask and, once he was out the door, I locked it.

Poppin, who’d followed me, gave me her puppy dog eyes.

“Okay, if you go sit nicely on the couch and keep Walter company, then I can give you a baby carrot.”

She scrambled over to the couch.

I grabbed the treats. Then I settled between the two of them to watch my baking show until lunchtime arrived. I never did get anything else done that day.

Chapter Fifteen

Carver

Igazed around Justin Bridges-Powers’s office.

Bright-yellow walls, comfortable oversized couch, two hardback chairs, and a box of toys. Not exactly what I expected from a therapist’s office. But then what do I know…I’ve certainly never done this before. Yep. Out of my element.

The soft smile on the big ginger with the trimmed beard and green eyes reassured me. Despite his height and size, he was nonthreatening. I felt comfortable around him immediately. Some combination of the room, him, and the therapy ranch itself.

Rainbow Dixon—the manager—had given me a quick tour. Stables with four therapy horses. A nice ranch house with numerous offices as well as living quarters. Rainbow lived here with her sister, Dr. Kennedy Dixon, who’d founded the ranch a few years ago. Rainbow said the number of therapists was slowly increasing year after year as their client load increased.

Since Foster had suggested this place and I took my boss’s recommendations seriously, I was here. Oh, and Lorcan’s husband Cody was a psychologist here as well. As I’d met Cody, I didn’t feel comfortable seeing him. Justin had an opening tonight, and here I was. “Uh, thanks for fitting me in.” I petted the yellow Labrador therapy dog who’d curled on the couch next to me—with my permission. Tiffany’s snout was now on my thigh and she snuffled.

Justin’s smile increased. “I had a cancellation. I have appointments before and after you, so adding you tonight was an easy decision. And I’d say Tiffany’s happy as well.”

“Still, I figured I’d have to wait. Everything is busy these days.” I never got a same-day appointment with my doctor, that was for certain. And yeah, the therapy dog seemed entirely content. What Poppin would say when I returned smelling of a strange dog was something I’d deal with in a couple of hours.

“That’s often true. I recently had the pleasure to discharge two of my clients. That’s created a bit of wiggle room in my schedule.” He tilted his head. “Maybe you want to start with why you’re here today? You filled out the intake form—which I appreciate—but you were a little light on specifics.”

Despite my nerves—or maybe because of them—I smiled. “I figured you’d pick that up. You know Foster and Lorcan.”

“Yes. Friends of mine. You know Cody works here.”

I nodded. “Which would’ve made things awkward. Anyway—” I took a deep breath. “—Foster and Lorcan spoke to me yesterday.” I scratched my cheek. “I don’t want to say they pressured me, because that would be inaccurate. More that they encouraged me. They feel like—” I frowned.

Justin nodded.

“Like, I don’t know, that I might do better? That I’m not, what, happy?”

“Did they say that?”

I shook my head. “Nah. Nothing like that. They just said they’d both come here and found help.”

“We appreciate the endorsement and the way they are open about seeking help. Everyone has different reasons. Here at Healing Horses, our goal is to help people be happier and more at ease in their daily lives. Sometimes that involves actually resolving issues, sometimes it’s giving them the tools to cope with their stressors. But the first step is always providing a listening ear to what they want to tell us.”

“I never talk about this stuff.” I tapped my hand on my thigh.

Justin nodded. “Maybe this is a good time to start, but I’m not going to push you. We can just sit here and get comfortable with each other first.”

You’re here. You’re safe. Foster and Lorcan said this can help. More importantly, you owe this to Styx. Maybe you even owe it to yourself.

I hesitated, then took the plunge. “See, I’ve been living with this for more than eighteen months. I keep telling myself I’m over it. That I should be able to move on with my life. Then something will throw me back to that horrible moment and I’m right back in the…trauma. The horror. And it paralyzes me.” I pressed a hand to my temple where a headache was developing.

“Okay. That sounds difficult. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

I sighed. “Sure. I’ll keep it brief.”