Never Let Go by Sherryl Woods

“I don’t understand how you could do this,” he said wearily. “Especially after last night. Didn’t that mean anything to you?”
    “One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
    “Of course it does. It all has to do with trust. You said that yourself. You said you were on Davey’s side. I believed you.”
    “I am.”
    “Like hell,” he muttered angrily. He started to say more, then threw up his hands in disgust and walked away.
    “Justin!”
    He heard the hurt in her voice, the desperation, and knew exactly what she was going through. His own pain ran just as deep, perhaps even deeper because he’d allowed her to touch a part of him that had been unreachable for years. Once again he had come close to caring and once again it had ended in bitterness and regret.
    “Justin, please, you have to listen to my side.”
    He turned then and stared at her, his expression cold and implacable. He steeled himself against the injured look he knew he would see in her eyes.
    “No,” he said softly. “No, I don’t.”
    A sob rose inMallory’s throat as she watched Justin walk away from her. She choked it back and kept herself from running after him, but just barely. They both needed to calm down. They both needed time to put the entire situation into perspective. She needed time, in fact, to figure out if there might not be some truth to what Justin had said.
    Perhaps she was a bit of a Pollyanna, an eternal optimist. Not everyone could be helped. She’d be a fool not to realize that there were individuals who didn’t want to change. There were others whose problems ran so deep that it would take years of analysis to discover the causes and even then change might not be possible without months, perhaps years more of therapy.
    There was no way she could possibly know which category Jenny Landers fell into without spending time with the woman. She also needed more time with Davey. For her to make any judgments about the Landerses’ future, she would need more than guesswork. She resolved to begin in the morning by asking Rachel to arrange an appointment with Jenny Landers. She would do it for Justin and for herself, but most of all, she would do it for Davey.
    Still thinking about the horrible scene at the hospital, she walked into her apartment late that afternoon just as the phone began ringing. Maybe it was Justin, she thought, her heart slamming against her ribs as she picked it up.
    “Mallory, it’s Rachel. Are you okay?”
    She closed her eyes indisappointment. “Fine,” she said, her voice flat.
    “You don’t sound fine. I was worried about what happened at the hospital. Justin looked fit to kill. I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn’t hang around. Did you all work things out after we left?”
    “No. He thinks I betrayed him and Davey.”
    “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should never have brought Jenny Landers there.”
    “Don’t be crazy. That’s your job. I just wish I’d had more warning. Maybe I could have done something to make things go more smoothly.”
    “For Davey or for Justin?”
    “Both of them,” she admitted ruefully.
    “Do you think Davey’s okay?”
    “He was when I left. We talked a little, and he said he’d been scared when she first came in, but he wasn’t afraid after that. You can do me a favor, though.”
    “What’s that?”
    “I’d like to meet with Mrs. Landers. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I don’t even know what the situation is with Davey’s father, for instance. Can you set up an appointment?”
    “The court has already assigned a psychologist for her.”
    “I know, but I’d still like to talk to her. Off the record, if that’s what it takes. It’ll help me with Davey’s therapy.”
    “Okay, girl. I’ll see what I can do. You want to come over for dinner tonight? It’s potluck, but we’d love to have you.”
    “Thanks, but no. I think I’ll take a bath and get a good night’s sleep.”
    “Who are you tryingto kid? You won’t