Touch of Heartache

by Joy Penny

  DeShawn chuckled at that. “We should get her and Bev together again some time,” he said, referring to his own little sister, who was a few years older than Willow. They’d played together at Tildy World before, though Nolan wasn’t sure their friendship extended much beyond that. “Are your brother and sister planning on coming to the big Ballroom/Tent Tildy crossover event this fall?”

  “Are they doing that again?” asked Jo, who cradled Tildy’s head under her fur-covered arm. “I thought they stopped.”

  “Word is, Gyu-ri is starting it up again with…” DeShawn tapped a finger to his lips, thinking. “Well, with that fine new assistant manager, whatever her name is—”

  “The one who’s threatening to sue the company?” asked Tildy Scout caretaker Eddie then, taking Tildy’s head from Jo and helping her out of the rest of her suit. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

  Nolan’s stomach ached as if someone had kicked it. Lilac hadn’t been seen around Tent Tildy in over a week—well, as far as most people knew. Rumors said she’d been in to speak to HR, a besuited lawyer and a middle-aged woman with a pixie cut marching alongside her. Nolan knew that had to have been her aunt, but Lilac had been cagey in the few texts they’d exchanged since then.

  The rumors were Earl had done something to her and no one—absolutely no one—was surprised. But Earl was still working, his unearned sense of joviality fairly diminished. He was as liable to snap a person’s head off as he was to make a crack about a woman’s ass these days.

  Nolan felt sick then. Why had Earl been allowed to do such things again? Why had Tildy World of all places been okay with that asshole walking around in a position of power? As long as he didn’t bother the guests, then anything goes?

  “Jillian says his wife kicked him out,” said Cheryl just then, cackling, a carrot stick in her hand as she approached. She had a Tildy Scout caretaker outfit on, too, her Queen Animaliao for the day one of the new girls over in the corner across the room. “And he’s not wearing his ring anymore.” She grinned evilly, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

  No one liked that guy.

  Eddie frowned. “Seems premature to celebrate a guy’s life getting ruined, don’t you think? I mean, we don’t know what happened.”

  Her hand now free of Tildy’s furry arm, Jo smacked him—hard—on the shoulder. “Oh, no, you don’t. You don’t get to be one of those guys and be my boyfriend.”

  Eddie rubbed his arm, his lips halfway between a smile and an expression of pain. “What?” he asked, seeming genuinely flummoxed. “Just because I dared think a man innocent until proven guilty?”

  “It’s Earl,” snapped DeShawn then. “You know what he’s like.”

  “I mean, I know he’s not the greatest of guys…” started Eddie.

  “And how would she prove anything anyway?” asked Cheryl. “If he didn’t do… whatever he did… where there’s a camera, how is she supposed to prove things to your satisfaction?”

  Eddie looked a bit put on the spot then. “Well, yeah, but I mean, can’t a girl just make something up then? Why does everyone automatically assume—”

  “Oh, my god!” Jo threw her hands up and started shuffling away, her legs still in the Tildy suit. “I’m not hearing this. I’m not hearing this from my boyfriend.” She couldn’t get far quickly at her Tildy-hindered pace.

  “Babe,” said Eddie, bending down to grab her legs and help her out. “I’m sorry. I bet you’re right. I bet he’s scum. I mean, he is grating. It’s just, look, he’s still working here—”

  “While the investigation is pending,” said Jo.

  “And she’s not—”

  “Like you’d want to work around some grabby asshole?” shot Cheryl.

  “She is still working,” said Nolan, then, his throat dry as he finally opened his mouth.

  Everyone looked at him. Lilac hadn’t told him what had happened—she’d barely explained any of it to him, but she had said that she had an investigation pending and that she and HR had agreed she’d work down in Gyu-ri’s office and focus on that big crossover event until the investigation was over.

  Brad in HR had even asked her if she’d wanted to quit instead, but her lawyer had apparently jumped all over them for that and they’d gone out of their way to accommodate her wishes.

  “She’s in Gyu-ri’s office,” said Nolan. “At the Ballroom.”

  Everyone grew thoughtful then, quiet a moment, until Eddie opened his big mouth again. “Okay, he’s a creep. But I’ve never seen him do anything illegal.”

  “Like he’s going to hit on someone in front of you,” said Cheryl, shaking her head.

  Nolan stepped out of his costume fully then. “I saw him do something,” he said. “Lilac was on the ground, picking up some things that had fallen, and he was brazenly checking out her ass—”

  “Like you wouldn’t,” said Eddie then, just as he freed one of Jo’s legs. She kicked his shoulder with it, causing him to rub his other arm.

  Nolan ignored that—it was more true than Eddie could know. Because he sure as shit hadn’t told any of them about his night with Lilac. “He also made a comment. Something about having her on her hands and knees as he stared right at her butt—and she saw it. We both did.”

  Cheryl frowned. “Did you tell HR?”

  “No…” It was like she’d slapped him. Why hadn’t he? Why had he let that asshole get away with it? “Lilac didn’t seem to want me to.”

  “See?” said Eddie. “It was no big deal then.”

  Free of her costume, Jo finally walked away and Eddie ran after her, calling out multiple terms of affection, but Jo’s lips were pinched and she stomped right into the women’s bathroom.

  DeShawn snickered. “Boy’s about to get an education or lose some tail,” he said. Cheryl glowered at him then and he chuckled nervously, almost as if he’d forgotten she was there. There was an “off button” to most guys’ dirty talk when women were around, something Earl never seemed to grasp. “Anyway, I should, um, check those… Half an hour left,” he said to Nolan, referring to when their lunch break would be over.

  Cheryl watched him go and shook her head. “DeShawn’s so sweet,” she said. “But even he can’t get his mind out of the gutter.” She turned back to Nolan. “Whenever Lilac told you not to bother reporting Earl? That was then. Maybe she was still struggling to hold on to her composure, to ignore it all. Maybe he hadn’t done whatever it was he did yet.” She jutted her chin forward as if to study him and then nodded. “I bet she’d want you to come forward now. It would certainly help her case.”

  Nolan stood there thinking and for the briefest of selfish but practical moments, he thought of what would happen if HR sided with Earl. Would they accuse Nolan of lying—or would Earl settle for making his life hell? Either way, he couldn’t afford to lose this job.

  Fuck the job. Landon would be in school in a few months and there were other jobs, other places to work if need be.

  Lilac hadn’t told him what had happened, but he remembered her sorrow the day he’d found her at Thommy’s. He remembered the pain that seemed to exist there just below the surface during their night together.

  “Okay,” he said. “But maybe I should ask her first.”

  He headed to the locker room to grab his phone and bring it back into the fan-cooled break room to do just that.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Are you sure you don’t mind? I can ask Tanya to stop by later—or take it over myself.” Cradling her office phone between her cheek and shoulder, Gyu-ri looked up at Lilac, who stood in the office doorway and used her knee to shift up the big box of pamphlets she carried.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Tildy’s Tots isn’t that near the management offices and whatever they think, HR at least ordered both of us to walk the other direction should we bump into each other.”

  “And you expect Earl to do that?” asked Gyu-ri, the skepticism clear as day on her face.

  “I expect tail-betw
een-his-legs, scared-shitless Earl to do that, yeah,” said Lilac, grinning. She couldn’t help it. None of this was funny, but it sure was less scary these days.

  “Well, if you’re sure—hi, this is the Ballroom management office,” Gyu-ri said, obviously getting off hold and beginning her call.

  Lilac squared her shoulders back and headed toward the Ballroom entryway. The door out to the area where guests arrived was like a delineation in the sand. On one side of the colorful door were the plain, compact offices—the most decorative bit of design an occasional framed cel of Tildy or one of her animated friends on the wall. On the other side was light and color and magic, but Lilac knew it’d ruin the illusion to have a businesswoman with a box just stand there gaping, so she passed through quickly, smiling to herself when a little girl shrieked in delight and started twirling right there in the entryway.

  She remembered feeling like that once. And truth be told, a tiny part of her was rekindling, reminding her that she could feel that way again.

  It had been scary telling her aunt and asking for the lawyer. First and foremost because that meant she’d had to tell her parents—and of course that meant they’d tell her grandparents—and Grandma Violet had flown in for a few days to help her and Frankie get it all sorted.

  Even though Grandma Violet had stayed in a hotel, the two women had hardly been able to spend more than a minute together without sniping at one another. But they’d put their differences aside when it came to helping Lilac.

  “I don’t know why you just don’t leave this dreadful place,” said Grandma Violet as she kissed Lilac’s cheek goodbye at the airport the previous Friday. “The lawyer will let you know when or if you need to come in to testify or interview or whatever it is they might need you for—”

  “I’m fine, Grandma Violet. I can do this.” Lilac took a deep breath, as much to convince herself as her grandma. They’d begun the complaint to HR before Grandma Violet had arrived. She’d been great as some emotional support, but Lilac could stand on her own two feet without her.

  “Well, at the very least you could quit that job,” said Grandma Violet. “And just wait here in Orlando until it’s all over.”

  “And let that slimeball win?” said Aunt Frankie, folding her arms over her chest. “I think not.” She’d been happy to report that Tara had kicked Earl out of their house after this had all come to light—that he’d denied it, of course, but that Tara had said it was just confirmation of all the suspicions she’d kept buried deep inside her.

  “If you’re sure,” said Grandma Violet, taking Lilac by both shoulders.

  “I am,” said Lilac, embracing her. “Thank you for being here for me.”

  True, she’d told her parents not to cancel their trip—they’d moved on to Japan now, and Lilac had made poor Pembroke a bit jealous by showing her her parents’ vacation photos, though it wasn’t like Lilac herself was there—but it had still felt weird to just talk to them over the phone about it. Her daddy had seemed indignant, pacing back and forth in a hotel room and rambling about the disgusting “P.O.S.” who’d done that to his “baby girl,” but neither had fought that hard about not canceling their trip to be there for her. Her daddy had quickly shifted gears to tell her all about the Shinto ritual they’d witnessed.

  It was just as well. Lilac would have felt more self-conscious about it all with a house full of relations. Heaven forbid Nana Abigail had found her way down here—she’d told Lilac it hadn’t sounded like that big a deal to her. “Just pinch those fingers,” she’d said. “That’ll get them thinking twice.”

  She’d just wanted to know if the boss had been handsome. She’d been a touch more sympathetic when Lilac had said he wasn’t. As if him being handsome would have made that all right.

  But Lilac was happy now—she felt like she could breathe. She knew she had her family and her family’s money to thank. Without that lawyer, she probably would have just done what HR had suggested and taken a leave of absence while it was all “sorted,” but the lawyer had threatened legal action so fast, they’d scrambled to accommodate her wishes. Even so, she still felt a bit proud of herself, too. If all this could stop Earl from doing this to someone else—someone without Lilac’s resources—then it would all be worthwhile. And she’d actually looked forward to coming to work each day.

  “I haven’t seen you here in a while,” said the shuttle driver as she slid in toward the back, her big box on her lap. She smiled and nodded, quickly turning away from the young man’s mischievous grin, thankful for the wave of “campers” who filed into the shuttle and filled the space between them.

  Gyu-ri had told Lilac that her accusation was all the talk among staff back at Tent Tildy—even as far as the Ballroom. People were probably talking about it all across Tildy World beneath those smiles and between those cheerful, rehearsed lines that they used for guests.

  When they arrived at Tent Tildy, Lilac was the first one off, keen not to be left alone with the driver, who might ask her more about the situation that had rocked Tildy World behind the curtain. She walked briskly through the resort lobby, heading straight for Tildy’s Tots, which she got to without incident.

  She bypassed the line of parents and kids about to check in, turning to the woman at the desk. “Gyu-ri sent me to give these to Tanya.”

  The woman looked up and Lilac was certain her bored expression grew alarmed when she took in whom she was talking to. She nodded. “Go ahead,” she said, clicking a button on the desk to unlock the hidden door.

  Lilac took in the room around her, the laughing kids, the brightly-colored screens flashing games and cartoons.

  “No running!” called one Tildy Scout, and Lilac chuckled at the fact that that seemed to be a refrain of all people who worked with small kids. She’d said it more than a few times herself during her licensure.

  “Lilac!” It had taken approximately half a minute for little Landon to zoom in on her. Lilac hadn’t even seen him coming. She just felt him slide in under the box she was carrying and squeeze her legs tightly.

  “Oof,” said Lilac. “You’re going to grip the air out of me, buddy.”

  He laughed and she shifted the box higher so she could see his face, though it strained her arms to do so. He grinned up at her, a tooth conspicuously absent from his line of pearly whites.

  Concerned, Lilac put the box atop a squishy rubber chair made to look like a tree stump. “Did you lose a tooth?”

  Landon let go of her legs to run his fingers over the gaping hole, as if just discovering it was missing. Then he grinned some more. “I fell,” he said. “Off the jungle gym at the park. With Willow.”

  “You fell with Willow?”

  “A meanie boy said I was too slow and he pushed me,” he said. “Willow hit him and he grabbed her hair and I fell, but Willow grabbed me.” He looked almost proud then. “She has casts,” he said, pointing to his leg and to his wrist.

  Lilac knelt down to his level and put her hands on his shoulders. “Your sister broke her arm and leg?”

  Landon nodded, chewing on his thumb.

  She hugged him then, her mind racing over the texts she’d exchanged with Nolan since… Since the day they’d last spent time together. He mentioned it being hectic by him, a “mini family emergency,” but he hadn’t said… Then again, she’d hardly told him what had been going on with her. But her lawyer had advised her not to share it with anyone. She’d only told Gavin, Brielle, and Pembroke that she was filing a complaint with HR about what had happened and she hadn’t gone into more details—though Gavin already knew. He was so proud of her, like her reporting a creep was equal to saving someone from a burning building or something. Fortunately for Lilac, who’d just wanted to be happy, to do things that made her happy, he’d spent most of the week telling her all about work. And Gabriel.

  Hoping it all worked out for the best for him, she’d invited him and a “guest” to come stay with her and Frankie and hit the parks—even Disney, if she must, so he could find
his Gaston. But they’d agreed to wait until they knew how things were going with Lilac and after Gavin’s internship was over.

  “Is she okay?” asked Lilac, a dumb think to ask about someone who’d broken two limbs.

  Landon nodded, though. “She went back to school,” he said.

  Lilac let out a breath of relief. No wonder Nolan had kept his texts brief—he’d been busy. Lilac wondered how Nolan and his dad had managed to get time off work to nurse Willow, or if they had.

  “Landon, you know Tildy’s rules about cleaning up messes, don’t you?” Tanya asked as she approached.

  Landon looked over his shoulder to a spot at a nearby crafting table full of construction paper scraps. “Ohhhhh-kay,” he said, stomping his feet over toward the table.

  Tanya watched him and then her eyes flickered toward the box. “Did you need me?”

  “Ah, yes,” said Lilac, standing up and snapping into action. She opened up the top flaps on the box, pulling out one of the pamphlets they’d just had delivered. “Gyu-ri and I are starting to spread the word about the big crossover event. She said you should have some at Tildy’s Tots check-in for interested parents to grab. Maybe hand them out with receipts.”

  Tanya took the pamphlet, nodding as she looked it over. “Let’s head back to my office,” she said, turning.

  Picking up the box, Lilac trailed after her. They went through another non-descript door hidden by a night sky painting and came out in a hallway that seemed familiar to Lilac, though she wasn’t sure she’d spent much time there. They passed an open door to a large break room, a dozen fans spread out throughout the room to cool down the half a dozen people—some in costume, some half in costume, and some in Tildy Scout outfits—standing or sitting, eating or talking. She stared just long enough to see a woman with short hair smack a guy’s shoulder over and over and point her way.

  The guy in the sweat-covered undershirt, whose back was to her, turned, his phone in his hand.

  Nolan.