Overheard in a Dream by Torey Hayden Read Free Book Online Page A

they arrived at the apartment, the two girls bounded off together, Becky chattering excitedly about a toy horse she wanted to show Morgana. Laura lifted Mikey out of the car and took him inside while James went in search of cleaning supplies and a rag out of the box at the back of the garage. By the time he came into the apartment, Laura had run a bath and was washing Mikey, as if it were the most natural thing to enter a strange house and bathe a child she’d never met before.
    James took over from there. With Mikey finally clean and tucked into bed, he came back into the living room to find Laura, hands sunk deep into the pockets of her jeans, scanning the bookshelves. Embarrassment shot through him. While he owned most of her books, they were all in his office, because the only point of buying them had been so people at work could see he owned them. The novels on these shelves were the sort he actually read – Terry Pratchett, Tom Clancy, Stephen King – relaxing, unpretentious storytelling that you could leave on the back of the toilet or risk dropping in the bath.
    “That’s my fun reading,” he said sheepishly.
    She smiled enigmatically.
    “I do
have
yours,” he added quickly. “But they’re at the office at the moment. I’m always switching back and forth.”
    Her smile eased into a grin and she glanced over. “So does that mean you’ve actually read any of them?”
    James felt his cheeks redden. There was an uncomfortable pause and then he admitted, “I wish I could say yes. I
intend
to. It’s just been very busy since moving out here.”
    “At least you’re honest.”
    Desperate to move the conversation away from his embarrassing lack of intellectual reading, James said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? Then we can try to pull the girls apart.”
    Laura followed him into the kitchen. Hands still deep in her pockets she strolled around the room, studying the kitchen with the same care as she had his bookshelf. The way she circled the room, inspecting everything, reminded James of Conor.
    That brought to mind the fact that Laura had not yet mentioned her son. Normally parents he met outside the office pounced on him, anxious to ask how things were going, to tell of their child’s progress or get some free advice. James was grateful, of course, that she hadn’t done any of these things, since it would have been inappropriate to discuss a case outside the privacy of the office, but it was still curious that she never mentioned Conor at all, even casually.
    Taking the coffee to the table, James sat down. “I’ve been hoping to see you in the office,” he said.
    Laura ignored his comment. She lifted the coffee and sipped it. “Mmmm. Good coffee. Tastes like New York coffee.”
    “Can I get Dulcie to give you a call this week and make an appointment?” James asked.
    Laura’s brow drew down as she looked into the mug of steaming liquid. A silence developed and several moments slipped by with no response. “I’ve got to admit, I’m not really into that concept,” she said at last.
    “Which concept is this?”
    “Therapy.”
    “Why?” James asked.
    Setting the mug down on the table, Laura leaned forward on her forearms and stared into it as if some answer were in there. Finally she smiled at him. “Because everyone’s reality is different.”
    That was an unexpected answer. James cocked an eyebrow.
    “Therapy, the way I see it, trades on the assumption that ‘normal’ exists and that my perceptions, whatever they might be, should be brought into line with it,” she said. “Whereas I think there
is
no ‘real world’ out there. No absolute reality. Everything is subjective. So why should I accept what you tell me is reality?”
    “That’s an interesting take,” James said. “I get the impression you’re worried your perspective will be overridden or judged as not as good or acceptable as other perspectives. Perhaps you think that a therapist might get in there and try to change