Couple's Therapy

CHAPTER TWO

Later that evening, when the phone rang, Reba was sitting at the dining table, trying to keep herself busy with some old paperwork she'd found in the garage. She picked up without even checking the caller ID.

"Reba Hart."

"Hi Reba, it's Dr. Baker."

She froze, "If you're lookin' for Brock, he's not here."

He chuckled on the other end of the line. "Reba, that's not why I called." When she didn't speak, he continued, "I owe you an apology."

"Dr. Baker, I–"

"Joseph. Joe, please," he interrupted.

She swallowed and shifted uncomfortably. "I should be apologizin' to you for wastin' your time earlier."

"Reba," he said softly. "I promised myself when I began my career as a therapist that I'd never let other people's opinions form my opinion of someone. I broke that promise today, Reba. It was incredibly unprofessional, and I'm sorry."

She'd not been expecting that. "I don't know what to say."

"I know. That's alright,"

She could hear his smile.

"I'd also like to apologize for being so aggressive because that's not typically how I go about things either."

"What are you sayin'?" she asked.

There was a moment of silence between them.

"I'd like to help you," he said finally. "I can see that you're hurting and probably have been for quite some time."

She looked down at her free hand and picked at her thumbnail with her index. "Yeah," she said softly.

"Would you be willing to come back to my office tomorrow afternoon to talk? One-on-one. No Brock, no Barbra Jean."

She chuckled softly and brushed a stray tear from her cheek. "Sure,"

"Say, 2:30?"

She nodded, "I'd like that."

"Have a good evening, Reba. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"You too," she breathed just before the line went dead.

She got up to set the phone back into its cradle, her busy work long forgotten. According to the phone cradle, it was 8:30 pm. The intelligent thing to do would be to turn in early and try to forget everything that had happened today. However, she knew better than to think she could simply fall asleep tonight.

The two bottles of red wine she'd picked up on her way home had been calling her name for hours. A glass or two would keep her from tossing and turning all night long, and it couldn't hurt, especially paired with a hot bath. She'd be out like a light.

So, that's what she did.

She retrieved a wineglass from the cupboard and the corkscrew from the drawer and locked both the kitchen doors. She collected everything in her arms, tucked the chilled bottle of wine beneath her elbow, flipped off the kitchen light, and headed toward the living room. She added the cheesy romance novel she'd started the other day to the pile as she passed it by, pulled the lamp chain, and finally locked the front door.

Once in her bathroom, Reba placed everything down within reach and turned the hot water on. Beneath the sink, she kept an arsenal of stress-relieving products for nights like this. Several different scents of bubble baths, Epsom salts, face masks, body lotion, even an aroma diffuser and a collection of essential oils to go with it. She settled on a lavender bubble bath, which she generously poured into the water from her perch on the tub's edge.