Righteous Obsession (56 page)

They sat down and began eating.  Although he ate with
relish, Alethea couldn’t help noticing he appeared distracted.  She wondered if
he dreaded going to sleep because he feared having another nightmare or he was
apprehensive about his appointment with Doctor Hughes.  “I thought your playing
sounded really good,” She remarked.

 “Thanks.  I think I sound pretty good, too, and by
the time we go back on the road again, I’ll be ready to jump right in!”  He sighed
suddenly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I guess I’m nervous about my appointment tomorrow.” 
He admitted.  “I want to get rid of these nightmares and irrational fears
plaguing me, but the idea of somebody poking around inside my head is scary.”

“I know.”  Alethea squeezed his hand.  “But I know
we’re going to be stronger for having been through this, too.”

“I sure hope so – something good should come out of
all this misery!”

Colin slept fitfully and woke feeling tired and
cranky.  Alethea dropped him off in front of the building where Doctor Hughes
had her practice.  She leaned over and gave him a kiss.  “I’ll see you later. 
Good luck!”

He gave her a small smile, nodded, got out and
disappeared inside the building.  She thought he looked like a little kid on
his first day of school.  She sighed and edged out into the stream of traffic. 
She went shopping, looking at blinds, curtains, and comforters.  She quickly
decided on off-white blinds, but as to the rest, her mind wasn’t really on it and
she didn’t have much luck.  She glanced at her watch, noting it was after
twelve.  She drove back to Doctor Hughes building, but didn’t see Colin
anywhere.  She assumed his session wasn’t over yet.  When she walked into Amanda’s
law firm she found her and another woman picking up toys scattered around the
waiting area.

“Hello, Alethea!”  Amanda stood and handed the toys
she’d collected to the other woman.

“Would you put these away for me, Rhonda?  Thanks.” 
She straightened her skirt and gave Alethea a hug.  “Rhonda, this is my
daughter-in-law, Alethea.  Alethea, this is my top paralegal, Rhonda Davidson.”

“Nice to meet you, Alethea.”  She dumped the toys into
a chest then shook Alethea’s hand.

Amanda took Alethea on a tour of her firm.  She was
obviously very proud of it and with good reason.  The firm was a beehive of
activity.  It was obvious to Alethea the employees enjoyed their jobs and
thought the world of their boss.  They went into Amanda’s office.  “Have a seat
and relax, Alethea.”

“Thanks, Amanda.”  She glanced around the room.  It
was very feminine, decorated in soft pastels.   Clustered on the shelves of a
built-in bookcase, behind her desk, were family pictures. A vase of
long-stemmed roses sat on one corner of her desk.  There was a wooden plant
stand in front of a window, containing several different types of plants.

“Are we eating in or out?”  Amanda asked.

“In.  I told Colin to meet me here when he’s through.”

“Fine.  How does Chinese sound?”

“It’s okay with me.”  She studied the menu Amanda
handed her for a moment then made her choice.  “What about Colin?”

“That’s easy!”  Amanda laughed.  “Moo Shu Pork with
extra plum sauce.”

“Those are certainly beautiful roses,” She remarked,
motioning to the vase on her desk.

“They’re from Peter.”  She blushed and smiled.  “He
sends me flowers once a week.”

“That’s so romantic!”

Amanda phoned in their orders then sat down next to Alethea
on the comfortable couch.

“I’m glad Colin was able to get in to see Doctor
Hughes so soon.  These last few days have been terrible!”

“What happened?”

“He’s had a nightmare practically every night.  He had
a terrible one Friday night and woke up screaming!  I jolted awake fully
expecting to see Father Michaels standing in our bedroom! He kept screaming my
name.  When I finally got him awake, he grabbed me and held me so tightly I
could barely breathe!  We went shopping Saturday and he never let me out of his
sight the entire time.  He kept talking about buying a new security system,
too.”

“It must have frightened him badly.”  Amanda
commented.

“It’s had a definite backlash,” Alethea agreed.  “We
went out Sunday evening and had a wonderful time, but by the time we got into
the house I was shaking!”

“What happened?”

“Colin noticed how dark it was around the house and
had a major panic attack!  I’ve never seen him that frightened – even when he
was facing Father Michaels.  He said he was overwhelmed by this massive panic
attack that somebody was hiding outside, waiting to harm us.”

“Well, your house has very little light in and around
it, but you’re right about Colin.  He’s never been afraid of anything and that
used to terrify me when he was a toddler.”

“He had a nightmare that night, too.  Of course, he
didn’t wake me – he said he didn’t want to disturb me!  Sometimes, Amanda, he
makes me so mad!”

There was a knock on the door and Amanda got up to
answer it.  “I hope it’s our food because I’m starving!”  It was.  She carried
the bags over to a round conference table with four chairs, sitting by a window
that looked out on the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building.  “I know Colin can
be difficult to live with, darling.  He’s always kept his worries to himself. 
When he was a teenager we could always tell when something was bothering him,
but we’d literally have to pry it out of him piece by piece!”

“I think he feels he’s a burden to me and that’s why
he’s trying to be so strong.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Amanda commented.  “I’m
sure Doctor Hughes can convince him there’s nothing wrong with having these
feelings or sharing them with you.”

“I thought he looked like a little kid on his first
day of kindergarten when I dropped him off this morning.”

“I remember Colin’s first day of school vividly!” 
Amanda replied, smiling wistfully.  “He couldn’t wait!  He pulled away from me
and jumped right into the thick of things.  He did fine, but I went home and
cried a bucket!”

“How’s Liam feeling?  Colin and I thought he seemed
more like his old self when we saw him yesterday.”

“He’s still having occasional nightmares, but now he
wakes us and we talk about it.  He also talks to Alison a great deal.”

“I wish Colin could be more like Liam in that respect.”

There was another knock on her door and Colin came in,
looking totally drained.  He kissed Alethea and gave his mother a hug.  “Hi,
Mom.”

“Hi.”  She motioned to the table.  “Sit down and have
something to eat.”

Colin slumped into a chair, letting his long legs
sprawl in front of him.  He rubbed his face.  “God!  I feel as if Doctor Hughes
vacuumed out my brain!”

Alethea pushed one of the bags towards him.  “We got
you Moo Shu Pork.”

“With extra plum sauce?”  He asked, smiling faintly.

“Naturally!”  Amanda assured him.

Alethea watched as he demolished the vegetable-filled
pancakes.  He gave a sigh of satisfaction, wiped his mouth and sat back.  “I asked
Doctor Hughes about doing family therapy and she said she’d liked to talk to
you and dad.”

“I’ll discuss it with your father tonight and give her
a call.”

“How was Deb’s first day of school?”

“She really enjoyed it.  She said the curriculum is
much more challenging than in her former school.  She called Diana to tell her
about her first day and Diana had some bad news.  It seems Mrs. Simpson
confronted Diana and her mother, demanding to know where Deb was and
threatening them with dire consequences if they didn’t tell her.  Deb, of
course, got very frightened her mother would find her.”

“There’s definitely no way her mother can find her.” 
Colin replied firmly.

“That’s what we told her, but her fear of her mother
is so strong; she’s endowed her with psychic powers.”

“You’re her legal guardians, now so there’s nothing
Mrs. Simpson could do anyway,” Alethea remarked.

“We told her that, too, and we assured her she’s safe
with us.  I think she felt less panicky and she seemed much better this
morning.”

“Good.”  Colin cleared his throat.  “I’ve decided to
apologize to Jeff, Mom.  I am angry at him, but not for the reason I was
telling myself.  I need to clear the air on that.”

His mother looked uncertain, but said encouragingly,
“I hope things work out with Jeff.”  She frowned suddenly.  “I wonder if
they’ve heard any more from Father Michaels.”

“Tomorrow’s my interview with CNN so they may hear
something after that!”  He looked at Alethea.  “Did you give mom the copies of
our wedding DVD?”

“No.  I’m glad you reminded me.”  She took two DVDs
out of her purse and gave them to Amanda.  “One is yours and the other is
Liam’s.”

“We’ve got to go, Mom.”  Colin gave her a kiss. 
“We’ll see you soon.”

“A week from Sunday for sure,” She reminded them.

“We’ll give everyone else their DVD’s then.”  Alethea
said.

“Do you have one for Luke and Nora, too?”

“Yes, and one for Jeff.”

Amanda sighed.  “I suppose he does have to have one.”

“I did promise him, Mom.”

“I know.  Well, you two run along and we’ll see you
next Sunday.”

Alethea gave her a hug and whispered, “Thanks for
listening to my problems, Amanda.”

“Anytime, darling.”

Alethea was driving which gave Colin a chance to do
some serious thinking.  He was so deep in thought that he didn’t rouse until
she pulled into their driveway and jogged his arm.  “Colin, we’re home.”

“What?  Oh!  We’re home, aren’t we?  Sorry, I was
doing some heavy thinking.”  As they went into the house, first stopping to
collect the mail, Colin asked, “There’s something I need to discuss with you,
if you have time.”

Alethea was glancing through the mail.  “Sure.”  She
laid it on the television and sat down on the couch next to Colin.  “What’s
up?”

“Doctor Hughes would like to talk to you before my
next session.”  He took one of her business cards out of shirt pocket and gave
it to her.

“Okay.”

“The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is
hiring a permanent bodyguard for you.”  He held up his hands.  “I know you’re
perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Why bother then?”

“I want to be sure you’re being well-protected when
I’m away.”

“I’m sure Father Michaels will be in prison by the
time you go back on tour.”

“It’s not just him I worry about.  Unfortunately,
there are a lot of weirdo’s who aren’t adverse to getting their names in the
paper and on the news by harming my wife.”

Alethea toyed with her hair for a couple of second
while she considered Colin’s idea.  “Okay, I’ll agree to it – on one
condition.”

“Name it.”

“If he or she starts cramping my style – they’re
gone!”

“That’s fair,” Colin agreed.

“Do you have somebody specific in mind for the job?”

“Yeah.  McGregor has a friend, Eddie Cole, who’s
currently working for Guns ‘N’ Roses, but wants a job with better hours.  I’ve
got his number so you can give him a call and set up an interview.”

“I guess if he’s a friend of Buck’s, he’ll be a
professional and I can feel comfortable with him.”

“McGregor assured me he’s the best there is and I
won’t have to worry about your safety.”  He sighed.  “Doctor Hughes and I
talked a lot about dad, Jeff and me today.”

“About your relationships?”

“Yeah.  I detailed the conversation dad and I had
about Jeff.  I kept telling her I felt like a traitor!  Dad’s always been there
for me – even before I was born!  I feel as if I’m stabbing him in the back!”

“What did she say?”

“She said it was something I need to “explore in
greater depths” so that’s primarily what we’re going to talk about next time, I
guess.”

“I think it’s a good place to start.”

“I agree.”  He grinned.  “I wish she could’ve given me
some tips for getting through that interview tomorrow without losing my
temper!”  He slept soundly that night without a reoccurrence of the nightmares.

The interview the next day went very well – at least
from Colin’s viewpoint.  Although it included questions about his stabbing,
about Jeff and Father Michaels, he answered them without reservations,
straightforwardly and, much to his relief, without losing his temper.

John Richards encouraged this by carefully phrasing
any questions about Father Michaels using the term “your alleged assailant.” 
He was sympathetic towards Colin’s position and didn’t pressure him to answer
questions.  It was along interview and though he felt tired, he thought it had
been very productive.  “Colin, if there’s anything you could wish for yourself,
what would it be?”  John asked as a final question.

Colin looked blank for a moment then slowly shook his
head.  “I don’t know since I’ve already got everything I could wish for in
life.  I’m alive and …” He smiled at Alethea, whom he coaxed into sitting
beside him for the last few minutes of the interview, and put his arm around
her.  “I’ve got the most fantastic wife anybody could wish for and with whom
I’m madly in love!  I’ve got a great family and a career I love too.  The only
thing I want is the arrest of Father Michaels.”

“And we’ll all hope that happens very soon,” he
replied, concluding the interview.

After CNN had left and the house was quiet again,
Colin ate lunch then went upstairs to write his letter of apology to Jeff.  It
took him over an hour and several tries before he emerged with a letter that
satisfied him.  He went downstairs to the second floor and to the master
bedroom where Alethea was working.  “I’m going to the post office and to pick
up my blueprints.  Do you need anything while I’m in town?”