“You don’t even care about me,” Adam said, his voice rising as he glanced around the room.
“I love you,” she whispered emphatically.
Gayle knew only too well how easily Adam could escalate an argument from a raised voice to yelling—so like his father. She took his arm, gently leading him toward the door. Once out in the hall, she turned to him. “Adam, those people in there are important to me, to us. This is my job and I can’t afford to lose it.”
She wanted to hold her son in her arms the way she used to do when he was upset. She settled for touching his hand. “I know you’re going through a difficult time right now, and I want to help you. But you won’t be able to come back here if you act like this.”
Adam could not continue this way, and she could not move again. Recognizing that what she was about to say would anger her son, she chose her words carefully. “If you keep this up, I’m going to have to get professional help for you.”
“Mom, I... Why don’t you understand? All I need is a few dollars.” He was quieter now, his head down, the fingers of his right hand viciously attacking a hangnail.
Gayle knew this wasn’t just about money. Her son felt angry and frustrated most of the time. Yet when he wasn’t angry, he was the Adam she’d loved and cared for these past thirteen years—a kind, bright, wonderful young man. She softened her tone, seeking to let her son know that she loved him more than anything in this world. “Go back to the house, and I’ll be there right after my shift. We’ll work this out, I promise.”
He jutted his lower jaw, the resentment in his eyes fading to acquiescence. He gave a long, exaggerated sigh as he turned and went down the hall.
Sherri came up behind her, standing beside her as she anxiously watched her son leave. “Gayle, I’m so sorry. You’ve told me a little bit about the change in Adam’s behavior, but this is the first time I’ve seen it for myself.”
“Not as sorry as I am.” She sighed, the old feelings of inadequacy engulfing her.
“I’m not trying to interfere here, but I’ve got a suggestion that might help.”
“I’m running out of ideas, so all suggestions gratefully accepted.”
Except for talking to Sherri, she’d kept her concerns about Adam to herself, hoping that it was just part of being a teenager. But she couldn’t have him showing up at her workplace behaving the way he had today. She wanted to confide the whole story to someone, and Sherri was a good listener.
When she’d come to Eden Harbor and the house her aunt Susan had left her, she worried about how Adam would react. It quickly became apparent her concerns were unfounded. He’d been great. He’d gotten a part-time job cutting grass in the neighborhood for his spending money. He had become more helpful around the house, much to Gayle’s relief. But in the past couple of weeks, Adam had had to be cajoled into mowing lawns. When he was around the house, he seemed distant, quicker to anger, resentful at times and harder to talk to. In fact, the old rapport they’d shared had almost disappeared. Until this moment, Gayle had let it pass.
“Would it help if he had someone to talk to?” Sherri asked. “Someone who related well to teenage boys?”
Gayle’s biggest fear was that her son would get involved with the wrong crowd and turn out like his father. Harry probably had been a normal teenager who’d got in with a bad crowd, and now spent every day inside prison walls. She couldn’t let that happen to Adam. “It might make a difference. I honestly don’t know.”
“There is a mentoring program in Eden Harbor for troubled teens. Would you consider something like that?”
That could be good, but not if it meant there would be questions about Adam’s father. No one here knew anything about Harry, and she didn’t want that to change. The world they lived in now—a pleasant world with so much potential—was far removed from their life in Anaheim. If Sherri could help her find someone to offer a positive male influence in Adam’s life...
“I’d have to think about it, maybe learn a little more before I decide.”
“We need someone we can trust to be firm with Adam, right?”
Gayle loved the fact that her best friend had used we. She’d never had a confidante like Sherri Lawson, soon to be Sherri Brandon in a wedding everyone was looking forward to. The bright spot in Gayle’s life these days was that she would be part of the bridal party.
Gayle gave a wry smile as the two of them headed back to the clinic desk.
“What he needs is a father figure in his life, the one thing I can’t provide unless the mailman suddenly turns into my Prince Charming. He’s the only male I see on a regular basis.”
Sherri stopped, a look of satisfaction on her face. “I’ve got the perfect solution to your problem. My cousin, Nate Garrison, would be a great mentor for Adam. I don’t believe you’ve met him. He was at Peggy Anderson’s birthday party down at Rigby’s Bar on the waterfront a few weeks ago. I remember you were intent on getting to know the new guy from respiratory therapy.”
“Only to discover that he already had a girlfriend. I should have stayed with you at the bar and gotten a chance to meet your cousin. But as I remember it, you weren’t there very long.”
“Yeah, Neill and I had an argument and I left.” Sherri touched her engagement ring again. “So glad that’s all over...” Another smile slid across her face. Her friend was always smiling these days, and Gayle couldn’t help but wish she could be as happy.
“You haven’t met Nate because he’s been really busy since he started working as a community liaison officer, part of community policing. His specialty is working with troubled teenagers, and he’d be the perfect person to help Adam.”
Could it be that something positive was about to come out of one of the most embarrassing moments of her life? “I didn’t want to bother you with my problems where Adam is concerned. But now...” She shrugged.
“Why don’t you let me see what I can do?” Sherri offered, warmth and caring evident in her voice. “I know this sounds like bragging, but Nate is a wonderful man, a little overprotective at times, but no wonder. He was on duty in Boston and got shot in the leg while investigating a robbery.”
The officer was shot in the thigh and bone fragments nicked the femoral artery. The emergency response team who rushed to the scene was responsible for saving Officer Perry’s life.
Gayle would never forget those words screaming across the front page of the Orange County Register, or the naked fear she’d survived for weeks as she’d waited, expecting to be arrested any moment. Her anxiety as she watched the apartment door that day for Harry to return, praying that it hadn’t been him. That he couldn’t have shot an officer of the law. But he had, even bragged about it, and threatened to beat her and kick her out if she told anyone.
Harry needn’t have worried. What he’d done that day, and what she’d done in the months following, would forever be her secret. “Are you sure about this?” she asked Sherri.
“Why not? You said yourself that you’re worried about Adam. Let me help you. Nate’s a professional and knows what he’s doing. He’s helped lots of kids over the past six years since he returned from Boston.”
Boston or Anaheim. It didn’t matter. Gayle would never be able to erase the memories of those months after the shooting, the fear and self-loathing. She hadn’t been honest when the police officers had come in search of information. She’d been too afraid of what Harry would do if he found out she’d been talking to the police.
All she’d ever wanted from the day she’d escaped her parents’ world of drugs and arguments was a place where she could feel safe. A defiant teenager, she’d run off