Take a Chance on Me(87)
She could hear the voices calling before she emerged from the trees, but she didn’t want to scare Tiger. So she waited until she reached the parking lot, spied John, and called, “I found him!”
John ran over to her, Casper and his flashlight waving erratically behind him. “Where was he?”
“At the dozer. On an adventure, right, bud?” She tried to meet Tiger’s eyes, but he had a pretty good hold on her.
Darek came running down the path. “You found him?”
“Ivy did,” Casper said. Grace had joined them, coming from the fire pit.
In the distance, Ivy thought she heard a siren. But it could just be in her head, in her heart.
Breathe, just breathe.
Darek reached her, bent to check Tiger.
The little boy lifted his hands. “I fell!”
Darek was breathing hard, but he kept his voice calm. “Where did you go? Daddy was so worried.”
Tiger leaned back in Ivy’s grip. “I went on an ’venture.”
“Buddy, you can’t do that. You could get hurt.”
Ivy had to admire how Darek kept his emotions, the ones playing across his face, out of his voice.
The siren grew louder. Ivy glanced at John. That wasn’t . . .
“Ivy followed my footsteps.” Tiger gave her a sloppy, wet grin.
“She did, huh?” Darek said. He looked at her with so much gratitude that she had no words. “Well, Ivy knows how to find lost little boys.”
“I wasn’t lost, Daddy. Next time, give me a map.”
“Okay, pal,” he said and pulled Tiger into his arms. He buried his face in the boy’s shoulder.
Ivy pressed a hand to Darek’s back. He was trembling.
And then the siren cut through the night, trumpeting into the parking lot with lights flashing.
Darek whirled around. “What . . . ?”
Amelia came bounding out of the house. “Oh, you found him!”
Butterscotch ran up, barking. Casper made a face.
John blew out a breath, shook his head. They all stood in tight silence as an officer got out of the cruiser.
Beside her, Darek sighed, a sound of defeat. “Hey, Kyle.”
“Darek. We got a 911 call about a missing child.”
“We got him,” Amelia said. “He just wandered off—”
Ivy didn’t know how it happened or why, just that suddenly Darek’s future—her future—rose up in front of her and the words rushed out. Fast.
False.
“Actually, I’m so sorry, Officer. Tiger and I were just off on an adventure, and we forgot to tell the family.”
The officer, about her age, approached the group. Took a look at Tiger, who turned in his father’s arms. “That true, Tiger? You have an adventure?”
Bless his heart, the little boy nodded. “Ivy and me were at the dozer!”
Kyle laughed. “Okay. Well, Amelia made it sound like it was an emergency.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I panicked.”
“Next time I promise to tell you if Tiger and I go for a walk,” Ivy said.
“And you are?” Kyle asked.
Darek touched her shoulder. “This is Ivy Madison, my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend.
“Okay then. I’ll call it in as a false alarm. You folks have a nice night,” Kyle said.
No one moved as they watched him leave, his lights disappearing into the night.
“Girlfriend?” Casper said when he turned and glanced at Darek. “Finally.” He leaned over and gave Ivy a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to the family, Ivy League.”
Family. She stood there as they headed back to the house, reveling in a feeling like marshmallows, hot and gooey, filling all her empty spaces.
IVY WOULD SIMPLY SNEAK into her paralegal’s office as soon as the janitor unlocked the courthouse, under the cover of early morning shadows, and remove the file from Jodi’s desk. Certainly she hadn’t looked at it yet. Not this early on a Monday morning.
And certainly she wouldn’t have received any follow-up report from the Deep Haven sheriff’s department about a 911 call regarding a lost child at Evergreen Resort.
The thought, however, had Ivy by the throat.
Along with the fact that she’d lied. Lied. To the police. At the time, the words rose up and slipped out, as easy as a summer breeze, natural and fresh.
Tiger and I were just off on an adventure, and we forgot to tell the family.
Now every word of that sentence felt like a land mine, and they’d begun exploding shortly after the glow of Darek’s words wore off.
This is Ivy Madison, my girlfriend.
He hadn’t mentioned it again after the cop pulled out of the parking lot. Darek had held Tiger long enough for him to wiggle out in protest. He reluctantly handed his son to Amelia, who took Tiger off to clean him up and tuck him into bed.