“I’m sorry, please forget I said that.” She lifted her hand and worked the sore muscles in the back of her neck. “Yes, the subject matter is upsetting,” she said, lowering herself into the nearest chair. She owed Griff as much of the truth as she felt he could handle hearing—as much as she could handle revealing—for now.
His hand touched her cheek. “I don’t like seeing you hurt. Do you react like this after every client interview?”
She shook her head, unwittingly freeing some strands of hair. Without much thought, she tucked them behind her ear. “Some hit me harder than others.”
“No wonder this one’s difficult. She looks so much like you. The dark hair, the eyes...”
“I hadn’t noticed.” And she hadn’t. Now that he’d pointed out their similarities, Chelsie realized Griff was right—another factor that must have unconsciously upset her. “I really must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me, or else I’m catching a new version of the virus you and Alix had.” Which wasn’t a lie, since her throat had been raw all morning. “I’ll be all right.”
“Want me to accompany you to the shelter?” he asked.
Her lips curved upward in a faint smile. “No, thanks. No men allowed, anyway.”
Griff knelt down beside her. He enclosed her hand in his. “We do have unfinished business.”
“I know.” She shut her eyes and leaned her head back in the chair. “But would you understand if I said I’m not up to discussing things yet?”
He answered with a tender but brief kiss. His lips, warm against hers, almost seduced her into a blessed state of forgetfulness. Before she was ready, he pulled back, leaving her bereft.
“In case you weren’t sure, that’s a yes,” he said.
“I’m shocked, but thank you.”
“Don’t be. As long as you don’t run out on me again, I can give you all the space you need. To be honest, I could use some myself.” He rose from his kneeling position, putting both physical and emotional distance between them.
He’d admitted to nothing more than she asked for herself, yet his admission and withdrawal hurt.
“I’ve got to get back to Amanda,” she said.
“I have a favor to ask first.”
“What is it?”
“Ryan asked me to help his sister move back in with her husband next weekend. As you know, I owe him. Mrs. Baxter promised Saturday to her son and daughter-in-law. Think you could...”
“Baby-sit?” she asked with a grin. “Sure. Would you mind if I took Alix into Boston with me?”
“Either you’re brave or just plain nuts, but no, I don’t mind. Thanks.”
“Friends help each other out, Griff.” She needed to cement their status in her own mind, as much as his.
“Is that all we are?”
“I thought this discussion could wait,” she chided. The real world would not. The life she thought she’d put behind her waited outside the safety of these walls.
“Not for long.”
Ignoring his words, Chelsie slipped out the office door.
* * *
“How did you find me?” Chelsie asked the woman in the passenger seat of her car. Chelsie wanted enough details to understand what she would be dealing with.
“I searched through Jeffrey’s drawers and files for spare money or something that could help me. I came across your divorce decree.”
“He hadn’t told you he’d been married?”
“No.”
Chelsie spared a quick glance at Amanda, then refocused on the road. The woman’s dark hair fell to her shoulders. Griff was right. From a distance, they could have passed for sisters.
“But now that I’ve met you, I can see why he married me,” Amanda said.
“Whoa. There was no love lost by the time we divorced. I can assure you, Jeff would not marry someone who reminded him of me.”
“But he would marry someone he had no trouble manipulating, who did as he said without question.”
Chelsie slowed the car in the back parking lot of the women’s shelter. After shutting off the engine, she turned toward the woman beside her. “You may have done those things, but you got out. You saved yourself and your son. Be proud instead of kicking yourself for things you can’t change.” She smiled. “Counselors here will help you see that you aren’t the one with the problem. He is.”
“You’ll help me, too?”
“I’ll do everything I can within the law, but I think it’s better if Griff handles the specifics. Ethically, you don’t want anything Jeff can hold over you. Having his ex-wife represent you might pose a problem. Anyway, you did set the appointment up with Griff.”