Free Paint It Black by Michelle Perry Page B

caught the hesitation in my voice and pounced. “If it was only Grady, would you leave the DEA?”
    “No,” I admitted.
    “Then don’t do it. Abby’s not the one who’s asking you to quit.”
    “But Abby’s the one who would benefit if I did.”
    Cougar pushed a hand through his hair. “Are you sure about that? Or is that something Grady’s fed you? What are you going to do all day while she’s at school? Do laundry and grocery shop like a good little mommy?”
    I couldn’t take this. I was dodging blows from every side now.
    “Is there something wrong with that?” I snapped.
    “There is if that’s not what you want to be doing.” Cougar scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “My mother … my mother used to paint. She was good, too. I remember how happy she was in the summer, when she’dset up her easel in the backyard and paint while I played. A guy from the electric co-op saw one of her paintings one day while he was checking the meter. He offered her fifty dollars for it on the spot. She was so happy about that little bit of money, because she’d earned it herself doing something she loved. She told Daddy about it as soon as he got home from work. I don’t know what it was, whether he was threatened by the fact that she found happiness in something he didn’t have anything to do with or even understand, or he didn’t like that she’d gotten any attention, but he hounded her about it after that. Every time she picked up a brush, he harped about something. ‘Quit wasting my money on that foolishness,’ or ‘Quit wasting your time, ain’t you got something better to do?’ Eventually, it was easier for her to just give it up. I bought an easel and set it up at my place for when she visits, but she never touches it. I think she’s afraid to even dream about it anymore. He did that to her, because of his insecurities. Grady’s going to do the same thing to you, and one day you’ll hate him for it.”
    We stayed up half the night talking, and when I left the next morning, I felt more torn and confused than ever. But things seemed to be going so much better between Grady and me. It was like a cloud had lifted off our home. When I looked into my daughter’s smiling face, I figured that whatever I had to give up would be worth it.
    Two days later, I sat in the conference room with Cougar and Bill, going over our files on Barnes. With all the things going on at home, I hadn’t even had time to think about him. Funny how priorities could change in an instant. His preliminary trial date was approaching, so we were going over everything from top to bottom. When I realized we would probably run late, I excused myself to call Grady.
    “Hey, babe,” he said. “What’s going on?”
    “I’ll probably be running a little late. Do you think you could pick up Abby this afternoon?”
    “Yeah, sure. I’m about to head out. I left some files at home that I need, so I figured I could prep the case as easy from there as I could here. How late do you think you’ll be?”
    I glanced at my watch and mentally gauged the paperwork remaining on the conference table. “About an hour.”
    “Okay. Well, don’t worry about supper. Abby and I will pick up some Chinese on the way home.”
    “Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
    “I love you, Denise,” he said.
    “Love you, too,” I said, and clicked the phone shut.
    I made it out of the office fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. When I drove by the movie theater, I saw the name of a cartoon Abby had been asking to see on the marquee. Maybe we could take her to the seven o’clock show after we ate.
    But when I walked in the door, the house was too quiet. No TV blaring in the living room, no takeout cartons on the kitchen counter. I walked down the hall to Grady’s office and threw open the door.
    He was sipping something and reading over a file. His startled eyes flew to me and then his watch. “Shit!” he said, and slammed the glass onto the