“When something didn’t go the way he expected,” Lauren said.

“I really don’t want to leave you,” Cassie said.

“Well, you’re going to,” she said with a laugh. “I have to go to work on Monday and you have to go home. I can’t have you hanging around watching over me. It’s time for both of us to get on with our lives.”

“It didn’t seem like the East Coast was so far away before...”

“I’m going to be fine and you have Jeremy and law school to think about. Just promise me one thing, Cassie. Promise me that if things don’t feel right with Jeremy, you won’t spend your entire life trying to change them. Take the shades off, Cassie,” she said. “See honestly. Don’t lie to yourself. And please—don’t be afraid. I was too afraid of what he might do to us.”

“I’m not the one with that problem,” she said. “I’m thinking about putting off law school for a year,” Cassie said. “I’d like to come back here, work, reapply, live closer. I talked to Jeremy. He understands. He wouldn’t mind getting back to the West Coast, though he’s starting to think of Boston as an adventure, but—”

“No!” Lauren said. “No, no, no! We’re going to move forward, you and me! I’m going to work and get divorced and this winter I’ll fix up this house. After the divorce is settled, I might buy it. Next spring I’ll plant a garden. And you’re going to get the first year of law school under your belt. We’ll Skype. We’ll get this big transition handled—my first year on my own, your first year with Jeremy and with law school. Maybe we’ll live closer down the road but for now? We’re going to move ahead with our plans.”

“Who will help you, Mama? If things get bad again? If he tries to hurt you? Who will help you?”

“I have assembled a good team,” Lauren said. “A good lawyer, my sister, my brother-in-law, a few friends... There’s a record and a restraining order. The sale of Honey’s house—that money is tucked away and keeping me afloat. I hope that after it’s over, I can help you with your expenses. We’re going to be fine, you and me. We’re going to—”

A truck was driving by and it slowed, catching Lauren’s attention. The driver backed up and stopped in front of the house. He got out and looked over the hood. He grinned. “Lauren! How’s it going?”

She stood from her chair. “Beau,” she called, waving. “Come and meet my daughter.”

He smiled and reached into his truck to stop the engine. He came up the walk to the porch and stuck out a hand. “How do you do,” he said. “I’m Beau Magellan. We’re neighbors.”

“Cassie Delaney,” she said.

“Beau, will you have a glass of wine with us?” Lauren asked.

“Aw, sorry, I don’t have that much time. I have groceries in the truck and a kid at home I promised to feed.” He looked at Cassie. “You live around here or just visiting, Cassie?”

“I’m just visiting. I live in Massachusetts now—going to school. I’m from around here, though.”

“I guess I can’t really take a rain check, then,” Beau said. “Unless you’re staying a long time.”

“Just a couple more days,” she said. “But I love the pace of this town—walk downtown, sit on the porch, take it easy. This is such a nice little town.”

“It’s full of movers and shakers. Lots of people want to raise their children here but take the ferry or BART into the city to work. I’ve been here quite a while,” he said. “I bought an old fixer-upper on a street that seemed to be dominated by them. Now we have one of the best-looking streets in town.”

“Did you fix it yourself?” Cassie asked.

“I did, with a little help from family and friends. It took years. I’m a landscape architect by trade.” He grinned handsomely. “The yard is beautiful.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d love to stay. I’m sure you’ll visit again sometime, Cassie. Lauren, if you need anything, just call or text—I’m just around the corner.” He stuck out his hand. “Really nice meeting you, Cassie.”

“You, too,” she said.

They didn’t speak as Beau jogged to his truck, jumped in and gave a brief wave as he drove off. Then Cassie looked at Lauren and said, “Wow.”

“Huh?” Lauren asked.

“He’s very handsome,” Cassie said. “How well do you know him?”

“I haven’t known him that long,” she said. “I’m still getting to know him. I bought him dinner at the pub where we had lunch as thanks for putting up shelves. And we spent the whole time talking about our pending divorces. He’s been separated since months before we met. He was working in the gardens at Divine Redeemer—that’s where I met him. I thought he was a groundskeeper—those gardens are so beautiful. The priest there is his childhood friend.” She paused. “And he’s the neighbor who followed me to the hospital and brought me home the night your father...”

“He’s the one! You must see that he likes you,” Cassie said.

“I hope so,” she said. “I like him. But if you think I’m going to rush into another dysfunctional relationship, you are completely mistaken. I’m thinking about freedom and some independence, Cassie. Not another man.”

“Well, good for you,” she said. “But he’s cute. Thirty seconds and I would have fallen for him.”

“Tsk, tsk, what would Jeremy say?” Lauren teased.

“I’m just saying—”

“It’s nice to know a guy other than your uncle Chip, who can help if I run into trouble or need a little carpentry, but I am absolutely not in the market. Period. I am looking forward to getting to know him a little better, though. On the surface of things, he seems so utterly perfect.” She sighed. “I assume that means he’s probably a psychopath.”

“I think the sad truth is, my dad is the psychopath. Not your garden-variety Criminal Minds psychopath. More of a CEO or billionaire type of psychopath.”

“Oh Cassie, I didn’t want that for you.”

“I think it’s time we stopped glossing over the facts, Mama. That’s Lacey’s job. You really want me to ignore what he did?”

“No,” Lauren said. “I just didn’t want you to be hurt.”

“You might want to rethink that,” Cassie said. “Pretending is lying. Lying hurts.”

* * *

Early Monday morning, Lauren and Cassie said goodbye and Lauren went to work. She still had to try to camouflage her purple bruises, but at least the swelling was down. The first people she ran into at the lab said things like, “Welcome back! I heard you had a fall! Are you okay?” She said she was fine but was pretty ugly there for a few days. Then invariably they would say, “What in the world happened?”

“One of those klutzy slips while unpacking the kitchen. You know, up on the step stool, down on the floor, whacking the countertop on the way down and biting my lip.”

And if she wasn’t mistaken, she got a few quizzical looks wondering if that was really the whole story. Her decision had already been made, but if it hadn’t been, those few looks would have been convincing. But she was going to tell her boss first. She asked her supervisor, Bea, for a few moments of her time.

Bea frowned. “Yes,” she said tightly. “How about right now?”

Lauren tensed up. Bea always treated her fairly but there was something about the response Lauren felt that made her wonder if her supervisor disliked her. It hardly mattered—they worked together successfully, respected each other’s boundaries, played by all the right rules. Lauren always thought the distance between them was because they had little in common. Left to their own devices, Lauren and Bea wouldn’t meet for lunch or drinks, but they both joined in when the office staff went out together. Bea was the single mother of four grown children and now had several grandchildren. She had a great position as director of the product development lab and owned her home, but it was not in posh Alameda and she had never had a surgeon husband to go home to. Lauren tried not to speculate, but thought it was possible Bea was just a little jealous. If only Bea had known the truth...

“Sit down, Lauren,” Bea said. “You obviously took quite a header.”

“I wonder if we can have a confidential conversation,” Lauren asked. “Because I didn’t exactly fall. I really don’t need the details all over the lab.”

“I don’t talk about my employees,” she said.

“My husband did this to me,” Lauren said. Her eyes briefly filled with tears, not because her heart was breaking but because she was embarrassed.

“Dr. Delaney?” Bea asked in shock, half rising from the chair behind her desk.

Lauren nodded.

“How long has this been going on?” Bea asked, her face grim. Lauren thought she detected a blush in that beautiful ebony complexion.

“Nothing like this has happened before, and I say that honestly. I’d like to think I’d have filed for divorce long ago if it had, but I’m no longer sure. I managed to lie to myself so many times, in so many ways. Yes, he was always abusive. Yes, I left a couple of times. Really, this is all such dirty laundry...”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’ll go no further. But you’re kidding yourself if you think people don’t pick up the signals.”

“Oh God, has there been talk?”

“That he’s been beating you? No, not at all. That he’s a mean and superior son of a bitch? I’ve heard a whisper or two. Do you have some good help to get you through this?”

“Help?”

“Legal help? Psychological help? Emotional help?”

“Oh, of course. Yes. Listen, it’s not that I’m ashamed, but—”