“I’m not letting you get behind the wheel of a car right now,” Doug found himself telling her and tugging her forward. He didn’t know what got into him, but sympathy and concern were replacing the earlier feelings of inadequacy and rage.
For a brief moment he found himself hating his caring nature, but a glance at Eve squashed that. It was obvious that no matter how much shit she’d put him through, she was suffering right now. It softened his heart even further to know that her suffering was all for the benefit of her sister.
He turned the car off in front of a diner and went around to assist her out, unsure if she could make it on her own. Doug was having trouble connecting the woman in front of him with the girl from his past. Her features were the same, but the perfection of the past had been replaced with lines of weariness and self-sacrifice.
“What can I get you folks to drink?” an aged waitress asked when they sat down at a self-serve booth.
“Coffee?” Doug asked Eve. At her nod, Doug indicated two coffees to the waitress. When the waitress walked away, he addressed Eve again. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Eve jumped, startled by his soft tone. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting after his angry demeanor this morning, but it wasn’t the gentle treatment she was receiving now. Unsure of exactly what to say, Eve shrugged.
“Okay,” he said. “Well then what would you like to eat? It’s lunchtime, but I’m pretty sure you can still get breakfast food if that’s what you want.”
“I’m not very hungry,” Eve said softly. If she’d have told him the truth, she couldn’t afford even the most inexpensive food here. For the last three months she’d been living on ramen noodles, boxed macaroni and cheese, and cereal so that every spare penny could go to her sister’s treatment.
“You’re going to eat something,” Doug insisted. “I’m not going to eat in front of you and I need sustenance after my adventures last night.” At Eve’s heavy sigh, he said, “if you won’t choose, I’ll order for you.”
“Fine,” she snapped picking up her menu. Scanning prices rather than food made her decision easy and Eve was ready when the waitress came back with their coffee. “I’ll have the tomato soup with cheese topping, please.”
“That’s it?” Doug asked incredulously. At her glare, he shook his head. “I’ll have the scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, and french toast please.” He handed his menu to the waitress, “oh and several glasses of water please.”
Eve stared at him with a combination of horror and morbid fascination. The food he’d just requested would feed her for several days and he was going to eat it all in one meal! Even though they were sitting, she unconsciously examined him for hidden fat.
“High metabolism,” Doug smirked.
Eve looked down at the chipped Formica of the table as a blush crept into her cheeks. She had never been this ill-at-ease with someone before, used to being in control and confident. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the past she assumed they shared or because he was so much higher in social status than she, but Eve felt the need to fidget in her seat.
“Why am I here?” Eve finally blurted out after the silence had stretched an uncomfortably long period of time.
“To eat,” Doug answered her just as their food was being brought out of the kitchen.
Eve waited until their food was in front of them and the waitress out of earshot to speak again. “That’s not what I meant,” her agitation was rapidly becoming evident. “Was there something specific you wanted to discuss with me? Why did you bring me here?” She couldn’t control the need to shift in her seat now and her leg was jumping furiously beneath the table.
“Honestly,” Doug met her eyes, “I brought you here out of pity. You looked so defeated and just…exhausted, that I didn’t want to be the last one to see you when you got into your car and wrapped it around a telephone pole.”
Eve visibly flinched at his cold words, but she couldn’t fault his logic. When he’d told her that Emma was going to need more examinations, she had felt like the last rug had been jerked out from under her. At least he hadn’t voiced her biggest fear—that she had ruined his life in high school and he wasn’t going to help her.
“Attorney Masters…” she began, her voice fluttering with nerves.
“Doug,” he said. “My name is Doug. Use it.”
“Doug,” she repeated. “This may sound…” Eve struggled to find the right word, “odd; but I have to ask anyway.” She took a deep breath, “Did we…that is, where did you go to high school?”
“I didn’t,” he said between bites of food, not bothering to look at her. “I graduated early and went to college at 15.”
Eve released the breath she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding. Surely if he were the Doug Masters she’d known all those years ago, he would have used the opening she just gave him to call her out on her behavior. And while she knew the boy she’d abused had been smart, she didn’t think he was smart enough to have gone to college at 15.
“Why do you ask?” Doug asked her, raising his cold eyes to hers. Doug’s heart thudded heavily in his chest as he tried desperately not to show how much her question affected him. She didn’t forget about him. She may not recognize him now, but she remembered his name.
“I went to school with someone of the same name,” Eve responded. “I…I didn’t think you were the same person, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Were you friends with him?” Doug asked. He schooled his features by taking another bite of food even though it now tasted like ash in his mouth.
“Umm…not really,” Eve said softly. “I’m afraid I wasn’t a very nice person back then.”
Doug’s fist clenched around his fork and he fought the urge to cross-examine her. He focused on the food in front of him and portraying a calm, cool façade—a difficult task given his still bitter feelings.
“And it made you nervous to think that I may be this person?” he finally found his voice.
“More than nervous,” Eve said with a tense laugh. “Terrified. I did some things I’m not proud of and it has been hell waiting to see if my past was going to rear its ugly head and punish my sister for them.” She was talking rapidly, spitting the out words before thinking about them. “I was prepared for you to scream what a bitch I was and tell me you weren’t going to help and…”
“Take a breath,” Doug said stiffly. “Even if I were this person whom you knew in the past, it’s been years since high school. Don’t you think he’s gotten over it by now?” Doug couldn’t believe her arrogance in thinking that she’d had a lasting effect on him, regardless of the fact that she actually had.
“What I did was bad,” Eve whispered. “I changed after…” she lowered her gaze to the table again. “It was too late, though. He never came back to school.”
“What did you do?” Doug asked her, not sure why he needed to hear her admit the cruelties she’d perpetrated.
“I’d rather not say,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “He ended up physically hurt, bad. I can still remember how he looked lying there, bloody and bruised and in pain. I didn’t know…”
“Enough,” Doug choked out. Anger was beginning to consume him again. He didn’t believe for a moment that she was really remorseful for her behavior. It was easy to feel guilt and regret when you were faced with the possibility of being at the mercy of someone you wronged, but that didn’t equate genuine repentance.
“Sorry,” Eve quietly apologized.
The rest of the meal was spent in silence, the only noise was that of the busy diner around them and the occasional clanking of silverware against porcelain. Every few minutes, one of them would glance up only to catch the other staring causing both to look away quickly. The tension floating between them was thick enough to cut with a knife.
When he’d finished eating, Doug opened his wallet and pulled out two twenties. “I’m going to need to meet your sister,” he told Eve, all business once again.
“They won’t let you in without me,” Eve responded meekly. “Emma doesn’t react well to strangers.”
Doug sighed. “Give me a list of times that works for you and I’ll let you know what fits my schedule as well. I’d like to get things moving as quickly as possible.”
“I go every afternoon about four o’clock,” Eve said rising to her feet and following him out of the diner. “I stay an hour and a half and help with her dinner. I go back again at ten to make sure she’s clean and ready for bed.”
“I’ll be in touch with regard to what day works best,” Doug told her. “Be expecting to hear from me soon.”
****
“So why am I here again?” Camille asked Doug as they approached the front doors of a group home.
“I just figured since you’ve worked in the medical field you might be more aware of things to look for in this girl,” Doug said averting his gaze. He wasn’t about to admit that he needed a buffer for his anger and his sympathy.
“Doug I’m a CNA and I worked in a nursing home,” Camille said patiently. “That hardly qualifies me…”
“You’re more qualified than I am,” he insisted. “Look, Eve’s already here,” he said changing the uncomfortable subject quickly.
Camille’s eyes lit up when she saw the pretty, if tired looking, woman waiting by the front door. “I see,” she murmured.
“Eve Porter,” Doug said gesturing to Eve, “Camille Kline. Camille is a good friend of mine and she agreed to come with me for this visit.”
“Nice to meet you Miss Kline,” Eve said extending her hand hesitantly.
“It’s Mrs.,” Camille said with a friendly smile, “but please call me Camille.”
“I’m not sure if so many new people at once is a good idea,” Eve said, her eyes flicking back and forth between Camille and Doug. “Emma has always had a difficult time around strangers and it’s only gotten worse since the accident.”
“Camille worked in the medical profession before her marriage,” Doug said tightly. “Her opinion is invaluable as a preliminary assessment.”
Camille, ever aware of the feelings of those around her, was ill-at-ease with Doug’s behavior. “Could you tell me a little about your sister?” she asked Eve, attempting to diffuse some of the palpable tension.
“What would you like to know?” Eve asked stiffly.
“Tell me about her before the accident,” Camille said softly.
“She was a typical teenager with autism,” Eve said defensively. “She didn’t talk to strangers, she barely talked to us; but she was very smart and always concerned with her appearance. She used to focus on her image in the mirror and playing with makeup and hair. She could do the most creative things with a couple of barrettes and a brush…” Eve broke off.
“Was she functional?”
“She went to school,” Eve answered. “But I don’t know that she ever would have been able to live on her own.” She shifted from foot to foot. “I guess we should go in. I have to help her eat.”
Doug and Camille exchanged a look but said nothing as they followed Eve into the home. The building itself, from the outside, simply appeared to be a large house. But when you walked into the front door, you entered what appeared to be a common area. Eve escorted them through the barely controlled chaos, pausing to wave at a woman in scrubs.
“Emma eats in her room,” Eve explained as they started up a wide staircase.
“George you can’t call 911 because you’ve run out of toilet paper,” they heard coming from one of the rooms. “We have more toilet paper in the closet.”
Doug glanced at Camille to see a grin stealing over her face. He’d heard enough of her nursing home stories to know that what they’d just heard had her reminiscing. He didn’t comment, but it was good to see the mischievous sparkle back in her eyes, if only for a minute.
“This is Emma’s room,” Eve said stopping in front of a closed door. “Give me a minute to try to prepare her for company.”
When Eve disappeared into the room, Camille turned to Doug. “She’s lovely,” she said softly.
“She’s a client,” Doug bit out. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“Dougie, Dougie, Dougie,” Camille chided gently, “you can’t fool me. I know why I’m here now.”
Doug took a deep breath, but didn’t confirm or deny Camille’s assumption. It was better for her to think that he had romantic feelings for a client than for her to know the truth—that the woman who’d had power over him when he was a hormonal teenager retained it after all the years of bitterness.
“You can come in now,” Eve said poking her head into the hallway.