The Wrong Man For Her

“No.”

“Any other policies I should know about?”

Maddie raised her chin. “Some. But we don’t need to review them as a group, since you’re the only newbie. As I said, I’ll fill you in at the end of the meeting. Today’s agenda includes updates on the grant for a part-time counselor for the teen support group, some new reporting forms from the state and the week-long training at the New York State Victims Academy in Buffalo this summer. We also need to talk about the plans for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week coming up in April.” During which John will be honored in Washington, D.C., with the Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services. “Want to start with that, Francy, since this year’s so special for us?”

Nick held up his hand. “Wait a second. A part-time counselor for my kids?”

“Yes. We don’t run any groups of six or more with one counselor anymore.”

“I work alone.”

“Not in the group sessions. Of course you’ll meet individually with each kid by yourself, but policy dictates you’ll have someone else in the group with you.” Madelyn could tell he wasn’t happy, so she tried to be professional. “Nick, think about it. With someone else assisting you, you’ll have more face time with the kids and more help with the paperwork. And everyone knows the smaller the ratio of kids to adults, the better the sessions go.”

He stared at her, his jaw clenched. When he didn’t say anything more, she told Francy to begin. As the secretary handed out a memo on the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, Madelyn glanced at the clock. She kept these meetings to an hour, if possible. Only forty-five minutes to go, then she’d have to deal with Nick’s objections to her policies, to her style of management. To her.

So be it. She’d faced worse. Like climbing out of the morass of poverty all by herself. Like recovering from her own victimization. Like getting over Nick Logan when he dumped her three years ago. She’d handle his return to the Center with equal efficiency and success.

Even if it killed her.

“WOULD YOU LIKE a break before we meet?” Maddie’s tone was clipped, giving Nick an indication of how their private meeting was going to unfold. They were the only ones left in the conference room.

“No, thanks. I have a lot to do before my first session with the kids.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she faced him squarely. “Which you will run by me.”

Okay, so he’d make the first move. He stood, walked down to her end and took an adjacent chair. “Maddie…Madelyn, what’s going on? It sounds like I have to tell you everything I plan to do.”

“You have a problem with running things by me?”

“The problem is, I was hired to head the teen division.”

“I’m your boss, Nick.”

“Technically. But we both know I was brought here unaware of that fact.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his hand. “No, let me finish. You’re right, I owe it to John to stay. I want to help him out. And truthfully, this is an ideal job for me. But John assured me I’d be given carte blanche here.”

“John assured me you weren’t going to fly solo on this.”

“Are you assigning another counselor to my group because you don’t trust me? Because our counseling styles are different?”

“No, I meant it when I said I think it’s better for the kids. The other counselors agree.” She studied him. “You have a tough group there, Nick. I’ve already met with each of them. You’ll need all the help you can get.”

“I’ve read their files.” He planned to have them memorized by the time he met with the kids.

“Then you know what’s ahead of you.”

“Who’s the other counselor?”

“I’m not sure. I have three people interested, but I have to get the funding before I can hire someone. I’m expecting confirmation today.”

“Maybe it won’t come through,” he said almost to himself.

“I hope it does. Don’t forget, you’ll be doing more than counseling. You’ve got to oversee the kids’ legal situations, restitution and a whole slew of other details.”

“There are people working here who take care of those areas.”

“But you have to determine what those people need to do and make sure that everything is being done. Your job involves a lot of juggling.”

He shook his head.

She stared at him. “You’re going to have to learn to play nice with others, Nick. No matter how much you need to keep that personal shield around you.”

He hadn’t expected a dig so soon, especially after she’d asked him to stay. “Is that what this is all about, our former relationship?”

“No.” Her face reddened. “And don’t ever accuse me of that again.”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “Look, I don’t want to argue with you.”

“We aren’t arguing. You’ll have another counselor in the group with you, period. And I’m entitled to know your plans for the kids, what you’re doing, how it’s going.”

“You want to know, or approve my plans?”

She sighed heavily. “I’m sure there won’t be much disagreement between us about those things. We do have different styles, as you say, but I never opposed yours when we worked together before. I don’t know why you think I would now.”

Leaning back in the chair, he tried to appear relaxed and confident. “All right. I’ll agree to that. But I’m not coming to the staff support group.” Surely she’d let him off this one. She knew how hard it was for him to open up, damn it. He’d only recently been able to talk about his feelings with his brother Dan and sister-in-law, Tessa. His close relationship with them was one of the reasons he’d come to Rockford when they’d decided to relocate here.

“You have no choice in that, either.”

“It’s not my thing, Maddie.”

“If you’ve read the psychology journals lately you know that having a staff support group prevents burnout and alleviates stress. I’m not flying by the seat of my pants on this, Nick. And for the record, I’m well aware of your personality. This, however, is nonnegotiable.” She drew in a breath and seemed to collect herself. “You can pass on the personal stuff if you have to.”

“Personal stuff?”

“Each week we share a professional success and challenge and a personal success and challenge.”

“Oh, great.”

“It is great. After the first few meetings, the staff voted unanimously to keep the sessions going.”

He stared at her.

“And I provide lunch. Sometimes I even cook.”

“That’s a switch. When we were together, you could barely boil water. I cooked for you all the time.”

“I take cooking classes. And please don’t refer to our personal relationship.”

“Why? Your subtext is referring to it all the time.” When she didn’t respond, he watched her. “How are you, really?”