Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2)

by Lenfestey, Karen

  “Braham’s Lullaby” played softly from a hidden stereo system while the lake splashed outside the wall of windows. Blue and white balloons sat on every glass end table and on a nearby gift table. Beth and her mom set their gifts among the small arrangement of packages. Scanning the room of six people, Beth didn’t recognize anyone.

  Her mom, who had never been there before, walked over and touched the pink-tiled fireplace. “Beautiful.”

  “Ivy wanted it to look like the inside of a seashell. She told me the painters had to re-do the coordinating wall five times until it met her vision.” Beth shook her head, thinking she would never have the nerve to ask someone to do something five times.

  Staring out the front window, Aunt Fran flapped her arms. “They’re coming! Everybody hide.” She flipped out the lights, but because of the sun shining through the glass wall, the room remained pretty bright.

  Everyone crouched behind cream-colored couches, listening to the lullaby CD, until they heard the door open. “Surprise!” They jumped up and Ivy’s brown eyes grew wide.

  Ivy’s gaze transitioned from her Aunt Fran’s to her other relatives. She placed the baby carrier on the floor. “What’s going on?” Her tone was light and playful as people stepped forward to hug her. Her focus landed on Beth and her expression turned cold. “What are you doing here?”

  “Your mom invited me. And do you remember my mom?” Trying to distract everyone from the awkwardness, Beth made the introductions. “It’s been—what—fifteen years since Mom visited me on-campus and took us to lunch?”

  Ivy nodded and bent down to unfasten the baby from his carrier. Dressed in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and khakis, Parker Junior looked adorable. His big eyes blinked from behind blond eyelashes as he stuck his thumb in his mouth. Beaming, Ivy passed him around the circle and took in the compliments about how precious he was. Just as the baby was about to be handed to Beth, Ivy stepped forward and grabbed him.

  Feigning interest in the view, Beth walked over to the windows and tried to act as if she wasn’t hurt.

  Ivy’s mom, the only one in the room not wearing makeup, clapped her hands together. “Everyone, take a seat so we can start the games.” It took only a few seconds for the chatter to die down and for people to find a spot. “OK, the first game is a purse scavenger hunt.” She passed out a list of items to each guest. “Whoever has the most points, wins. If you have more than one of the same item, you get extra points. For example, if the list says you get five points for a Q-tip and you have two, you’ll earn ten points.” Her shoulder-length, graying hair fell into her face as she bent forward. She took the infant from Ivy’s lap, so the guest of honor could participate in the hunt.

  “Rock-a-bye Baby” played on the stereo in the background as Beth’s mom slipped on her dime store reading glasses. Sitting side-by-side, Beth and her mother opened their purses. Some of the women dumped the entire contents of their bags onto the floor and started rummaging through. Beth preferred to reach inside and pull out individual items that were listed: pens, Band-aids, Tic Tacs, a Canadian penny and a bottle of aspirin. She earned five points for a tape measure, which she’d used when she went antiquing with her ex. Shaking her head, she added up her points (34) and checked to see how her mom was doing.

  “How about a screw driver? I think that should be worth something,” a twenty-something woman with Fran’s same big nose said. Others chimed in with the odd things they’d discovered: a man’s tie tack, a stapler, a straw.

  A few minutes later, Ivy’s mom stood in the center of the room. “All right. Raise your hand if you have 20 points.” She kept increasing the value until it came down to Beth and Ivy, who were tied.

  Ivy dug through her purse. “Wait a minute. Yes!” She held up a gold lipstick case. “I knew I probably had another lipstick in here. That’s five extra points, so I won. I won!”

  Everyone laughed because Ivy was famous for always wearing red lipstick. She’d managed to unearth five tubes in her Gucci bag alone.

  Beth didn’t mind losing since it seemed so important to Ivy. “Congratulations!” Ivy refused to respond, which made Beth’s cheeks warm with embarrassment. Why had she come here?

  Balancing the baby on her hip, Ivy’s mom gave her daughter a blue and white striped gift bag, which contained a scented candle. Ivy pulled it out, sniffed it and scrunched up her nose in disapproval.

  After that, Ivy’s mom returned to her seat and Aunt Fran led them through the rest of the silly, baby-themed activities. In the middle of Guess the Nursery Rhyme game, the background music stopped. Baby Parker started to wail and everyone turned their attention to him. His face turned red.

  Ivy’s mom started bouncing him on her knee, to no avail. She stood and bounced him as she paced the room. Eventually, Fran took him and patted his tiny back, but that didn’t help.

  “Hush little baby, don’t say a word. Momma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird,” Ivy started to croon. Parker Junior fell silent.

  The room filled with “awww” as Ivy took the child in her arms and went through the verses. Beth dug her fingernails into her palms. Ivy was selfish and petty. She’d cheated on her husband yet somehow landed on her feet. Why did she get to experience motherhood while Beth kept being denied?

  Ivy’s mom beamed as she gazed at her daughter and grandson. “Isn’t he a lucky boy to have a momma who can sing like that?”

  Wrestling back her green demon, Beth nodded along with the small crowd.

  Aunt Fran began handing out cupcakes decorated with blue bow ties. To be polite, Beth took one, but she worried she’d been consuming too many sweets lately. She needed to hit the gym more often. Her walks with Kaylee were fun, but didn’t burn nearly enough calories for a woman in her mid-thirties.

  Someone started the CD back up, which started playing “Are you Sleeping?” and Ivy handed the infant to her aunt in exchange for a cupcake. Normally, Beth couldn’t take her eyes off of the view of Lake Michigan when she visited this house, but today, her attention followed Parker Junior as he grimaced, burped and slept. She wondered how long before he learned how to smile.

  After eating and freshening her scarlet lipstick, Ivy opened the presents. She was in the middle of opening a pack of bibs Aunt Fran had embroidered with teddy bears and the days of the week when the phone rang.

  The room fell silent as everyone eavesdropped on the answering machine message. “This is Caleb from the Peace Corps wondering if Parker DuBois received the package we sent.”

  Ivy threw down the bibs and stood. “Give me that phone. I am so sick of them calling here.” She marched over and took the receiver from one of her aunt’s hands. “Hello? This is Mrs. DuBois and I want you to take our number off your list. We do not want to donate anything.” She paused as if listening to the caller. “I’ll have you know that you’re interrupting my baby shower and that is so rude!” With a huff, she hung up the phone.

  As if disoriented, Ivy stood there while everyone watched. She raised an accusatory finger in Beth’s direction. “That reminds me. I have something to give you after the party.”

  An hour later, people started begging off and leaving. When Ivy’s mom was busy gathering up the ripped wrapping paper, Ivy popped in and out of the bedroom. She walked toward Beth and handed her a stack of mail. “Here.” Her voice was soft. “All of this goes to Parker.”

  “Parker and I aren’t exactly--”

  Ivy cut her off. “I don’t want to hear about your love life. Just give this crap to him.” She walked Beth and her mom to the door and ushered them onto the porch.

  Carrying a plate of cupcakes, Ivy’s mom walked toward them with her flat-footed gait. “Wait! We have tons of left-overs. Why don’t you two take some of these home?” Her gaze landed on the pile of mail in Beth’s hand. “What are you doing with Parker’s mail?”

  Beth chewed on her lip and waited for Ivy to respond. It was time for her to stop this charade.

  Ivy tugged on her dangling gold earring. “Mom, I hav
e to tell you something.” She paused. “Parker left me. . . for Bethany.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Standing on the porch of a million-dollar home, Beth felt acid pooling in her stomach. “That’s not true.”

  Ivy’s mom glared at her. “You bitch!”

  Beth’s mom put out her hands as if that would help settle things. “I hardly think cursing is appropriate.”

  “I don’t care what you think.” Ivy’s mom put her fist on her hip while the other hand still held a plate of bow tie cupcakes. “Your daughter is a slut.”

  “She most certainly is not.” Beth’s mom squared her shoulders. “I’m not privy to the reasons why Parker and Ivy split, but I assure you it had nothing to do with my daughter. She’s a good Christian.”

  While shrinking away from the conflict, Beth felt buoyed by her mom’s staunch defense. She wanted to blurt out that the woman’s grandchild had been conceived during an affair with Ivy’s loser piano player. If anyone was a slut, it was Ivy. But Beth decided to take the high road. She’d never talk to Ivy again, so who cared what her mother thought? “Let’s go.” She tapped her own mom’s arm and they headed for the car. As they walked away, two cupcakes flew by their heads and landed in the sandy soil.

  Once they were on the winding road, Beth’s mom crossed her arms. “Tell me what Ivy said isn’t true.”

  “Of course not, Mom. Parker and Ivy’s marriage had been disintegrating long before I re-entered their lives. Ivy’s rewriting history to make herself look better.”

  Nodding, her mom relaxed her arms. “I thought so.”

  # # #

  Holding her breath, Beth knocked on Parker’s oak door. If he wasn’t there, she’d use her key to go inside and drop the mail on his kitchen table. And maybe she’d leave her key, too.

  As she stood there waiting, she leafed through his mail. Credit card offers, bills, an Indiana Business magazine renewal, and a big blue cardboard envelope with the words “Peace Corps invites you to serve.” What the. . . ?

  Parker pulled open the door and a smile sprang to his lips immediately, probably out of habit. Then he sobered. “I figured you’d never want to see me again.”

  She lifted the documents in her hand. “Mail call.”

  He grabbed the envelopes and immediately shuffled to the blue one. “Where did you get this?”

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.” He stepped back and the mail seemed to shake in his hands. “You caught me off-guard.”

  “Yeah, well, imagine how Ivy felt when I showed up at her surprise baby shower. That’s where I got your lost mail.”

  “You went to Ivy’s?”

  Nodding, she leaned against the back of the leather couch. “Her mom begged me to go. Said Ivy could use a friend.”

  He chuckled. “I’m sure she could.” His focus kept returning to the blue envelope as if it were a sweepstakes winning announcement.

  “Go ahead. Open it. What’s the Peace Corps want with you? They called during the baby shower and Ivy told them to leave her alone.”

  He ripped open the end and pulled out a packet. “Yes.”

  “Yes what?”

  He pursed his lips together. “Wait. You said Ivy talked to them. Did she say anything about the Huntington’s?”

  “No. She said you’d just had a baby, though.”

  His eyes squeezed together for a second. “Aargh.”

  Beth crossed her arms. “What’s going on?”

  “Have a seat.” They walked around to the front of the couch and sat while keeping their distance. Putting the packet on the table, he took a deep breath and avoided eye contact. “Remember back in college when I said I wanted to make a difference in the world? Well, I’ve decided it’s time. I’m joining the Peace Corps and going to Africa.”

  She squinted at him. “You’re going to Africa? But you’re sick.” Just saying it caused her to cringe. They had an unspoken rule that he could bring up his illness, but she never would.

  “I want to do this before I’m too sick to go.”

  “You need to be close to your doctor. Won’t you need to have your medication adjusted as things. . .progress?”

  “Nothing the doctors do will make me better. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m taking it.” His voice held resolve.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’d go half-way around the world to help strangers rather than help me adopt Hannah’s baby?”

  “I knew you wouldn’t understand. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

  Something shifted to high alert inside of her. Her breathing quickened and her muscles tensed. “How long have you been planning on leaving the country?”

  He cracked his knuckles. “I applied a long time ago and then recently, they called me for an interview. I wasn’t sure if they’d accept me, but here it is.” While he patted the pile of papers, his brown eyes seemed to twinkle.

  “OK. So, how long will you be gone?”

  “Two years.”

  “Two years?” Considering he might only have ten years left to live, this was quite the commitment. Steam built up inside of her. “Whatever. It’s your life and you obviously don’t want me in it.” She rose and marched toward the door. “I get the hint. It took me a while, but now I understand. You’ve been pushing me away for weeks and I kept telling myself I was imagining things.”

  Following her, he placed his palm against the wooden door. “Beth, don’t be mad. I never meant to hurt you.”

  Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She wanted to get out of there before she embarrassed herself further. “Well, you did hurt me. I love you and you don’t love me back. That hurts like hell, but I’ll get over it.” She grabbed the door handle and glared at him until he removed his hand.

  # # #

  Wiping away her tears, Beth drove to her apartment in a trance. Parker was leaving the country. What he’d been telling her for months was true: he would never commit to her. They would never live happily ever after. Even though she was willing to marry him knowing their union would be cut short, he didn’t want to be with her.

  She inhaled a few deep breaths and told herself to pull it together. If Kaylee happened to stop by, which she did most every day, Beth didn’t want the girl to see that she’d been crying. In fact, Beth needed to shut down her pity party so she could share the good news with the Steins. Kaylee still had a sister!

  For once, there wasn’t a welcoming committee when Beth arrived back at her apartment, so she took her time before heading next door. She put in a Star Trek DVD and tried to distract herself from her miserable afternoon. An hour later, she checked her face in the bathroom mirror and saw that her eyes were no longer rimmed in red.

  She ran a brush through her dishwater blonde hair and practiced looking happy in the mirror. Her smile would be false for a very long time. At least she had a satisfying career and Kaylee to fill her days. Taking a cleansing breath, she went next door and knocked.

  No one answered and her heart sank.

  # # #

  Parker focused on controlling the tremors in his hands as the walk-in clinic doctor looked over his paperwork. With his patchy beard, Dr. Olsen didn’t even look old enough to have graduated from medical school, but Parker figured that would play to his advantage.

  Parker cracked his knuckles as his knee bounced. “I just need some vaccinations, Dr. Olsen, and then I’m off to Togo.” Adrenaline zipped through his system.

  “You seem pretty excited. You can hardly sit still.” Dr. Olsen took the stethoscope from around his neck and listened to Parker’s heart. “Take a deep breath. Again. . . and again.”

  Rolling his eyes, Parker tried to be patient. He didn’t understand why doctors always went through this ridiculous routine. Weight, blood pressure, heart. None of those things mattered.

  Dr. Olsen removed the stethoscope ends from his ears and looped them around his collar. “Your heart sounds good. Do you have any concerns?”

&nbs
p; “No. I just need your signature on those forms.”

  “The Peace Corps, huh? Aren’t you a little old for that?”

  Parker narrowed his eyes at the insensitive doc. “There’s no age limit. Besides, it’s never too late to help those less fortunate.”

  “Sure. I thought about joining Doctors Without Borders, but I have killer student loans I need to pay off.”

  Nodding, Parker decided he needed to not be so defensive. He was almost home free. “Med school is pretty pricey, isn’t it?”

  “I could’ve bought a nice house with the money I spent on my education.”

  “But your entire day is spent making a difference in people’s lives. It must be very fulfilling.”

  Dr. Olsen smiled and his posture seemed to loosen. “Sometimes I forget that, but you’re right. That’s why I became a doctor. My brother died of leukemia when I was seven and I decided medicine was the only profession that mattered.”

  “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t imagine how devastating that would be. He’d been a young adult when his father died and that had been torture. Pushing away the memory, he focused on turning the conversation around to happier topics. “So, are you married? Do you have kids?”

  “Can’t afford either. I’m engaged, but I want to pay off more of my debt before I walk down the aisle.”

  Parker took in the doctor’s young, pale face. The guy needed to get out into the sunshine more. “Don’t put your life on hold for too long. It could all end tomorrow, you know.” Why had he just said that? Now that he was dying, he felt this need to offer people advice on how to live. As if he had all the answers.

  “I know.” The doctor scribbled his signature on the form. “That’s the trick, isn’t it? To plan for tomorrow while making sure you enjoy today?”

  “Exactly. Don’t take anything for granted.” Oh, shut up. You sound like an old man. “Does your fiancé know about your debt?”