Wicked Honeymoon (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 19)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “They don’t interact a lot,” Ivy noted when she and Jack separated from the couple and started paddling faster so they could reach Eleanor and Harold before they stopped for lunch. “I mean ... they look great together. They both obviously work out and are pretty. They don’t seem to have much of a connection, though.”

  “Are you saying I’m not pretty?” Jack sent her a stern look that made her giggle.

  “You’re handsome,” she replied. “You have this manly ruggedness about you that I absolutely adore. He’s somehow ... smoother. I guess that’s the word I’m looking for. He reminds me of a boyband member ... or the lead in some teenybopper show like Pretty Little Liars or something.”

  “I had no idea you had so much knowledge regarding teenybopper shows,” Jack said dryly.

  “Everybody has seen one of those shows. I’m just saying ... they’re a veneer.”

  “Okay.” Jack was ready to break it down. “What about them bothers you?”

  It wasn’t an easy question to answer and Ivy found she had trouble putting her finger on exactly what bothered her about the couple. “They’re not us.”

  He was quiet a beat, baffled. “Of course they’re not us,” he said finally. “Nobody is us.”

  “No, but they’re not authentic. I mean ... nobody looks at us and says ‘there’s the perfect couple’ because there’s no such thing as a perfect couple. Not really.”

  “I look at us and say that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You do not. You look at me and see the woman you love despite the fact that I never listen and am obstinate to a fault. You don’t ignore my faults. You think about them, complain all the time, and then accept them because they’re part of who I am and you love who I am.”

  “That’s true. I even accept the drool.”

  “Don’t make me run you into a tree, Jack.”

  His grin widened. “There’s more of that acceptance, huh?”

  “That’s just it. We do accept one another. Marriage is about compromise. Love is first. It’s overwhelming sometimes and makes people forget. Compromise is next, though, and I don’t see compromise between Nate and Vanessa. I don’t even see love between them. I see two people who decided to get married because it looked good on paper.”

  It wasn’t the sort of conversation Jack pictured them having on their honeymoon, but he found it fascinating all the same. It was an example of the acceptance she’d mentioned. They were comfortable talking about anything as long as they were together. “So why are they together?” He asked finally. “If they don’t love each other, then what is it?”

  “They’re both pretty. They look good together at a party. It’s like the earlier version of Bart and Lily, how they likely acted around one another twenty years ago.”

  “Huh.” Jack was impressed. “That’s a very good read, honey. I have to say, I hadn’t put it together like that before. I don’t think Nate is as big of a jerk as Bart, though.”

  “Likely not,” Ivy agreed, not missing a beat. “Maybe Bart wasn’t as big of a jerk when they first got married either. Maybe he was just mildly disinterested like Nate. Maybe Lily had her own stuff to distract her and it’s fallen by the wayside over the years so it’s more obvious now.”

  “You really have been thinking about this,” Jack marveled.

  “It’s more like it just came to me.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short. Your brain is amazing.”

  “We still don’t have answers.”

  “No, but you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

  THEY DIDN’T CATCH UP TO ELEANOR AND HAROLD until they reached the spot where they would be having lunch. Rather than segregate themselves and walk around the clearing, as had become their way, Jack and Ivy instead situated themselves very close to the older couple when settling at the table for their meal.

  “What’s it like working in a bank?” Ivy asked as she unwrapped her sandwich. It wasn’t easy for her to feign interest in a corporate banker, but she was determined to try.

  “Very fulfilling,” Harold replied. “I happen to love money.”

  “Who doesn’t?”

  Jack shot her an amused look. He’d never met anyone less materialistic than Ivy. Despite that, she had a good head for business. He maintained that if she wanted, she could turn her botanical lotions business into a much bigger thing. She preferred keeping it as a hands-on endeavor, though. One day, she might decide to change things up. For now, they were happy with the life they’d already built and more money wasn’t a necessity for either of them.

  “I always knew I wanted to be a banker,” Harold explained. “When I was a child, my father showed me It’s a Wonderful Life. After that, I knew I could only be one thing when I grew up.”

  Ivy frowned as she popped a potato chip into her mouth and shifted her eyes to Jack, the question bobbing around her mind obvious.

  “I thought the banker in that movie was the bad guy,” Jack prodded finally.

  Harold offered up a dismissive hand wave. “He was just misunderstood. There’s nothing worse than a deadbeat.”

  “Uh-huh.” Ivy bit into her sandwich with gusto so she wouldn’t say something she’d regret.

  “What about you, Eleanor?” Jack prodded, desperate to change the subject. “Are you as big a fan of money as your husband?”

  Eleanor appeared completely disinterested in the conversation. “He does what he does. I do what I do. It’s ... fine.”

  Ivy frowned as she shifted her eyes to the woman. She didn’t think she’d said as many as twenty words to Eleanor since they’d set off on the trip. The glazed expression on the woman’s face made her realize why.

  She was stoned. Likely not on pot, because Ivy would’ve recognized that scent anywhere, but Eleanor was clearly medicated. The reason she was so docile and out of it all the time was because she medicated herself into that state. Ivy glanced at Jack to see if he’d picked up on the fact that there was something off about Eleanor. He looked as perplexed as Ivy felt.

  “Are you feeling okay today, Eleanor?” Jack asked out of the blue, his expression friendly even as his eyes filled with turbulent clouds.

  “I’m lovely.” She made a circle with her index finger and thumb on her right hand and shot him the okay sign. “This is a great trip.”

  Jack licked his lips and glanced at Tyson, who seemed to be listening to the conversation with baffled amusement. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

  “Ignore her,” Harold offered. “She took her morning pills late, when we were already on the river, and they always make her loopy if she doesn’t eat when she takes them.”

  “And what sort of pills are those?” Ivy was almost afraid to hear the answer. “Are they ... opioids?”

  “What?” Harold appeared scandalized by the question. “Of course not. It’s an anxiety medication. She only has to take it sparingly at home. I packed it just in case because I wasn’t certain how she would do on the river. She’s mildly claustrophobic.”

  “We’re outside,” Jack pointed out.

  “Yes, but she’s trapped in the kayak so she feels closed in. She agreed to the trip for me, as an anniversary gift, but she doesn’t do well when trapped in the kayak for more than two hours. The meds just smooth out her anxiety.”

  That sounded believable on the face of it, but Jack filed it away to consider again when he had some quiet time away from the group. “Well ... it was nice of her to agree to the trip.”

  “Yes, but she’s never going to let me forget it.” Harold let loose a sigh. “It’s fine. She’ll sleep like a baby tonight and will be none the worse for wear tomorrow.” He shifted his gaze to Tyson. “That’s what she’s really worried about. Tomorrow is the roughest day of the trip, right? I heard you and Cara talking around the fire last night. Cara seemed more concerned than you but still … .”

  “Tomorrow is the roughest day,” Tyson confirmed as he finished up his sandwich. “We were hoping the water would calm some between when
we set out and arrived at that portion of our trip. Unfortunately, they got rain north of us last night – and they’re calling for more today – and it’s made the water even more choppy than normal.”

  Jack shifted gears in an instant. “Is it safe for us to be on water like that?”

  “It should be fine. We’re going to insist that everybody wear life jackets during the trip. Also, everybody will be going single file and not doubling up next to one another so there are no inadvertent collisions.”

  A small ball of dread formed in the pit of Jack’s stomach. “Maybe we should skip this leg and drive around it.”

  “No way.” Nate immediately started shaking his head. “This is the part of the trip I’ve been waiting for. It’s going to be epic.”

  “I’m going to film it for my YouTube channel,” Vanessa added. “My followers are going to think I’m so brave.”

  Jack remained unconvinced as he shifted his eyes to Ivy. She didn’t say anything, but it was obvious her mind was busy. “Well, as long as it’s safe, it sounds like a fun trip,” he said after a few seconds of contemplation. “Who doesn’t love a bit of adventure?”

  “Nobody here,” Harold replied. “Adventure is exactly why we came on this trip. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

  Jack had a sinking feeling that he was the only one not excited for the choppier waters. The upcoming stretch sounded like it would be the most dangerous leg of their vacation, which meant if something was going to happen, it was likely there.

  They had to plan ahead. Jack was determined to keep the others safe. Ivy was his primary concern, though. No matter what, he would keep her from harm or die trying.

  Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

  “Adventure is my middle name,” Jack said blandly. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow just like everybody else.” He didn’t mean it but knew he had to say it.

  They were officially on a clock now.

  13

  Thirteen

  Once back on the river, it was Carter and Damien who deliberately paced Ivy and Jack.

  “You guys are up to something,” Carter announced after a few minutes of silent floating.

  Ivy slid her eyes to him. “Why would you say that?”

  “I love that you don’t bother denying it.” Carter winked at her. “One of my favorite things about the two of you is how forthcoming you are.”

  “We are forthcoming,” Ivy agreed. “I still don’t understand why you think we’re up to something.”

  “Because you spent the morning hopping from couple to couple and chatting,” Damien replied. “You’re feeling people out. You didn’t bother with Bart and Lily, but your husband has already thrown the gauntlet with them. You’re obviously worried about something.”

  “And we want to know what that something is,” Carter added. “So ... out with it.”

  Ivy hesitated and then flicked her eyes to the front of the kayak. Jack didn’t bother looking over his shoulder to meet her gaze.

  “We’re ... concerned,” Jack replied as he kept his eyes darting from one side of the river to the other. It was as if he expected somebody to jump out of the shadows and attack them, Ivy mused. She hated when he was hyper vigilant. She enjoyed having him on her side when she felt on edge, however, like today.

  “We want to be concerned, too,” Carter insisted. “You need to tell us what we’re supposed to be concerned about.”

  “We’re not sure.” Jack shot him a rueful smile. “We’ve been discussing things and feel as if something is off.”

  Carter waited, but when Jack didn’t expand, he scowled. “Yeah, we’re going to need more than that.”

  Jack held out his hands. “I don’t know that we can give you more than that. We’re just ... talking out loud at this point.”

  “So, talk to us,” Damien suggested. “The fact that you’re a police detective and are obviously agitated has us feeling agitated, too. We need to know more. We can’t just ignore what’s going on with you guys.”

  Jack hesitated, briefly wondering if he was making the wrong decision, and then he barreled forward. “No matter what Tyson says, that was blood behind Nate and Vanessa’s tent that first morning. It’s my job to recognize blood ... and that was blood.”

  “Does that mean someone died?” Carter looked excited at the prospect. “Is this a murder mystery trip? I wish someone would’ve told me if it is. I would’ve packed different clothing.”

  Jack cracked a genuine smile. “We don’t have proof that anybody is dead.”

  “But you suspect it.”

  “I suspect ... something weird is going on.” How was he supposed to explain it? He struggled with the correct way to keep Damien and Carter in the loop without sounding like a loon.

  “We don’t trust Bart,” Ivy volunteered, taking control of the conversation. “We don’t like him.”

  “Nobody likes him,” Carter replied. “The dude is obviously the king of the tools. I think he knows nobody likes him, which is likely why he acts the way he does. He likes attention. Even negative attention will do. People like that are always the worst of the worst.”

  Jack’s forehead creased. “What do you mean?”

  “I majored in psychology in school,” Carter warned. “I had designs on being a therapist. My professors said I was too judgmental, so that dream died on the vine, but I’m still interested in the field. I’m just warning you now because I’m about to get clinical.

  “Bart strikes me as the sort of kid who went to private school and was forced into a certain lifestyle at a young age,” he continued. “I don’t know if he would’ve grown up to be a different man if he had the choice, but he is who he is because of how he was raised.

  “Some people who grow up in that lifestyle have the strength to break free. Bart is the exact opposite. It’s likely that he was a sniveling, manipulative, and altogether unlikable kid. When his schoolmates made fun of him, he was the sort of kid who ran straight to the principal’s office to tattle rather than try to figure out why he was so unliked and adjust his attitude accordingly.”

  Ivy balked. “Some kids are just mean. I don’t think all kids who have trouble making friends in school should be told that they’re the problem and they should conform.”

  Slowly, Carter tracked his eyes to Ivy. “I didn’t say that.”

  “You kind of insinuated it,” Ivy pressed.

  Jack cleared his throat to draw everybody’s attention. “Ivy was terrorized by two girls in her school when she was younger. They still try to terrorize her as an adult. She’s sensitive on the topic — and rightfully so — but she wasn’t the one at fault in her particular case and I’m with her when it comes to conforming. I don’t think that’s always the answer.”

  “You misunderstand,” Carter argued. “I’m not saying conforming is the answer.” He gestured between Damien and himself. “I mean ... come on. We obviously don’t conform.” His eyes were serious as he flicked them to Ivy. “As for you, I’m guessing the girls who terrorized you were jealous. Am I right?”

  Ivy shook her head at the same time Jack bobbed his.

  “They’re totally jealous,” Jack agreed. “Ivy was authentic and people liked her because she was honest and forthcoming. When I first arrived in Shadow Lake, both of the women in question asked me out. One of them even showed up with a casserole.”

  Damien let loose with a derisive snicker. “Of course she did. I will just bet you were considered a huge catch in a small town like that.”

  “Apparently I was,” Jack agreed. “I had no idea it was a thing but apparently it is ... and there was some sort of competition to see who I would go out with first. I didn’t find out about that until after the fact of course, but I was considered a prize.”

  Damien’s gaze was speculative as it landed on Ivy. “And you won the prize.”

  Ivy hesitated and then shrugged. “Under normal circumstances I would argue that a human being can’t be a prize, but I do feel as if I won the lotter
y ten times over with Jack. It’s hard to explain.”

  “You guys are the cutest.” Carter tipped an invisible hat and then sighed. “Ivy’s situation is a textbook case of insecure girls picking on the loner girl because they understand, at some level, she’s going to be everything they’re not.

  “In Ivy’s case, she was likely a tomboy who had all the boys falling in love with her even though she didn’t realize it,” he continued, grinning when Ivy rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t bother denying it. You have that Bohemian thing going for you. Men love that.”

  “We do,” Jack agreed. “I happen to love that Ivy is different.”

  “And she didn’t bring you a casserole,” Carter mused. “I’m guessing she didn’t throw herself at you like the others in an effort to get your attention. Did she play hard to get? Men love a woman who plays hard to get.”

  Jack tilted his head, considering, and then shook it. “No. She didn’t play hard to get. We both fought a relationship at the start, but we couldn’t stay away from one another. Nobody actively played hard to get. One day we were simply strangers meeting and the next day we were joined at the hip.”

  “I don’t remember it being quite that simplistic,” Ivy countered.

  “It kind of was, though.” Jack sent her a wink and then sobered. “Go back to what you were saying about Bart. Why do you think his problems stemmed from him not conforming as a kid?”

  “I phrased that wrong,” Carter replied automatically. “I’m never a fan of conformity. Bart is a specific type, though. It was likely he was used to getting his own way as a child and on the rare occasion it didn’t happen, he probably picked a fight or an argument. When explaining himself to school officials or his parents, it was likely never his fault. He doesn’t strike me as somebody who takes responsibility for his actions.”

  “Huh.”

  Ivy found she was intrigued by Carter’s breakdown. “I once read that the definition of insanity is believing that everybody else in the room is wrong and you’re right. That would seem to fit Bart.”