Page 73 of First Date: Divorce
K.D.broke it off.She could have finished the thought.It worked with their cover story.
But she hadn’t.
Izzy clicked her tongue as if K.D.had finished the thought and the older woman took her to task for it, but K.D.redirected the topic.
“I heard Marriage-Save didn’t used to be here.Did you and Orion ever go to it in Oregon?”
She nodded.“Our first visit.We like this area better.We went to Yellowstone Park after our time here one year and down to Cheyenne another year.Plus, this has more amenities.”Her gesture took in the pool area, patio, and the view to the mountains.She winked.“Can’t beat the cowboys around here, either.”
“I’m surprised they could find enough counselors in this area.”
“They came with when it moved from Oregon.Most of them, anyway.”
“Only the counselors?Or did all the staff come from Oregon?”
“The professional staff did, but not wait staff and cleaners and what I suppose you’d call support staff.The people here are much nicer than the ones they used to have.So friendly.You know that, don’t you, Eric, living around here like you do.”
Before they could ask how the woman knew where he lived, Ms.Smiley — Lily — called from the door, “Mr.and Mrs.Larkin, Melody will see you now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Melody welcomed them back briskly.
“Sit down, please.I don’t want to waste any time.We’re taking on one of the big elements first thing.Trust.I’m not so naïve that I think we can work through that thorny thicket in one session, but we can start.
“When trust has changed to its dark opposite of distrust,” Melody said when they were all seated, “it can produce a self-perpetuating cycle.Especially when one partner attempts to catch out the other in suspected misdeeds.”
Melody looked from Eric to her and back.
Catch out the other in suspected misdeeds…
Their night wanderings?
But why wait until now to bring it up?Had the counselor just heard?Had that been the purpose of Lily’s visit after their previous session?
Another question intruded.
Wouldshe be jealous to see Eric with another woman?
The question came too fast for logic to stop it, which it should have, because Eric being withanotherwoman sounded like he was with her in the first place.Since he wasn’t, there couldn’t beanotherwoman.
All logical and sensible.And it not only took care of that question, it gave her an idea.
Melody spoke evenly.“One partner tries to catch out the other in a misdeed, then the other does the same.Only to discover that their own suspicionscausedthe behavior that makes them even more suspicious.”
Sorting through the oblique verbiage, K.D.figured the counselor, and presumably others on the Marriage-Save staff, knew or suspected that first Eric, then she slipped out of their room last night.
They might have been spotted, despite their care.
If there were cameras in the room, the staff might think Eric hadn’t known she was in the bathroom, that he’d thought she’d sneaked out, so he searched for her.Then she followed Eric, suspecting him of being up to no good.
If Melody interpreted their movements that way, it was a lot better than her suspecting the truth.Reinforcing that interpretation would keep her away from the truth.
“You can talk all you want about forgetting suspicion.”K.D.cut across Melody’s ongoing lecture about restoring trust.“If he hadn’t had that fling with Gigi, there’d be no suspicions to rekindle.That’swhat caused the suspicion.”
Eric covered his mouth with his hand.He managed to look sufficiently serious above it to not arouse Melody’s suspicions.
Besides, Melody was too busy floundering.“Gigi?I don’t recall—” She touched the folder as if it could inform her about this issue by osmosis.
