“Ha, ha.” Ivy made an annoyed face. “You’re so funny. Oh, wait, you’re not.”
“You’re crabby.” Michael sobered as he regarded his only daughter. “Did something happen?”
“So much has happened I don’t know where to start.” Since she was a daddy’s girl at heart, Ivy launched into the tale of her community service, leaving nothing out. When she was finished, she felt better — cleaner even — for having unloaded on him. “And, to add to everything else, I kind of guilted Jack into going glamping with me for our honeymoon and now I feel guilty.”
Despite the serious nature of the situation, the misery lining his daughter’s face, Michael barked out a laugh. “Oh, everything is always so dramatic with you. You’ve been that way since you were a kid. I don’t even know what to say to all that.”
Ivy glared at him. “How about commiserating with me and telling me I’m getting the short end of the stick?”
“You are getting the short end of the stick, my dear. You’re a realist, though. You know there’s nothing you can do to change things. You just have to go through it.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Yeah, well ... .” He instinctively reached forward and brushed her hair away from her face. “As far as the glamping thing goes, Jack wouldn’t have agreed to it if deep down he didn’t want to do it.”
“Oh, we both know that’s crap,” Ivy argued. “He agreed because he feels helpless and sad. He blames himself for what happened. He thinks he should’ve been able to get me out of it. He can’t, though, and he’ll basically give me anything he can think of to make me feel better. The other day he bought me three bouquets of flowers, a full cake, and a pie.”
Michael snickered. “He knows the way to your heart.”
“He is my heart and now I think I should let go of the glamping dream.”
“If you know he hates camping, why did you pick it?”
“Because I love camping and happen to believe we’ve simply had a run of bad luck. When we have kids — and that’s down the road a bit so don’t get too excited — but when we do, I want to take them camping. I used to love it when you and Mom took Max and me camping. I want our kids to have those memories.”
“And you think the glamping will make Jack appreciate camping?”
“I think it’s the best shot I have.”
Michael let loose a long sigh ... and then grinned. “More drama. Ivy, the truth of the matter is that Jack will be happy as long as he’s with you. He doesn’t care what you do. If you’re happy, he’ll be happy.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I’ve met the man, and anyone who has met him knows that’s the case. Do you want to know what I think?”
“Only if you’re going to agree I’m right.”
He barreled forward anyway. “I think you’re fixating on the honeymoon because it’s one of the few things in your life you can control right now. It’s perfectly natural ... and I’m willing to bet Jack realizes that.”
“Maybe.” Ivy chewed on her bottom lip and switched her gaze to the nursery. “How are things here?”
“Busy in the mornings and dead after lunch. Things will pick up again after dinner.”
“I’m sorry I dumped all of this on you.”
“It’s only a few weeks and I happen to enjoy it. Don’t worry about that. Worry about Sasha Carmichael. Do you really think somebody purposely hit that girl?”
“It’s starting to look that way, although I have no idea what information Jack and Brian uncovered this afternoon. They obviously couldn’t tell me in front of everyone else. In fact ... .” Ivy trailed off, her gaze going to the greenhouse at the back of the property. There, a furtive figure moved into her sight line ... and she recognized the face almost immediately. “Holy crap.”
“What’s wrong?” Michael asked absently. “Do you see something you don’t like?”
“You could say that.” Ivy reached over and snagged her father’s hand, squeezing tightly. “I need you to call Jack and get him out here, and I need you to be nonchalant when you do it.”
Michael furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand.”
“Tell him Jason Fortin is out here, and tell him to come in without his sirens so as not to scare him off. Do it now. I’ll keep an eye on Jason.”
16
Sixteen
There were times as a kid that Ivy fancied herself a spy. She liked the idea of skulking around, changing into a variety of ornate disguises, and saving the world from evildoers. She was much greater at the job in her mind than she was in practice, though, and despite her best efforts, Jason caught sight of her when she was cutting behind the second greenhouse.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he announced, his hands shooting into the air above his head.
His reaction gave Ivy pause. “How did you even see me?” She was annoyed her plan to approach him without drawing attention hadn’t even gotten off the ground.
Jason inclined his head toward the reflective greenhouse windows. “You’re not invisible.”
“Ugh.” Ivy made a face and folded her arms across her chest as she regarded him. “What are you even doing here? How did you find me?”
“Um ... you’re a pink-haired woman who got arrested for saving the life of another woman. You were all over the newspapers.”
“Right.” Ivy hated it when she acted slow, and that’s exactly how she felt this afternoon. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.”
“I need your help. You’re engaged to that cop, the grumpy one who looks as if he wants to knock heads together like a professional wrestler anytime somebody looks at you.”
“Keep your hands in the air!” Michael snapped, appearing behind Ivy and brandishing a pitchfork. “I will totally
