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“I talked to my dad again.”
Jeanne seemed distracted when Peter came into her office. She snaps to attention after his statement. “How’s that going?”
“Okay, I guess. I sort of volunteered to help him on a job.” Peter shifts in his seat as Jeanne looks at him, confused.
“That’s interesting.” Jeanne taps her pen against her chin. “What kind of job is your dad doing?”
Peter thinks about the last two trips into the woods. Before Special Agent Jones had dropped him off, Dougy called to tell her Ollie had offered to give up another body. Provided he gets to go on the hunt and Peter tags along. “You know those work crews that clean up garbage on the side of the highway?”
Jeanne nods. Peter sighs, frustrated at the comparison he’s making. “Well, it’s like that. Except it isn’t just inmates. They take regular volunteers, too.”
Smiling, Jeanne makes a note on her pad. “Community service is a step forward, isn’t it?”
Nodding as happily as he can, Peter tries to match her enthusiasm. She shifts in her seat as she reads through notes from their past sessions. “What about work? How does this new volunteer job fit in with your career?”
“I took a leave of absence,” Peter answers. Her eyebrow rises, and he wonders if he should have sounded so casual about it.
“You must be dedicated to getting those highways cleaned up, if you’re taking a break from work,” she comments.
“It seemed like making things with my dad work deserved my full attention.”
Peter can feel Jeanne’s pride as she beams at him. She must be impressed that he reached this conclusion on his own. She mumbles softly as she writes, “Progress.” There’s a momentary pause as the therapist collects her thoughts. “How is Elsie handling this transition?”
Peter wishes she’d stop bringing Elsie up in their conversations. Talking about her behind her back makes him feel like a sleazeball. “I haven’t told her.”
He watches Jeanne’s delight dissolve. “Peter, honesty is the keystone to having a healthy relationship. I’m concerned about how many important life choices you’re tackling without giving her a chance to offer support.”
“It would be too much for her,” Peter stammers. “She’s got a full course load and the holidays are coming up... I can’t burden her with this stuff.”
“You want to protect her from this tumultuous situation. While that’s sweet, won’t she eventually figure out you aren’t working? It might be better if she hears it from you, rather than from someone else.”
“She doesn’t have to find out, Jeanne.” Peter grips the arms of the faux leather chair, bracing himself against the idea that he has to share his secrets with his girlfriend.
“If your relationship with your father grows, and especially if it becomes something ongoing, what will you do? Won’t you want the two of them to meet one day?” Jeanne dangles the possibility of a normal family in front of Peter. A carrot suspended in front of a lonely mule. “Not just as a boyfriend sharing his family with his partner, but perhaps even as a way of introducing her to a bit of her own father’s past. She might be glad to meet one of her father’s old friends.”
Peter swims in the depths of Jeanne’s dark pupils. “Absolutely not.”