“When I first heard about the cuts before the show, I was excited,” she continued. “I thought for sure I would be such a weak candidate that she would cut me and I would have an excuse my mother would accept and everything. Instead she kept me and cut out legitimate contenders like Peyton and Rosie. There’s no way this pageant is legit.”
Ivy suspected it already, but it made her sad all the same that Mackenzie had such a low opinion of herself. “You could win.”
“I don’t want to win.” Mackenzie made an exasperated face. “This isn’t the sort of thing I want. I mean … don’t get me wrong, I don’t care either way about people who want to be in pageants. It’s just not my thing. I would rather be curled up in my room with a book … or watching that new horror movie with the ghost that kills people if they dare step into the abandoned mansion on the corner. I don’t care about this. I don’t want this.”
Ivy’s heart went out to her. “I got forced to participate in the pageant back when I was your age, too.”
“You seem to have survived,” Mackenzie noted. “How did you manage that?”
Ivy held her hand palms out and shrugged. “I lost my mind for a little bit and then found it in the wreckage of the pageant. The thing is, you’re going to feel as if this is the most important thing in your life for exactly three hours. That’s how long the pageant lasts. Once it’s over, you’re going to forget.”
“Have you forgotten?”
“Mostly. I only remember whenever this stupid festival rolls around and reminds me.”
“I hope that’s true for me, too.” Mackenzie glared at the shoes. “I’m tone deaf and can’t sing. My mother is making me sing anyway.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Ivy hedged. “If you could pick any talent in the world, what would it be?”
“I don’t know.”
Something about the set of Mackenzie’s jaw caused Ivy to doubt the girl’s answer. “I think you do.”
“I write poems sometimes,” Mackenzie admitted, keeping her voice low. “I like to write.”
“I think that’s a fine talent.” Ivy beamed. “Why don’t you read one of your poems?”
“Because then my mother will be really unhappy.”
“Here’s a little tip.” Ivy glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Your mother is going to love you no matter what. That’s what mothers do. Even if she’s angry or irritated for a bit, she’ll get over it. You have to do what’s right for you.”
Mackenzie brightened considerably. “Do you believe that?”
“I do.”
“Thanks.” Mackenzie tossed aside the shoes and hopped to her feet. “I think I’m going to pick a different outfit for my talent.”
“Try Converse shoes,” Ivy suggested. “Something tells me you’ll be more comfortable if you go that route.”
“I think you’re right.”
Ivy watched her skip away, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. Once Max stepped in her vision field, though, the smile slipped.
“I’m not in the mood to talk to you,” Ivy growled.
“Yeah, well we need to talk,” Max shot back. “I know you’re upset about lunch but … there’s really no reason to be.”
“You know I’m upset about lunch?” Ivy was beside herself. “Why would I possibly be upset about lunch? I mean … you only took the woman who has been torturing me my entire life on a date and then forced me to sit with her. Why wouldn’t I like that?”
“I think you’re being a little dramatic,” Max chided. “Simone is ten years older than you. You didn’t run in the same circles. She hardly tortured you.”
“You lived a different life than me,” Ivy pointed out. “You didn’t have to deal with the same things I did. Simone might’ve been older than us – and I think it’s creepy that she’s going all cougar where you’re concerned, by the way – but she made extra money babysitting when we were little. Heck, she made extra money babysitting us when we were little.
“Then, when I had to do that stupid pageant, she was the mentor that year,” Ivy continued. “She was … not nice … to me through the whole process.”
“And I think that’s terrible,” Max said, frustration bubbling up. “She’s not the same person she was then, though. She was younger then, too. She’s grown.”
“So … you’re going to date her?”
“I don’t know,” Max replied, uncertain. “I’ve considered it. When it’s just the two of us, she’s fun and gregarious and I like hanging out with her. She can take a joke – at least when it’s delivered privately – and she doesn’t give me a lot of grief about where I’m spending my time.”
“But … ?”
“But when she’s around you, she seems to be a different person,” Max conceded. “I don’t like that person.”
“Then you definitely shouldn’t date her.”
Max snorted. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do. It’s obviously not serious. You shouldn’t concern yourself with it.”
“You’re my brother. I have to concern myself with it. That’s what brothers and sisters do.”
“Oh, really?” Max cocked a challenging eyebrow. “When Jack broke your heart and disappeared after you were shot, did you listen to me and cut him out of your life?”
Ivy was taken aback by the question. “No. He was going through something.”
“He was,” Max confirmed. “I didn’t quite understand what he was going through. You did. He still hurt you and I wanted to pound the crap out of him. You saw things differently and even though I loved and wanted to protect you, I let you make your own mistakes.”
“And that’s what you want me to do for you, huh?”
“It is.”
“No.” Ivy was on her feet in an instant, causing Max to shrink back when she stalked in his direction. “I’m not going to pretend I’m infallible when it comes to making decisions. I’m not going to pretend that I’m always in the right when it comes to Simone. I like messing with her because I still remember the way she made me feel during that stupid pageant. I’m sure you remember how that was for me.”
“I do.” Max’s voice was plaintive. “You cried every night.”
“And yet you still supported Ava and Maisie.”
“Because I was young and dumb and didn’t understand how things would work out for you,” Max argued. “I was wrong. That was ten years ago, though. I’ve more than made up for it. You can’t hold that against me.”
Ivy wasn’t so sure. “I can’t just sit back and watch you make a huge mistake with Simone. She’s divorced.”
“Lots of people are divorced,” Max argued. “I don’t see how you can be such a snob about that. She married Scott when she was young and didn’t know any better. You did the opposite, shunning men when you were younger and waiting for the perfect guy to come along.
“In case you’ve forgotten, though, the guy you dated way back when started a cult and went completely off the rails,” he continued. “You could’ve easily found yourself in Simone’s shoes if you didn’t wise up and cut him loose.”
It was a nasty slap, but Ivy couldn’t argue the point. “Fine. There’s nothing wrong with getting a divorce. I don’t even know why I said that because I don’t believe it. Simone has always brought out the worst in me, though. She’s too old for you, Max. She has a seventeen-year-old daughter.”
“So what? She’s fun and she’s hot. You forget who you’re talking to, Ivy. I care about having fun. I’m not ready to settle down with someone forever. I’m not Jack.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” Max held up his hands in mock surrender. “It’s not supposed to mean anything bad. I swear it. I’m happy you found Jack. You guys work so well together it gives me hope that I’ll find the right person … eventually. I’m not looking for the right person now and that should be okay.”
Ivy balked. “I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
“You’re insinuating i
t because you hate Simone,” Max countered. “I love you, Ivy, but you are not in charge of my life and I’m not going to allow you to make decisions for me. If I decide to date Simone – and that’s still a big if – you’re going to have to get over it. This is my life. It’s not your life.”
Ivy wanted to press the issue further, but she recognized the fact that Max had his heels dug in. She would have to think of a different way to approach him if she wanted him to see her line of thinking. “Fine.” She threw up her hands. “Do what you want. You always do.”
“I don’t need your permission.”
Ivy let loose with a strangled sound as she turned on her heel. She accidentally tripped over the shoes Mackenzie discarded on the floor and pitched forward. Max was close enough to see what was happening so he caught her, which was a good thing, because Ivy’s mind became clouded with an overwhelming vision at the same moment and she lost all semblance of reflexes.
“Ivy?” Max grunted as he held her upright, tilting his head so he could stare at her face. For one moment, his world went topsy-turvy when he saw the way her eyes rolled back in her head. His first thought was that she’d been poisoned without knowing it, that she would break into a seizure and potentially die like Aubrey Daniels.
Instead, Ivy blinked twice, her eyes returning to normal on the second blink. She gasped as she grabbed Max’s arm and regained her footing.
“What was that?” Max asked, panic poking at his stomach lining.
“Mackenzie,” Ivy gritted out, swiveling. She scanned the room, catching sight of the girl almost instantly. Mackenzie stood with several girls, listening as they talked. She had a bottle of water in her hand and was about to take a drink.
Ivy didn’t hesitate, instead stomping in that direction and slapping the bottle of water out of Mackenzie’s hand and ignoring it as it bounced against the floor, sloshing water in every direction. The girl widened her eyes to saucer-like proportions.
“What … ?”
“Where did you get that?” Ivy asked, her voice laced with fury.
“Ivy, what are you doing?” Max asked, chasing after her.
Ivy shrugged off Max’s concern and remained focused on Mackenzie. She saw something in her mind’s eye – something terrible – and she knew it to be true. “Where did you get that bottle of water, Mackenzie? No one touch it!”
The girl who was about to bend over and retrieve the plastic bottle shrunk away.
“I got it from Simone,” Mackenzie forced out, her hands shaking. “I … why? What’s going on?”
“That’s a very good question,” Max said. “What is going on, Ivy?”
“Call Jack,” Ivy instructed, keeping her arm on Mackenzie’s shoulder to steady the girl as she lowered her voice. “Get him over here right now. I think he’s going to find there was antifreeze in that bottle.”
Max did as instructed without complaint. “We’re going to have a talk about what just happened as soon as this all is settled.”
“Just call Jack. We’ll worry about the other stuff later.”
Nine
Jack was alert when he walked into the barn, the atmosphere roiling through the enclosed space making him wary. He briefly met Ivy’s gaze before turning to the animated-looking girl standing in the center of the room, the other girls grouped around her as she lobbed annoyed glares in Ivy’s direction.
“What’s going on?”
“Your girlfriend has lost her mind,” Simone replied. “That’s what is going on.”
Brian, who followed Jack into the room, offered up a friendly smile to calm everyone. “We’ll sort it out. For now, I want everyone to take a seat and we’ll make the rounds.”
“What if I don’t want to take a seat?” Simone challenged. “What if I have things to do … or places to go … ?”
“Or men to devour,” Ivy suggested, cutting her off.
“Shut up!” Simone barked.
“Both of you shut up,” Jack instructed, internally cringing at the way Ivy narrowed her eyes. “We’re going to do this in a calm manner. That means you’re part of it, Simone, so don’t give us any grief.”
“Fine!” Simone crossed her arms over her chest, practically daring the men to approach and question her. Instead, Jack focused on Max first.
“I think we should start with Max.”
Max’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “Me?”
“You,” Jack confirmed. Even though he wasn’t keen to see the expression on Ivy’s face, he risked a look in her direction as he crossed the room. She met his eyes, fire burning across her features, but remained utterly silent and still. “Things are not going to go well with her tonight.”
“Do you think?” Brian was amused by the situation. “Max, come over here.” He drew the older Morgan sibling toward the corner so the three men could talk in private. “What’s going on here?”
“What’s going on is that you’re putting me in an awkward position,” Max answered. “You have an entire room full of women and you decided to talk to the only man. How do you think that looks?”
“That’s the reason we want to talk to you,” Jack said. “No offense to the women but … I need answers that aren’t wrapped around a bunch of whining and foot stomping.”
“And tossed hair, snarling, and dramatic sighs,” Brian added.
“It’s a wonder you’ve been married for as long as you have, Brian,” Max drawled. “You have such a great way with placating women that I’m stunned your wife hasn’t killed you yet in your sleep.”
“Just talk.”
Max heaved out a sigh. “I don’t know what happened. Ivy and I were talking – actually, we were kind of arguing – and then she raced over to Mackenzie Sutton and knocked the bottle of water out of her hand.”
Jack furrowed his brow. “Did she say anything before that?”
“Just that she thought I was an idiot for considering dating Simone.”
“Not that. You are an idiot for doing that, by the way, but about the bottle?”
“No.” Max shook his head. “She didn’t say anything really. Before Ivy and I started arguing, though, she spent some time talking to Mackenzie. I got the impression they were bonding.”
Jack’s eyebrows winged up. “Bonding?”
“I listened a little bit,” Max admitted. “I thought maybe they were talking about me.”
“Why would Ivy be talking about you with a teenager?”
“Because … I have no idea.” Max looked miserable and Jack couldn’t stop himself from feeling sorry for the man, at least a little bit. “I knew Ivy was going to melt down and I was watching her for signs.”
“So she talked to Mackenzie,” Brian prodded. “What did they say to each other?”
“Mackenzie wasn’t thrilled about being here because she didn’t think she belonged,” Max explained. “She said her mother made her sign up. Ivy understood that because our mother did the same to her – that was the last time my mother ever did anything of the sort, by the way – and she just kind of talked her down.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that Ivy told her she shouldn’t sing if she didn’t want to sing and if she wanted to read a poem to go ahead and do it,” Max replied. “She also told her that the pageant will only be a big thing for the day she has to suffer through it and then she can forget it. She said that Mackenzie will realize what’s important as she gets older.”
“That sounds like her.” Jack cast a fond look in his girlfriend’s direction and found her glaring holes into him. He swallowed hard. “She’s going to make me sleep on the couch for telling her to be quiet.”
Brian followed Jack’s gaze and grinned. “Oh, yeah she is.”
“You don’t have to sound so giddy about it,” Jack complained.
“You should’ve thought about this before you picked a feisty woman. Now you’re trapped for life with no way out.” Brian flicked his eyes back to Max. “And after that, what happened?”
“Ivy came over t
o talk to me,” Max replied. “I told her to mind her own business about Simone because I hadn’t made up my mind either way. She got huffy.”
“I bet,” Jack muttered, his mind traveling back to their tense lunch.
“Then, all of a sudden, Ivy kind of had some sort of … fit.”
Jack stiffened. “Fit? You didn’t mention a fit before.”
“I didn’t think about it,” Max said. “Her eyes – I swear they rolled back in her head – and I thought she was having a seizure or something. I thought maybe she drank whatever it is that Aubrey drank.
“She was out of it for about five seconds, although it felt longer, and then she just hurried over to Mackenzie and knocked the bottle out of her hand,” he continued. “I have no idea what to make of it.”
Jack had an idea. Unfortunately, it was one that worried him to no end. “Okay. Stay here.” He headed straight for Ivy even though Brian thought it was a bad idea.
“Maybe I should question her,” Brian suggested.
Jack ignored him and focused on Ivy, not stopping until he was directly in front of her. “Are you okay?”
Ivy remained absolutely still for a long beat. When she finally answered, her tone was clipped. “I thought you wanted me to be quiet.”
Brian chuckled under his breath as Jack tugged on his limited patience.
“I would like you to tell me what happened,” Jack said, leaning forward so Ivy had no place to look but in his eyes. “I also want you to tell me if you feel lightheaded … or like if you need to sit down … or like if you need to go to the hospital.”
Ivy realized what he was referring to and her expression softened. “I’m fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“You’re still going to the clinic,” Jack muttered.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” Ivy hissed.
“You agreed that if something like this happened again that you would go to the clinic,” Jack barked. “You said you would … so you’re going. Just as soon as we’re done here, you betcha, you’re going.”
Ivy stared him down, not worried in the least that he would somehow bully her in to visiting the clinic. “No, I’m not.”
Wicked Fun: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 7-9 Page 46