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resurfaced without conscious effort.
    Luke kept his word. He made no overtures to see her. The inability to cultivate the relationship somehow made the idea more desirable, much like forbidden fruit. His emails fostered the impression that he’d adjusted to his job, but she read between the lines that marking fingerprints and referencing other data bored him. She credited him for sticking with it but kept her professional opinion to herself.
    After six sessions, Mack informed her that he’d completed Luke’s evaluation. “Just letting you know,” he said. She didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t offer the information.
    Luke showed up at her office a few days later, unannounced. Cleo showed him in.
    “This is a surprise,” Abby said, pleased to hear Luke’s voice.
    “So was my evaluation.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “As if you didn’t know. All you shrinks stick together.”
    Abby stiffened at the acid bite to Luke’s tone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did Dr. Tollison say in his evaluation?”
    “He said I’m through.”
    “Through? How?”
    “Some damn psychobabble about feeling diminished and angry.”
    “Aren’t you?”
    “Damn right. I’m about to lose my job.”
    Abby didn’t know what to say and questioned whether she wouldn’t have come to the same conclusion had she completed his counseling. “I’m sorry, Luke.”
    “Would you have agreed?”
    She hesitated. “I…I don’t know.”
    “Sure you do. You knew the first time we talked.”
    The hairs on Abby’s neck prickled. Luke was forcing her to divulge an evaluation she could only surmise, but she decided to be as honest as possible. “I never formed an opinion, but I told you I thought you had issues you weren’t facing.”
    “So you would have cost me my job too.”
    “Is that what happened?”
    “Not yet. The evaluation is under consideration, but I can see the handwriting on the wall. You saw it, too. Oh, I forgot. You don’t see anything, do you?”
    If she hadn’t been sitting down, she would have collapsed into the chair because her knees went weak and rubbery. Responding to the hurt that must have shown on her face, Luke knelt close and reached for her hand. She jerked it away.
    “God, Abby, I’m sorry. That was inexcusable. I spoke without thinking.”
    His words were a low blow, spoken in momentary anger and frustration, but how they stung. Though Luke’s emotions simmered close to the surface, she hadn’t expected them to boil over so soon. Certainly not at her.
    In that moment, Abby lost her sense of equilibrium. She reached for the intercom button to call Cleo and couldn’t find it. Groping around the desk, she felt blind in her own office, one of only three places where she felt normal. She finally found the phone base and depressed the button. “Cleo, would you come in here, please?” She turned to face Luke. “I’d like you to leave.”
    “Forgive me, Abby, please. I’m a jerk.”
    “Go, would you? Just go.” She swiveled the chair around so he couldn’t see her eyes fill with tears or her lips say something she might regret. She wanted to tell him again to leave but heard him walk to the door as Cleo came in to ask what she wanted. The outer door closed.
    Cleo approached and put her hand on Abby’s shoulder. “What happened?”
    Ellie followed close behind. “Abby, tell us. Did he hurt you? If he did I’ll—”
    “No, nothing like that. It’s the downside of therapy. You can’t always make everyone happy.” Abby managed to contain her emotions but felt a surge of sadness breaking through her ever-present veneer of resolve. “I need to go to the restroom.”
    “Do you want me to go with you?” Cleo asked.
    She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
    She knew the layout of her office, hall, and bathroom. Brushing alongside the desk, her outstretched hand touched the doorframe. Straight ahead. Ten steps through the outer office. Right turn. Twenty-six steps to the