Page 14 of Veil of Silence

“It’s just a car.”

“That doesn’t make it less dangerous.”

Preston considered her words, apparently decided she had a point, then returned to playing.

Shelby lowered herself carefully into the recliner. She’d had her gallbladder removed, and her surgeon had ordered several home health visits after the incision became red and started draining.

Nora took her temperature and pulse, then pulled on gloves and removed the dressing. No fever. A small amount of drainage Shelby had described as barely anything. Thankfully, the redness hadn’t spread.

“You taking your antibiotic?” Nora asked as she cleaned around the incision with saline.

“Yes.”

“Every dose?”

Shelby looked offended. “I’m not completely irresponsible.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Nora applied a fresh dressing and pressed the tape into place. “I ask everybody. And believe it or not, people do lie to nurses.”

Shelby smiled, but it disappeared almost immediately.

Lately, Nora noticed every hesitation. Every shift in tone. Every look that didn’t quite match the words coming out of someone’s mouth.

Before Jacob, she’d called that intuition.

Now she wasn’t sure what to call it.

She discarded her gloves and reached for the blood-pressure cuff. “Arm.”

Shelby pushed up her sleeve.

Nora wrapped the cuff around her upper left arm. “How are you sleeping?”

Shelby hesitated.

Nora glanced at her. “That sounds like a not good.”

“It’s not because of the surgery.”

The cuff began to inflate. “What’s going on?”

Shelby looked at Preston before lowering her voice. “His dad.”

Nora waited for the cuff to release before checking the reading. A little high, but considering the direction the conversation had taken, that wasn’t surprising.

She knew Mikey. He’d grown up in Fog Lake and now worked as a mechanic. Nora had always considered him a chauvinistic hothead.

“What’s happening with him?”

Shelby rubbed her palm against her jeans. “He says the custody arrangement isn’t fair anymore. He wants to see Preston more.”

Something in her tone made Nora pause. “Is he threatening you?”

“Not exactly.” Shelby’s bottom lip began to tremble. “But he keeps saying he’s going to fight me for custody, and when he’s done, I’ll be lucky to see my boy twice a year.”

Then she burst into tears.

Across the room, Preston made an engine noise as the red car shot down a paperback propped against the coffee table.