Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
“She’s my mother, Cat.” Cat grumbled something incoherent and held on tight. Jeremy put his mug on the drying rack and draped his arms over hers. They stood in silence until Jeremy heard the bathroom door open. Cat withdrew when Jeremy gave her wrists a gentle tug. As he turned away, he said, “I’ll let you know when we’re on our way back, okay?”
“Yeah,” she agreed, unenthusiastic. “I’ll be ready.”
Jeremy washed up as quickly as he could, and he and Jean set out. The drive over to Jean’s doctor was startlingly quick from this new address, and although Jeremy wouldn’t be staying, he parked and followed Jean up to the fifth floor. They sat together in the waiting room until Jean was called back, and then Jeremy got up and left. He collected his car from the parking garage and set off northwest.
The early hour could only mitigate weekend traffic so much, but Jeremy had made this drive enough times he knew he’d be back about the same time Jean finished. The spot directly outside of Jenny Spader’s house was taken, but he managed to squeeze in a half-block down. He knew the code for her gate, so he texted her a heads-up before punching it in.
Dr. Spader was waiting in the doorway for him as he headed up the path, hip propped against the frame and arms folded across her chest. Jeremy knew by her expression he wasn’t going to wriggle out of this as quickly as he’d hoped, but it was still worth a try. He offered her his most disarming smile, knowing she’d never been fooled by it, and followed her into the foyer. There was room on the rack for his shoes, so he toed out of them and locked the front door behind him.
“Good morning, Jeremy,” she said as she led him down the hall to her kitchen. Two glasses of iced tea were across from each other on the counter. One was beside the envelope he’d come for, but he reached for his drink first. Spader collected her own before saying, “Please give my condolences to your friends for their loss.”
At the side-eyed look he sent her, she arched a brow and motioned over her shoulder. A small TV was mounted to the end of the counter, currently on but turned down to an indistinct hum. “I do watch the news.”
“So does Mom,” he said, and swallowed every biting word that wanted to follow that. That she and his mother could watch the same station and come away with entirely different knowledge about what was going on in his life was impossibly cruel, but this wasn’t the time or place to get into it. The measuring look Spader sent him said she could guess where his thoughts were spiraling without him voicing it.
Jeremy looked away and asked, “Where’s Lily?”
If she pressed him, he’d probably answer her honestly, but this wasn’t Jeremy’s monthly session. After a brief pause Spader allowed the change in topic and only said, “She’s been admitted again. Her father is with her today.”
It was the answer he’d feared, so Jeremy offered a quiet, “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Little Lily Spader had been in and out of the hospital since her birth; her health was the main reason Spader tried referring all her clients to other therapists two years back. Jeremy was the only one left, in part due to his mother’s stubborn interference and mostly because he’d found a workaround that suited them both. Spader still billed his mother for weekly sessions, but she refunded one to Jeremy in cash each month. It was easy side income for her while she cared for her youngest, and it gave Jeremy spending money his parents couldn’t track. This was earlier than Jeremy usually collected it, but she had agreed to have it ready for him.
Jeremy drained his tea before tucking the envelope into his back pocket, but his thanks got stuck in his throat when he glanced Spader’s way. Kevin was on TV, but for once he was the less important face on the screen. Jeremy banged his elbow on the counter in his hurry to snatch up the remote.
“Sorry,” he said, “I’m sorry, can we—?” The rest was forgotten as he got the volume up high enough to hear, and Spader moved so she could watch the news as well.
Kevin was offering a practiced statement regarding his teammates’ injuries, but Jeremy didn’t hear a word. Theodora Muldani was standing at his side outside the Foxhole Court, racquet slung across her shoulders as she waited for him to be finished. Her pastel makeup was unmistakable, as was the 14 emblazoned on her loose Houston Sirens t-shirt. Jeremy scooted around the island to get a better look at the small screen.
“Someone important,” Spader guessed. She’d started following Exy only after he became her patient, but she was loyal to the Trojans first and foremost. She didn’t have the time or energy to invest in any professional teams, much less the national Court.