“And you took the suggestion.”
A beard-stubbled jaw slid to one side. “I thought it might help.”
“Has it?”
“You tell me—you’re the professional.”
“I can’t read your mind.”
A hint of a smile. “No? Then why the hell am I wasting my money?”
“Because you wanted to get over your feelings of guilt.”
The fists opened and closed again. “I don’t think that’s possible.” Thick eyebrows slammed together.
“I think we’re making progress.”
“Do you?”
“Mmm. But these sessions are not only confidential, they’re optional. No one is forcing you to come here.” He stared over the tops of his glasses and waited for a confirmation of his statement.
“That’s right.”
“You do know that you weren’t responsible for David’s death.”
A muscle worked in that hard jaw.
“Nor Carolyn’s.”
His client looked out the window and plucked at a seam in the smooth leather of the couch.
Randall stared at the sheriff’s disbelieving profile as Carter attempted to wrest his demons from the cold winter night. “You don’t believe me,” Randall said.
“You weren’t there. You only heard my side of it. If either David or Carolyn were here now, they might tell a different tale.” He faced the psychologist and his face was set. “They each depended on me. I let them down.”
“As they let you down.”
Carter snorted. “I didn’t die because my best friend was a fool and my wife cheated on me.”
“You didn’t kill them. You couldn’t climb the ice fast enough to catch David, and Carolyn was off to meet her lover and hit black ice—her car slid off the road and down a ravine. You couldn’t have stopped that.”
“We’d had a fight.”
“Nonetheless.”
“I should have stopped her from getting into her car.”
“Could you have?” he asked, and the seconds ticked loudly from the clock on the fireplace.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Probably not.” Carter shifted on the couch, reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet with his badge. “Protect and Serve—isn’t that what it says?” His eyes were dark and thunderous. “And I couldn’t save my best friend or my wife.”
“You weren’t an officer when David died.”
“But I was when I demanded a divorce and Carolyn left the house crying.”
“Didn’t you try to follow her?”
“Only until the edge of town,” Carter said, and his eyes narrowed. Randall knew the lawman’s gaze had turned inward and he wasn’t seeing the night outside the window, but was revisiting the scene of the accident that had taken his wife’s life.