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Kendra frowned behind her oversized sunglasses as she riffled through her purse, looking for something. Gum, apparently. “I said what?”
Confused, Timber recounted their discussion about how tardiness was her pet peeve. “I was about to look up your contact number and check on you.”
Kendra glanced up at the clock, chewing her newly-unwrapped gum. “I’m only half an hour late. I’ve got thirty more minutes. All good.”
“How is Mark?” Timber asked, switching into therapist-mode.
“Mark,” Kendra drawled out, like she was trying to jog her memory.
This was strange. “Your brother,” Timber reminded her. “He just had surgery last week.”
“Oh, right. He’s doing well. All healed up.”
“Healed up from open-heart surgery?”
“Look, are we going to talk about all the past stuff, or future stuff? Because I’m at a point in my life where I want to focus on the future.”
“Absolutely. What would you like to talk about?”And why are you still wearing sunglasses in a dimly-lit therapist’s office?She kept that question to herself, because manners.
“Relationships,” Kendra said with a confident nod of her head.
“Familial, romantic, or friendship relationships?”
“Romantic.”
Kendra was one of those clients who tended to talk most of the session with very little interaction, so Timber settled in and waited for her to stop slathering on lip gloss. She seemed distracted and jittery today. Too much coffee, perhaps.
“Can I ask you a question?” Kendra said.
Timber composed her face into a polite smile. “Sure.”
“Are you in a romantic relationship?”
“I think we should keep the focus on you, so you can get the best session with your remaining time.”
“I’m sorry for being so forward, but I would like to know if you would understand if I open up about a romantic relationship. It’s new for me.”
Timber cleared her throat and nodded. “I have a person I like spending time with, yes.”
“I bet he’s tall and handsome,” Kendra gushed. “You are too pretty to date gargoyles, and really, that’s what there is in the dating pool after a certain age. I’m learning that. Tell me you found a hot one.”
“He’s very handsome to me.”
Kendra’s smile was frozen on her face, and she waited three beats before she began talking again. “I’m dating someone, but I think…” She dropped her gaze to her hands as she fidgeted with the edge of her shirt. Timber really wished she could see her expression behind the big sunglasses. “I met him in person a few weeks ago. He’s funny, and smart, and hard working. He checks all the boxes that I’m looking for in a partner or a mate.”
Mate. Timber chewed the corner of her lip. She thought Kendra had said she was married already. In the last session, Kendra had told her a big story about how she hated being late, and her husband was perpetually late.
And now Kendra had used a shifter term. Huh.
“You see, this guy checks the boxes, but I’m afraid he’s more than I bargained for. He has red flags.”
“Like what?” Timber asked.
“I don’t want to talk down about him.”
“It isn’t talking down about someone if you are just voicing your concerns about how they fit into your life.”
“Well, I just found out he is a…” Kendra looked to the door, then back to Timber, and lowered her voice. “He’s a shifter.”
