“That’s what they do to crazy people.”
“You’re not crazy.”
“You don’t know that,” Ivy argued. “I could be crazy. I’ve started seeing things before they happen. What’s crazier than that?”
“I think you’re confusing the word ‘crazy’ with ‘magical,’” Jack countered. “As for being magical, I’ve known you were that since I found out we could share dreams together.”
“Do you really not think I’m crazy?” Ivy looked so hopeful, so worried at the same time, it almost broke Jack’s heart.
“Honey, the only one who is crazy here is me. I’m crazy about you. As for the rest … you’re special, Ivy. I’ve known it for a long time. Nothing that’s happened changes how I feel about you. Nothing ever will change how I feel about you.”
“What if it changes how I feel about myself?”
“Ah. I think we’re getting to the root of the problem here.” Jack’s lips curved as he grabbed her around the waist and wrestled her to his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around her as he pressed his chest to her back. “Don’t second-guess yourself. These things have been happening with more and more frequency. There’s a reason for that.”
“What reason?”
“I talked to Brian today.” Jack opted to return to his original point. “He said some things that made sense to me. The first of which is that you’ve always been magical. He thinks you’ve only been comfortable to let it out as of late because of me.
“Now, I might like this theory because it reflects good on me,” he continued. “It also makes sense. You trust me enough to relax, and when you relax, your magical side comes out. There’s nothing wrong with that, honey. In fact, it’s downright amazing.”
Ivy wasn’t convinced. “But will you still say that in five years? Ten?”
“I’ll say that forever. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you. I’ve never loved anything as much as I love you. I expect that to grow in the future, which is terrifying because it shouldn’t be possible, but I know those feelings won’t shrink.”
“Oh, geez.” Ivy rested the back of her head against Jack’s shoulder. “You always know the exact right thing to say. How do you do that?”
“I don’t always know the exact right thing to say,” Jack countered. “I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth more times than I can count.”
“Like when you told me to be quiet this afternoon?”
Jack chuckled. “I knew we would get to that. I’m sorry your feelings were hurt. I couldn’t take your side in front of all those girls, though. It would’ve reflected badly on the investigation.”
“And we’re still dealing with the poisoning of a teenage girl.”
“And the potential poisoning of another teenage girl.” Jack pressed a kiss to Ivy’s cheek. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
“You’re the one who should be sorry,” Ivy said. “I was going to massage you until you started gnawing on your own foot.”
Jack chuckled. “I guess I’ve been punished, huh?”
“I guess.”
“Honey, we’re going to get through this exactly how we get through everything else,” Jack said. “To do that, though, you can’t shut me out. We need to share information and talk. Do you understand?”
Ivy sighed. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Jack tightened his grip on her. “Now, I brought us a nice picnic lunch and I thought we could spend some quiet time together in this dream. We don’t even need to talk.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Good. Then, tomorrow, we’re having breakfast with Brian at the diner and going through all the information we’ve managed to gather.” Jack was firm, refusing to give Ivy room to wiggle out of the meeting. “We are going to figure this out. All of it.”
“Okay.” Ivy shifted so she could bury her face in Jack’s neck. “Can we spend five minutes doing this first.”
“Doing what?”
“Just this.”
Jack smiled as he pulled her body as close to his as humanly possible. “This is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.”
“Yeah.” They lapsed into amiable silence. “Jack?”
“Hmm.”
“I love you.”
“Oh, honey, I love you, too. Now … shh. It’s a magical dream afternoon. Let’s just enjoy it.”
DESPITE THE DREAM, Jack woke on the couch. He wasn’t alone, though. Sometime in the night, Ivy left the bedroom and joined him on the couch. She stretched out on top of him – just like the night before – and Jack was warm and comfortable when he woke.
Even though it was the last thing they both wanted, Jack and Ivy had to hurry through their morning routine. By the time they met Brian at the diner, they were wide awake and unbelievably flirty.
“I see you two made up,” Brian said dryly as they slid into the opposite side of the booth. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know that I’m going to have to listen to you guys gush over one another for an entire meal.”
Ivy beamed. “Thank you for whatever you said to Jack last night.”
Brian’s expression softened. “As long as things worked out, I’m genuinely happy for you.”
“Things were always going to work out,” Jack supplied. “It was just a matter of how loud the fight would get until that happened.”
“And how loud did the fight get?”
“Barely a whisper.” Jack smiled at the waitress as she delivered a mug of coffee and a small pot of tea. She took their orders before disappearing through the swinging door. Once it was just the three of them, Jack turned to the business at hand. “What do we have?”
“Well, for starters, Aubrey is showing signs of improvement,” Brian replied. “She hasn’t regained consciousness, but the doctors are working tirelessly and she is getting better.”
“Do they have a prognosis?” Ivy asked.
“She’s still not completely out of the woods,” Brian replied. “As for the bottle Ivy knocked out of Mackenzie Sutton’s hand last night, the state police ran a rapid test. There was antifreeze in it. Since most of the water spilled on the ground, it’s hard to say how much, but the lab technician believes it was enough to do serious damage.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any way to find out who put the antifreeze in the bottle, is there?” Ivy queried. “That would be a big help.”
“It would,” Brian agreed. “There are multiple prints on the bottles, though. Apparently Simone refilled them at regular intervals and no one had their own bottle.”
“Could Mackenzie have randomly ended up with the bottle?”
“That’s a possibility, but it’s impossible to know without a suspect,” Brian answered. “What we do know is that Simone reportedly filled all the water bottles, so that makes her a legitimate suspect.”
“Is there anything we can do to get her away from the pageant?” Ivy asked. “I know she’ll fight it, but I don’t think those girls are safe as long as she’s in charge.”
“I happen to agree with you, but it’s going to take some finagling to ensure that outcome.”
“Who do we need to talk to?” Jack asked. “I’m more than willing to be the one to put in the request if it’s necessary.”
“Actually, I’m going to see if I can call in a favor first,” Brian said. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll try other methods. Until then, I think it’s best if Ivy keeps mentoring at the barn.”
Ivy let loose with a long-suffering groan. “Ugh. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
“Oh, nice reference, honey.” Jack patted her back, amused. “I think it’s probably good for you to be around the girls as long as you’re really careful about what you drink. I think some sort of rules should be put in place about what the girls drink, too.”
“That should be simple enough,” Ivy said. “I’ll run to the market before I head over there and grab a couple of cases of bottled water. I’ll make sure all of the bottles
are checked to make sure the seals are in place before the girls open them.”
“That’s a good idea,” Brian said. “Right now, we have suspicions but not enough evidence to move on them. Simone is going to remain in charge … at least for the next few hours. You need to keep an eye on her without killing her. Do you think you can do that?”
Ivy adopted an innocent expression. “What do you take me for?”
“A fiery woman who tends to melt down under certain circumstances,” Brian replied without hesitation. “We need you to keep your cool until we can get Simone removed as the pageant coordinator.”
“I think I can manage it,” Ivy said dryly. “I am an adult, after all.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I thought when I sat through that meal with you and Max yesterday,” Jack deadpanned. “Speaking of that, have you considered giving him some space to deal with his love life on his own personal time?”
“No.” Ivy was so matter-of-fact Jack couldn’t stop himself from grinning.
“I didn’t think so,” Jack said. “Still, you might give him a little space to make a decision on his own. If you push him, it’s only going to make matters worse.”
“Don’t worry about Max,” Ivy said. “He’s my brother. I know him best. I’ve got everything under control. Better than that, I’ve got a plan.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Jack muttered.
“Don’t worry. It’s a good plan.”
“Yeah. When this blows up in your pretty little face, remember that I warned you.”
“It’s not going to blow up.”
“If you say so.”
“It’s not.”
“Just … drink your tea. I think we all need a few minutes of quiet.”
“Whatever you say, my king,” Ivy teased.
“Keep it up.”
“I plan to. If I’m the queen like you said, then you definitely have to be the king.”
“Ugh. I haven’t even eaten yet and I already want to throw up,” Brian lamented. “I should’ve let you guys keep fighting.”
Eleven
Ivy gave Simone a wide berth when she got to the barn, pasting a wide smile on her face as she joined the girls for dance practice.
“What are we working on today?”
Simone’s daughter Sadie opened her mouth, closed it, and then looked to her friends for an answer. When none of them so much as made eye contact, she barreled forward. “I thought you were done helping us.”
Ivy forced herself to remain cool and collected. “Who told you that?”
“Well … my mom.”
“She was misinformed.”
“But … um … are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Ivy was firm as she crossed her arms over her chest. She expected resistance – her reaction to Mackenzie’s bottle the afternoon before had been theatrical enough that some of the girls were put off by her presence – but she knew she had to stick around while Brian and Jack worked to have Simone removed from her position of power.
“But aren’t you crazy?” one of the other girls asked.
“Not last time I checked.”
“But … Mrs. Graham says you’re crazy – and potentially a witch.”
“And I think Mrs. Graham worries far too much about what other people are doing,” Ivy countered. “I’m not crazy. If you have questions about what happened yesterday afternoon, though, I’m more than willing to answer them.”
“I have a few questions,” Mackenzie said, shuffling closer, her expression unreadable. “Why did you knock that bottle out of my hand the way you did?”
“Because I was worried it was dosed with antifreeze.” Ivy saw no reason to lie. “Listen, you all know what happened to Aubrey. I thought Mackenzie’s water bottle looked a little yellow. I didn’t want her to drink it and, yeah, I probably could’ve been quieter when I reacted. It was an instinctive thing and I’m sorry for frightening you.”
“W-was it poisoned?” Mackenzie almost looked afraid to hear the answer.
“The state lab is testing it.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. The state lab did test the water bottle. Ivy figured it was safer to keep the results to herself for the time being, though. “They’ll have results today.”
“Okay but … if someone is trying to poison us, shouldn’t we cancel the pageant?” Mackenzie shrank back when the other girls made indignant growling noises. “Or … um … not.”
“I’m with you on cancelling the pageant, but I don’t think anyone else is going to agree with us.” Ivy put a reassuring hand on Mackenzie’s shoulder while fixing the other girls with a challenging look. “As it stands, the pageant will go forward. I do have a solution to the water problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I bought three cases of water from the grocery store,” Ivy explained. “It’s all sealed, which means it wasn’t tampered with. This way you guys will be able to see that those plastic rings aren’t broken so there’s no reason to worry about it.”
“Oh, well, that’s actually a good idea.” Mackenzie brightened. “I’m sorry I thought you were being weird yesterday. I … um … you kind of freaked me out.”
“I don’t blame you.” Ivy honestly didn’t. Mackenzie was a victim in all this, her more than anyone else. “I should’ve picked a different way to approach you, but I panicked instead. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, at least I didn’t drink the water.” Mackenzie smiled. “If we find out there was something in there, you might’ve saved my life or something.”
“I was simply being careful.” Ivy returned her smile for a long beat and then clapped her hands. “Okay, you guys are practicing one of the dance numbers, right? Get in position and go to it. We’ll take a break in thirty minutes and get the water then.”
“Okay,” Sadie said dubiously. “If you go crazy again, though, I’m telling my mother.”
Ivy met her snotty gaze with a dark one of her own. “I would expect nothing less.”
“I’M SURPRISED TO SEE YOU back here.”
Max, who was working on the sets yet again, left Ivy to her own devices for a full two hours before approaching. He was nervous, which was completely unlike him where his sister was concerned, but he was also eager to get their relationship back on track. He didn’t like it when they were fighting. Sure, he thrived on it when they were kids, but he was an adult now. He still considered Ivy one of his primary responsibilities despite Jack’s presence in her life.
“Did you think I would run away and hide?” Ivy flicked her eyes to her brother. He looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept, and worry warred with anger for a brief moment. Sadly for her, the anger won. “Were you up late with your new girlfriend?”
Max scowled. “She’s not my girlfriend and stop being a pain in the rear end,” he snapped. “I don’t see why my potentially dating Simone has your nose so far out of joint, but there’s no reason to be a crazy person about it.”
Ivy was affronted. “How am I being a crazy person?”
“How are you always a crazy person?”
“Um … I’m never a crazy person.”
“I bet Jack has a story or two to tell that proves that assertion wrong,” Max muttered.
“Actually, Jack and I had a long discussion last night about whether or not I am crazy. We decided I wasn’t.”
Max smirked. “Well, at least you guys agreed on the subject.”
“Whatever.” Ivy rolled her neck until it cracked, arching an eyebrow when one of the girls tripped and fell toward Sadie, causing the high-strung girl to break from the choreography. “Keep your lines straight. Sadie, don’t pick a fight with her. It was an accident.”
“But … she knocked me out of the routine,” Sadie protested.
“It was an accident,” Ivy stressed. “That’s why we have practice in the first place. You want to get these little bugs out of the way before the pageant rolls around. It’s not the end of the world. Suck it up and keep going.”
Sad
ie muttered something under her breath that Ivy couldn’t quite make out. Ivy was sure it wasn’t flattering so she chose to ignore it. She caught Simone’s gaze from across the room, something akin to hatred passing between them, and then Ivy turned back to Max.
“What can you possibly see in her?”
Max shrugged, noncommittal. “She’s pretty.”
“And you’re handsome,” Ivy said. “You could have any woman in town. Heck, you’ve already had half of them. If you’re running out of options, there are plenty of surrounding towns. In fact, if you need a wingman, I’ll send Jack to the bar with you. He can help you pick an acceptable woman.”
Max snorted, genuinely amused. “You’re going to send your fiancé out trolling for women with me? Do you think that’s a smart idea?”
“Jack would never cheat on me. If he can help keep you away from a she-devil like Simone Graham, I’m all for a few outings.”
Max gave his sister an appraising look. “Do you know what I like best about Jack?”
“The fact that I got him off the market quickly so he wasn’t competition for you with the unsuspecting women of Shadow Lake?”
Max shook his dark head. “That he makes you feel so secure you don’t even care if he goes to the bar and helps me pick up women.”
Ivy scratched an itch on the side of her nose. “I trust him. We had a long talk about that last night, too.”
“In regards to what happened yesterday?” Max lowered his voice. “You saw something before you knocked that bottle out of Mackenzie’s hand, didn’t you?”
Even though she was angry with him, Ivy implicitly trusted her brother. “Yeah. It’s happened twice now. I saw Aubrey fall seconds before she dropped. Yesterday was different, though. It was like I saw this flash … and it showed me Mackenzie drinking the water and then getting sick later in the night. I just reacted.”
“And what about the bottle?” Max asked. “I know you said the state police are testing it, but I could tell you were lying.”
“Could the rest of them tell?”
“No. They don’t know you as well as I do.”
Wicked Fun: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 7-9 Page 48