Ivy Morgan Mystery 18 - Wicked Wedding

by Lily Harper Hart

  Max and Ivy ignored him.

  “Even if Jack hadn’t told me what you said, I still would’ve known,” Ivy said. “It was written all over your face when JJ said he wanted you to be his dad.”

  “Yeah, that was kind of heartbreaking, huh?”

  He was so serious, Ivy’s stance softened. “He’s a good boy, Max. You’re already a good father to him. When you’re ready to make it official, I know you’ll do it up right.”

  “Thank you.” Max stared at the floor, refusing to meet his sister’s gaze because he was so uncomfortable with the conversation. Eventually, he cleared his throat. “So ... we’re totally going to make our kids call her Granny, right? She didn’t mention that one so it’s a loophole.”

  Ivy’s smile was self-satisfied as she leaned back in her chair. “Absolutely.”

  TRUE TO HER WORD, IVY CARRIED THE dessert container into the bathroom after dinner. She found Jack already naked and waiting for her in the tub and his eyes lit up when he saw the cake.

  “Didn’t we get pie, too?” he asked as she handed him the container and shrugged out of her robe.

  “I figured we could eat that in bed.”

  “You’re always thinking, honey.” Jack held the cake away from the water as Ivy crawled in with him, waiting until she was settled to hand it back. “So, that was an interesting dinner, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Ivy used a plastic fork to cut into the cake and shoved the first bite into her own mouth.

  “So much for sharing, huh?” Jack prodded on a grin, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. “It’s a good thing the wedding cake is going to be big. I want to make sure I get a piece of it.”

  “Hey, I ordered the cake. You went for the pie. That means you’ll get the first bite of pie later.”

  “Something tells me you’re going to get the first bite of that, too. I’m fine with it.” He accepted the bite she offered him and leaned back to work on her shoulders as the warm water served to relax them. “So ... how are you?”

  Ivy found the question perplexing. “As compared to what?”

  “As compared to nothing ... and everything. I’m just wondering if you’re being corrupted by nerves yet.”

  It wasn’t the tack she was expecting from him. “Are you nervous?”

  “Not in the least. I’m not the bride, though. Everybody knows that grooms are accessories at weddings. The bride is the center of attention, and rightfully so.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t phrase it like that.” Ivy hated how whiny she sounded. “Also, you’re not an accessory. We’re equal partners.”

  “In life, not in the wedding.”

  “Jack, just ... don’t.” She squirmed in the water. “I wish we could just go to the fairy ring and exchange our vows, just the two of us. That would be so much easier ... and more meaningful.”

  “Why would it be more meaningful?”

  “Because that’s where we fell in love.”

  Intrigued despite himself, he rested his chin on her shoulder to accept another bite of cake. When he was finished swallowing, he was mentally prepared to dive in. “I fell in love with you here.”

  “Right here?”

  “Not in the tub, but in this place. The first moment I saw you was in front of the driveway, out by the road. That’s where I fell in love with you.”

  Ivy’s heart grew ten sizes as tears sprang to her eyes. “That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  “I should hope so. We’re naked, getting married in a few days, and there’s cake. I had the ambiance working for me.”

  She laughed, as he’d intended. After a few seconds, though, she sobered. “You didn’t fall in love with me that day, Jack. If you remember correctly, I drove you crazy.”

  “You drove me crazy because my hormones went into overdrive when I saw you at my crime scene with bare feet. It might not have been love in that exact moment, but you changed my life from the moment we met. It was most definitely the beginning of love.”

  She sighed, the sweet sentiment causing her heart to flutter. “You’re going to make me cry.”

  “That’s okay. I hear brides are supposed to cry. I’ll feel as if I’m falling down on the job if I don’t at least warrant a single tear.”

  “Well, I don’t want to cry into my cake.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “As for falling in love ... I fell in love with you when we came back from that walk in the woods and you had poison ivy. Do you remember?”

  “Yes.” His voice was soft. “You forced me to take my shirt off because you needed to put that ointment on me and I was terrified about you seeing my scars.”

  “I know. You did it, though.”

  “Only because that was the worst pain I’d ever felt. I couldn’t live with the itching, so it was either show you the scars or suffer.”

  “You could’ve gone to the store and gotten some calamine lotion. I believe you took off your shirt because you decided to trust me, and that’s where the love truly began.”

  He studied her strong profile, debating, and then leaned in to plant a kiss at the corner of her mouth. “I stand by what I said. I started falling in love with you the minute I saw you. The poison ivy helped things along, as did the dream walking ... and the way you smile ... and the way you curl your hand on my chest when we sleep ... and the way your eyes get heavy-lidded when you’re feeling romantic.”

  She slid him a sidelong look. “You’re just full of the romance today, huh?”

  “It must be the wedding. All I know is that I feel nothing but love when I look at you these days. It might be schmaltzy, but I don’t care. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. You’re not just the love of my life, you are my life.”

  That did it. Ivy couldn’t hold back the tears.

  “Oh, don’t go getting tears in the cake.” Jack took the container from her and shifted it to the counter to keep it safe. He wanted both arms free to hold her.

  “I don’t know how I lived before you,” Ivy admitted as he wrapped her in his strength. “I mean ... I know I was going through the motions and doing what needed to be done. I wasn’t unhappy. It wasn’t really living, though. You made me so much more. You’ve made me so happy. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  He searched for the right words. He was on a roll when it came to the romance after all. In the end, though, he could only speak from the heart. “You will always be the most important thing in the world to me. We found each other because we were supposed to. I’ll always believe that. There is nothing that can shake this bond. You’re going to continue to be my everything forever. I hope you can deal with that.”

  “That’s what I want.”

  “Well, I’m here to give whatever you want, for the rest of our lives.”

  “Me, too.” She was still tearful, but they were happy tears.

  “Does that mean I can have the first bite of the cake when we pull it back?”

  “In your dreams.”

  “I see the love only goes so far.”

  “That’s my cake.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  16

  SIXTEEN

  A night of mush turned into shared dreams. They hadn’t made plans for it and yet Jack knew where Ivy would point her subconscious ... right back to the shelter. Neither one of them would be able to enjoy their honeymoon if Oliver wasn’t locked up where he belonged before the big day.

  “I thought I would find you here,” Jack offered when he tracked Ivy down to the main office. In the dream, the building was quiet and devoid of life. It made for an eerie atmosphere, and yet it was better this way than if it had been buzzing with activity.

  “You always know where to find me.” Ivy graced him with a sheepish smile. “I thought we weren’t dream walking again until after the wedding.”

  “I don’t really consider this dream walking. Dream walking is fun. This is work. We’ve done it before, as I’m sure you recall. We can do
it again.”

  “You mean find clues.”

  “Pretty much. I think we both want to plug the holes in this one since we’re spinning our wheels trying to find Oliver. If we can find the person supplying Oliver with information, then he or she might be able to lead us to him.”

  “That would be nice, huh?”

  “It would be convenient.”

  “I’m all for convenience.” Ivy moved around the desk and gestured toward the door. “Nobody is allowed in this office unless they have a badge. You’ve seen the one I have to wear.”

  “I have. It makes you look official. I happen to love it when I’m around a beautiful woman in an official capacity.”

  She snorted. “Now is not the time for romance.”

  “I happen to disagree. There’s always time for romance. I can focus on this, though. I think you wore me out earlier.”

  “Yeah, it was all me.” Her grin was lightning quick and then she sobered. “So, only four people that I know of have badges.”

  “I’m confused why you think the badges are important.”

  “Because none of the women go by their last names in the shelter. They only go by their first names. I’ve never heard any of them volunteer their last names. It’s like an added built-in safety measure.”

  “I’m still not following.”

  “If the women don’t know each other’s last names, that means the information on Dana had to come from someone with a badge. I didn’t share the information. That means there were only three people who could have done it. Serena, Neve, and Julia.”

  “And Neve and Julia are?”

  “Volunteers. They’re both former residents of the previous shelter. They came back after things got better for them and they volunteer their time several days a week. They help with the ordering and general organization.”

  “Okay.” Jack folded his arms across his chest. “What can you tell me about them?”

  Ivy shrugged. “Not much. They’re both quiet. Believe it or not, I was the loudest one in the office.”

  “Not my demure flower.”

  She snorted. “They’re friendly and amiable, but they don’t talk about themselves much.”

  “Did you talk about yourself?”

  “Yeah. I mean ... I felt the need to explain why I was there. I didn’t want them to be frightened of me because of the community service thing.”

  “Nobody should be holding that against you.”

  “I happen to agree. I was a total hero and got railroaded by the system.” She shot him a cheeky grin. “Still, in their position, they had a right to be nervous. I’m a criminal. I have a record.”

  “We can have it expunged in a few months.”

  “I know. I’ve still been in the system, though.”

  “You’re an angel and I don’t want to dwell on the negative. Go back to Neve and Julia. What are their financial situations like?”

  “I don’t know. I mean ... I don’t think either of them have a lot of money to burn. I know Neve works two jobs, but her clothes are relatively nice. I guess that doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Serena runs an outreach program for battered woman trying to enter the workforce. She helps provide donated clothes.”

  “That’s actually a really good endeavor.”

  “It is. She helps with resumes and practice interviews. She has a lot of people she works with in the community who are willing to give these women a chance even if they’ve never held down a job before. Because they were with controlling men, a lot of the time they were never allowed out of the house.”

  Jack was silent for a moment, considering, and then he decided to push matters. “You’re bothered by the fact that you’re suspicious of these women.”

  “I’m not suspicious,” Ivy replied a bit too hurriedly. “I mean ... I’m not. I think they’re both good women. We have to look at everybody, though.”

  “We do,” he agreed. “The thing is, I believe you’re missing the obvious. I know you think because none of these women mentioned their last names to one another that it’s impossible for that information to leak out but that’s simply not the case.”

  “How so?”

  “It’s a small area, honey. The population isn’t dense. A lot of these women are roughly the same age. Isn’t it possible they knew each other in the real world before any of this happened?”

  Ivy’s initial reaction was to deny the possibility. Ultimately, however, she couldn’t. What Jack was saying made sense. “Well, crap.”

  “Not everybody is from Shadow Lake,” he reminded her. “Some of these women are from the outlying communities. Still, it’s possible they crossed paths during football or basketball games in high school. There are various social groups, too. I think there are multiple ways for that information to come out.”

  “No, you’re right.” Ivy rubbed her cheek, defeated. “And here I thought I was being so smart.”

  “You’re the smartest woman I know.” He crossed to her. “I mean ... the absolute smartest. If they gave out an award for genius, you would have ten of them.”

  “Why only ten?”

  He tipped up her chin so he could meet her gaze. “We both want it to be easy. It’s not going to be, though. We can’t even prove that the information was willingly volunteered. It could’ve been an accident ... or someone could’ve been threatened ... or Oliver might’ve lucked out and managed to follow Dana here when she arrived at the shelter the first time.”

  “They’re careful. They switch vehicles.”

  “That’s not going to stop someone who is determined to reclaim what he believes is his property.”

  “I know. You’re right.”

  “Oh, I’m right twice in the same dream. It must be a pre-wedding miracle.” He pulled her against him, inhaling deeply. Her hair smelled like the bubbles they’d added to their bath when they finished the cake and got playful. “The answer is out there. I don’t know if we can find it, though.”

  “We have to find it.” Ivy was insistent. “We can’t just pretend it’s not happening.”

  “That wasn’t my suggestion and you know it.” He turned stern. “Oliver is the key to this. He might return to the shack.”

  “You don’t believe that. You think his mother has warned him.”

  “I do think that. I don’t know it, though. There’s still a chance.”

  Ivy wanted to believe in miracles, especially in this instance, but it was too far of a stretch. “I just don’t like it,” she admitted. “The fact that he had photos of me is kind of freaky.”

  It was more than freaky. It was downright diabolical. Jack didn’t like it either. “I won’t let him touch you again.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I have magic hands.” She wiggled her fingers for emphasis.

  He caught her wrists and brought both of her palms to his mouth to press a kiss there, causing her heart to stutter. “You do have magic hands. How about we go someplace else to put them to use?”

  “I thought you were tired.”

  “I’m never too tired for you.” He glanced around the office. “We’re going in circles in here, though. I don’t think there’s anything to find.”

  Loath as she was to admit it, Ivy agreed. “Let’s go to the beach, although just for a little while. I need my beauty sleep.”

  “I think the beach sounds fabulous.” He slid his arm around her waist and tugged her toward the door, his gaze falling back on the office one more time. “Just out of curiosity, is the office locked when nobody is in it?”

  “Hmm?” Distracted, already thinking about fruity drinks, Ivy slid her eyes to him. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s not enough staff for somebody to always be in the office. Is the door locked when you guys are out and about elsewhere?”

  “Oh, um ... no.”

  “That means just anybody could walk in.”

  “I guess. Why?”

  “No reason.”

  “Oh, I know that face. You
have your ‘I have an idea’ face on and I want to know why.”

  “I’m just curious if any of the delivery people would have time to go through the files while waiting for Serena or someone else. I mean ... the delivery people come straight here for the paperwork, right?”

  “I ... yeah.” Ivy nodded, her eyes lit with intrigue. “You think it could be one of them.”

  “I have no definitive proof either way. It’s worth a look, though.”

  “It definitely is.”

  IVY AND JACK WERE ALL SMILES WHEN they woke the next morning. Lovey-dovey remnants of a night spent basking in love on the beach followed them into the shower. By the time they were dressed and working on breakfast in the kitchen, they’d practically turned furtive glances into foreplay.

  A knock on the door caused them to straighten up ... although only marginally.

  “What are you doing here so early?” Jack asked when Brian pushed his way into the cottage.

  “And a happy good morning to you, too,” Brian groused, lifting his nose and scenting the air like a dog. “I knew it! It’s pancake day.” He pumped his fist.

  Ivy smiled from her spot next to the griddle. “I made plenty of batter. I’m assuming you want to eat with us.”

  “Only if it’s not a bother.”

  “Of course it’s not a bother. Get comfortable. Jack will get you some coffee and juice.”

  “That’s mighty nice of Jack,” Brian drawled, grinning at his partner. “I’ll have grapefruit juice this morning and I like my coffee black.”

  “I know how you like your coffee.” Jack padded to the counter and grabbed a mug from the upper cupboard. “It’s not that I’m not happy to see you — and don’t think I’m not — but you don’t usually drop in unannounced for breakfast.”

  “He’s done it three times in two weeks,” Ivy countered.

  “But you’re happy to have me, right?” Brian teased.

  “Always,” Ivy reassured him. “Ignore Jack. We were playing a game before you arrived and he’s just sad we can’t continue it.”

  Brian’s smile disappeared. “Oh, don’t be gross. I can barely tolerate you guys on a normal day. The closer the wedding gets, the worse you guys are.”