Ever Present Danger (3 page)

“Does this mean you forgive me for making you move again?” Ivy said.

“I guess so. Are your parents happy we’re coming to their house?”

Ivy nodded. “And a little nervous, I’m sure.”

“Gramma Lu’s coming, too, right?”

“Of course.”

Montana looked up at her and smiled, his lips cracked and starting to bleed again.

Ivy handed him the tube of lip balm she had slipped into her pocket while the checker rang up her purchase. “Use it sparingly. It has to last us awhile.”

She reached over and pulled Montana’s neck scarf up around his ears, a brisk north wind stinging her hands.

“Are we having that tuna stuff on potatoes for dinner again?” Montana asked.

“Yes, but when we get to Jacob’s Ear, my mother will fix us delicious meals. She’s a wonderful cook.”

“And they have lots of money, right?”

“A lot more than we have.”

“Do I have to call them Grandmother and Grandfather?”

“Why don’t we wait and see what feels right, okay? The most important thing is that you remember to be polite.” Ivy brushed his cheek with the back of her hand.

“What if they don’t like me?”

“They will.”

“Maybe not. They didn’t like
you
.”

“Nobody liked me when I was high.”

Montana slipped his hand in hers. “Gramma Lu did.”

Ivy blinked quickly to keep her eyes from clouding over. “Gramma Lu is special.”

“Why does she have to leave us?”

“She doesn’t want to leave, sweetie. She doesn’t have a choice. But she’ll be with us for a while yet.”

“Where is she going?”

“A long, long way from Denver.”

“Farther than Pike’s Peak?”

“Yes.”

“Farther than the ocean?”

“Uh-huh.”

Montana looked up at her, his dark eyes wide, his expression guileless. “Farther than…the
moon
?”

“Much.”

“Man! How many days will it take Gramma Lu to get there?”

As many days as she has left
. Ivy walked a little faster. “How about for now we just concentrate on getting to Jacob’s Ear?”

ON SATURDAY MORNING, Brandon Jones held open the door of Jewel’s Café and waited for Kelsey to squeeze past him. He stomped the snow off his hiking boots and stepped inside on the creaky wood floor, the distinct aromas of fried bacon and freshly brewed coffee wafting under his nose.

“Well, if it isn’t the Carolina kids,” Jewel Sadler announced. “So what do you think of spring on the western slope?”

Brandon smiled and slid his arm around Kelsey. “Suits us just fine. The sky’s bluer than blue, the snow’s dazzling, and the mountain air’s invigorating. What more could we ask for—except a cup of hot coffee and the Hungry Man Special?”

“Cheese blintzes would do it for me,” Kelsey said.

Jewel laughed and wiped her hands on her apron, her white hair flat under her hairnet. “I knew that. Comin’ right up. Your friends are over there.” She motioned toward Buzz and Maggie Easton, who sat at the table closest to the mounted moose head. “I just put a fresh pot of coffee on the table.”

Kelsey walked up to the Eastons, who were already eating. “Sorry we’re late, but we—”

“Hey, sugar, no explanation needed. You’re newlyweds.” Buzz stuffed the last bite of a biscuit into his smug grin and moved his eyebrows up and down. “We all know how it is. First things first, right?”

Brandon was sure Maggie kicked Buzz under the table and
could almost feel the heat emanating from Kelsey’s face as several other customers turned and looked at them.

“Actually, we got an important phone call just as we were walking out the door,” Brandon said.

“Sure you did.” Buzz flashed Brandon a toothy grin and winked.

“I’m serious. Kelsey and I are not in the habit of keeping friends waiting. But my brother and his wife called to say they’ve started the process to adopt a little girl in China, and they were so pumped we didn’t have the heart to cut the conversation short. We tried to call Jewel’s to tell you we were on the way, but the signal kept cutting out.”

“If you say so,” Buzz said, louder than he needed to, “but why are your faces redder than my Tabasco sauce?”

Maggie pushed her shoulder against Buzz’s. “You’ll have to excuse my husband. I guess prolonged exposure to the altitude has rendered him completely tactless. We went ahead and ordered because we thought we’d gotten our wires crossed.”

“Well, don’t let your breakfast get cold,” Brandon said. “We’ll just have coffee till ours gets here.” He sat at the table and filled Kelsey’s cup and then his own, sensing her annoyance and eager to change the subject. “So, Buzz. How much longer will you be working as a ski instructor?”

“At least through April, depending on the snowfall. Then I’ll get my white-water rafting business ready. Of course once it’s in full swing, it’ll mean working sunup to sundown seven days a week, and I’ll hardly see Maggie until September.”

“Even God rested on the seventh day.” Brandon blew on his coffee. “You’re liable to burn out if you don’t recharge your batteries.”

“Well, I haven’t yet and I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“It really works out fine,” Maggie said. “Summer’s huge here in the real estate business, and there are hardly enough hours in a day. I’ll earn 90 percent of my commissions in June, July, and August.”

“Are you able to slow down in the off months?” Kelsey said.

“I am. But Buzz works a second job during ski season so he
puts in long hours year round. We’re willing to make sacrifices to live in this part of the state.”

Brandon wondered what was so great about living here if they never got to see each other.

“So how’s it going at the camp?” Buzz took a bite of what appeared to be a Spanish omelet.

“We just finished recruiting counselors and are gearing up for a busy summer. I’m pretty pumped.”

Maggie looked at Kelsey. “What’re you going to do?”

“I’ve got plenty to do at home,” Kelsey said. “And don’t forget I work at the administrative office two days a week.”

“But how do you deal with all that downtime? I’d go nuts.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it
down
time. I enjoy cooking, baking, and quilting. I do my own housework. I handle the bills. I’m in a ladies’ Bible study. I volunteer in the nursery at church. And I love to sew.”

“Yeah, and you should see the stuff she sews,” Brandon said. “Curtains. Drapes. Pillows. You name it. The log house we’re living in is one of the perks they give the camp director, and Kelsey’s added all the right touches that make it feel like ours.” Brandon smiled. “Plus she makes quilts and sells them.”

“I envy her,” Maggie said. “I get really bored staying home.”

Brandon was aware that Carolyn and Elam Griffith had come in and sat at the table near the front window.

“I heard their daughter’s coming home today,” Buzz said.

“Did you know Ivy?” Kelsey asked.

“Not in the biblical sense, though I was certainly open to it.” Buzz laughed when Maggie poked him with her elbow. “Actually, I did odd jobs for her folks way back when and used to see her around. Drop-dead gorgeous. Too bad she turned out to be a crackhead.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Kelsey asked.

Maggie spoke softly. “Everyone knows Ivy dropped out of college and was in and out of drug rehab. It’s hard to keep a secret in this town.”

Carolyn Griffith picked at her French toast and wondered why she had suggested to Elam they go out for breakfast. She heard familiar voices and looked up and saw Brandon and Kelsey paying their bill at the register and talking to Jewel Sadler.

“Elam, the Joneses will be coming this way any second. Will you at least try to appear positive?”

“This place is Grand Central Station,” he mumbled. “We should’ve just stayed home.”

“Hi, you two!” Kelsey came over to the table, Brandon on her heels, and hugged Carolyn and then Elam. “We’re so excited for you. What time are Ivy and Montana supposed to get here?”

“They were planning to leave Denver at six this morning,” Carolyn said. “We figure they could be here as early as two, depending on how many stops they make.”

“We can hardly wait to meet them,” Brandon said.

Elam nodded and didn’t say anything.

“As soon as the dust settles,” Carolyn said, “we’ll have you and the Comptons over for dinner. Might take awhile for our emotions to catch up with everything.”

Brandon put one hand on Elam’s shoulder and the other on Carolyn’s. “Well, if you guys need some time with Ivy, Montana’s welcome to hang out with us. There’s plenty to do here at the camp, and I’m not recruiting this week so I’ll be around.”

“Thanks,” Elam said. “Just might take you up on your offer.”

Carolyn watched Brandon and Kelsey walk out of Jewel’s Café just as Pete Barton walked in. She looked down to avoid eye contact, but a few seconds later he was standing at their table.

“I saw your Suburban parked out front,” Pete said. “Did I hear right: Is Ivy coming home today?”

“You heard right.” Carolyn decided not to offer Pete details and suddenly wished he’d stayed in Alaska instead of coming home to run the family deli after his father died.

“Is she visiting or actually moving back?” Pete said.

Elam stared at his coffee mug. “You mean the gossip mill didn’t know?”

“I don’t mean to pry, Mr. Griffith. I just don’t want to miss seeing her. I’ve thought about her a lot in the past ten years.”

“Ivy’s exploring options,” Carolyn said. “We’ll be sure to tell her you were asking about her. Say hello to your mother.”

“Thanks. I will.”

Carolyn was aware of Elam’s foot tapping as she watched Pete leave the café and walk across the street toward Barton’s Deli.

“I don’t want him around Ivy,” Elam said. “The whole time they were going together she was depressed. I know he talked her into sleeping with him and smoking pot and heaven knows what else.”

“Ivy wasn’t the first young girl to compromise her values in order to hang on to her boyfriend. She wasn’t an innocent bystander, Elam. She had a choice.”

“But he corrupted her. He caused her to turn away from God—and everything good and decent we raised her to believe. I’ll never forgive him for that. And I’m not going to sit back and let him smooth talk her again. Ivy’s easily swayed and the last thing she needs is to get involved with a freewheeling playboy who spends his leisure adding notches to his bedpost and playing blackjack at the Indian reservation.”

“I agree we should discourage her from pursuing any kind of relationship with him. But we also have to start trusting the Lord and stop blaming Pete Barton for everything that’s wrong with her.”

Elam gulped the last of the coffee, pushed back his chair, and picked up the check. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing: It feels a lot better than blaming myself.”

Ivy Griffith sat in the middle seat of her friend’s Ford Expedition, wondering if the handful of dry Cheerios she’d just eaten was going to stay down.

“How much longer?” Montana Griffith said.

Ivy smiled. “What time does my watch say?”

“Fifteen after eleven.”

“When it’s one o’clock, ask me again.” Ivy turned to Lucia Ramirez and noticed her eyes were closed. “Lu, are you asleep or resting your eyes?”

“Just resting my eyes. And thinking I must be loco for letting you talk me into this. You should have left me in Denver. My grandson would have come for me.”

Not unless he smelled money
. “And if he didn’t? What would you have done then?”

Lu patted Ivy’s hand and didn’t say anything.

“Gramma Lu, you have to stay with us,” Montana said. “What if Grandmother Griffith doesn’t know how to make tortillas and frijoles?”

“Then maybe you would get a better diet, no?”

Montana leaned forward and turned toward Lu, a grin on his face. “I
love
frijoles. Mom says we’ll have beef and chicken a lot now, too. I hope we have fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I could eat that every single day. I would never
ever
get tired of it. And I could have
seconds
of grilled cheese sandwiches, and apples any time I want, and orange juice and chocolate milk…”

Ivy smiled at the sound of Montana verbalizing his food cravings and tried not to let her guilt ruin the moment.

Despite what her parents might think of her, she couldn’t imagine they wouldn’t grow to love this little boy who looked enough like her brother Rusty that they might forget he was illegitimate. Yet the thought of missing part of Montana’s life was almost more pain than she could bear. Would he ever understand that the only way she could ever feel alive again was to step back into the past and allow the truth to be uncovered—even if it meant going to prison? She was suddenly aware that Lu’s gaze was fixed on her.