Wicked Whimsy

by Lily Harper Hart

  “That never happened, though,” Jack said. “How come?”

  “Because Jenny died.” Ellen looked morose as she rubbed her forehead. “The baby died and Melanie was a wreck. Abraham wasn’t much better off, although his grief took a different turn and that’s when we started sleeping together. Like … two days after.”

  “You actually started having sex right after his daughter died?” Jack was horrified.

  “There’s nothing you can say that I don’t already think about myself,” Ellen offered. “I didn’t think it at the time. I painted myself as a victim back then. I think about it now, though, and I know what I did was terrible.”

  “We’re not here to focus on that.” Brian waved off Ellen’s bitterness. “We want to know what happened after that.”

  “After that, well, Melanie got sick,” Ellen replied. “At first it was just the occasional stomach ailment. You know, the flu or food poisoning. Maybe a nervous reaction to all the stress she was under. It kept going on, to the point where I thought Melanie knew Abraham was trying to sneak off and see me. Then she got really sick.”

  “And you kept up the affair?” Jack tried to keep the judgment out of his voice, but it was difficult.

  “I don’t even know if you would call it an affair at that point,” Ellen countered. “We were meeting twice a week but there was rarely anything romantic happening between us. I managed to be bitter about that, but I was smart enough not to push Abraham because I knew it wouldn’t end well for me.

  “You see, even though I believed that Abraham loved me and wanted to be free of Melanie, I also knew Abraham would never leave her while she was sick,” she continued. “Melanie needed his insurance and her ailment was getting progressively worse. At some point I came to the realization that she wasn’t faking it and there was something honestly wrong with her.”

  “Did your relationship continue until after Melanie died?” Jack asked.

  “No.” Ellen shook her head, firm. “Melanie was extremely sick when it ended. Abraham was spending all his time at work and the hospital. He was … completely detached from me.”

  “How did that make you feel?” Brian asked.

  “Hurt and a bit foolish.” Ellen let loose a dry chuckle as she clutched her hands around her mug. “By that point I think I knew it was over, but I wasn’t quite ready to let him go. When Abraham called to ask me to meet him at his house – he needed to change after work and didn’t have a lot of time – I thought he was going to apologize for neglecting me and promise that we would spend more time together.”

  “Instead he broke up with you, didn’t he?” Jack understood where the story was going. “He dumped you.”

  “He did,” Ellen agreed. “Although it didn’t happen quite like you’re imagining. I think it would’ve gone that way, mind you, but something happened that interrupted our final meeting.”

  Brian leaned forward, officially intrigued. “And what was that?”

  “Josh.” Ellen’s eyes glazed with tears at the lone word. “He came home from school and surprised us. I was trying to cozy up to Abraham at the time and he was distracted from what he had to tell me and what was going on with Melanie. Josh entered the house without us knowing and found us in the bedroom.”

  “And how did he take things?” Jack asked. “I’m going to guess it didn’t go over well.”

  “No. Not well at all.” Embarrassment colored Ellen’s cheeks. “He was at an age where he grasped why I was there right away. No one was naked or anything, it could have been perfectly harmless … even though it really wasn’t. Josh was furious, and he started screaming at his father. I mean … real ‘I hate you and wish you would die’ stuff.”

  “I think that would be a normal kid’s reaction to seeing something like that.”

  Ellen bobbed her head. “I do, too. I wasn’t angry or anything, simply embarrassed.”

  “How did Abraham react to that?”

  “He was calm, as if he was expecting it. He apologized to me. Said he wished we would’ve met in a different lifetime. Then he showed me to the door and focused all his attention on Josh. I think he kept his focus on Josh the entire time after that.”

  “You guys didn’t see each other at all after that?” Brian was understandably dubious. “You never once tracked him down after Melanie’s death to see if you could rekindle the flame?”

  “No.” Ellen shook her head. “I was furious the day it happened. I felt sorry for myself a few weeks after that. Then I heard through the grapevine that Melanie died and I started feeling guilty. Once I let the guilt in, it got a foothold and I realized what a shrew I’d become. I wasn’t exactly proud of myself.”

  “Still, to have a relationship like that and never speak of it again,” Jack pressed. “That doesn’t seem normal to me.”

  “Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” Ellen turned rueful. “Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Abraham walked away from me and I let him. He focused on Josh and I fixated on trying to make myself a better person. It’s a work in progress.”

  “Did you see him at all after that?” Brian asked.

  “Not really. I saw him at the grocery store or around town. This time I did not wave. I felt like too much of an idiot to do it.”

  “And what about Abraham?” Jack asked. “You spent a lot of time with him for more than a year. You were talking about very serious things. Did he ever mention anyone having a grudge against him?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “What about Melanie?” Brian questioned. “Did she find out about the affair? Could she have told someone about it?”

  “And what?” Ellen furrowed her brow. “A year after her death someone decided to take revenge for an affair that Abraham ended before his wife died? That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

  “Revenge often doesn’t make sense. I need to know if Melanie was aware of the affair.”

  “Not that I know of.” Ellen turned sad. “I don’t think Melanie knew. Abraham didn’t want that. For her to hurt even more after everything that happened was too much for him to bear. As for the rest, I have no idea who would want to go after Abraham. He was a good man who made a mistake. He was a bit set in his ways but that’s hardly the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “No,” Jack agreed. “Still, though, is there anyone in your life who would want to get revenge on Abraham for ending the affair with you?”

  “Not that I can think of. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing.” Jack flicked his eyes to Brian. “Now what?”

  His partner shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.”

  IVY WAS IN A RELATIVELY good mood when she cut her way through the nursery shortly before two. She’d won the morel-hunting contest (although Max was demanding a rematch) and her brother had gone out of his way to ease her emotional burden by taking Josh for the afternoon. It did Ivy’s heart good to know Josh was being taken care of, getting the attention he deserved, and she wasn’t mistakenly spending too much time with the young boy during his all-important grieving process.

  Ivy was in such a good mood she almost missed the look on her father’s face when she approached him at the checkout station. His back was to her, his shoulders hunched, and he wasn’t nearly as animated as he normally was when dealing with the customers.

  “How are things?” Ivy asked, poking her head into his station. “Did I mention I beat Max this morning, by the way? I picked a lot more mushrooms than he did. He didn’t cry or anything, but I think he wanted to.”

  Michael’s expression reflected panic when he swiveled to face his daughter, causing Ivy to instantly sober.

  “What’s wrong?” Panic licked at Ivy’s heart as she struggled to read her father’s expression. “What happened? Something happened, didn’t it?”

  Michael nodded, his shoulders stiff. “There was an accident at the lumberyard.”

  Ivy’s heart lurched. “Josh? Did something happen to Josh?”

  “No.
” Michael shook his head as he struggled to maintain control of his emotions. “It appears a group of logs wasn’t tied correctly – or the straps broke, I’m not sure – and your brother was injured when they fell.”

  The momentary relief Ivy felt only seconds before evaporated. “Max? Is he okay?”

  “He’s at the hospital.” Michael choked out the words. “That was your mother. The paramedics contacted her first. He was unconscious after the incident and he’s being worked on now.”

  “But … he’s going to be okay.”

  Michael felt helpless as he held his palms out and shrugged. “They don’t know yet. We have to get to the hospital.”

  Ivy snapped to attention. “Then let’s go. What are we wasting time for when Max needs us? Let’s get out of here.”

  Thirteen

  Ivy had to practically run to keep up with her father’s long strides when they hit the hospital. It was more of an urgent care facility than an actual hospital, but the Morgans were regular visitors – sometimes even customers, thanks to Ivy’s penchant for trouble – and they knew their way around the building. The woman at the intake desk recognized them right away.

  “Hey, Emma, how is Max?” Michael asked, doing his best to sound calm even though his heart pounded incessantly.

  Since she knew how close the family was, Emma Howard took pity on him. “I don’t know yet. He was unconscious when they brought him in. He’s still undergoing an examination.”

  “Has he woken up at all?” Ivy asked, her stomach twisting when Emma shook her head. “He hasn’t opened his eyes even once?”

  “He hasn’t been here long, Ivy,” Emma cautioned. “You guys are only five minutes behind him. It’s going to take a bit of time to give him a good examination.”

  Inherently, Ivy knew that. Her heart ached all the same. “Right. I know.”

  “You guys should sit down,” Emma suggested, sympathy practically rolling off her in waves. “I’ll give you news the minute I hear it.”

  “Okay.” Ivy wanted to argue further, push the woman until she told her what she wanted to hear. She knew that was a wasted effort. After all, it wasn’t Emma’s fault that Max had been hurt. “We’ll be right over here.” Ivy indicated the chairs and couches in the small waiting room. “Don’t forget us.”

  “I won’t forget you.”

  Ivy was barely in her chair before she dug in her pocket and retrieved her cell phone. Her hands shook as she punched in Jack’s number. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello, honey. Do you miss me or something?”

  Even though Ivy understood there was no way for Jack to know what happened to Max, she was irritated all the same by his jovial attitude. “There’s been an accident.”

  Jack sobered instantly. “Are you okay?”

  “I wasn’t in the accident.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  Ivy felt numb, almost disconnected from her life. She desperately wanted Jack with her to soothe the fear coursing through her veins, but she was having trouble explaining what happened because the words seemed somehow elusive.

  As if reading her mind, Michael plucked the phone from her hand and pressed it to his ear. “It’s Michael.”

  “What happened?” Jack asked, fear evident in his voice. “Is she okay?”

  “She is … in a mood,” Michael replied, choosing his words carefully. “She’s afraid and upset. I am, too. I simply handle it better than her.”

  “I still don’t know what happened,” Jack reminded him.

  “It’s Max. There was some sort of incident at the lumberyard. We’re still not sure what happened. My understanding is that a group of logs that were tied together somehow got separated and Max was knocked down because of it. He has a head injury.”

  “Oh, geez.”

  Michael could practically picture Jack pinching the bridge of his nose over the phone. A year before, the man had been nothing but a random curiosity in their lives thanks to Ivy’s interest in him. Now he was part of the family even though he’d yet to officially marry into it. Michael was thankful for Jack’s calm presence, his huge and accessible heart, especially on days like today.

  “You should probably come,” Michael prodded, sparing a glance for Ivy, who was fixated on the door that led to the back of the hospital. “I know you’re busy with work but … she needs you.”

  “I’m already on my way,” Jack promised. “There’s nothing in the world that could keep me from her at a time like this. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  Unsurprisingly, Michael already knew that. “Luna is on her way, too. Right now, Ivy and I are simply sitting in the waiting room and hoping for news.”

  “I’m about fifteen minutes out,” Jack volunteered. “We’re coming from Bellaire and there’s construction. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “I know you will. Drive safely. The last thing we want is you getting in an accident.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’m on my way.” Jack paused before hanging up. “As for Max, he has a really hard head. I know that because Ivy does, too, and they’ve got that in common. I have faith he’ll be okay.”

  “I hope so.” Michael forced a smile even though Jack couldn’t see it. “He’s a pain in the butt sometimes, but I love him all the same.”

  “We all do,” Jack said. “I’ll be there soon. Tell Ivy … tell her what you think she needs to hear.”

  “She needs to hear Max is going to be okay. Until then, there’s no consoling her.”

  “I’ll give it my best shot in fifteen minutes. I promise.”

  MAX’S WORKERS SHOWED up several minutes later, concerned looks on all their faces. They had Josh with them, the young man’s face completely ashen as he searched the urgent care lobby for a familiar face. He broke out in a wide smile when he saw Ivy.

  “Hi. I wasn’t sure you would be here.”

  Even though she was completely fixated on hearing word about Max, Ivy internally chided herself for forgetting that Josh was with her brother when the accident happened. She hadn’t even asked about him, which felt ridiculous in hindsight.

  “Hey.” Ivy forced a smile as she slid her arm around the boy’s shoulders and tugged him into the seat next to her. “I’m glad they brought you here. I wasn’t sure if that would happen and I couldn’t figure out how I was going to get to you.” That was a lie, but the last thing Ivy wanted was for Josh to assume she’d wiped her hands of him. “Who brought you here?”

  Josh pointed at the tall man standing at the edge of the worried crew. “He did. He made me ride with him even though I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do.”

  Glenn Earnshaw, one of Max’s longtime friends and a great worker, seemed to sense Ivy and Josh were talking about him because he turned in their direction.

  “Hey, Glenn.” Ivy did her best to hold it together, barely managing to refrain from bursting into tears. “Thanks for bringing Josh here.”

  “I didn’t have a choice.” Glenn was calm, collected. “We shut down the lumberyard. We have to wait for OSHA to come by for an inspection. We can’t do anything anyway until we’re cleared.”

  “What’s OSHA?” Josh asked.

  “Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” Ivy explained. “They have to make sure nobody was negligent at the lumberyard.”

  “Max is always stringent about safety guidelines,” Glenn offered. “I’m sure it was some random accident that couldn’t be avoided.”

  “I’m sure it was, too.” Ivy was thoughtful as she ran her fingers through Josh’s soft hair. “I still don’t think I understand what happened, though. Did anyone see it?”

  Glenn shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know what we saw. We were outside and Max was showing Josh how some of the equipment worked. He obviously couldn’t get close for safety purposes, but we managed to get him to a good vantage point.

  “Max demonstrated how some of the bigger equipment worked and then he was hanging with Josh a bit
and explaining things to him because he had a lot of questions,” he continued. “After that Max went to talk to a few of the guys by a load that was due to be shipped out later in the day. That’s when it happened.”

  “And the logs somehow just came loose?” Ivy had trouble believing that. Max was a stickler for making sure things like that never happened. Accidents couldn’t always be avoided, of course, but Ivy was convinced there had to be more to the story. “That doesn’t seem possible.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” Glenn dragged a restless hand through his hair. “It was weird. We didn’t have any warning. We always check stuff like that. I have no idea why the strap broke. It’s never happened to us before.”

  “It’s just … so weird.” Ivy realized she was fretting – and in a manner that was likely to upset Josh – so she forced a wan smile and focused on the boy. “You weren’t close to the area when it happened, were you?”

  “No.” Josh shook his head. “I was close to the logs before, but I was over on the other side when it happened. I guess I was lucky I wasn’t killed, huh?”

  Ivy had no idea what to make of the boy’s blasé attitude. He didn’t appear upset in the least by the potential tragedy. “I think we’re all lucky because that didn’t happen.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t want to be at the lumberyard anyway. I wanted Max to take me to the nursery, but he said he couldn’t and that I was stuck with him for the day.”

  “Yes, well, Max is fun,” Ivy argued. “You should always want to spend time with him.”

  “I would rather spend time with you.”

  “I … .” Ivy floundered, unsure how to soothe the boy while keeping her own emotions in check. “You’re safe,” she said finally. “That’s the most important thing.”

  “It is,” Josh agreed, amiable. “Can we go to the nursery now? I want to work on the plants again. I liked that.”

  Incredulity crawled through Ivy’s belly like an army of invading ants. “We can’t leave,” she said, shaking her head. “We have to see how Max is doing.”

  “Why?”