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“And then there was a patient at the hospital who hit on me. Hereported me for unprofessional conduct when I turned him down. Logan Richards.”
Okay, now that could be something. “All right. Definitely will check him out.”
“I figured he’d do something like that and went straight to my boss and filled out an incident report. There was also security footage that showed him grabbing my arm and me pulling away, then hurrying out of the room. So while it was annoying, I was cleared of any wrongdoing almost immediately.”
And now James wanted to find the guy and punch him. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
She shrugged. “It’s all part of the job. Surprisingly, that kind of stuff doesn’t rattle me too much. You can almost tell which patient is going to step out of line as soon as you enter the room. A lot of times, I’ll swap with a male doctor to avoid the potential for a volatile situation.”
But she shouldn’t have to.
“And,” she said, “every so often, I’d see him in the cafeteria like he was waiting for me. I told security I was uncomfortable, and Jared would often walk me down. Richards finally quit showing up and I haven’t seen him since.” She rubbed her nose and sighed. “Honestly, if I had to point more fingers, I’d say look at the rest of Adam’s family while you’re checking out Nick. I think one of the reasons I was drawn to Adam was because of his family. Initially, they looked like wonderful people. They were kind and welcoming and on the surface were the picture of exactly what I was looking for.”
“That normal family?”
“Exactly. Only the more I got to know them, the more the image fell apart. His mother is a cold woman, but she’s all about appearances and can come across as very caring and warm. She’s not. As for his father, he didn’t seem to mind me dating Adam, and in the beginning, I liked him. But then one night, he made me uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable?”
Her jaw tightened and she looked away for a fraction of a secondbefore she met his gaze. “He hit on me one time when Adam wasn’t around. He never touched me, but what he said was completely inappropriate. I told him if he ever said anything like that to me again, I’d tell his wife. I think it shocked him.”
James curled his fingers into fists, revisiting the idea of punching someone. “Good for you.”
“Maybe. I’ve never been very good at confrontations like that, but I couldn’t just let him think that I was okay with his behavior. When I told Adam, he just rolled his eyes and said to ignore it, that his father has always been that way.”
“Unbelievable. He made excuses for him?”
“He did. And while it infuriated me, I didn’t say anything. I was already on the verge of breaking up with Adam, but that sealed it for me. Adam didn’t defend me even when he knew how his father was. And I kept thinking...” She rubbed her cheek, red creeping up from her neck.
“What?”
She glanced at him. “I kept thinking that the man I married should defend me.”
“Absolutely right.” After a short pause, he said, “What did your friends say about him? Steph and the others?”
Lainie groaned. “In the beginning, they were thrilled for me, but the longer we dated, the more controlling Adam became and the less time I spent with my friends. Steph finally asked me about it, and I realized she was right, but I just let it go on. When Allison, Jesslyn, and Kristine decided I needed an intervention ... well, that definitely didn’t sit well, but they did get me to thinking. It wasn’t long after that, things went south fast, and I found myself in the car with a man who told me to ignore his father’s proposition.”
“Aw, Lainie.”
She waved a hand. “I should have ended it with Adam right then and there, but I didn’t want to make a scene in the car and while my temper was running hot.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe if I had, then the whole thing at my house wouldn’t have happened.”
“It would have happened,” he said. “One way or another, he would have come after you.”
“Probably.” She sucked in a steadying breath and let it out in one slow exhale. “As for anyone else, Adam had a couple of good friends, but I don’t see them doing this kind of thing.” She palmed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know, James, I’m reaching. The hard truth is, it could be anyone.”
“No, it couldn’t,” James said. “This is personal. This is someone who knows you and knows you well.”
Eight
Someone who knew her. Someone seriously unstable—and they knew her. The question was, did she know them? Her phone buzzed, and when she saw it was her mother, she sent the call to voice mail with only a small twinge of guilt. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with what was waiting for her on the other end of the line.
“What is it?” he asked.
She glanced at him, soaking in the tenderness in his eyes. “My mom. That was her. She’s never been a typical mom, and deep down, I’ve always resented it even while I understood it was because of the trauma of her past. She was better when we were younger, but as we got older, she wantedusto take care ofher.” She paused, then finally said, “She has mental health issues.”
“I’ve known there was something going on but have never heard the details. What kind of mental health problems?”
Lainie frowned. She wasn’t used to airing her family’s dirty laundry, especially to someone who couldn’t really understand them. He’d grown up in a completely different environment, as had his sister, of course. “I don’t know if Stephanie told you, but my mother is a hoarder.” But even Steph didn’t know the full extent. Lainie had hidden it from everyone in her life.
