The View from Alameda Island - Robyn Carr Page 0,65
you okay?” She said she was fine but was pretty ugly there for a few days. Then invariably they would say, “What in the world happened?”
“One of those klutzy slips while unpacking the kitchen. You know, up on the step stool, down on the floor, whacking the countertop on the way down and biting my lip.”
And if she wasn’t mistaken, she got a few quizzical looks wondering if that was really the whole story. Her decision had already been made, but if it hadn’t been, those few looks would have been convincing. But she was going to tell her boss first. She asked her supervisor, Bea, for a few moments of her time.
Bea frowned. “Yes,” she said tightly. “How about right now?”
Lauren tensed up. Bea always treated her fairly but there was something about the response Lauren felt that made her wonder if her supervisor disliked her. It hardly mattered—they worked together successfully, respected each other’s boundaries, played by all the right rules. Lauren always thought the distance between them was because they had little in common. Left to their own devices, Lauren and Bea wouldn’t meet for lunch or drinks, but they both joined in when the office staff went out together. Bea was the single mother of four grown children and now had several grandchildren. She had a great position as director of the product development lab and owned her home, but it was not in posh Alameda and she had never had a surgeon husband to go home to. Lauren tried not to speculate, but thought it was possible Bea was just a little jealous. If only Bea had known the truth...
“Sit down, Lauren,” Bea said. “You obviously took quite a header.”
“I wonder if we can have a confidential conversation,” Lauren asked. “Because I didn’t exactly fall. I really don’t need the details all over the lab.”
“I don’t talk about my employees,” she said.
“My husband did this to me,” Lauren said. Her eyes briefly filled with tears, not because her heart was breaking but because she was embarrassed.
“Dr. Delaney?” Bea asked in shock, half rising from the chair behind her desk.
Lauren nodded.
“How long has this been going on?” Bea asked, her face grim. Lauren thought she detected a blush in that beautiful ebony complexion.
“Nothing like this has happened before, and I say that honestly. I’d like to think I’d have filed for divorce long ago if it had, but I’m no longer sure. I managed to lie to myself so many times, in so many ways. Yes, he was always abusive. Yes, I left a couple of times. Really, this is all such dirty laundry...”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’ll go no further. But you’re kidding yourself if you think people don’t pick up the signals.”
“Oh God, has there been talk?”
“That he’s been beating you? No, not at all. That he’s a mean and superior son of a bitch? I’ve heard a whisper or two. Do you have some good help to get you through this?”
“Help?”
“Legal help? Psychological help? Emotional help?”
“Oh, of course. Yes. Listen, it’s not that I’m ashamed, but—”
“Lauren, anyone who has been through what you have has felt ashamed,” Bea said. “Believe me, I know. My husband was abusive. We divorced thirty years ago. I was so young. There were all those children. It was the hardest time of my life. And I never learn. I frequently make the mistake of thinking there are some people who are immune, who live charmed lives, just because they appear to have it easy. But you never really know what is going on in another person’s life. Don’t worry, I won’t be talking about your issues with anyone else. I respect your privacy and I completely understand. And if there’s any way I can be of help...”
Lauren was deeply touched. “Bea, would you like to go to lunch sometime?”
* * *
Cassie went to her father’s office on her way to the airport. She left her suitcase with security at the front entrance and went upstairs. The receptionist in his office actually recognized her immediately and grinned a big hello, until she saw the firm line of her lips.
“Will you please tell my father I’d like to see him at the earliest free moment he has? It’s urgent.”
“Of course!” she said. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but he’ll want to speak to me before I leave town.”
“Yes,” she said nervously. “Yes, of course. I’ll tell him.”
Just a moment later a nurse came to the reception area and