Page 100 of Rough Fantasy

“Maura?”

“No, Jillian. Apparently, Maura’s been seeing a shrink.”

Rory glanced at him, then back up at the ceiling. “She is?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know. She talks to her all the time, apparently.”

Another beat of silence.

“She hides things from a lot of people, Rory, not just you.”

“She’s not hiding. She’s just not there, Zee. I don’t know how to deal with that.”

It hurt to say the words—worse than the gunshot wound he took in the chest a few years earlier.

“You have to give her space, but I guess we should call her.”

Neither of them moved.

“You do it, Rory.”

He glanced at Zee. “Why me?”

“Because, she will expect me to. If you call, it might surprise her a little.”

He got up out of bed and searched for his jeans. He hit the contact icon for Maura and waited for her to answer.

“Hey, Rory.”

“I guess you talked to your brother.”

She sighed. “Yes, but then I never thought it was all that important. Petersen wasn’t involved.”

He wanted to argue but he didn’t. She retreated completely when he confronted her.

“So, I guess we don’t need the detail anymore,“ she said.

Something told him he should just do it, to ease her mind, but with Maura, Zee had told him being up front and truthful went a longer way than any pretty words.

“Yeah, I guess not. You still have that kick ass security system.”

She said nothing.

“Maura--”

“Look, I have some work here to do.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” she said and hung up. He turned off his phone and looked at Zee. “She’s not happy.”

“You got to see Maura at her best, but I’ve told you, love, life isn’t about just being happy. You have to make it through those tough times to appreciate the good times.”

“And when do the good times come back?” Rory asked. The moment he said the words, he wanted to call them back. Even with Zee he hated showing his vulnerability—especially when it came to Maura.

Zee held out his hand and waited for Rory to take it and join him back in bed. He pulled him close and Rory settled his head against Zee’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure, love, but I hope not long,” Zee said.