After I Fall

by Amity Hope

  He was joking.

  I thought.

  “No. Yes? I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just thought maybe you could help. He didn’t do it.”

  “How do you know that?” he asked softly. It wasn’t a challenge. Not exactly. I felt as if he simply wanted affirmation. “Some thieves…aren’t too smart. Sometimes things get left behind. It’s how cases are solved.”

  “Because I know him,” I said firmly. “I’ve never asked for anything from you before. If you help me with this, I swear I will never ask for anything from you again.”

  He sighed.

  And remained silent.

  I stood in front of him, feeling like a helpless child.

  “Okay,” I said, deciding to try a different tactic. “Let’s just say I’m wrong. I’m not, but let’s just say I am. Let’s say Eric did do it. Is it really fair that his whole life is going to be thrown away because of one mistake? You and Mom said yourselves that Mr. Deveroux isn’t a nice guy. He’s going to make Eric pay for this every way he can. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? Haven’t you ever done something you regretted and would give anything to take back?”

  He shook his head and grimaced.

  “They want to try him as an adult. Does that mean this will stay on his record? Forever?”

  “I’m really sorry he’s going through this,” Phillip said quietly.

  “Sorry enough to help someone who doesn’t have anyone else?” I pleaded.

  I braced myself for his refusal. I wasn’t above begging and pleading but I wasn’t sure that it would do any good.

  “Do you know what I think? What I honestly think?” I had only just pushed the pieces together in my mind.

  “What do you think, EmLynn?” Phillip’s voice wasn’t mocking. I could tell he truly wanted to hear what I had to say.

  “I think Jace took advantage of the robbery. I think he set him up.”

  “Em—”

  “No, hear me out!” I interrupted. “Shortly after he started working at the country club, his keys were lost…or stolen. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Those things happen. But think about it. Jace has had it in for Eric since they met.” Phillip didn’t look convinced. He had no reason to be convinced with the limited knowledge he had. I proceeded to fill him in on the events that had transpired the day Eric got fired.

  His expression remained impassive. “You seriously think Jace intentionally hit him with the football?”

  I nodded slowly. “I know he did. I don’t think he meant to cause so much damage. I think it was just dumb luck. He hit Eric just right. The ball hit him behind the knee, knocking him completely off balance.”

  “Okay. I’m with you so far,” he said with a nod.

  “There are little things, like Jace making some nasty remarks about Eric being a foster kid. He got in Eric’s face when we went to a movie.” I paused. “I know none of this sounds damning on its own, but when you put the pieces together, when you look at the big picture, I think it’s clear.”

  “You think Jace stole Eric’s keys and ID and planted them,” he reiterated.

  “Yes. I didn’t realize his ID was also missing, but it could’ve been with the keys. I think he also planted a single piece of jewelry. It would be easy for him to go to his mom’s room after the robbery and grab something, anything, to put in Eric’s possession.”

  “You think Jace was behind this?”

  “I think Jace took advantage of the situation. I think he saw the opportunity to set Eric up and he took it.” I shook my head. “Or maybe I’m totally off base. I bet a lot of people that Mr. Deveroux does business with spend time at the country club. It could’ve been someone else that set up Eric. Maybe someone who knows that there’s animosity between him and Jace? You and Mom both said Mr. Deveroux has a lot of enemies. Maybe one of them saw the opportunity to use Eric as a scapegoat.”

  Silence filled the room for several long moments as Phillip worked through my theories.

  When I couldn’t take the silence anymore I said, “Regardless, I’m positive Eric didn’t to this. It’s not fair that he’s caught in the middle. Who’s going to help him if we don’t? I know the Zierdens want to, but I don’t know what they’d be able to do.”

  He surprised me when he finally spoke.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I would do anything for you. Just like I would for the twins. I honestly don’t know what I can do,” he admitted. “Give me the night to think it over.”

  “Oh my gosh Phillip…Thank you.” I felt my body become limp as the tension melted away.

  The moment felt like it called for a hug. Given the fact that we’d never hugged before, I brushed the feeling aside. We both knew that it would be awkward and it would probably feel somewhat forced. Instead, he rose from his desk and clapped his hand gently against my shoulder.

  “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll work on it.”

  * * *

  I crept into the kitchen the following morning feeling like nothing less than a beggar. I rarely bothered to join my family. I was sure they would think if I was joining them it was because I had an ulterior motive.

  I did.

  Of course I did.

  I felt horrible for it but, at this point, there was nothing that could be done about it.

  I had talked to Eric briefly the night before. Things were not sounding good for him. His lawyer was urging him to take the plea deal. But to do that, he’d have to turn over the rest of the missing jewelry. It was jewelry that he swore he didn’t have.

  He sounded so distraught. He was sure the Zierdens didn’t believe him, even though they claimed they did. He also felt guilty for putting them through this. Even though he was a minor and it couldn’t be printed in the paper it didn’t matter. It seemed as if the whole town knew. He was worried that it would reflect badly on Lisa and affect her career.

  I’d tried to convince him he didn’t need to worry about the Zierdens. I was sure they would be standing behind him no matter what. I did hope he was wrong about this negatively impacting Lisa’s career. Her income depended on the commissions she made. If she lost clients, she’d lose commissions.

  Maybe…maybe Phillip could help her somehow. Send some business her way.

  I shook my head. I was not going to ask Phillip for any more favors. I was feeling guilty enough about the favor I’d already asked for. I knew it was out of line. I knew that Phillip owed me nothing.

  But I had no one else to turn to.

  I didn’t dare mention the conversation I’d had with Phillip to Eric. I didn’t want to get his hopes up.

  Phillip had every right to tell me he thought it over and that the answer was no.

  My heart pounded as I made my way into the kitchen.

  I could hear the girls squabbling and Mom chiding them.

  My feet padded quietly across the tile.

  Natalie spotted me first. “Emmm!” She reached a sticky hand my way.

  Phillip glanced at me over the top of his paper. I couldn’t read his expression. It wasn’t irritated or apologetic or…It was simply blank.

  “Are you actually joining us this morning? Without being coerced?” Mom asked with a cocked brow. “What’s the special occasion?”

  “I, uh…,” I stammered.

  “I asked her to pop in this morning,” Phillip said as he slid his chair back.

  I raised my eyebrows at him the same moment Mom asked, “Why is that?”

  “Our anniversary is coming up. I wanted to run something by EmLynn. But as for you,” he said to Mom, “you do not need to know the details. I have to have some element of surprise, don’t I?”

  Mom looked skeptical. She glanced at me. I smiled and shrugged.

  “Let’s go to my office, shall we?” He motioned in that direction and I nodded, leading the way. When we were both inside he closed the door.

  “Now, first things first. I do not want to lie to my wife. Therefore, let’s talk about our upcom
ing anniversary. I’d like to take her away for the weekend. We haven’t had a weekend away since the girls were born. Is there any chance that you would want some company in the pool house for a few days?” he asked.

  My heart was hammering. I didn’t want to talk about vacations, or babysitting.

  “Sure, of course. That’s fine,” I said. Taking the twins for a few days wasn’t exactly my idea of fun, but I didn’t hate it either.

  He crossed the room and took a seat on a wingback chair. He motioned to the couch and I didn’t refuse.

  “I want nothing more than to clear the air between us,” he said.

  I nodded. “I’d like that too.” I meant it. Things had been strained for too long. It was mostly my fault and it certainly wasn’t doing me—or anyone else—any good.

  He looked relieved. “I just want you to know I never set out to be the bad guy. When I finally realized your mother was married, I was prepared to walk away. I did walk away. The thing is, she followed. She left your dad even though I told her she shouldn’t.”

  I nodded. It was what Mom had already said. Not to mention, it seemed like something she would do. Mom did what she wanted, when she wanted.

  “Once the divorce was final, I realized she wasn’t going to go back. I’d loved your mom since we were in high school. It seemed senseless to let her slip away again.”

  “Why did you two ever break up in the first place?” I demanded.

  “I was a year older. I got accepted at Columbia. She wanted me to wait a year so she could come along. I didn’t. I had plans. Goals. I didn’t want to be held back. I thought we could make the long distance thing work for a year.”

  “Mom didn’t like that plan.”

  “No,” he agreed. “She did not.”

  “I bet you wish that you never went your separate ways.”

  He didn’t spare a second to contemplate it. He simply shook his head and immediately refuted me. “No. I don’t.”

  I felt an eyebrow quirk up. It wasn’t the answer I was expecting.

  “If we’d gone to college together, she wouldn’t have met your father. If she hadn’t met him, she wouldn’t have you.” He paused, smiled, and continued. “I like having you in our lives. So do the girls. Everything happens for a reason. I’ve always believed that. I have no regrets.”

  “Thank you…for paying off my dad’s bills. Mom told me. She told me you did it so that I wouldn’t lose his car.”

  He nodded. “You’ve lost enough. I couldn’t stand to see you lose that too. Especially when I had the means to prevent it. No thank you necessary.”

  I felt tears burning behind my eyes.

  “It’s done.”

  I looked at him mutely for a moment. It’s done. It’s done? For a moment I thought he was still talking about the car. The expression on his face led me to believe otherwise.

  “You mean…?” I was afraid to say the words aloud because I didn’t want the moment to be broken.

  “The charges have been dropped,” he affirmed quietly.

  “What? How? Are you serious?” My voice flew up a few octaves at the end.

  “Yes. I’d rather your mother didn’t know about this. I hate keeping things from her. But this is something I’d really rather she not get her nose into.”

  “I don’t understand. What did you do?” I grimaced, hoping he didn’t tell me that he bribed the police department. While I was desperate, I wasn’t that desperate. I didn’t think.

  “I worked out a deal with Mr. Devereux.”

  “What kind of deal?” Not that it was any of my business.

  “He owns one of the biggest construction companies in the area. He’s wanted to partner with me for some time,” Phillip said. “I’ve always politely refused.”

  “Because you don’t like how he does business,” I added on, remembering part of a conversation we’d had the other day.

  “Right. But I suppose I’ll just have to keep an eye on him.”

  “I’m really sorry.” I was sorry.

  “It’s okay. We’ll make it work. We’re still working out the details. I’m hoping to just throw him a few bones, so to speak. Give him a few jobs to start off with. I have a few apartment complexes going up in a nearby town. I offered him the contracts on both. We’ll go from there. He, of course, tried to play hardball, wanted me to sign a contract stating he’d be my permanent contractor. I refused. To be honest, I didn’t think he’d come around. He ended our conversation rather abruptly last night. I think he expected me to call him back. I didn’t.” He shrugged. “He called me a little while ago. He said he had time to reconsider and asked if the offer was still on the table.”

  “Can he do that? Just drop the charges now that the police are involved?” I had a hunch that one the police were involved, things might be a little more complicated than that.

  Phillip cleared his throat. “I’m not so sure about that. I have a feeling he’s able to pull a few strings with the police department. Our deal is contingent upon him making the charges go away. I told him I didn’t care how he did it, as long as it got done. I made it clear I wanted no part of that process.”

  “And he agreed?” I just had to confirm. I had to hear it said flat out.

  “He agreed. The charges are going to be dropped. It should be taken care of by the end of the day.”

  “Is it…is it going to be terrible to work with him? I never meant to mess up your business in any way,” I said.

  “It’ll be fine. I needed to hire someone. As I mentioned, I’ll just have to keep a close eye on him. His work is acceptable; it’s his work ethic I have a problem with. But with me watching him like a hawk, I’ll be sure he does everything above board. Now,” Phillip said as he stood, “we best be getting back to breakfast before your mother decides to come see what’s taking us so long.”

  I stood too, following him to the door. He paused to open it.

  “Phillip?”

  He turned to me, a questioning look on his face.

  “Thank you.”

  I didn’t give myself time to over think it. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. He didn’t hesitate in hugging me back.

  Chapter 20

  I called Eric but his phone went to voicemail. I decided it might be for the best. I wasn’t sure how fast Jace’s dad would be able to take care of his end of things. I realized it might be best if I stayed out of it for now.

  In fact, I thought maybe I would stay out of it completely. Eric never had to know that Phillip and I were involved with it at all. I felt guilty enough that Phillip was going to have to work with Carl. Hopefully it would be just a few projects. I didn’t want Eric to have to share in that guilt, especially when he’d never asked for that kind of help.

  I had called Clara next, hoping she could come over to spend the afternoon with me. It would help to pass the time until I was finally able to talk to Eric again…Hopefully when this whole mess was behind us. Hopefully when he had good news to tell me.

  Clara, to my surprise, was busy. When she answered her phone she was with Mason. They were on their way to a museum two hours away. They planned to spend the afternoon at the museum, followed by a nice dinner.

  Not for the first time this summer, I was really missing Janelle and Mona. They were both so fun and chatty. They were always a good distraction.

  I thought about spending time with the twins but considering the mood I was in I was afraid I wouldn’t have the patience for them.

  So I spent my morning swimming laps in the pool. I spent the afternoon trying and failing to read a book. I’d read chapters at a time only to realize that I hadn’t retained a single thing.

  When Mom knocked on my locked door I actually welcomed the distraction.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I stepped aside to let her in.

  “Sweetheart, we need to talk.” She moved past me and took a seat in her usual chair. Her posture was rigid and her tone was tense. She held a manila file in her hand.
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br />   I immediately assumed that she had discovered what Phillip had done for me. I wasn’t going to apologize for it. But I decided I would make it clear that yes, I did understand how big of a sacrifice he was making for me. Yes, I appreciated it. And yes, I’d thanked him for it.

  “This isn’t an easy conversation to have,” Mom started out. “So if you could just have a seat and let me say what I have to say, I would appreciate it.”

  I took a seat.

  I assumed she was going to tell me I had no right to beg her husband for anything.

  It gave me time to formulate an argument of my own.

  “EmLynn, you don’t know Eric, not really.”

  Those were not the words I was expecting her to start the conversation with. I realized then that maybe this wasn’t about what had transpired between Phillip and me after all. It wasn’t much of a consolation because I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this conversation much either.

  “I know him far better than you do. As far as I’m concerned that means my opinion should count for more than yours.”

  “I need to tell you something. I also need for you to listen to me with an open mind.” I realized then that not only was she tense, she looked uncharacteristically nervous.

  And maybe a little sad.

  “Meaning you know I’m not going to like what you have to say.” I shook my head. “Then why bother, Mom? Can’t we agree to disagree? Can’t you just let it go?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “This is too important for me to just let it go. You and your sisters, you mean everything to me. I know you may not believe that, but it’s true. That’s why I did what I did.”

  Silence, heavy and thick, settled into the room.

  “What did you do?” I finally demanded.

  “Jim does some moonlighting as a private detective. I hired him. I had him check Eric out.”

  “Excuse me? You did what?”

  “I had him look into Eric’s past. You know, once you hear what I have to say, you just might want to thank me.” Her nervousness faded away, replaced by the callousness I was accustomed to.