“You’re scared of your own basement? I didn’t think you were scared of anything,” Jack teased, settling at the kitchen table.
“Everyone is scared of something, Jack,” Ivy said. “Everyone.”
Jack met her serious gaze for a moment, confused. While she definitely wasn’t a morning person, she usually wasn’t so melancholy either. “What’s wrong, honey?”
Ivy shook her head, dislodging the serious thoughts. “Nothing is wrong. It just takes me a little bit to wake up in the morning. What’s up with you? Why are you here with the crows?”
Jack glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was listening. When he found the hallway empty, he turned his attention back to Ivy. “We found Kelly’s foster parents yesterday.”
“Foster parents?”
Jack nodded.
“Where are her real parents?”
“They died in a car accident when she was eight,” Jack said. “She’s been in the system ever since.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It is,” Jack agreed, fighting the urge to reach across the table and take her restless hand into his.
“Did they … do something to her?”
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “They didn’t even appear to know she was missing.” He told Ivy about his visit with the Gideons the previous afternoon, keeping the story short but hitting all the important beats. When he was done, he waited for her response.
“What a bunch of jackholes.”
He wasn’t disappointed. “They’re definitely … jackholes,” Jack agreed. “Wait … is that supposed to be a slur where you use my name?”
“Not everything is about you,” Ivy said, tapping her finger against his chin and causing his face to warm. “I’ve always called people that.”
Jack wasn’t sure he believed her, but he let it go. “Has she mentioned anything about being in foster care?”
“No.”
“I need to talk to her about this,” Jack said, choosing his words carefully. “I know you don’t want me to, but I can’t put it off.”
“She’s so scared, Jack,” Ivy said. “She doesn’t trust you yet. She barely trusts me.”
“I know,” Jack replied. “That’s why I’m going to be working out here today with both of you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m working out here,” Jack said firmly. “I’m going to go out to that greenhouse and … pot whatever you want me to pot … and just generally get to know her before I have to start asking her some tough questions.”
“You’re going to pot plants in my greenhouse all day?”
“Did I stutter?”
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Ivy asked. “If you and I spend an entire day together we’re either going to kill each other or … .” She broke off, her cheeks coloring as she refused to finish the statement.
Jack didn’t finish it for her either. He knew exactly what she was going to say. They were going to either kill each other or kiss each other. He knew it, too. “I don’t know what else to do. I really want to help her.”
Ivy sighed, tugging her hand through her snarled hair dejectedly. “Will you promise to do what I say and let me be the boss?”
Jack felt a little thrill in his stomach at the suggestion. “If that’s what you’re in to.”
Ivy scowled. “You know very well that’s not what I meant.”
Jack reached for the bag of food and started doling the eggs, potatoes, toast and sausage out. “If that’s your story.”
“I hate men sometimes,” Ivy grumbled.
Eight
“This makes absolutely no sense,” Jack said, staring down at the pot Ivy was shoving in his direction and shaking his head.
“What confuses you?” Ivy asked, irritated.
“That plant is already in a pot.”
“I noticed.”
“If it’s already in a pot, how come I have to put it in another pot?” Jack asked.
“Because I said so.”
Jack scowled. “Why really?”
Ivy sighed. “Plants have delicate root systems,” she said. “If you let the root system of a particular plant get too big in a small pot it becomes warped and hard to deal with. If you put the plant in a bigger pot, the roots can spread.”
“Okay, let’s say I buy that in theory,” Jack challenged. “If that’s the case, then why don’t you just put these things in big pots to begin with?”
“Because that’s a waste of space,” Ivy replied. “Besides that, if you put a tiny plant into too big of an ecosystem, it can flounder and die.”
“You’re just making that up.”
Ivy narrowed her eyes and extended her index finger menacingly in his direction. “You said you were going to do what I said.”
“No, I said that you clearly got off on being bossy and I was going to let you dominate me today,” Jack countered. “Those are two totally different things.”
“You’re impossible,” Ivy snapped, tossing a dirt-covered gardening glove in his direction.
Jack caught it in midair. “You throw like a girl.”
“You shoot hoops like a girl,” Ivy shot back.
“You cheated,” Jack said. “You had home court advantage and you know it.”
Kelly giggled, caught up in the interplay.
Jack and Ivy shifted their attention to her, surprised.
“This is not funny,” Ivy said.
“It’s funny,” Kelly replied. “You two are like a bickering old couple. I can see you in fifty years sitting on the front porch of the cottage and arguing about who is right and who is wrong.”
“I’m always right,” they said in unison.
“See,” Kelly said. “It’s so … cute.”
“I am not cute,” Jack said. “I am manly and strong and should be treated thusly – even by a woman who wants to dominate and degrade me.”
“Who is degrading you?” Ivy asked, frustrated.
“You are,” Jack said. “You’re talking down to me because I don’t know how to pot a plant.”
“You always talk down to me.”
“I do not.”
“You do, too,” Ivy said. “You treat me like I need a babysitter. Admit it.”
“You’re so full of it your eyes are turning brown,” Jack said. “I’ve treated you with nothing but respect since the day we met.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“What about the night you insisted on sleeping on my couch even though I didn’t want you to?” Ivy asked.
“I slept on your couch because a crazy person left you poisonous flowers,” Jack argued. “You were in danger.”
“I was not in danger.”
“Oh, really? Were you, or were you not, stalked in the woods by a crazy person?”
“You were stalked by a crazy person?” Kelly’s eyes were as big as saucers.
“Technically yes,” Ivy said. “However, I was not stalked that night. I wasn’t stalked until the next night.”
“Did you ever consider you weren’t stalked that night because I was sleeping on your couch?” Jack asked.
“I … .” Ivy’s mouth hung open as she mulled the question over. “Oh, crap. I hate it when you’re right.”
Jack wrinkled his nose. “Did you just admit I was right?”
“No.”
“You did, too,” Jack said. “Where is my phone? I want you to repeat that last statement for me while I record it. Every time you argue with me about who knows best, from now on, I’m going to play that back for you.”
“You are crazy,” Ivy said, pushing herself to her feet and dusting off the seat of her cargo pants. “I am not repeating that. In fact, I never said it at all. Kelly is my witness.”
“Kelly is my witness,” Jack said, reaching for Ivy’s leg as she moved around him. “Where are you going? I’m not done winning this argument yet.”
“You haven’t won this argument. I … oomph.” In her haste
to get away from Jack’s insistent hands, Ivy took too long of a stride and her foot landed on a metal dowel, causing her to slide along the floor and topple forward.
Jack instinctively reached up and caught her, using his impressive muscle mass as a buffer to protect Ivy from a hard impact on the greenhouse floor. Ivy gasped, rolling over in Jack’s arms so she could face him. Their faces were inches apart.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said, fighting to keep his heartbeat in check. “I … I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. You could’ve been hurt.”
“You caught me,” Ivy said, surprised. “I … you actually caught me.”
“It’s not like I cured cancer,” Jack said, embarrassed and yet pleased at the way she was looking at him. “I … you were right there. I just reached out for you.”
“Well, thank you,” Ivy said, wrinkling her nose. “Jack?”
“Hmm.” Her eyes – and the feeling of warmth she was bringing to his chest as he cradled her close – mesmerized him.
“I think you should probably let me up.”
“Okay.” He didn’t move to release her.
“We have an audience,” Ivy reminded him.
Reality intruded on Jack’s happy thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he said, loosening his grip and helping Ivy to a standing position. “I don’t know why I did that.”
“Me either,” Ivy said, arching an eyebrow.
“I know why,” Kelly offered.
Ivy and Jack shifted their attention to the teenager.
“You’re hot for each other,” Kelly said.
“We are not,” Ivy said.
“That’s absolutely the furthest thing from my mind,” Jack scoffed.
“Whatever,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes. “Max told me you two are playing a game. I didn’t know what he meant when he said it, but now I do.”
“We’re not playing a game,” Jack said.
“I’m going to beat the crap out of Max,” Ivy said.
“I’m going to help,” Jack added.
“Yeah, I’m going to side with Max on this one,” Kelly said. “He’s clearly right about you two, whether you want to admit it or not. In fact, I’ll bet Max is right about everything.”
Ivy made a face. “Max is not right about anything,” she said. “Whatever he tells you, do the exact opposite.”
“He told me you would say that,” Kelly said. “When is he going to stop by again, by the way?”
“Never,” Ivy replied. “He’s banned from my house.”
“Do you really mean that? Would you really just stop talking to your brother?”
Ivy stilled. “No,” she said, realizing Kelly’s upbringing was vastly different from her own. “No matter how angry I am with Max, he’s still my brother. I’ll love him until the day I die … and beyond. We like to fight. That’s what brothers and sisters do.”
Kelly glanced at Jack for confirmation.
“I’m going to agree with Ivy on this one,” Jack said. “My older sister and I fought like cats and dogs. That doesn’t mean we don’t love each other.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Ivy said.
“You never asked.”
“I … I guess that’s fair,” Ivy conceded. “Where does she live?”
“She lives down in Macomb Township,” Jack said. “It’s a suburb of Detroit, but it’s far enough north that it doesn’t look like the city.”
“Where did you live when you were down there?”
“Detroit.”
“Did you have to live in the city because you were a police officer there?” Ivy asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you like it?”
“You’re asking a lot of questions all of a sudden,” Jack said. “You weren’t interested in my past before.”
“I was interested,” Ivy said, her voice soft. “I just didn’t want to … push you.”
Jack’s face softened. “You’re not pushing me,” he said. “I … what do you want to know?” He had no idea why he was opening the door to this conversation, and yet he didn’t want to close it.
“Did you like the city?”
“I liked being able to go to a grocery store … or a movie … or even a gas station in the middle of the night if I wanted to,” Jack said. “You can’t do that in Shadow Lake.”
“No,” Ivy agreed.
“I didn’t like all of the … concrete, though,” he said. “I didn’t like all the people. I didn’t like all the smog. I didn’t like all the crime.”
He didn’t like being stalked in the dark and shot twice, Ivy added silently. “Do you like it up here?”
“I like parts of it very much,” Jack said pointedly, his gaze fixed on Ivy’s face. “I like the open spaces, trees, fields, and rivers. I like the quiet. I like a lot of the people.”
“Like Ivy?” Kelly teased.
Jack cocked an eyebrow as he regarded the teenager. She’d grown steadily more accustomed to his presence over the course of the afternoon. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with him yet, but she was getting there. “I like Ivy sometimes,” he said. “I want to strangle her sometimes, too.”
“Not really, though?”
“Not really,” Jack said. “I know you don’t know me, Kelly, but I would never hurt anyone. I wouldn’t hurt you, and I definitely wouldn’t hurt Ivy.”
“Even if she … called you a name?”
“She’s called me plenty of names,” Jack said. “In fact, she denies it, but I think she’s turned my name into an insult of sorts.”
“I told you that I’ve been calling people jackholes since I was a kid,” Ivy argued.
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
“And that’s why you’re a jackhole,” Ivy said.
Jack smirked, despite himself. “See.”
“I think you’re nice,” Kelly said after a moment. “I think you’re nice to Ivy, too, even if you guys like to pretend you hate each other.”
“We don’t hate each other,” Ivy said. “We’re just … combative.”
“We’re both bossy,” Jack explained. “Ivy is used to getting her way, and so am I. When you put two people who think that way together, they fight.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Kelly said. “I think you two want to kiss each other.”
Ivy pressed her lips together, conflicted. “I’d rather kiss a toad.”
“I’ll find one for you so we can test that theory,” Jack said, narrowing his eyes.
“My foster parents never kiss each other,” Kelly said, lost in thought. “They never look like they want to either. I guess I just thought that’s how all adults acted around each other. You two are proving me wrong.”
There was the opening he was looking for. Jack cleared his throat. “Speaking of your foster parents, I had a talk with them yesterday.”
Kelly froze, her face a mask of fear and doubt. “W-what did they say?”
“Well, first off, they told me you were at the library,” Jack said, refusing to lie. “When I pointed out that was impossible, they opened up about a few things. They weren’t happy about it, though.”
“Are they going to kick me out?”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that right now,” Jack said. “They have bigger fish to fry. Besides, I thought you were happy here with Ivy for the time being?”
“I am,” Kelly said hurriedly. “It’s just … they don’t like it when kids make waves. They want kids to be good … and quiet.”
“I kind of figured that out myself,” Jack said. It was now or never. “Kelly, I need to ask you a question.”
“You want to know if they hurt me, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“They never touched me,” Kelly said. “They’re not bad people. I know you probably look at them and see … jackholes … but they’re not horrible people. I’ve been in a lot worse foster homes than that one.”
The admission caused Jack’s heart to flip. “Well, we’re going to make sure you h
ave a stable home when this is all said and done.”
“Derek and Emily really aren’t bad people,” Kelly repeated. “They’re just … limited.”
“Kelly, they’re not foster parents because they care about kids,” Jack said. “They’re foster parents because the state pays them to be. They weren’t watching out for you.”
“No one is a foster parent because they like kids,” Kelly said. “Well, I guess there probably are some good foster parents out there. I’ve never met them, though.”
Jack exchanged a brief look with Ivy. She looked just as upset as he felt. “Are you sure your foster parents didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m sure,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to pretend they were great role models. I’m not going to make up a lie and say they got me a Christmas gift every year. They didn’t hurt me, though. It’s not in their nature. You don’t have to worry about that.”
That was a relief … sort of. “Who did … ?”
Ivy cut off the rest of the question with a shake of her head. A quick look at Kelly’s downtrodden face told Jack she was right. Now was not the time to press Kelly further. She’d opened up a little. Now he had to reward her.
“So, who wants ice cream?”
“You’ve barely done anything,” Ivy said.
“I’ve put up with you for two hours,” Jack said, chucking her under the chin. “I think that definitely means I deserve ice cream. Who wants me to make a Dairy Queen run?”
Nine
“How does pizza sound for dinner?” Jack asked, walking out of Ivy’s bathroom after washing his hands and face and moving toward the living room. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.”
“You’re inviting yourself to dinner?” Ivy asked from the couch.
“No, I’m offering to pay for dinner and let you eat some,” Jack countered.
“I love pizza,” Kelly said, her gaze bouncing between Ivy and Jack worriedly. It was almost as if she was waiting for them to explode. Truth be told, Jack was waiting for it, too.
“Fine,” Ivy said, too tired to put up a fight. A full day of potting – and verbally sparring with Jack – had left her weary. “I want my own pizza if you two are going to get meat, though.”
Wicked Dreams Page 6
