The Truest Thing: Hart's Boardwalk #4

by Samantha Young

  Tears built in my throat and stung my eyes. “Ivy.”

  Hearing the choked way I said her name, her head whipped to me. “Don’t cry for me, Em. I’m not sure I deserve it.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m Iris and Ira Green’s kid. Can you, in any stretch of the imagination, imagine my mom putting up with that shit?”

  No. But many women did. “You were scared,” I guessed.

  “He … once he locked me in our walk-in closet for nearly two days. I tried to find a way out but I … I pissed my own pants.” Bitterness curdled the last few words and my tears escaped, hearing the humiliation in them. “Another time, I wanted to leave this party we were at because he kept flirting with this twenty-year-old actress right in front of me. He dragged me into a bathroom and held a paring knife he’d found in the kitchen to my throat. He told me that the next time I made a scene, he’d take me home and hold a knife at my throat while he ‘showed me the only thing I was good for.’” She released a breath and it shook so badly, it almost felt like the porch trembled with the force of it.

  “You know, he was actually nicer to me when he was high. You ever heard of the like?” Her dark eyes found mine. “I stayed in that nightmare, cutting out my mom and dad, because I was ashamed I’d let myself get into that mess. And I didn’t want my mom to know.” With an abruptness that shouldn’t have startled me but did, Ivy bowed her head and sobbed into her hands.

  Crying silently for her, I got out of my chair and lowered to my haunches, my arms sliding around her. I pulled her into me. Ivy didn’t resist. She let me take her weight and her pain.

  29

  Emery

  “Bailey will be so pissed I told you first,” Ivy said wryly as she sipped at a fresh mug of coffee.

  It was awhile after her confession and the tears that had followed. She’d gone inside to clean up while I made her a fresh pot and tried to push down the rage I felt toward a dead man.

  I chuckled at the idea of Bailey finding out Ivy had confided in me first. “Yeah.”

  “I just feel like I can trust you. Not that I can’t trust Bailey, but … timing is everything, I guess.”

  “You can trust me,” I promised her.

  She nodded.

  “Ivy, you need to tell your parents. They know and suspect something like this anyway … and they would never be ashamed of you. He did what all abusers do. He made you feel you were to blame for his actions. But you aren’t.”

  “I know that,” Ivy whispered. “Deep down, I know that. I knew it while he was doing it. I … just … I was planning to get away.” She glared at me. “Believe me. I planned that shit every day for two years.”

  “I do believe you. Ivy, do you know how many good, strong women are victims of domestic abuse each year in this country? The statistics are frightening. You are not alone.”

  “I’m not strong.”

  “You bashed a gunman over the head with an Academy Award statuette to protect Dahlia. If that isn’t badass, I don’t know what is.”

  Ivy grinned, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That was pretty badass. Is it wrong that that’s what I think of now when I look at it instead of the screenplay I won it for?”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “No, that just makes me like you even more.”

  Her expression darkened. “Would you still like me if I said I was relieved when Oliver died?”

  There it was.

  The root.

  “You feel guilty,” I surmised. “You feel guilty because his death freed you.”

  She nodded, swallowing hard.

  “That is a natural response. It does not make you a terrible person.”

  She huffed. “I … I don’t know if I’m a terrible person or if I’m stupid or weak … but … who entangles themselves with an honorable man when they’re this fucked up? I should never have let Jeff touch me.”

  I thought on this a moment. “Are you surprised that you could? That you wanted him?”

  Her eyes flew to mine. “Yes, actually.”

  “Maybe you have better instincts than you think. Maybe you’ve honed them since meeting Oliver. You trusted me and I can assure you I am trustworthy.” I smiled. “And you trusted Jeff to be the first man you’ve slept with since Oliver. And you can trust him. I doubt there is a man in the entire state of Delaware who you can trust more than Jeff King. Okay, there’s Cooper, Vaughn, and Michael, but they’re all taken so they don’t count.”

  She tilted her head, her gaze wandering curiously over my face. “Jack doesn’t count?”

  My heart ached. “I used to think so.”

  “Until he slept with Dana?”

  I shook my head. “I still trusted him then. I still believed in him.”

  “Not now?”

  “Not now.”

  “You don’t trust easily either, do you?”

  I thought of Ivy confiding her secrets to me. “I trust you.”

  She smiled gratefully.

  “Can I tell you a story? Only Jess knows it. It’s the reason I … well … it’s part of the reason I am the way I am.”

  “You can tell me anything.”

  So I did. On a warm Monday afternoon, I told Ivy Green my story.

  Afterward, we sat in silence for a while.

  Until eventually I turned to her and said, “Please tell your parents about what you went through with Oliver.”

  She closed her eyes briefly and took in a deep breath. “I will. I promise.”

  “And if you care about Jeff, don’t push him away. If you can’t start something with him, I absolutely understand, but tell him why. You won’t regret it.”

  “He’ll look at me differently.”

  “I doubt it, but if he does, then you’ll know for certain he isn’t the right guy for you.”

  “When did you get so wise, Emery Saunders?”

  “I have no idea,” I answered honestly, smiling as I settled a hand on my belly. “Maybe my kid is full of wisdom and leaking some of that goodness into me.”

  “Your kid,” she muttered. “You’re going to be a mom.”

  Fear, excitement, and anticipation caused a swooping sensation in my belly.

  “If I stay in Hartwell, do I get to be Aunt Ivy?” she teased.

  I didn’t tease when I replied, “You get to be Aunt Ivy no matter where you are.”

  Her eyes brightened and her voice sounded a little thick as she said, “I think maybe I’ll stay right where I am. It feels like a good place to be.”

  30

  Jack

  Jack’s patience was wearing thin.

  He’d texted Emery Sunday and Monday and hadn’t heard a thing back. Not a single reply.

  That shit was not right.

  Which was why Tuesday morning, he swung his car into a parking space on Main Street and marched down the boards to Emery’s store. It was morning. It was coffee rush hour, even if it was the end of August and already eighty degrees outside at eight o’clock in the morning. Jack expected he’d have to wait in line and wouldn’t be able to question Em about her ignoring him in front of customers.

  What he saw through the door was Em sitting in an empty store with her head in her hands.

  “Sunrise, what’s wrong?” he asked as he pushed through the door.

  She raised her head at the tinkle of the bell and his accompanying question. The look in her beautiful eyes matched the crease of concern between her brows. Em gestured to her empty store. “No one has come in this morning. No one.”

  What the hell?

  She shook her head in disgust. “I was closed yesterday. And I overheard Dana, Ellen, and Sadie gossiping about us in Lanson’s.”

  “What did they say?” Jack bit out angrily as he strode to the counter. He reached for her hand but she pulled back, which only increased his agitation.

  “They’re wondering which of us deliberately trapped the other.”

  Fury mowed over his anger. “What?”

  Em fli
nched at his bark. “Was it the shy, virginal bookstore owner who wanted to catch herself a man?” She gestured sarcastically to herself. “Or mercenary Jack Devlin who found out Emery Saunders comes from money?”

  “They said that?”

  “You can imagine what Dana was saying. How I trapped you but you’d never fall for it, that someone like me couldn’t keep your interest since I’m sexually inexperienced and we’ll be raising the baby separately.”

  “I’m going to kill her.” He pushed back off the counter, ready to march into town and blast the hell out of them for gossiping about Emery like this. She didn’t deserve it. They’d practically run his mother out of town because of their gossiping shit, and he wouldn’t let them hurt Emery.

  “Don’t.” Emery reached over the counter, grabbing his arm.

  He covered her hand with his, seeking contact.

  “Jack, don’t.” She tried to let go, but he took hold of her hand and held on. “I just want to get through this without giving them anything more to be scandalized over.”

  His heart beat too fast. He had pent-up aggression he wanted to dole out on someone. Preferably someone who had hurt Em.

  “Please.” She squeezed his hand.

  Taking a deep breath, Jack nodded.

  “Can I have my hand back now?”

  He shook his head. “Not until you tell me why you’ve been ignoring my texts.”

  “Your texts?” Emery scowled. “I haven’t received any—oh my gosh.” She covered her mouth with her free hand, her eyes filling with sheepishness. She dropped her hand and grimaced. “I blocked you. When you didn’t call or text for weeks … I blocked your number.”

  Disappointment and self-directed anger twisted his gut. He tightened his hand around Em’s, feeling her silver rings bite into his skin. “How about you unblock it now?”

  “Of course. I’d do it now if I had both hands free.”

  At her teasing, Jack released her. He watched as she pulled her cell out from under the counter and tapped on the screen.

  “When is your next doctor’s appointment?”

  “This week. It’s my first prenatal visit.”

  “I want to be there.”

  “Jack, it’s not a big deal. Why don’t you come with me for the first ultrasound?” She looked up from her phone and waved it at him. “Unblocked.”

  He ignored that. “I want to be at every appointment.”

  She sighed, sounding a little exasperated. “Jess says I’ll have an appointment once a month until twenty-eight weeks. And then it’ll be every two weeks and then every week. Do you really want to come to every single one?”

  Jack leaned in, hoping proximity would somehow make the words sink in. “Every. Single. One. Every appointment. Every scan. And I’m going to be around, Em. I’m going to make you dinner. We’re going to hang out. We’re going to become the bestest fucking friends during your pregnancy, so help me God.”

  To his surprise, her lips twitched with amusement. “The bestest fucking friends?”

  As cute as her amusement was, Jack was deadly serious. “We’re going to raise a kid together, and you said you don’t trust me. I’m going to be the father of your child, Emery. I know you don’t want me the way I want you, but I have to earn your trust either way. For my kid. If you don’t trust me, you do realize our kid will eventually sense that. Do you want that? Because I don’t.”

  Her eyes grew adorably round, her skin flushing a gorgeous pink. “I … you’re right. I don’t want that.”

  Jack relaxed a little. “I can’t snap my fingers and say ‘Em, trust me.’ It doesn’t work like that. I get it. I get that I screwed up with you. But for the sake of co-parenting, please give me the chance to earn your trust. The only way I can do that is to spend time with you.”

  She studied him before she asked, “Just friends?”

  It took everything within him. In fact, Jack had to swallow down a growl of indignation at the mere thought. And then, for the first time, he intentionally lied to Emery. “Just friends.”

  After contemplating him a moment, Emery gave him a small, tentative smile. “My prenatal visit is at Hartwell County General on Thursday at two o’clock.”

  Jack mentally noted it so he could make sure his schedule was clear. “Where will I pick you up? Here or at your place?”

  “Oh, we can just meet there.”

  He glared at her.

  Her lips twitched again. “Here. One thirty.”

  “Good.” Jack flashed her a pleased smile. “Thank you.”

  The pink staining her cheeks turned a delightful strawberry. Jack’s body reacted to her blushing. Seemed like a good time to get gone. “I’ll take two Americanos to go.”

  While she busied herself making the coffees, Jack couldn’t help but watch her. She wasn’t showing. Not yet. But she had their baby growing in her belly. Tied to him forever through the beautiful kid they’d made. Jack was going to be a father. She would be his kid’s mom. The possession that was becoming so familiar roared through him. Heat built in his blood, traveling south with dangerous speed.

  Trying to divert his thoughts, he said, “Don’t worry about the gossips. They’ll find something new to talk about it.”

  “I’m not worried about the gossip.” She slid the coffees toward him. “I’m worried that people are so judgmental about this pregnancy that they don’t want to come through my doors.”

  That was the part Jack didn’t get. He knew Cat was treated like shit when she got pregnant with Joey out of wedlock, but only by a small pocket of the most conservative members of the community. Hartwell, in general, was not a conservative place. It was strange that no one would venture into Em’s store because of this.

  Concern niggled at him.

  “I’ll look into it.”

  “You think there’s something more going on?” She worried her bottom lip, drawing his attention to her mouth.

  He needed to get out of there before he did something stupid, like kiss the anxieties right out of her. “We’ll see. Stop worrying. I’ll take care of it.”

  “If someone is trying to sabotage me, Jack, I want to know. They think they can walk all over me because I’m quiet, but they can’t. And they should know that.”

  Jack knew that for a fact. “When I find out what’s going on, I’ll let you know. And we’ll take care of it the way you want to take care of it.”

  Em’s expression softened and she gave him a small nod of thanks. “Coffee is on the house.”

  His chest ached with the urge to kiss her. The ache traveled into his throat and choked a response right out of him. Instead, he lifted his cups to her in thanks and got the hell out of there before he ruined his stealthy plan of attack.

  And even though Jack was running late for a meeting with his hotel manager, and that wasn’t exactly the impression he wanted to give his staff first week in, Jack knocked on Cooper’s door. The bar wasn’t open yet, but Coop was sometimes there early doing inventory and cleaning up.

  It was Jack’s lucky morning that Coop was the one who opened the door.

  He held out the second Americano to his friend. “Got a quick minute?”

  Cooper took the coffee and gestured Jack inside. The bar’s air-conditioning offered relief from the sultry morning.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “No one is at Em’s. It’s like they’re boycotting the place. Have you heard anything?”

  Cooper grimaced. “There’s been gossip. I know we have some conservatives in town who wouldn’t like her being pregnant out of wedlock but not enough she wouldn’t have any customers. It’s not like she’s the first unmarried woman in Hartwell to get pregnant.”

  Yeah, exactly Jack’s thoughts. “Em heard three women gossiping yesterday in Lanson’s. Some wondered if I was after her money and deliberately got her pregnant—others are thinking she tried to trap me and failed.”

  Cooper sighed in exasperation. “Yeah, that’s the shit we heard too. I had to stop Jess
from marching through town with a megaphone screaming her outrage. It’s got her stressed so I can’t imagine how Emery’s feeling, and the last thing we need is our pregnant women worked up right now. Thankfully, a scandal only lasts until the next one comes along.”

  “My family has given this town plenty to chew over these last few months.” Jack followed Cooper as he pulled a chair out at a table. He took a seat across from him, disbelieving how easily Cooper had let him back into his life.

  The problem was, he suspected something, and he was afraid airing it might sour things between them again.

  “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. “I hate to ask this, Coop, but it’s too important.”

  “Ask what?”

  Jack forced himself to meet his friend’s gaze. “Dana was one of the women bitching yesterday. She was spreading it around that there was no way I’d be interested in Emery, that she couldn’t satisfy me, and Em was trying to trap me.”

  Cooper’s expression darkened. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “I … man, I hate coming to you for your opinion on this, but do you think Dana might spread that shit far and wide? Vilifying Em? I gotta say, I was surprised by how many people seemed to come to my side after the shit with Ian went down. Maybe someone is telling them Em took advantage. Is that a stretch?”

  “One—” Cooper took a sip of coffee as if to gather his thoughts. “Dana is a part of our history. We’ll never get past that if we tiptoe around any mention of her. She doesn’t deserve the awkwardness or the tension. Truth is, Jack, I feel like I was married to her in another life. I’m so disconnected to that time now. Going forward, I’m just holding on to the memory of the guy who beat the shit out of an older kid for beating the shit out of me. To the guy who took care of my mom’s funeral arrangements because I was too fucked up. Who stood at my side and cried with me at her funeral.”