“We’ve heard a lot about you since Megan went to work in Corpus Christi.” He had a gentle baritone voice. “We’ve all admired what you’re doing down there. A man’s got to have a calling for that.”
Gerard nodded. “It’s good to finally meet some of the friends Megan always spoke of with so much fondness.”
“Megan tells me she still owes money for her loan since she left the mission early,” Nora said. “We’re hoping her salary here will help pay that off.”
“She doesn’t owe me anything,” Gerard said. Why did she have to make him the bad guy in this? “She never has. That was a government loan with the agreement that she would work with the underprivileged and underserved for two years after her residency. The government could require she pay back every bit of her loan if she doesn’t complete all her time. I’m concerned she may also incur penalties for leaving early.”
Gerard could almost hear the internal gasps of the people in the room. There was so much Megan hadn’t told anyone.
“How much could that amount to?” Alec asked.
“Let’s just say she could be several years paying it off by herself, even with the efforts her friends here are making on her account.”
“So then why would she leave with so little time left to complete the requirements?” Nora asked.
“Working health care at a homeless mission is a burnout job,” Gerard said. “She’s worked long hours to help people who end up back out on the street. So many people she treats are drug addicts and alcoholics with no interest or ability to improve their situation. They’ll die early and she can’t do anything about it. Many homeless people have mental illnesses and can’t help themselves.”
“Didn’t you tell her what she was getting into before she accepted the loan?” Alec asked.
“I told her.”
Nora placed a hand on her son’s arm. “You know our Megan. She wouldn’t have listened. She thinks she can change the world if she only has a chance.”
“Until she’d had a taste of the frustration,” Gerard said, “she had stars in her eyes about helping those most in need of help.”
“The stars are gone.” Nora shook her head. “It seems she’s lost something vital. I just don’t want to see her in debt for years.”
“I have a plan,” Gerard said. “If it works, she’ll be okay.” He glanced in the direction he’d seen Megan disappear. Was it his imagination, or was she taking an extra long time with Kirstie back in that exam room?
SIX
Megan pulled a set of medium-size scrubs from the cabinet by the door and stepped to the exam bed to help Kirstie change out of her mud-stiffened nightgown. The exam room smelled like fish. They’d managed to get a great deal of the mud from her hair and skin while arguing about Gerard’s presence in this case. Kirstie wasn’t typically a manipulative woman, but today she was pulling strings like a puppeteer.
“You’ve told me yourself that he still behaves like a cop.” Kirstie slid her feet into the scrub bottoms and allowed Megan to pull them up and tie them. “Who better to help you if there’s danger involved?”
“How about Sheriff Moritz?”
“He doesn’t have a clue about all this.”
“You might be surprised what folks around here know of Barry.”
Kirstie looked up at Megan. Their gazes locked. Megan would never tell Kirstie all she knew about him.
“You suspect him too, then,” Kirstie said.
“Right now I hate him and I want to find him guilty.”
“Oh, honey, you don’t want to be filled with hatred. It’ll only hurt you.”
“We’re focusing on your health right now, not mine.” Megan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Kirstie had a lot in common with the Vance family—forgiveness, love, kindness, all the things that supposedly kept a person emotionally healthy. “Besides, I can’t forgive Barry right now, and I don’t think Lynley can either. Can you?”
“I’m trying.” Kirstie placed a hand on Megan’s and squeezed. “That’s one of the things keeping you from Gerard, isn’t it? The depth of his faith? While you’re still mysteriously angry with God after all these years?”
“Let’s talk about what’s going on with you. Barry didn’t leave when you had breast cancer. So why leave this time?”
Kirstie sighed. “He told me it was because he couldn’t face watching me change. He didn’t feel he should have to remain with someone who was no longer the woman he married.”
“And yet he let his own daughter face it alone. What man would do that to