Take a Chance on Me(51)
“And if I have to bring a complaint of probation violation against Jensen?”
“Really? He’s violated his probation?”
“No. But he is short of his hours. So maybe.”
“I still don’t see a conflict. You’re just responding to the court’s mandate. However—” he leaned forward—“does Darek know you were involved in his wife’s case?”
She made a face, shook her head. “Does he have to?”
“That’s up to you, Counselor.” He picked up a rock that Ivy used to hold down a stack of police complaints. “I’m not the one trying to build a new life here, finding a niche, falling in love—”
“I’m not falling in love.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve known him for two weeks. Two.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He put the rock on the desk. “All I know is that secrets don’t last for long here.” He got up. “By the way, I don’t know if you remember, but I’ll be leaving for vacation on Friday—I’ll be gone two weeks. But it’s July; everything grinds to a halt in July—”
“I know. The summer is just starting.”
He laughed. “You’ll be fine.”
Ivy picked up the rock after he left, feeling the weight of it in her hand. Eyed the phone.
And for the first time, hoped Darek Christiansen wouldn’t call.
“Four days. You’re a real prize, big brother.”
Eden sat down next to Darek at a picnic table in the harbor park, her gyro sandwich in a foil wrapper, a malt from Licks and Stuff in her other hand. She wore her long blonde hair down, a sleeveless shirt, a pair of dress pants. She’d inherited the elegance from their mother. Darek always thought she should’ve aspired to be in front of the camera, not behind it. But she loved words and thirsted for a great story.
“What did I do?” he asked.
“You haven’t called her yet, have you?” Someday Eden would be a crackerjack journalist. Especially since she went right for the jugular with her questions.
“No, all right?”
“Sheesh, I’m just saying, I liked her. We all did. It’s been four days. Call her.”
But his hearing had stopped on We all did. “You had a conversation about my date?”
“You kissed her in the middle of the sidewalk. What were we supposed to do? Look away? It’s like a train wreck—we couldn’t help it.”
“Thanks. Nice analogy.” He had already unwrapped his double cheeseburger and spread his fries on the tray; now he opened the chicken nuggets meal for Tiger, who was busy stalking seagulls across the lawn.
“Okay. Let’s try: it’s about time, and it was all we could do to not cheer from the sidelines.”
“It’s not a sporting event either.”
“Apparently it is. And you’re losing. To yourself. Call the girl.” Eden unwrapped her gyro, watching Tiger. “You almost got that last one, Tiger!”
“Don’t encourage him. He’s already a mess. If he falls, he’ll split open that lip again, and the swelling is just starting to go down.” He took a bite of his burger.
“You can’t wrap him in bubble wrap, Dare.”
“I’d like to.” He put down the burger, wiped his mouth. “You should have seen the way Nan looked at me when I brought him over on Sunday. Like I’d let my son wander out into traffic.”
Darek winced as the little guy tripped, lurching forward onto his hands and knees. But he got up laughing.
Tough kid. So much like himself. Except it seemed like Darek hadn’t gotten up the last time he went down.
Until Friday night. With Ivy.
For the first time in three years, he’d glimpsed the man he wanted to be.
Still, Eden was right. He was losing. Every day that slipped by felt a little like the magic died. He couldn’t seem to stir up the courage to call her, and he couldn’t figure out why. Especially since she’d wandered into his brain and set up camp there. He kept seeing those green eyes, widening just before he kissed her. Kept tasting her lips, feeling her hair between his fingers—
“Nan’s just being overprotective. Like she was with Felicity.” Eden bit into her gyro, yanking him away from Ivy, back to reality, where he should stay.
“No wonder she hates me, then,” he said.
Eden reached for a napkin. “Felicity made her own choices, Darek. You’re not entirely to blame.”
Yeah, well, his sister hadn’t been there that night on the beach when Tiger was conceived. Fresh from a month fighting fires with his hotshots, Darek had blazed into Deep Haven like a hero—or at least he thought so.