Had she ever heard this story before? “And you came with . . . ?”
“Actually, your cousin Trent invited me.”
“Trent?” This didn’t sound right.
“We knew each other in college.”
“At U-Dub?” Ava asked, using the familiar name for the University of Washington in Seattle.
“Oregon. We were both psychology majors for a while.” An amused smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and for a second, Ava stared at her. Had she been wrong about this woman all along? She’d been insistent that she wasn’t involved with Wyatt and now . . . now Ava nearly believed her. “I went on to Washington for grad school,” the psychologist added.
“Trent didn’t.” That much was true, but Ava felt as if something was left unsaid, that there was still a piece that didn’t feel right.
Evelyn reached into a side pocket of the large bag she’d plopped onto the chair next to her. “I did a little soul-searching last night, and I really don’t think I can help you if you can’t trust me.” She pulled a business card from the pocket of her purse and slid it across the coffee table to Ava. “Here’s the name and number of Dr. Rollins. He’s in Seattle, of course, but I’ve worked with him and he’s familiar with the island and your family. He used to work at Sea Cliff when your uncle was running the hospital.”
The name was familiar, and the image of a large African American man came to mind. Smooth, mocha-colored skin, oversized glasses, white beard, and short-cropped hair, if he was the man Ava remembered on her few visits to the hospital. “That’s where I met him. At Sea Cliff. He still has patients in Anchorville and shares an office with a couple of other doctors. Dr. Rollins is in two days a week.”
Ava picked up the business card.
“It’s imperative that you trust your therapist,” Dr. McPherson said earnestly. “So that you don’t hold back. I would be glad to make the referral and consult with Dr. Rollins or whomever else you choose. I’ll do whatever it takes to make the transition more comfortable for everyone. Whatever you want.” Dr. McPherson almost seemed relieved. “I’m not sure anyone will be willing to come to the island, but you can suggest it.”
Ava glanced at the card with Dr. Alan G. Rollins’s name, number, address, and e-mail listed. “And Wyatt is okay with this?”
“I haven’t told him.” Her smile seemed sincere, though it all could be an act. “As you said, this is your life. I’m your doctor.”
“But he hired you. He claims he’s my guardian.”
Evelyn lifted a shoulder. “He could stand on ceremony, I suppose, but I don’t think he will.” Getting to her feet, she slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “He only wants what’s best for you, you know.”
“So he tells me.” Ava clutched the business card in her fist.
The therapist’s eyebrows pulled together, and she touched Ava lightly on the shoulder as she passed. “Let me know what you want to do,” she said, then walked quickly out of the room.
Ridiculously, Ava felt abandoned. Now that she could be free of the psychologist her husband had chosen for her, the woman she suspected of sleeping with him, Ava wasn’t so certain she wanted to let go.
Don’t second-guess yourself. You know what you saw!
“But maybe I was wrong,” she whispered, walking to the bookcase where a number of family pictures were displayed. Her gaze landed on a picture of Wyatt holding Noah on the beach, the wind ruffling Wyatt’s hair, Noah’s eyes squinted against the stiff ocean breeze. Ava’s heart squeezed as she picked up the photograph and traced the outline of her son’s face.
Sad, she replaced the picture and saw that it was next to a snapshot of Jewel-Anne astride the palomino mare with Sea Cliff rising on the hill in the distance. In the shot, Jewel-Anne was grinning from ear to ear, her body round in the saddle, a shadow of the person taking the picture falling in front of the horse. The photograph had been taken before the accident that had robbed her of the use of her legs, and back then, Jewel-Anne could actually grin. Heavy for her height, she’d been pretty, her face unmarred with the lines of unhappiness that had formed since the accident.
Setting the framed picture aside, Ava walked to the window overlooking the garden where the tracks of Jewel-Anne’s wheelchair were visible in the gravel and the ferns shivered in