by Olivia Miles
“Ms. Benson,” she said in what she hoped was a pleasant tone, even though her heart was pounding. “I’m sorry, but I thought our appointment wasn’t until ten.”
“Is there a problem?” The woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and Jane shook her head quickly.
“Of course not,” she replied with a nervous smile. She opened the door wider, feeling her pulse rush in her ears. “I’m afraid you’ve caught us in our pajamas. We slept in longer than usual this morning.”
“Oh? I saw a car in your driveway. Do you have a guest?”
Jane blinked at the other woman, trying to figure out how best to answer that question, and what excuse she could make for Henry being here. If she was quick, she might be able to run upstairs under the pretense of getting dressed and tell him to hide in the closet. But that wouldn’t explain the car. Or the man’s coat hanging on the rack for all to see.
“A friend,” she said hurriedly, sure to give a breezy smile. “Just a friend.”
But Ms. Benson’s attention had already strayed. She looked beyond Sophie and Jane to the stairs, her eyebrows arching with what appeared to be overt interest.
Jane cursed inwardly as she turned to face Henry. “Oh, Henry. This is Ms. Benson. The court sent her to meet with Sophie. Ms. Benson, this is our houseguest, Henry Birch.”
Henry came around and stuck his hand out, and Ms. Benson took it gingerly, her beady eyes homing in on him with growing suspicion.
“Would you like some coffee?” Jane asked desperately. “I’ll go make some.”
Not waiting for their response, she hurried to the back of the house and pulled open a cabinet, but she was shaking so hard she was struggling to think straight. Sophie liked cereal in the mornings, but of course they were out. Suddenly she felt panicked. What if Ms. Benson based her judgment on how nutritious Sophie’s breakfast was? She should give her homemade oatmeal with fresh fruit, but then Sophie would no doubt announce she never ate this and didn’t like it, and oh, wouldn’t that be a mark against her?
What was she worrying about? Jane had one thing and one thing only to worry about and it wasn’t what Sophie did or didn’t eat for breakfast. It was what Henry was doing here for the meal.
She popped a frozen waffle into the toaster and hurried back into the hall, where Ms. Benson was deep in a low conversation with Henry. Jane became aware that she was gritting her teeth so hard her jaw was beginning to ache, and she tried to relax her smile. It was no use.
“I was just telling Ms. Benson about my sister,” Henry offered. Turning back to the court-appointed mediator, he said, “Jane was kind enough to ride in the ambulance with her.”
“And after that you decided to stop by and spend the night?” Ms. Benson pulled out a small notebook and jotted something down.
Jane’s pulse prickled. “Henry’s an old friend,” she explained. “I’ve known him for most of my life, and he’s in town for a while.”
“Oh.” Ms. Benson nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer. “So you’re staying here while you’re visiting then?”
Henry glanced at Jane. “I’m… staying at the hotel in town.” His jaw twitched.
Ms. Benson’s beady eyes narrowed. “I see.” She scribbled something in the notebook and turned to Jane. “And may as I ask if you and Mr. Birch have a romantic relationship?”
Jane knew there was no point in lying. “We’re old friends, and we have been spending a bit of time together while Henry is in town.”
“And has any of that time involved Sophie?”
Jane resisted the urge to fold her arms across her chest. “We’ve been helping Henry with an assignment he’s writing on Briar Creek.”
“And does Sophie enjoy her time with Mr. Birch?”
Jane felt her heart warm when she pictured Sophie at the dinner table, pealing in laughter at the stories Henry told. “She does,” she said firmly.
“So it’s fair to say that she will miss you quite a bit when you leave town again,” Ms. Benson remarked, turning back to Henry.
Jane felt herself blanch. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. Her words were being twisted. Something positive and meaningful was being taken out of context.
“Sophie’s really enjoying her time with Henry, but I think she understands—”
“Oh, you’d be surprised, Ms. Madison.” Ms. Benson gave a condescending smile. “Children hold a lot of emotions inside, especially those who have already lived through so much recent change.”
Jane opened her mouth to list all the ways she had tried to not disrupt her daughter’s life—all the ways she had tried to keep it exactly as it always had been, right down to clinging to a loveless marriage for far too long. She stopped herself. Rattling it all off would only make her look defensive, or worse.
She glanced at Henry. Henry who had made no promises to her. Henry who was hell-bent on leaving this town as soon as he could. Henry, who had told her over and over that he wasn’t looking for marriage again.
“Well, let me have a chat with Sophie,” Ms. Benson said. “Go ahead about your day like I’m not here,” she added, giving a suggestive glance in Henry’s direction.
Henry waited until she was out of earshot and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Jane was blinking back tears, shaking so hard she could barely even form a complete thought. Only one thought kept playing over and over.
She might really lose her daughter. And she would have no way of getting her back.
The color had returned to Ivy’s cheeks when Henry poked his head into her hospital room. She beamed at him from the stack of pillows supporting her head, but the smile slipped when she caught his expression.
“Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine.”
Henry didn’t have the heart to tell her that for once, he was worried about more than her. His stomach stirred with fresh guilt as his anxiety kicked up a notch. He’d told himself to stay away from Jane, to keep his distance and let her be, and he hadn’t listened to himself. He’d given in, and now Jane was paying the ultimate price.
Her life was complicated enough without him making it worse.
He dragged a hand over his face and entered the sunny room. Someone—presumably a nurse—had pulled back the curtains to reveal a sweeping view of the Berkshires, bursting with fall colors. Soon the leaves would be gone and ski season would start. People always got a laugh when he told them he’d grown up in Vermont and didn’t know how to ski.
If he stuck around he’d like to learn…
He jolted. Staying had never been part of the plan. Any more than getting involved with Jane Madison had been.
“The nurse came in a few minutes ago with discharge papers,” Ivy said as Henry sat down on the visitor chair near the far wall. His sister eyed him warily. “I know what you’re going to say and… don’t.”
Despite his mood, he couldn’t help but smile. “And what is it I’m going to say?”
“That I work too hard, that I don’t take care of myself, that I need to stop and eat—properly—and that I shouldn’t have had that extra glass of Champagne yesterday and I shouldn’t have skipped my insulin, either.”
Henry tried to keep his expression neutral, but his mind was beginning to race. “My God, Ivy, this has got to stop! Do I have to come over and administer the injections myself like I did when we were children?”
“I knew you’d be mad,” Ivy said, narrowing her eyes.
“Damn straight I’m mad. You have me worried sick! How the hell am I supposed to leave town if I can’t be sure you’re taking care of yourself?”
Ivy shrugged. “Maybe you shouldn’t leave then.”
Henry flashed her a dangerous look. “Don’t say that. Don’t say this is all some cry for attention.”
“Of course not.” Ivy sighed. “What do you think I am, stupid?”
Henry was about to say that, yes, she had been behaving stupidly, recklessly, really, but Ivy continued. “I have to make some changes. Big ones. I don’t know how I�
�ll manage, but I don’t have a choice.”
Henry nodded once. “I’ve arranged for part-time help starting tomorrow.” Something told him Jane wasn’t just being altruistic in her services, meaning she would hopefully carry through with her word despite the unexpected turn in the day.
He clenched his jaw. Jane always carried through with her promises. It was a hell of a lot more than he could say for himself.
Henry leaned forward on his elbows and massaged the gap between his eyebrows with his fingers. He’d call her tonight. He’d end it now, before more damage was done. If it wasn’t too late.
“Who did you hire?” Ivy asked, tossing the hospital blanket off her legs.
“Jane Madison offered,” he said briskly, refusing to mention when or where this discussion occurred.
Ivy’s expression turned curious. “She was in the store the other day offering to help… but something told me she was really hinting about a job. Ah, well, see? Something good came from this mess.”
“I’ll be paying her until the house sells,” Henry said in a voice that he knew Ivy wouldn’t argue with. “I want to do it. Please just let me.”
Ivy stared at him and then gave a resigned nod. Henry sat back in his chair, feeling slightly better. If what Ivy said was true, then by covering Jane’s salary he was helping both women.
The nurse came into the room pushing an empty wheelchair and took the signed discharge papers from Ivy. “You’re all set to go. We recommend a follow-up appointment with your regular doctor tomorrow.”
“Oh, but I work—”
“I’ll take her,” Henry promised, nailing Ivy with a hard look as he helped her into the wheelchair.
They left the room in silence and stayed that way as Henry pushed his sister to the hospital lobby. “Wait here while I bring the car around,” he instructed before jogging out into the cold morning air. He was relieved when she didn’t try to resist, and when he spotted her through the window a few minutes later, still dutifully sitting in the wheelchair. Henry helped Ivy into the car, ignoring her protests and sighs, and then slammed his own door shut. He slid the key into the ignition but didn’t turn it. Something was weighing on him, and he couldn’t proceed until it was off his chest.
He turned to his sister. “How do I know this isn’t going to happen anymore?”
A look of guilt took over her soft features. “It won’t. I know I said that before, but… this was my wake-up call. I ruined my best friend’s bridal shower—I hate to think of other events ending the same way. It reminds me of…” She trailed off and looked away from him, hiding her face behind a curtain of auburn hair. “It reminds me of Mom. I don’t want to be like her,” she said, starting to cry.
Henry closed his eyes and then reached over to set a hand on her arm. “You’re not like Mom. You have an illness. Maybe she did, too, but she didn’t take control of it. You can.”
Ivy nodded, but refused to meet his eye. “It’s the gossip. The attention. The way people will talk.” She suddenly turned to him, her eyes desperate and wet with tears. “I tried so hard to avoid that all my life and now, it’s happened.”
“And it will soon be forgotten. Trust me. Everyone has enough crap in their own lives to deal with.” He offered her a small smile. “Now, if you started passing out at every social event…”
She swatted his arm and then, unexpectedly, leaned over and gave him a hug. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” she said quietly, pulling back.
Henry started the engine and kept his eyes straight ahead. The way he’d trained himself to many, many years ago.
CHAPTER
28
Jane held the ringing phone in her hands, her heart thundering as she stared at the name on the caller display. Her first instinct was to ignore it, but then she thought of Ivy, and the promise she had made to help out in the flower shop.
“Hello?”
“Jane.”
Her heart seized at the sound of Henry’s thick, gruff voice. She closed her eyes against the pang of longing. “How’s Ivy?”
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. “She’s doing well. I’m staying at her place tonight. The accommodations are a bit tight.” His laugh sounded forced, and Jane winced. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one finding this difficult. “I told her you’d offered to help in the store. That brightened her spirits.”
“Good, good.” Jane grew silent. She couldn’t bring herself to muster up her earlier enthusiasm or admit to herself that it might not matter that she now had regular hours through the end of the year. No amount of job stability could make up for an unstable home life, and casual dating was frowned on in family court where young children were involved.
“I was worried about you,” Henry said after a long pause. His comment hung there, both of them knowing it couldn’t undo the damage.
“What’s done is done,” Jane said bitterly.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the mediator probably made her decision. Judging from the look on her face when she left, I can only imagine it wasn’t in my favor.”
She had already put a call in to her attorney, but it was the weekend and she wouldn’t be able to meet with him until tomorrow, after her shift at Petals on Main. How she would get through a morning of retail service was beyond comprehension right now. The mere thought of baring a smile and pretending like nothing was wrong exhausted her to the bone, no matter how much practice she had.
“Is there anything I can do?” Henry asked, and Jane closed her eyes.
“No,” she said quietly, hating the twinge of hurt that crept into her voice. “There’s nothing anyone could do.”
Henry said nothing. For several seconds Jane listened to the sound of his breathing, savoring her last connection to him almost as much as she resented it, and then, with a simple press of the button she disconnected the call.
The bright morning sun did little to take the chill out of the air. Frost covered the browning grass along Main Street and left a crystallized sheen on the rooftops. Jane rubbed her hands together as she glanced through the window of Petals on Main, relieved to see Ivy standing behind the counter and not her brother.
She had tossed and turned all night thinking of Henry, wondering if she had made the right decision, knowing there was no other choice.
With a tired sigh, she entered the shop and gave Ivy a quick hug hello.
“You look pale, Jane. Is everything okay?”
“Says the woman who spent the weekend in the hospital,” Jane joked. She didn’t feel like getting into her problems right now. It was probably for the best that she was here, able to escape for a bit. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m better. Henry gave me strict instructions not to stay more than fifteen minutes. He said you’re already a pro around here.”
Jane gave a weak smile and followed her friend into the back room to get brought up to speed. The phone in her handbag began to buzz, and she struggled to listen to what Ivy was saying. She nodded as she stared blindly at the spreadsheet Ivy was referring to, something to do with orders and shipment codes.
The buzzing stopped but her pulse didn’t slow. She waited for it. One last alert. The phone beeped. Voicemail.
Her entire fate was in that one message, no doubt from her attorney. She checked her watch. Yep, eight-thirty. Her hands began to shake.
“So there you have it. Any questions?” Ivy blinked at her eagerly.
Jane hadn’t processed a word Ivy had said, but there was no use asking her to repeat it.
“I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” Ivy said.
Jane tied on the heavy twill apron Ivy handed her. “Get some rest,” she said.
“Not like I have much choice. But yes, I promised Henry I’d take better care of myself, and I intend to.” Lowering her voice, Ivy said, “He told me you know… about my diabetes.”
Jane tipped her head. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but… I understand. Sometimes it helps to keep
a few things to yourself, so you don’t have to always think about what’s bothering you.” Which was why she didn’t intend to tell Ivy what she was going through right now. Her friend would no doubt insist on working, and that would lead to an argument with Henry, and then everything would become a bigger mess than it already was.
No, she was an adult, and this was her problem. She’d created it, and now she’d solve it. Somehow.
She waited until Ivy had gone upstairs to her apartment before pulling the phone from her bag. Her heart sunk when she saw that the call had indeed been from her lawyer.
Unable to bear hearing the news in a voicemail, she dialed him back instead.
“Jane!”
She frowned. He sounded… chipper.
“I suppose you’ve gotten my messages,” she began in a rush. “I need you to call the mediator, or something, anything you can do to explain that nothing was going on with me and Henry. I have a new part-time job through the end of the year, in addition to the dance classes, and there’s renewed interest in the winter and spring session. I’m giving Sophie a stable life. You know it. You just need to make Ms. Benson see that!”
There was a long pause. “Didn’t you listen to my voicemail?”
Jane gripped the phone tighter. Her entire body had gone cold and she realized she was trembling from head to toe. “No.”
“She already knows that, Jane. She put her recommendation through. Adam dropped the petition this morning. The custody agreement will remain intact.”
Tears sprung to Jane’s eyes as she clapped her hand to her mouth. She swallowed the knot in her throat before finally managing, “But… she seemed so stern yesterday. So… down on me. How—”
“It seems she had a change of heart. Someone came forward with a letter.”
“A letter?” Jane frowned. “So you did get my messages yesterday.”
“Oh, it wasn’t me,” her lawyer replied. “Someone wrote a letter on your behalf. Someone with a lot of influence, it would seem.”
A chill washed over her arms and she turned to see a shadow in the open doorway to the alley, and all at once, everything became clear.