Page 4 of Healed Heart

He holds up a hand.“Save it.Be a psychiatrist if you want.Be a dentist, a chiropractor.Hell, go for your yoga certification.I don’t give a shit.”

I lift an eyebrow.“Then why did you make that nasty comment about rescheduling my appointment?”

He chuckles softly.“Because your precious Dr.Lansing isn’t in his office right now.He was escorted out about a half hour ago.”

My heart drops to my stomach.

Escorted out?

Like, by a police officer?

“What the hell are you talking about?”I demand.

“I don’t know.A man and a woman were walking with him down the hallway.”

“What man and what woman?”

“You expect me to know that?”

I poke him in his chest hard.“I expect you to be straight with me.Were they…uniformed?”

Ralph lets out a loud guffaw.“Uniformed?Like a security guard or something?”

“Like police officers, you idiot.”

Another guffaw from Ralph.“If only… No.They were dressed like normal people.”

Relief.Only a bit of relief, but I’ll take it.

Why would I be thinking they were police officers anyway?Jason hasn’t done anything wrong.But when Ralph saidescorted…

“You’re a piece of work,” I say to him.

He looks me up and down, leering.“So are you, Angela Steel.”

“It’s Simpson, dumbass.”

He shrugs.“Yeah, but it may as well be Steel.You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth like the rest of them.You have no idea what it’s like for us regular people.”

“You know,” I say, “Tabitha and Eli are regular people, and they seem to accept me just fine.And yeah, I was born to great privilege.I didn’t ask for it.”

“So you’d give it back in a heartbeat?”He scoffs.

“Hell, no.”I look him straight in the eye with my hands on my hips.“Would you?”

He says nothing for a few seconds, until, “So did you check out Dr.Lansing online?”

I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of telling him I did.That I now know Jason is a widower who lost his only child.

Speaking of such a trauma with Ralph seems like I’d be bastardizing it.

“Haven’t had the time yet,” I say.

“Right.”He scoffs again.

“You need to get a life.”I walk away.

“I had a life once,” he says just loud enough for me to hear.“But it was destroyed long ago.”