. Not when I was happy about the Gandy job and was going to use it to learn more about you. I’d figured you’d be married and have kids or be an international jetsetter or something… I never expected you to open that door and blast down every single wall I’d built since I left you last.”
A smile curved her lips. “I think I like the idea of you open and exposed.”
I couldn’t stop myself from snorting at that. “You’re still a minx.”
She grinned. “You know it, babe.” Then, she sighed, cast a glance at the grave, and winced. “Sorry, Edgar. Totally inappropriate.”
“The man was a hypocrite, Lauren. He needs no apologies from you.”
She winced again. “You need to forgive him, Coop. It’s just eating at you.”
“I know.”
I could tell my agreement surprised her. “Why are we here?” she asked softly, when I just fell silent. “I mean, why today? And why bring me?”
I thought about that, thought about the burning urge that had been with me since I’d been in hospital. “I guess I want a fresh start. One where this man doesn’t have as much power over me as he had before. And you’re here because I couldn’t do this without you.”
She sighed, reached out to touch my hand. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being you.”
Chapter 14
LAUREN
I’d been to one of these institutes before when Jane had been in for a psych evaluation, and the new locale wasn’t any better than the last one.
The barrenness of the place would drive me insane, so how they figured they could help people with serious issues by stripping it of any and all personality, I wasn’t sure.
It was the kind of place that made me grimace when I stepped in, sigh with relief when I left, and all the minutes in between, shiver a little with discomfort at being there.
It upset me to think of Jane being essentially tracked here, and when I saw her, I knew that upset was unnecessary.
My Grandmother had once termed it, “Going away with the fairies.” And that was Jane pretty much now. She was smiling, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Like she wasn’t locked up in this hellhole, like she hadn’t batted Coop over the head with a goddamn baseball bat a few days ago.
I wanted to sigh, a part of me even wanted to be amused at the air of innocence she exuded, but I contained my smile. Mom wouldn’t approve. But I just found it funny. Here I was, worried as hell for her, and here she was, light and airy as the aforementioned fairies.
“Lauren, gosh, it’s ages since I’ve seen you,” she said the minute she was close enough to the table to be heard.
“It is?” I asked warily, eying my mom. I didn’t know the ins and outs of Jane’s case. Mom and Karen kept that between them. I wasn’t sure why they wouldn’t tell me stuff, but I just let them have their secret. I liked Karen, always had, and felt she’d had a pretty shitty hand out when it came to parents. Her father gone, her mother partially there, and when she was there, God only knew who she’d be talking to. Not that Jane didn’t love her daughter, but there were three personalities living inside her… That was more crap than any child should have to deal with.
“You saw her on Sunday, Jane. Don’t you remember?” My mother’s voice was patience itself when she answered on my behalf.
Jane squinted at us as she took a seat. She wore gray sweats and the sweater had some kind of juice stain on it—the bright purple dots were too light in color to be anything else.
Knowing how germophobic Jane was, and how she needed to be ridiculously clean at all times, it was surprising to see her meet us dirtied up. In fact, I cast another glance at mom, and saw she wasn’t surprised.
Then, it hit me, and I winced. She was drugged up. High as a kite. How had I just realized that? Apparently connecting the dots wasn’t my strong suit… A fact that could be confirmed with Cooper’s recent revelations. He’d told me secrets I had never even guessed at, and never could have predicted.
I needed to learn to read between the lines better.
“No. I don’t remember.” She giggled, blinked, then fell silent. As she did, she stared at us through big blue eyes that were ridiculously innocent. It was like looking at a child, and maybe at that moment, she was a child.
The drugs I’d seen her on before had made her stuporous. She went through bouts of intense activity and then stillness. This giddiness was new and told me she was on different meds with only Christ knew what kind of side effects.
“I’m sorry if we frightened you,” I blurted out, the words spilling from my lips. Truth was, I knew Coop wished he could be here to apologize to Jane—of course, it should be vice versa, but Jane wasn’t in her right mind half the time.