Trudy nodded and stood. “Well, since I can’t say that about him, I guess I’ll just leave then.” She picked up two of the ice cream cartons and looked at Georgia and Ann. “Want any more of these two before I abscond with them?”
At their head shake, Trudy grinned. She stopped by Jellica on her way out and bent to kiss the top of her angry head. “Greg’s a good guy. I can’t explain him to you in a way you can hear right now, but I am one hundred percent certain. Brandon would never spend so much time with a man who wasn’t as honorable as his father. That means Greg is just as good as Jack is as a person and that’s the highest praise I’ve ever given anyone who couldn’t out chef me.”
Jellica blew out a breath when Trudy closed the door quietly behind her. “Good guys do not run away and leave you the morning after. I’m not wrong about this.” She looked at Ann and Georgia. “Am I?”
“No, I agree with you,” Georgia said with a head nod. “I think your accountant was an ass to you this morning.”
“Thank you,” Jellica said with relief, but she didn’t really feel any genuine gratitude for being validated. Had she been hoping to be proved wrong? Lord, what an emotional wimp she was about men. No wonder Trudy didn’t respect her take on Greg’s actions.
Georgia crossed her arms and met Jellica’s worried gaze. “Yep. Your fashion challenged accountant’s an ass alright. I read his complete bio on The Perfect Date database. Do you know how many charities the man supports? Fifteen. He does their accounting paperwork for free. There’s got to be something fishy going on with a man who gives so much of his time away, right? Probably just trying to make himself look better.”
Jellica waved a hand. “I know. I read it too. It was totally unbelievable.”
“Plus, I had him investigated,” Georgia admitted boldly, proud of the flash of shock that drove the hurt from Jellica’s gaze. “Greg Skyler is a squeaky clean boy scout. Talk about boring with a capital ‘B’… wowzer.”
“You had him what?” Jellica demanded. Georgia’s words sank into her sex-clouded brain slowly until they hit rock bottom in the same pit where her womanly ego was hiding. “Georgia Bates… how could you do such a thing?”
“Easy. I used the same guy I’ve used for years. Greg was an easy search compared to most.”
“Look at her face, Georgia. You’ve totally shocked her,” Ann said. “I told you to keep your mouth shut about that crap.”
Georgia shrugged. “It’s time Jellica knew how things worked among the more unsavory people in her life.”
“You’re as bad as my ex-husband,” Jellica declared.
“I protect the people I care about,” Georgia insisted. “I investigated the families of every kid any of my kids dated. I was going to do that with John, but my guy refused to go further once he found a sealed file. He assured me that John did not pose a threat to anything but my own safety if I didn’t stay the hell out of police business. Greg’s got nothing like that in his background. All I saw was that the woman he’d been going to marry died. Trudy’s right for once. Greg’s one of the good guys.”
Jellica shook her head, stunned beyond belief that one of her friends would investigate a man she was dating. “I should probably sue you for invasion of privacy or something.”
Georgia lifted her chin. “Honey, anyone can find what I found out through a simple Google search. Greg’s fiancée’s death was in all the papers. He took it really hard. It’s only an invasion of privacy when an ugly, well-hidden secret gets revealed. I also looked into your ex-husband the year we met you because I wanted to see what kind of low-life bastard could abandon such a sweet family.”
“Great. What did you dig up on him?” Jellica asked, miffed but curious. “With Martin, I can believe anything.”
Georgia huffed before answering. “His new wife of twenty-two was five months pregnant when they married. That first baby was not a preemie as both claimed. He was cheating on you long before your divorce, Jellica. My guess is his new wife’s family put the fear of God in him about his illegitimate child and he divorced you to save his own ass. Who knows what they threatened to do to him if he ruined her reputation any further.”
Jellica sighed tiredly. “None of that shocks me. It just makes me feel more un-appealing than ever. Not a single man has ever been faithful to me. They all tell me I’m beautiful, but it must be in a plastic sort of way. No one stays and treats me respectfully. Greg is just one more uncaring guy in a long line of them… okay, a short line of them… but a line nonetheless.”
“Never whine without wine. It just makes you pathetic. Plus, you might be missing something. Despite his cowardly departure, my gut says that whatever sent Greg out the door this morning was important. He’s not the frivolous sort,” Georgia said.
Jellica threw up her hands. “It’s a sad state of affairs when Georgia Bates is more optimistic than I am. I could hate Greg for that alone. You’re never going to let me forget this if I’m wrong about him.”
“Amen, Sister,” Ann said, laughing even when Jellica and Georgia didn’t.
Chapter Fifteen
Jellica sent the rest of the ice cream home with Georgia and Ann out of spite. She picked up the boys and momentarily found distraction from her bad mood listening to their stories of the trip.
No other texts arrived that afternoon for her to mull over and she was not going to break down and demand he call. That really would be pathetic. She filled the rest of the day and evening with laundry and cleaning, including burning some sage on the patio to get rid of Greg’s energy out there.
Eric and Noah didn’t ask about him and she was relieved at the fact.
Monday morning she was up at first light and had done a special wake-up routine long before the boys emerged from their rooms. Because of the trip, Noah had paid a younger neighbor friend to do his paper route. Other than that, it was a routine morning until they charged out the door for school only to return five minutes later.
“Mom? Dad’s parked at the curb. He says he needs to see you,” Eric said.
Jellica’s jaw tightened. There would be no Eleanor to rescue her this time. What in the world could Martin want badly enough to show up at the house? She nodded to Martin who walked slowly up the sidewalk in his three-piece suit and polished shoes.
“Mom?” Noah stared at her, looking for a sign he needed to stay.
“Everything’s fine,” Jellica said firmly. “You guys go on. I’ll catch you up later if this is anything important.”
Eric looked at his father and back at her. “Want me to text Greg?”
“No,” Jellica said, a little too firmly she realized when Eric’s eyes widened at her sharp tone. “Don’t bother Greg. He’s dealing with a work emergency. That’s why he didn’t come by yesterday.”
They both kept their gaze on their father as they climbed into their friend’s car. Martin smiled and waved goodbye, but they didn’t look reassured by their father’s friendliness, probably because she’d raised them to be better judges of character than that. The last thing she’d wanted was to ever see her sons making the same mistakes she had.
“Is your phone not working, Martin?”
“Sarcasm does not become you, Angelica.”
“Blindsiding your sons doesn’t say much about your character either,” she told him.
“Oh, my. The meek kitten has grown some claws.”
He offered her another envelope. She took it and lifted it in the air. “What’s in this one? Another copy?”
“No. It’s an unfiled court document giving me joint custody of our children. It states that I regret my lack of involvement and am willing to pay you child support going forward… so long as the boys come to live with me part-time. I’m willing to rent an apartment just for the three of us so we can get to know each other.”
Jellica crumpled the envelope in her fingers wishing it was Martin’s head. She’d never been so angry at him. No one—absolutely no one—was taking her children from her.
A lo
ud car door slammed down by the curb. Seconds later, a very tense Greg was standing by her side, glaring at her ex-husband. Another time she might have been grateful for his surprising appearance. Right now she was wondering how much of this crapfest with her ex was Greg’s fault. Martin kept insinuating Greg was doing bad guy things. Was he?
“Awfully early for a visit isn’t it, Counselor Quartz?” Greg asked calmly.
Martin narrowed his eyes as he glared at Greg, but he said nothing in reply to his taunt. Jellica watched as he turned to her.
“Call him off and forget whatever stupid plans you two are cooking up to ruin me, Angelica. If you continue your excavation of a past that’s as dead as your parents, I’m going to make sure you suffer. Let me know your decision by the end of the day. Otherwise, I’m filing this case tomorrow and the next time I see you will be in court.”
Having said what he’d come to say, Martin turned his back to her and walked off.
“Martin,” Jellica yelled in what her sons would have said was her mom voice. When he stopped and turned to give her a condescending look, she ripped the unopened envelope in half and let both pieces drop to the ground. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll do the same with your plans toward our sons. You destroyed my life once. I’m not going to let you do it again. Your threats have crossed the line this time.”
“Just what do you think you can do to stop me? You’re a flake of a person, Angelica. You don’t have a real job. You work for chump change and hand-outs from people who feel sorry for you.” He waved an agitated hand between them. “Which of the two of us do you think the court is going to consider to be more fit to raise your children? This is a no-brainer case for me and even someone as naïve as you should understand that you’re the one who will lose in the end.”
When Greg swore and took a step toward Martin, Jellica grabbed his arm and held on like her life depended on it. She didn’t know why Greg was so upset on her behalf, but violence between the two men was not going to fix Martin’s condescending attitude. He’d had that since she’d known him. “No. If I thought hitting Martin would help, I’d punch him myself.”
She didn’t let go of Greg until the smirking Martin was safely in his car and pulling away. She turned a glare in Greg’s direction. “Now I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked him. What are you doing here so early? Is your phone not working?”
“I just… I wanted to see you in person,” Greg said slowly, turning to look at her angry face. “Did the boys see him like this? What happened before I got here?”
“That’s none of your business and neither is the ‘puzzle of my past’,” she air-quoted, “that you seem so obsessed with. Just stop whatever it is you’re doing that’s making Martin act even more like an ass to me than he normally does. Your entertainment, regardless of what you think you’re finding, is not worth losing my sons over. I refuse to lose my children for any reason. Good-bye, Greg.”
She left him standing on her sidewalk and walked back into the house. She locked the inside deadbolt on the front door to keep him out. Greg must have gotten the message he wasn’t welcome because he didn’t even try to use the key she’d given him. She waited in the hallway until she heard his car pull away from her curb. Then she went back outside and gathered up the two halves of the envelope she’d ripped in half.
After indulging in a good cry and a couple of hours of feeling sorry for herself, she was going to have to figure out what to do if Martin pushed forward with his threats. Whatever Greg had been trying to do was out of her control… like pretty much everything else in her life.
Jellica set down her watering can and pressed her hands together as she went into mountain pose. Her energy was erratic despite all her efforts to calm herself. Her current mood definitely would not be good for the plants. She stood still for a full three minutes, but no amount of stillness seemed to be doing the trick today. Martin taking the boys from her was the only thing on her mind.
“I’m sorry,” Jellica said, apologizing to the entire greenhouse and every plant in it. “I’m having a really bad day. I promise to be better next time I come this week.”
“My husband thinks I’m the only one who talks to them. I wish Bill was here to hear you. He might not think his wife was so nutty.”
Jellica turned from her task and smiled at the woman walking towards her. Ophelia Bell Davenport had a reputation for growing the unusual and the rare. People came from three states around to purchase her unique plants. Jellica appreciated that there wasn’t a genetically modified sprig in the entire place. And she’d learned so much about gardening from Ophelia.
“I was apologizing to the plants for my sour mood. Didn’t you hire me to talk to them?”
“I did. The orchids love your voice. After you’ve been by, they always bring top dollar. I can’t wait to see what the blue calla lilies are going to do in the spring. You got them to bud when I’d been ready to toss them in the compost bin.”
Jellica let her ego be stroked by the praise. This was one of her favorite jobs. “The orchids are such great beauties. I admire the combination of fragility and strength.”
“Yes,” Ophelia said. “They’re a lot like you.”
Jellica chuckled. “Sounds like wonderful praise for a yoga teacher, but right now I wish I was as tough as Georgia Bates. I’m going to need to be if my ex-husband tries to take my children away.”
“Georgia? That old bird would shoot him if she could get by with it. I love her like a sister, but she’s fierce. What’s your ex up to?”
“Other than hurt me, I don’t know,” Jellica said being honest. “Guess I’m going to have to find a good attorney.”
“That’s not how the world works for someone like you, sweetie. One has already found you. At least the woman said she was your attorney and that it was important she see you immediately. She sort of reminds me of Georgia. I wouldn’t want to mess with her—she has that look. I asked her to wait in her car.”
“My attorney?” Jellica laughed dryly as she drained the rest of the water from the can. Then it suddenly dawned on her that Ophelia might not have been joking. She turned to stare at her employer and friend. “Did you really ask Eleanor to wait in her car?”
“Sweetie, it’s a BMW—not a used Ford on its last days like that vehicle you drive. I didn’t catch the woman’s name, but she’s a silver-haired, petite fireball. And yes… she’s out in her car because I told her to stay put until I came back. I don’t care that she’s here. I’m just running interference until you tell me you want to see her.”
Jellica chewed on that one. Greg hadn’t called or texted in several days. Had he sent his mother to help after she’d refused to let him in the house? If true, his ballsy level of interference boggled her mind, especially considering she’d totally shunned him coming to her rescue. They hadn’t even dropped back from lovers to casual friends. She’d punted them all the way back to strangers and was still glaring at the mess in her dining room every time she walked by it.
But whether Greg sent his mother or not, the reality seemed to be that Eleanor had tracked her down. Greg must have told her where she was. She’d caught him studying her schedule on the kitchen calendar where she and the boys kept track of each other.
“Send her in, Ophelia. I’ll get rid of her quick and then get back to work.”
Ophelia nodded and bustled off to relay the message. Moments later, a wild-eyed Eleanor stomped into the greenhouse. Jellica held up a hand to head off the rant she could see in the woman’s eyes.
“Do not yell at me for being angry with Greg. That’s between us. And I’ve already had to apologize once to the plants today, don’t make me have to do it again. These plants are very valuable. Keep your tone civil.”
Eleanor looked around as if just seeing where she was. “Don’t worry. I didn’t come to plead Greg’s case. I came for you and your children. Please don’t be too prideful when I offer to represent you in court. Let me help take Martin Quartz down
once and for all. After all that man’s done to you, the last thing in the world you should worry about is tolerating more of his bullying tactics, especially about your children.”
“You honestly want to help me deal with my ex?”
“God, yes,” Eleanor said firmly. “Greg says you can’t afford the kind of attorney fees you’d need to in order to fight that conceited ass of a man. I figure you and I can barter the fee. I’ll do it for free yoga lessons for my daughter and me for a year. That should be close to a thousand dollars.”
“More like fifteen hundred to two thousand,” Jellica corrected.
“Really?” Eleanor grinned. “Yoga pays a lot better than I thought.”
“It pays really well when you have your own building and classrooms,” Jellica explained.
“Well, whatever the case is with the classes, do we have a deal?”
Jellica didn’t have to think about it. Her only other recourse was to borrow money from her friends who she hadn’t even told about the situation yet. They were going to go ballistic over what Martin was threatening to do. The only reason she hadn’t gone running to them for moral support was that she hadn’t figured out yet how to keep Georgia from going after her ex with guns blazing.
And Trudy? Trudy would ban him and his family from her restaurants and take out a front page ad announcing it. A photo of Martin would be by the hostess station with the words “Don’t Seat This Person” written across it. That would be bad too—very bad.
She stuck out her hand. “Okay. It’s a deal. But I want Greg kept out of it.”
Eleanor took her hand and held it tightly. “I won’t discuss your case with my son, but he’s an eyewitness to this latest bout of threatening. Like it or not, my son’s involved. That’s just how it is. Plus, I’m fairly sure some of what Greg did started Martin down this path. My son followed his gut and it’s brought him a heap of trouble this time. I think he should have told you everything from the beginning and I know he still needs to explain himself. I hope you have the courage to hear him when he offers to do so. It won’t change my decision to represent you one bit, but mending your friendship with Greg can only help your case if it actually goes to court. I’m going to be working to keep that from happening.”
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