Page 37 of Solo

I shake my head, somehow not surprised that she understands.

“And her parents?”

“Ah, well, her mother is wonderful. Her father hates me. He blames me for what happened. I’m surprised he never told you that himself.”

“What do you mean?”

When I look at her face, I realize what I’ve done. Again, she has no idea.

Fuck. Me.

This just gets worse by the second. I take a deep breath and meet her eyes steadily.

“Katherine, Casey’s mother is Maureen Clevenger.”

She looks completely perplexed now, unable to fashion together the pieces of the puzzle that she’s holding in her hands.

“But, Maureen is Russ’s ex-wife, isn’t she?”

I open my mouth to solve it for her, but I see it on her face the instant it all snaps into place. She gasps again, her eyes growing large with her understanding.

“Oh my God,” she whispers hoarsely. “Casey was Maureen and Russell’s daughter? You were engaged to their daughter?”

I nod grimly as I watch her try to process this information; try to fill in all the blanks.

“Okay,” she begins again slowly, “so how did you end up teaching at Shepherd, then?”

“Maureen. The same way she brought Russell on staff, she hired me. It was the only way she could think of to help either of us. Maureen always seemed to know something like this might happen. But Russell—he was in denial. He kept telling her Casey was fine, that it was a phase. I think it’s what ultimately led to their divorce. And then, he was on the road all the time, conducting orchestras all over the world. Maureen was here. She helped me with Casey during the worst of it and we got to be very close. I just—I fell apart…after…and I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to leave this house. Hell, I didn’t want to get out of the goddamned bed. And then, one day, she just showed up at my front door with a syllabus and a textbook. She hired me to teach a freshman theory class. Just one. Just enough to get me out of my own misery for a few hours a week.”

“My class,” she whispers, more to herself than to me.

“Yes, your class. It forced me to get out of this house and out of my head. I’d never taught before, so I had to concentrate on that. But I liked it and, before I knew it, I was teaching several classes.”

“So, you’d lost a child, your fiancée committed suicide, her father blamed you, and when you showed up for your first day of work, you found me sitting there,” she summarizes.

That’s exactly how it happened, but I don’t want to come right out and confirm it.

“I didn’t tell you all this to make you feel guilty. Or even to make you understand why our…association…all these years has been so tense. I only tell you this so you have the story right, so you’re not depending on thirdhand, overheard gossip from those idiots in class with you.”

She snorts and immediately looks horrified. I feel the corners of my mouth twitch up as I try to fight back a smirk of my own.

“I know. I’m not supposed to think they’re idiots, let alone tell you I think they’re idiots.” I say before my face morphs into a full-on grin. “But, Jesus Christ. I’ve never seen a bigger bunch of idiots in my life.”

She bursts out laughing and I’m right there with her.

“Well, there’s something we agree on,” she says.

I nod and stand up.

“Something else we agree on is that you’re tired. You’ve got some serious circles under your eyes and you’re still pale. Are you okay with sleeping in here alone? Or would you prefer that I stay close by?”

She gives me a smile that’s…what? Sweet, maybe? Yes. Sweet. Not sarcastic. Not a sneer. Not even a grin. Just a soft, sweet smile. I shake my head a little to dispel the thought.

“No, Dr. Markham, thank you. I think I’m over the worst of it. You’re right, I’m just really, really tired.”

I reach over to the nightstand and pull a remote control out of the drawer.

“Here,” I say, tossing it onto the bed next to her. “It’s early yet and you may want to watch a little TV. I’ve left a bottle of Tylenol on the dresser for you, in case your headache comes back. Do you want anything else to eat or drink?”