Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 40
“No. Coffee’s fine. Fully leaded, please.”
He laughed again as Daisy said, “You got it, hon. Be right back.” She winked at me and then grinned at Kevin before scooting off like the building was on fire.
“That’s what I love about this place. Personal service.” When I nodded, he said, “You sure you’re not hungry?”
“Yes. Thanks, though.”
And Daisy was quick as a flash, returning with a carafe of coffee, steam escaping out the top. We flipped over the mugs on the table as she set a bowl of single-serve creamer containers and began filling up our cups. “Give me a holler if you need anything else.”
Kevin said, “This time of morning is pretty quiet.”
I glanced around the diner and wondered if they were ever busy. Right now, there was a guy up at the front on a barstool eating something and reading the paper and there were three men who looked like local farmers drinking coffee and jabbering around a table. Other than that, the huge place was empty.
“That’s what we were looking for, right?” I picked up a creamer and opened it, pouring the white liquid into my coffee.
“Exactly. So did you want to update me about Sarah?” He took a sip from his mug and settled in, waiting for me to answer.
As I stirred my coffee, I said, “Well, not a whole lot has happened with the psychologist yet, but she seems to think that something pretty serious is going on with Sarah.”
“Did she indicate what it could be?”
“No. But she also said she thought Sarah wasn’t comfortable talking with me around. I believe she said Sarah was holding back. So she’s spending a few sessions with me in the room, and once Sarah seems comfortable with her, I’ll be moved to the waiting room.”
“Did she say what kind of therapy she plans to use?”
Jesus. Once more I felt like the shittiest mother, because that was probably something I should have known. “I can’t remember what she said. There are different things she can do?”
“Well, yeah, actually there’s a whole field of different things out there. But I guess it would depend on what she thinks Sarah has.”
“Has? Do you think she has something?”
Letting go of his mug, Kevin shrugged. “I’m no psychologist—but anything is possible. Lots of disorders manifest themselves when kids start to go through puberty. For instance, some girls develop eating disorders at this age—and, pretty often, schizophrenia will rear its ugly head during adolescence. But there are also things like bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder. A lot of these things can develop anytime, but we see a lot of them emerge at this age as the brain continues developing.”
Horrified, I set my cup down. How the fuck could I miss shit like that? “Oh, God.”
“You can see why I’m glad you’re taking her to a psychologist. They’re experts, trained to discover what’s happening with your child. Has she ordered a CT scan yet?”
“No. Why?”
“A lot of these disorders are easier to diagnose when the therapist can look at a picture of the brain. I can tell you, though, I’m pretty sure Sarah doesn’t have anything like ADHD going on.”
“That much I know. She’s been depressed and withdrawn, and that’s been going on for a while. And now she’s lashing out at everyone.”
After taking a sip of his coffee, he set the cup back down. “Lashing out? How?”
“There are a lot of little things. I think I told you how, on Sunday, she was with my parents. They’d gone to church, and Sarah started cursing and yelling that she didn’t believe in God.”
“Hmm…sounds almost like Tourette’s. Anyone else in your family have it?”
Frowning, I shook my head. All this meeting was doing was scaring the shit out of me. I’d heard about a lot of the mental problems Kevin was talking about, but I didn’t know enough to understand what they were, much less begin to diagnose if that was what was going on with my daughter. I was beginning to sense that maybe he was trying to impress me—but I was going to reserve judgment. “I guess for now I’ve just got to hang in there. Has she done anything else at school this week so far?”
“No. She’s been quiet and morose, but she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Good. That’s a relief. Is Sarah safe in school right now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is there a chance that she might be expelled?”
“I don’t think so. Not right now, anyway. Mr. Cooper is usually overly indulgent with the kids. He wants them all to succeed, so he gives them plenty of chances—some of them more than he should. I think Sarah will be okay, especially if she continues to behave the way she has so far since returning. Low-key.”
“The problem is I don’t know what sets off these moods—I don’t know what makes her behavior escalate. If I did, there would maybe be something I could do to help.”
“Continue to be a loving parent. Keep talking to her and listening. Be there. That’s the most important, best thing you can do. And don’t worry. The psychologist will discover the cause soon enough. Once she does, she can get Sarah on some medication that will help her control her mood swings.”
“Medication? Do you think it’s that serious?”
“Like I said, Randi, I really don’t know what the cause is. All I know is that if she does have a serious disorder, chances are she’ll have to take something to help her.”
The more this man talked, the more concerned I was becoming—not that I hadn’t been before, but this conversation was doing nothing but making me feel worse. “Have you dealt with many kids like Sarah before?”
“I’ve seen a variety of kids with various ailments. I don’t know that any child I’ve dealt with has ever set a fire in the bathroom before, but who