The Monkey Jungle (The Bennt, Montana Series)

by Taylor Ryan

  Garth chuckled as she added, “You realize Wilson sent us a warning. That callous prick, using Henry to deliver the message—I thought you wanted coffee—were going to make me coffee?” She blinked as he urged her through her bedroom door.

  “That was then, this is now.” Before the door even closed he dragged her into his arms, capturing her mouth as his fingers quickly worked the small knot holding her robe closed.

  * * * * *

  “Where’s my dad?” Puzzled, Alison looked blankly around the kitchen less then five minutes later. “I thought he’d be up already.”

  Henry slammed a skillet on a burner. “They’re probably having sex!”

  “What?—who’s having sex?”

  “Your father is—is—” Henry couldn’t even say the word, “with my mother!”

  “OMG! Are you sure?”

  Henry nodded, his lips tight. He cast an accusing glare at his girlfriend. “It was your idea your father come here!” He scowled as he turned toward the stove with a skillet in his hand, his shoulders hunching. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “It’s—they’re—it’s horrible, just don’t blame me when the shit hits the fan!”

  He banged a spoon of butter into the heating skillet. “If your dad finds out about my mother, he’ll be hurt—then you’ll be mad at me because he’s angry and—well, it’ll be all awkward and horrible for us when we visit him. You’ll blame me and—dammit, I love my mother! If she’s a criminal, we’ll figure out what to do—either way, your father won’t come to our wedding. He won’t want to look at me because I’ll remind him of my mother, and you’ll be upset and eventually blame me—” Henry rambled on, his expression tormented. “I know my mom, she’s awesome—but your dad? He’s hard, Alison. He won’t live with a criminal, it isn’t in his nature...he’s an upstanding, honest guy.”

  Alison studied him as if he were mad, compelling him to burst out heatedly: “She’s a thief, Alison. My mother stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands! There’s no other explanation for the new boot room, the new patio, the new roof. The new heating system. Did you see the painting in the living room, the Vernon Kerr seascape? I looked it up on the internet. It’s worth at least as much as this house. And she paid off the mortgage on the house right after she quit the bank two years ago. We don’t have that kind of money! Her mattress is one of those memory thingies...over ten grand, Alison. She took a shitload of money from the bank where she worked.”

  His voice lost heat, becoming more earnest. “You’ll never be happy with me if we don’t stop them from getting together. You’ll always resent my mother for hurting your father. He’ll find out what she did. People always do. Someday somebody will come for the money and she’ll be carted off to prison.”

  He added listlessly, “He likes her—everybody likes my mother—Christ, half the men in Bennt were in love with her at one time or another! But your dad, they’re perfect for each other. I thought that the minute after I met him...but eventually she’ll get caught and he’ll despise us.” He yanked a new kitchen cabinet door open. “She must have been embezzling from the bank for years! How could she?!” He slammed the cupboard door closed. “Didn’t she even think of what it would do to my reputation, being the son of a thief! How will I ever show my face around here when she goes to prison. And I can’t lose you too.”

  Alison ran from the kitchen, leaving Henry to bang and drop pots and pans on counters as he began preparing breakfast.

  “Dad!” Alison pounded on Mary Kathryn’s door. The doorknob was yanked from her hand as it opened. Her father, hair tousled, bare chested, but wearing jeans blocked her view as Mary Kathryn scrambled from her bed, shrugging on her robe.

  “What?!” Impatience radiated from Garth.

  “Henry is cooking breakfast,” Alison said lamely. Garth slammed the door in her face and turned the lock, only to stare, outraged, when the door opened. Again, Alison’s head peaked in. Her eyes were clenched shut.

  “Please come out of there right now, Dad!” she ordered. “Good Morning, Mary Kathryn. Henry is making coffee—I’ll be right back with a cup for you, Mary Kathryn.” Alison’s lovely face had a funny expression because she had her eyes so tightly screwed shut.

  An angry Garth Morley was interesting to see. Mary Kathryn watched him stiffen, then become coldly withdrawn. His green eyes became emerald chips. He stared at an equally tousled, flushed, scowling Mary Kathryn for a lingering moment. He pivoted on his bare heels and silently approached his daughter, who stood in the open door.

  “I’ve had enough of this, Alison!” his sharp bark made Alison jump. “Get in here and sit down.” His voice was regulated, icy, brooking no refusal. “Now, young lady!”

  Alison’s eyes flew to his face. She flinched, walking with small reluctant steps toward Mary Kathryn’s bed. She sat on the edge of the mattress and stared at the floor.

  “Start talking.” Garth towered over her. “Now!” he barked.

  Alison hesitated and he waited. She looked at her feet guiltily, flinching when he said coldly, “Alison, you are a guest in this house—your being my daughter aside, if I were Mary Kathryn I would have shown you the door after the customary week, or whatever is polite. You had no business moving in here with Henry in the first place. You both lied to me about why you’re here. That has to have something to do with this craziness. Start talking,” his voice became clipped. “Well?”

  “Henry says Mary Kathryn’s done something terrible,” Alison burst out, glancing helplessly at Mary Kathryn. “Committed a crime. It’s all jumbled. He only talks about it when he’s really, really upset. He talks about you embezzling or something. We came here after college because he was worried about you, Mary Kathryn,” she claimed earnestly. “He thinks you’re going to prison!”

  Garth rolled his eyes. Alison inhaled sharply, rushing to explain in the face of her father’s anger. “Since we’ve been here Henry’s only gotten more crazy. Now that Dad likes you, Mary Kathryn, Henry is completely wigged out!” She took a jerky breath. “Henry said I would grow to hate him because my father would be humiliated by whatever you’ve done—that Dad would be completely disgusted, being so straight laced. Henry thinks Dad wouldn’t want anything to do with us if I married him... That my Dad would disown me.”

  She started crying. “Henry said if we didn’t keep you two apart, we’d end up breaking up because of Dad being so upset, that I would end up hating him because my father wouldn’t walk me down the aisle at my wedding.”

  Mary Kathryn’s expression was astounded. “And he hasn’t said exactly what he thinks it is I did?”

  “Not really. Yes. Sometimes. Embezzlement. Internet fraud. Check fraud. Pilfering from the bank 401k. Stealing money from estates when people in the county died.” Alison shook her head. “It’s confusing, he changes his mind a lot.” She hesitated then accused, “Mary Kathryn, that wine you bought was $140 dollars a bottle—you bought an entire case! And we almost had a heart attack when he opened those overnight Fed-Ex deliveries from Alaska. The entire delivery was over $3,000. The night Dad took us out, when we got back here, he went through your office and found a bank statement from out of state. He said you have a lot more money than you should in the account.”

  “The nosy little shit snooped through his mother’s papers.” A disapproving frown knitted Garth’s brow. Alison couldn’t look at either them and buried her face in her hands, weeping.

  “Shush, Garth. Anything else, Alison?” Mary Kathryn asked quietly.

  Alison hesitated then blurted, “He wants us to go to Mexico! Not you, Dad. Me, Mary Kathryn and him. To live there—he asked me last night if I’d go so we could always be together.”

  Garth appealed to ceiling, remaining silent, worried he might lose his temper.

  Mary Kathryn didn’t reply for a moment, then said in the blandest voice possible, “So my son, whom you agreed to marry, thinks I’m a crook and wants you to go on the lam with us? And you were considering this?!” Mar
y Kathryn tried to fathom the notion. Was Alison so madly in love she’d actually entertained the idea? Apparently she had. Mary Kathryn heaved a disgusted sigh. She met Garth’s incredulous gaze, communicating silently. Our children are both fanciful idiots.

  He nodded sadly, studying his daughter’s down bent head. “It’s hard to believe she’s twenty-four,” he said to Mary Kathryn, as if Alison wasn’t sitting on Mary Kathryn’s fabulous bed crying her heart out.

  “She’s your daughter...” Mary Kathryn winked at him when his eyes shot to her. She grinned cheekily. “She’s so gullible,” she explained pertly. Her hand lifted, silencing him when his mouth opened. “No, you don’t have to say a word about Henry. I know... Oh, how I know.”

  She was going to bring Henry out of the pantry, make him pay the piper. This girl needed a wake up call. And it was outrageous Henry had had the audacity to search her office. Mary Kathryn’s eyes narrowed on Alison as the girl’s sobs grew calmer. Mary Kathryn reached for the tissues on her nightstand. She passed the box to Alison,muttering, “This is ridiculous. I need a locksmith.”

  Garth nodded in silent agreement.

  Alison dabbed her eyes with a tissue, sobbing occasionally then peering at her father and weeping all over again.

  “So, Alison,” Mary Kathryn finally said, knowing it was her fault for not telling Henry about the money, but determined he never know. Well, at least until he matured emotionally. “All this—um, ridiculous monkey blocking has been happening because Henry asked you to save your father from me.” Her voice rose as she digested the information. “To save your father getting hurt by me—thereby saving your relationship with Henry?”

  “Uh huh.” Alison nodded into her tissues before she blew her nose.

  It was too much to comprehend. Mary Kathryn smiled in wonder.

  Henry was obviously loyal—which was sweetly endearing—although the confirmation he thought she might be a criminal hurt, but just a little. Not bad enough to tell Henry about the money. Mary Kathryn had a hard time coming to terms with the idea Henry actually thought she might have embezzled from the bank where her friends and neighbors had trusted her. She glanced at Garth to find him studying her. They searched each others gaze. He shrugged nonchalantly, his lips quirking when she scowled at him. He seemed to think he knew what was going on. Did he? Did it matter?

  Alison vigorously blew her nose. She turned her watery green eyes Mary Kathryn’s way. “Henry said you’d go to prison for years, Mary Kathryn, if we don’t go on the run. I like Mexico, Mary Kathryn, but I really don’t want to live there. What did you do?!” Alison howled, startling her audience. “I love my father. I want him to walk me down the aisle—what did you do that was so bad?!”

  “Garth,” Mary Kathryn’s eyes sparkled, sheer piqued aggravation taking her. Between Henry’s conclusions, and Alison’s naivety her temper soared. “Did we really produce two such human beings? These are the people who will have a say in what happens to us when we are too senile to think for ourselves. What a dismal, terrifying prospect.”

  Alison squawked in protest. Mary Kathryn cast a withering glare her direction, saying to Garth, “I think you and I should cut and run while we can. Your daughter has been wearing blinders. You don’t need my protection. She obviously doesn’t know you as well as she thinks or she would know about your monkey jungle.”

  Garth laughed.

  “Monkey jungle?” Alison’s color was high as she mangled the damp tissues in her fingers. She looked from her amused father to Mary Kathryn.

  “Your father thinks of most women as swingers from trees,” Mary Kathryn said, despite seeing Garth stiffening up like a poker. Had he thought she wouldn’t tell if it were for a greater good? “Yes, monkeys, Alison. Women upside down with too much blood damaging their brains—teasing men. Using boobs and ass as bait—a little tail here, a little teasing there. Monkey games. He actually compared his single status to being in a Monkey Jungle he has had to survive.”

  “Sweetheart,” Garth’s voice was dangerously soft. “I don’t think my daughter needs to hear this.”

  “Sure she does,” Mary Kathryn forged on. “He sees women as monkeys,” she told Alison blithely. “With monkeys like Boobalicious tempting him to allow her to peel his banana—or Manajatwat wanting to go bowling with his coconuts.” She nodded when Alison gaped at her father. “In a nut shell, Alison, he thinks we sashay around trying to lure his grub worm out and drag him down to hammock heaven. And—” Mary Kathryn’s hand up when it appeared Garth might interrupt. “When he does scratch their backs, and allowed Malia Malaria and her babbling baboon cousin Doomee a Hammock Hie Ho, they tried to consume him—which sent him on the proverbial run, caused some uncomfortable screeching, back biting and scratching because he didn’t play by their rules, didn’t stay to pick fleas out of the fur of Ms. Bonny Bloodsucker or Miss Overly Dramatic.”

  “Daddy?” Alison peered uncertainly at her father.

  “Don’t look at him, you monkey’s daughter,” Mary Kathryn scoffed. “When your father managed to escape their tempting, but terrifying nit-riddled brains unscathed, off they swung, back up into the canopy, prinking from man branch to man branch to try their dysfunctional wily ways on another poor unsuspecting fool. Isn’t that right, Garth?”

  “Mary Kathryn...” Garth’s voice was amused despite his consternation.

  “Dad?!” Alison accused, wide-eyed when he didn’t defend himself. He shrugged innocently, his eyes holding a hot gleam as they lingered fondly on Mary Kathryn.

  “My point is, Alison,” Mary Kathryn snapped. “You and Henry seem to think your father is an idiot! Any man who has escaped what he’s coined The Monkey Jungle, with—who did you say, Garth?—monkey women like Leta Leech, Pathetic Polly and her sister Humpme Helen, couldn’t possibly be fooled by someone like me even if I were a criminal. Alison, you’re trying to protect him from someone like me? I ought to smack you on principle. Protect him?! The man who thinks women are perfumed Venus button-fly traps?

  “Alison, your father has been single for almost twenty years. For God’s sake, girl, grow up!And, as far as my son, painful as it is to admit out loud, Henry is behaving like an ass. And you’re an imbecile for believing any of the drivel he’s been spewing. I like you, Alison, but for God’s sake, use your brains for a change and listen to yourself—do you really believe anything you’ve told us?”

  Without waiting for Alison to respond, Mary Kathryn turned to Garth. “I just love your Monkey Jungle, Garth.” She smiled hugely. “Sorry about the coconut jab—it’s more like a banana cream pie eating contest.” She laughed mischievously. “One of these days we’ll have to play Banana Hammock Bingo,” her expression grew serious, her eyes full of promises. “I’ve written the rules down so you can’t accuse me of cheating.”

  The silence between them grew until Alison cleared her throat uncomfortably.

  “That would be nice, sweetheart,” Garth managed to say, enthralled. She thought his Monkey Jungle offensively outrageous and would remind him every chance she got. But she wanted to play Banana Hammock Bingo?

  B-i-n-g-o. He worked the letters in his head trying to figure out where she had taken bingo. Bed-In-Naked—G...something. G-spot? Orgy? No!—no three-plus-somes...that wouldn’t fly with Mary Kathryn. She was selfish and wouldn’t share him. He used his fingers again. Being In Need Great Orgasms...?! He gave up. He’d wait, it would be more fun.

  “Alison, do you truly think I’ve done something illegal?” Mary Kathryn ignored Garth, seeing that he was distracted. She hid a smile, knowing why he was using his fingertips to count. He was ticking off words that started with the letters in bingo. It was going to be fun...

  Alison glanced at her father, who continued staring at Mary Kathryn with an oddly indulgent, fascinated expression on his face. She heaved a tremulous sigh, knowing she was the biggest of fools. “I don’t,” she finally admitted. “I really don’t. I was hoping Dad would like you, Mary Kathryn, I think you’re the great
est. That’s why I convinced him to stay a month.” She grinned suddenly, as if a great burden had been lifted off her shoulders. “I was right, you two hit it off hard enough to see stars. But that’s when Henry really went nutzoid—that and after he went through your papers.” She looked guilty, as if she felt Henry’s violating his mother’s trust was her fault.

  They remained silent for a moment, finally Mary Kathryn said quietly, “Alison, don’t tell Henry that I know he thinks I’m a thief. I’m so hurt, I’ll burst into tears in front of him.”

  Alison looked stricken by the idea Mary Kathryn might be wounded by Henry’s assumptions. Her father’s disapproval radiated from him for her being part of causing Mary Kathryn pain. Alison studied her tennis shoes, fidgeting nervously, suddenly angry with Henry for the misery he was causing by simply not talking to his mother regarding his suspicions.

  Mary Kathryn didn’t feel any sympathy for the girl, saying quietly, “Seriously, I don’t know whether to cry or scream at Henry. Going through my office was wrong on so many levels. Please don’t tell him I know, Alison. I’ll talk to him.” Eventually, but she didn’t say that out loud. Her son should know her better than anyone. And yet, here they were, in this ridiculous situation because he’d decided his mother was a thief. How could she bear the ache in her chest?

  “I won’t.” Alison glanced at her father. “I’m sorry, Dad, but I wasn’t sure what to think, and I can’t get married unless you give me away. Last night was pretty crazy, but Henry talked me into it.” Her brow creased as if something occurred to her. “Then he went to sleep and left me to stay up even though I have to go to work today.” She pushed the incident away and hugged Mary Kathryn, whispering in her ear. “I’m so sorry for being silly. My dad is a great guy, really. I just knew you two were perfect for each other!” Alison hugged her father, who only frowned over her head at Mary Kathryn.

  Alison searched her father’s face. “Venus button-fly traps, Dad?” her expression was disdainful. “And I was trying to protect you?” She appeared chagrined. “You must have been laughing your head off.”