“I’m really starting to dislike her,” Ivy offered. “She’s crazy.”
“She is,” Jack agreed. “You’re still in trouble for leaving the nursery. Her being crazy doesn’t negate you acting like an idiot.”
Ivy jutted out her lower lip. “This day keeps getting suckier and suckier.”
Fifteen
“I’m going to follow her.” Max was on his feet before anyone could say another word. “I don’t like her attitude and she’s angry enough to do something stupid.”
“Like what?” Ava was legitimately curious. “Ivy outweighs her. I think she can take her.”
“That’s the second time today someone insinuated I was fat,” Ivy groused. “This so is not my day.”
“You’re not fat.” Jack flicked her nose. “You are in trouble, though.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“You need to take Ivy home,” Max instructed. “I’ll call if I think Holly is going to do something moronic.”
“If she’s smart, she’ll leave town,” Brian intoned. “If she’s more diabolical than anyone wants to admit, then it might be good to have someone trailing her.”
“Go,” Jack instructed Max, jerking his chin toward the door. “I’ll take care of Ivy.”
Max clapped his future brother-in-law’s arm. “You always do.”
Ava watched Max go, her features turning shrewd. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?”
“I believe that’s the story of your life, Ava,” Jack shot back. “As for you … .” He broke off as he stared into Ivy’s eyes. She adopted a pitiable expression and blinked several times in rapid succession. “As for you, we’re good.”
Ivy perked up, surprised. “We are?”
“Yup.”
“Are you just saying that because I didn’t put up a fuss over what happened yesterday?”
Jack wasn’t sure how to answer. He didn’t want her calm reaction to Holly’s machinations to hang over him for an extended period of time, but he also refused to punish Ivy for being curious and proactive.
“I’m doing it because you’re an adult and you have a right to protect yourself and me,” Jack answered after a moment’s contemplation.
“But you just said she was in trouble,” Ava reminded him. “Don’t go back on your word now. Yell at her or something. I totally want to see it.”
Jack scowled as he tugged on Ivy’s hand and led her toward the door. “Get a life, Ava. I think we’d all benefit from it if you did.”
“I have a life.”
“No, you don’t,” Brian said, keeping his voice low. “Even though Jack was probably blowing smoke earlier about talking to your father, I’m not. We’re definitely going to have a discussion about what happened here.”
Ava maintained a façade of false bravado. “I’m not afraid of you or him.”
“I guess we’ll have to test that theory, won’t we?”
TO IVY’S ABSOLUTE ANNOYANCE, Jack made her accompany him to the police department. She was forced to watch him make calls, fill out reports, and conduct a wide array of computer searches. She was bored within five minutes and yet he made her stay for three hours.
“I need to go home,” Ivy whined for what must have been the fiftieth time as she glared at the clock. “I missed out on an entire day of work. It’s not fair that you’re keeping me here.”
Jack refused to be moved by her adorable expression. “Whose fault is that?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s Holly’s fault.”
“Try again.”
Ivy blew out a sigh, annoyance evident. “Fine. Technically it’s my fault because it was my idea to track down Holly. However, I believe you agreed I could do that because she stuck her nose into our relationship.”
“I did agree with that.” Jack bobbed his head. “You had every right to go after Holly.”
“So why am I being punished?”
Jack flipped through a folder before moving it to the corner of his desk. “You’re not being punished. I simply have work to finish and you don’t have a ride.”
“You could’ve driven me back to the nursery.”
“And miss this quality time together?” Jack smirked. “Why would I possibly want to do that?”
“You’re punishing me no matter what you say.” Ivy folded her arms over her chest and slouched down in her chair. “I feel like I’m fifteen years old again and my dad made me go to work with him because I accidentally drank his wine when I was looking for juice.”
“Accidentally, huh?” Jack couldn’t hide his amusement. “I bet you never accidentally drank his wine again, did you?”
“Actually I was simply never caught a second time.”
Jack’s smile faded. “You always have to be smarter than everyone else in the room, don’t you?”
“Get used to that,” Brian muttered. “That’s a woman thing, not an Ivy thing.”
“I’m not sure if I should be offended on behalf of my gender, Brian, but I’m going to give it a lot of thought tonight,” Ivy warned. “If I decide I’m offended, I’ll be back tomorrow to give you a firm talking to.”
“I can’t wait for that.”
Jack chuckled as he flipped through his final file. “Well, I guess that’s all I can do for today.” He flicked his eyes to Brian for confirmation. “Do you care if we head home?”
“I would’ve preferred you head home two hours ago,” Brian replied. “The fact that I’ve had to listen to what amounts to verbal foreplay between you two all afternoon – oh, don’t bother denying it because I recognize thinly disguised flirting better than most – makes this a rather sad day for me, too.”
“At least I wasn’t alone in my misery,” Ivy teased.
“Yes, well, you’re a joy even when you’re pouting.” Brian grinned at her before making small shooing motions with his hands. “Now go. You guys have plenty of things to discuss and I don’t want to be a part of it.”
“Thank you.” Jack smiled as he got to his feet and turned to Ivy. “I’m thinking we should pick up food on the way home so we have plenty of time to fight once we get there.”
“I could cook,” Ivy offered. “I’ve only bothered to put a meal on the table once this week.”
“I love your cooking even though you rarely add meat to your dishes – and that, honey, is true love in case you’re wondering – but I would rather pick up food so we have more time to focus on each other.”
Ivy pursed her lips. “Subs at the pizza place?”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Fried mushrooms, too.”
Jack’s lips curved. “Whatever you want.”
“I like a fight that starts with those words.” Ivy practically skipped to the door. “I want that giant cookie thing they make, too. If we’re going to fight, I want you all sugared up when we make up.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
“A plan for another location,” Brian interjected. “Get out of here. If I have to hear one more word of cute banter, I’m going to throw up and that won’t make the wife happy because she is cooking tonight.”
“We’re going.” Jack stopped at his partner’s desk long enough to rest his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Thank you for all your help today. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t around to calm me down.”
“That makes two of us. Now go. You deserve some time with Ivy. You’ve both dealt with a lot today.”
“I’ll be back to focus on the case fresh in the morning. We need to make some headway.”
“Yeah, we definitely do. Shannon Hughes deserves justice.”
“Then we’ll find it for her.”
IVY DOLED OUT their subs, potato salad, chips, and wine on the floor when they got home. She spread out a checkered blanket first, and when Jack wandered out of the bedroom after changing into jogging pants and a T-shirt, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw the set-up.
“Are you planning on seducing me with food?”
Ivy shook he
r head as she sat, tucking her legs underneath her before grabbing the corkscrew and bottle of wine. “I’m going to seduce you with my lips. The food is just a bonus before we get to that part.”
“Ah.” Jack sat across from her and accepted the glass she passed to him. “This is a nice deal here, honey. You went all out.”
“It wasn’t that much work.”
“We still need to talk about a few things.” Jack turned serious, causing Ivy to sigh. “I know you don’t want to get into a big fight – a small one will be okay because we can work that to our advantage after dinner when we want to make up – but we do need to talk.”
“I know.” Ivy dragged a restless hand through her hair before sipping her wine. She made a face when her cat Nicodemus bellied over to sniff the food, snapping her fingers in the feline’s face in order to get him to back up. “This isn’t for you. I put fresh food in your dish already.”
Nicodemus did a magical impersonation of Ivy that had Jack laughing because he was certain the cat actually rolled his eyes.
Jack snorted. “That cat has a lot of attitude.”
“He’s not so bad.”
“I don’t mind him except when he tries to smother me in my sleep.”
“He hasn’t done that in months,” Ivy protested. “He’s used to the fact that he can’t have the second pillow now.”
Jack wasn’t sure he believed that, but he let it slide. “So tell me about your day from the beginning,” he instructed. “How did you end up at the bar with your brother?”
Ivy wasn’t keen on reliving the embarrassment, but she ripped through her story again, leaving nothing out, and when she was done Jack was contemplative.
“You know, we thought that Holly was following us and that really made me nervous,” Jack admitted. “I thought she was even more deranged than I remembered. It makes me feel better knowing that Ava was feeding her information.”
“That doesn’t really make her any less deranged.”
“I didn’t like the idea that she was following us without anybody noticing,” Jack said. “That made me uncomfortable.”
“Well, hopefully she’s packing up and leaving town. Although … .” Ivy trailed off.
“Although what?”
“If she’s the shooter, is it a good idea to let her skip town?”
“I have trouble believing she’s the shooter.” Jack unwrapped his sub. “I know it would make things easier for you if she was guilty, but the truth is I don’t think she’s capable of it. She’s lazy and I don’t believe she knows how to fire a gun.
“I guess she could’ve learned over the years, but one of the first things I did was run her name through the state gun registry and she doesn’t own a weapon as far as I can tell,” he continued. “I don’t think she’s our shooter.”
Ivy doled out potato salad onto paper plates as she considered the scenario. “Maybe she hired someone.”
“With what money? She’s broke. I mean … really broke. Mom told me some of the rumors she’s heard and I ran her credit report before tracking her down. She’s one missed bill away from her whole house of cards falling. And, when I say that, I mean she’s really close to losing her house.”
“Maybe she promised to pay the actual shooter once I was dead and gone and she had access to your money.”
“Honey, I know you haven’t asked for specifics because money isn’t important to you, but I don’t make enough to hire a killer. I don’t even make enough to help Holly out of her financial difficulties.”
“You had enough money to help with the renovations.”
“Yes, but I’ve paid out quite a bit on that already,” Jack reminded her. “That wasn’t an inexpensive job.”
“Did Holly know you put money away before you left Detroit?” Ivy asked. She was desperate to come up with a scenario that fit the facts. “Maybe she didn’t realize you’d already spent the money.”
“We didn’t talk about things like that. She had no idea I was putting away money. She had no idea how much money I brought in. We literally spent about eight hours a week together. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that.”
“So what did you do for those eight hours?”
Jack shrugged, noncommittal. “We should eat before the subs cool off.”
Ivy knit her brows. “Seriously? You had sex eight hours a week and that was it?”
Jack heaved out a sigh. She wasn’t going to let it go. He knew her well enough to recognize that. “This is a very uncomfortable conversation,” he admitted after a beat. “I don’t know that we should talk about this.”
“Because you think I’ll be jealous?”
“Because I wouldn’t want to talk about it if the roles were reversed. I don’t know that I would be jealous as much as I would be angry that anyone else ever touched you.”
Ivy snickered. “I know you weren’t a virgin when we hooked up. It’s not like I was one either.”
“Yes, but in my head, you were,” Jack said. “I like to pretend that our lives started when we met. I know it’s ridiculous and impractical but that’s simply how I roll.”
“Fine.” Ivy held up her hands in mock defeat. “If you don’t want to tell me, I get it. We’re not there yet.”
Jack paused, his sub halfway to his mouth. “Not where yet?”
“You don’t feel comfortable confiding in me about this.” Ivy averted her gaze. “It’s not a big deal. We can move on.”
“Now wait a second.” Jack was exasperated. Of course, he had a feeling that was the emotion Ivy was going for when she manipulated him in the first place. “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life. I tell you everything that’s important. Heck, I’ve told you things I never thought I would admit to anyone.”
“So why can’t you tell me about this?”
“Because … because I think it makes me look bad.”
“How so?”
“Ugh. You’re such a pain.” Jack let loose with a growl and then straightened. “I didn’t talk to Holly because I didn’t care to hear about her life. I didn’t care that she spent hours each week getting manicures and massages. I didn’t care that she went out for drinks with co-workers after the end of her shift.
“I didn’t want to know her because I knew we had no future,” he continued. “I didn’t think I would ever care about a woman like that until I met you. Then, out of nowhere, all I cared about was hearing about your day and what kind of soil you used at the nursery.
“I didn’t even realize what was happening until I was already head over heels for you,” he said. “I care about every little thing you do – even the boring stuff – but I never cared about Holly.”
“And you think that makes you look bad?” Ivy wasn’t convinced. “From where I’m sitting, that makes you look like the best guy ever.”
“Yeah, from your perspective I hopefully am. From Holly’s, though, I’m the villain. I mean … I don’t blame her for disliking me a great deal. I never treated her right.”
“It doesn’t sound like she treated you right either.”
“I didn’t care that she didn’t, though. I didn’t want her to fall in love with me because that would’ve created a sticky situation. I thought she was perfect for me at the time because she didn’t care … and that’s what I wanted.”
“So when she showed up and made a big deal about the fact that she did care – even though we both know she was lying – you were probably confused, huh?”
“I was a bit shaken,” Jack admitted. “I felt guilty because I couldn’t help but wonder if I somehow missed the signs and did something really wrong where she was concerned. In truth, I wouldn’t have cared about missing those signs two years ago. Because I understand what it’s like to be in a relationship now – a good relationship, mind you – I felt guilty.”
Ivy was contemplative. “Which is probably the biggest reason you didn’t tell me about it.”
“I already said I was sorry for that.”
&nbs
p; “And I believe you.” Ivy was matter-of-fact. “I’m just trying to figure out how Holly thought she was going to make this work. It’s not a very good plan.”
“She was never one of the great thinkers of our time. I’m not surprised she came up with this idea, a notion that is so ridiculous and pathetic that it never had a chance and yet she honestly thought it would work.”
“Well, it didn’t. Here’s to grinding her plan into dust.” Ivy lifted her wine glass and clinked it against Jack’s.
“Here’s to us,” Jack said, before sipping. “That’s the only toast I want to give on a regular basis.”
“You and me both. In fact … .” Ivy didn’t get a chance to finish because the sound of scuffling feet on the front porch – something that sounded perilously close to a fight – caught her attention. “What’s that?”
“Stay here.” Jack was alert and on his feet. He grabbed his gun, which he conveniently left on the coffee table, and stalked toward the door. “Keep your head down. Don’t come out here unless I tell you it’s okay.”
“Jack.” Fear gripped Ivy’s heart and gave it a good squeeze. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’ll never leave you. I promise.” Jack threw open the door and aimed the weapon at the noise. “Come out with your hands up!”
Sixteen
Jack went through the door to the porch even though he sensed Ivy’s fear and wanted nothing more than to wrap himself around her and offer comfort. It was an odd feeling, to know that what he was feeling was a mixture of his own emotions and hers, but he’d long ago realized there was something magical about Ivy – like truly magical – and he was more than willing to put up with a few quirks it meant he could keep her forever.
It took Jack a moment to register what was happening on the front porch, and when he did, his features twisted and his heart lodged in his throat.
“Max?”
“Of course it’s me,” Max sputtered, struggling to rein in the wriggling woman fighting his efforts. “I texted that we were outside.”
“You did?” Jack arched an eyebrow as he turned to the house and saw Ivy coming through the open door with Jack’s phone in her hand. She held it up for his inspection and, sure enough, there was a message from Max at the top. “I see you followed Holly to the hotel and then out here, where she proceeded to spy on us through the window.”
Wicked Wishes (An Ivy Morgan Mystery Book 10) Page 15
