The Edge of Normal Read Online Free

her family.”
    Duke tips his head slightly. “Yes ma’am.” He turns to go, exiting the double doors just behind the meddlesome woman who has ruined everything.
    He’s close enough that he could easily reach out and touch her. He imagines sliding his big, square hands under her shiny hair and seizing her scrawny neck. He savors the idea as they move down the wide front steps. Then the real estate agent pivots away, and he strolls along, watching as her high heels click down the sidewalk.
    Duke slows to light a cigarette, keeping her in his line of sight. Half a block farther along, she lifts her keys to click open the doors of an amber-colored Lexus. He watches her climb in and fasten her seatbelt. As the engine turns over and she backs out, he makes a mental note of the license plate number, then turns and heads toward his SUV.
    He climbs behind the wheel, sparks the ignition, cracks a window, checks his mirrors, and pulls into traffic. Heavy gray clouds are threatening rain. But as he heads toward home, he isn’t thinking about the weather. Instead, he’s wondering how to deal with Randy Vanderholt, now that the fool has gotten himself arrested. And he’s worrying about the secrets that sweet little Tilly might spill.

 
    THREE
    San Francisco
     
    “Now, your father has a new love interest,” Dr. Lerner says slowly, “and you said your sister and her husband will be there for Thanksgiving.”
    Reeve sits on the sofa, stroking the little dog’s head, sensing that her psychiatrist is about to shift from safer topics to more tender areas. “But that’s not a problem anymore,” she tells him. “My sister has become supermom. She’s way too involved with her family to worry about me.”
    “Oh?”
    “Really. No problemo. And the baby is so cute, he’s like a gurgling ambassador for world peace.”
    “So you’re feeling more comfortable than last year?”
    She rolls her eyes. “They’re still going to bug me about the usual stuff, when I’m getting a boyfriend, all that. It’s unavoidable.” A shift in posture unsettles Bitsy, who moves away and begins licking a paw. Annoyed, Reeve continues, “But who cares? You said yourself that having a romantic involvement is not necessarily an indication of improvement and that I shouldn’t rush into some kind of relationship just to prove to myself that I can, right?”
    She knows he has heard the strained way she has paraphrased him, and expects him to respond, but when he doesn’t, she gives a shrug and admits, “Okay, so I’m defensive.”
    “This is an emotionally charged issue for you. That’s more than understandable.”
    “Right.”
    “And there are good reasons for you to feel defensive.”
    “Exactly.” She thinks about her scars and feels the heat flushing up her neck. “Besides, who’s to say that the ‘normal’ male/female relationship will work for me, anyway? I know everyone talks about having a healthy sex life, but even on the off chance that I met someone I liked, and even if he liked me, how could I even begin to try to explain everything? So, what’s wrong with being asexual? It’s so much simpler.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with remaining celibate if that’s your choice, but what you just said is contradictory, isn’t it?”
    Her eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”
    “On the one hand, you’re expressing a desire for connection, and on the other, you’re saying you want to remain asexual because it’s too hard to work out a relationship. Do you see that contradiction?”
    She fidgets, kneading the numb patch on her left hand. “Okay, so what’s wrong with that?”
    “If it makes you frustrated or angry—”
    “Then I have unresolved feelings,” she says curtly. “Yeah, I know.”
    Bitsy shakes herself, jumps to the floor, and crosses the room to curl up beside Dr. Lerner while Reeve frowns at her.
    “Listen, you have worked very hard to overcome a traumatic past and reclaim your life,” Dr. Lerner says