The Hearts We Mend (15 page)

“I'm sorry,” Jack said again.

“Don't apologize.” With Cody at that age, it had been all about building blocks and Hot Wheels. Evie hadn't had a little girl who wanted her fingernails polished and ribbons in her hair. “I enjoyed having Lily over.”

“Yeah, about that. How did it happen that Lily ended up with you? I assumed Nicki would take her over to her grandmother's house.”

Evie had been hoping he wouldn't ask.

“When I talked to Carl, he said Lily's grandma left early this morning for a bus trip with some friends and he didn't expect her back until ten or eleven.”

“You talked to Carl?”

“Shhh.” Evie put a finger to her lips as Jack followed her into the living room.

Lily stirred in her sleep when Jack walked over to the sofa.

“I'll bet she loved this.” He gently traced the lavender ribbon that Evie had woven into Lily's braid.

“We painted our nails too.” Evie held up her orange fingertips as proof. “Caribbean Sunrise. Lily picked out the color. It's a little bright—”

“I like it.” The husky timbre of Jack's voice rumbled through Evie, making the words sound more intimate than they should have. “I better wake Lily up. It's getting late and I still have a few stops to make after we leave.”

“Lily was a little concerned about her guinea pig.”

“Bitsy. I totally forgot about her.” Jack raked his hand through
his hair, and Evie wished she could say something—do something—to erase the lines etched on his brow.

“Are you sure you want to get involved, Evie? Jack is a hard worker, but we really don't know anything about his personal life.”

Evie hadn't been able to refute the pastor's statement, but even as she'd watched Ryan and Jack get into the squad car, something inside of her had quietly rebelled.

Keith hadn't seen Jack twirling his nieces around the living room. Hadn't seen him teasing Ron and coaxing Bert to stay for supper. Grabbing an extra plate and piling it high with spaghetti for Josh.

Jack
didn't seem to shy away from getting involved. He cared about people. And right now, that was all Evie needed to know.

“Did you get a chance to eat anything for supper? I could warm up some of the leftover lasagna that Lily and I made.”

Jack was silent for so long Evie didn't expect him to nod.

Didn't expect him to smile either, but it stripped some of the fatigue from his eyes.

“That sounds good. Thanks.”

She led the way to the kitchen, her legs only a tiny bit steadier than her pulse.

“You have a nice home. I didn't realize this subdivision was here.”

“It's not very old. Max bought the first lot, and the other houses kind of sprang up around ours.” Evie flipped on the light in the kitchen, uncomfortably aware of the differences between their kitchens when she saw the flash of disbelief in Jack's eyes.

Max knew how much she enjoyed cooking, so the spacious gourmet kitchen had been a splurge, a secret between him and the builder. Hardwood floors, custom-made oak cabinets, and a breakfast nook overlooking the patio.

Jack stopped in the middle of the room. “Can I help with anything?”

“You can sit down.” Evie opened the fridge and pulled out the fixings for salad. She had a strong suspicion Jack hadn't eaten anything over the course of the day, so she put the entire casserole dish in the microwave and began to slice up another loaf of French bread.

One tawny eyebrow lifted. “This is what you consider leftovers?”

“I'm used to cooking for Cody. Like most eighteen-year-old boys, he eats about every two hours.” Evie transferred the bread to a wicker basket and set it down in front of Jack.

But instead of tucking into it, he bowed his head. No flash or fanfare, just a simple gesture that seemed as natural as someone taking his next breath.

Evie realized she'd been caught staring when Jack held out a slice of the bread. “Did you want some?”

Butterflies—
where had those come from?
—took wing inside of Evie's stomach.

“No . . . thank you.” She hoped Jack would attribute the color in her cheeks to the steam that rolled out when she lifted up the ceramic lid.

“That smells delicious.”

“Thank you.” Evie slid a generous portion onto a stoneware plate. “Lily said it was
almost
as good as your spaghetti.”

“Aren't you going to sit down?”

She should. Except the things she thought were butterflies felt more like a flock of birds swooping around inside of her.

Dan had sat in the chair across the table from her at least a thousand times, and Evie hadn't thought anything of it. Why was it different with Jack?

Because
Jack
is different.

The thought whispered in Evie's mind.

He wasn't someone Evie had known from childhood. There were no unspoken rules governing their relationship. She and Jack couldn't reminisce about the past because they didn't have one.

“Evie?” The chair moved toward her, guided by Jack's foot underneath the table. “Please sit down.”

She sat.

“Now you can tell me why you talked to Carl.”

Carl.

It was all Evie could do to suppress a shudder. She really didn't want to relive that part of the afternoon.

“I spoke with Nicki after you left, and she was under the impression that her sister wouldn't be able to pick up Lily. She wasn't sure what to do, so she was hoping her mother would be able to keep an eye on Lily until she got off work.”

“Okay, but that still doesn't explain how Lily ended up here.”

“Nicki wanted to leave after we saw Victor, but Lily had really been looking forward to playing some of the games. I offered to drop her off at her grandmother's house after the picnic.”

What Evie hadn't realized until Lily got into the car was that the child didn't want to go there. She'd sat beside Evie on the front seat, her small fingers laced tightly together in her lap.

“When is Uncle Jack coming back?”

“I don't know, sweetheart.” Fortunately, Cody had been fashioning a balloon crown for Lily so she hadn't noticed her uncle leaving the church parking lot in Ryan's squad car.

“I'm old enough to stay home by myself. I know the rules.” Lily held up two fingers. “Don't turn on the oven, and don't answer the door if someone knocks.”

“Those are good rules to remember, but wouldn't you rather spend the rest of the afternoon with your grandma and grandpa?”

“I don't have a grandpa,” Lily said matter-of-factly. “Just Carl. He doesn't like noise when he's watching TV. It makes him grumpy and then he yells.”

“What kind of noise?” Evie couldn't imagine a child as well mannered as Lily being a problem.

“Any kind.” Lily sighed. “And he watches TV
a lot
.”

It was Just Carl who'd flung open the door when Evie knocked.

“Who are you?” he'd demanded.

“I'm . . .” Evie wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. “Evie Bennett. I'm a friend of Nicki's.”

Carl's eyes raked over her. “You from that church she's been yammering about? I told her we weren't interested.”

“I attend Hope Community, but that's not why I'm here. Is Lily's grandmother home?”

“No—and if you would have called first, you'd know that.”

“I'm sorry.” Evie wanted to tell him that Nicki had tried—several times—but no one had answered the phone. “She told Nicki that she'd be home today.”

“Roxanne changed her mind. Those girls of hers don't run her life, you know. Where's Cheryl?”

“I don't know.” All Evie could tell him was the truth. “But Nicki had to work this afternoon, so she was hoping Lily could stay with her grandma for a while.”

Carl's face twisted in a scowl. “Those two are always looking for a free babysitter.”

“Do you know when Roxanne will be home?”

“She went on one of them bus trips to the casino and won't be back till midnight.”

Evie hadn't expected that.

“What's your daddy doing today that he can't watch you?” Carl glowered down at Lily. “I heard he got fired again.”

“I don't know.”

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes, and Evie decided to put an end to the conversation. She slipped her hand into Lily's, giving the little girl's fingers a reassuring squeeze and Carl a polite but completely insincere—
I'm sorry, Lord
—smile.

“Thank you for your time. We'll figure something out.”

“Leave her here,” Carl grumbled. “Just let me get back to my show. Nascar's on this afternoon and I already missed the start of the first race.”

Lily's shoulders drooped.

“I . . . I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll take Lily back to my house until Nicki gets off work.”

“Fine.” Carl shrugged. “Doesn't matter to me.”

The door snapped shut in Evie's face.

She and Lily had walked back to the Jeep in silence, but while Lily had a bounce in her step, Evie felt as if someone had poured wet concrete into her shoes. No wonder Lily hadn't wanted to stay with Carl. The man was about as warm and welcoming as barbed wire.

“Am I really going to your house?”

“If that's all right with you.”

“Yes!”

“Then we'll stop by the diner and let your Aunt Nicki know that's where you'll be.”

On the way to My Place, Evie struggled to keep her feelings about Carl to herself. It explained Nicki's reluctance to give Evie her mother's address.

And why she'd turned to Jack when she needed help.

“After the way Carl acted, there was no way I could leave Lily there,” Evie told Jack. “He didn't even acknowledge her when he answered the door.
Nothing
. Not a smile or a hello.”

“I don't know Carl very well, but according to Cheryl he was a bachelor before he and Roxanne eloped to Vegas last year, and he doesn't particularly like having kids underfoot.”

Cheryl's name stirred up another set of questions in Evie's mind.

Were Lily's parents in some kind of trouble? Was Jack?

Their eyes met across the table.

“You can ask me, Evie.”

Her mouth dried up, making it difficult to form a word at all.

“What happened today?”

“Travis and Cheryl were arrested this morning. According to the police report, the charges are possession of prescription drugs with the intent to deliver and fleeing the scene.” Jack closed his eyes. “In
my
truck. I let Trav borrow it yesterday because he told me theirs was acting up again.”

Evie remained silent, struggling to make sense out of what he'd just told her. Possession. Intent to deliver. Terms she'd heard on television but never translated into real life.

“Cheryl was already on probation for shoplifting when they moved to Banister Falls. Her mom and Nicki moved here a few years ago and the factory was hiring, so she decided this would be a good place to start over. Unfortunately, Cheryl can't seem to say no to the one thing that always drags her back down.”

“Drugs?”

“My brother.”

C
HAPTER
19

D
iscouragement flooded Jack, and only a silent prayer for strength prevented it from pulling him under.

Evie leaned forward, her eyes never leaving his face, and Jack took that as his cue to go on.

“Officer Tate was the one who took Cheryl's statement, and she claimed she didn't know anything about the pills. Travis had told her that he was meeting someone who was interested in buying his guitar.

“She waited in the vehicle while Travis went inside. He came back out with his guitar case—and four bottles of oxycodone that had been stolen during a home invasion on Friday night. The police received an anonymous tip, and when they tried to pull Trav over, he decided to run a few stop signs instead. That's one of the reasons it took me so long to come back for Lily. I had to wait until they released my truck from the impound garage.”

Jack had Ryan Tate to thank for that too. Not that he and the police officer were going to hang out and watch a Packers game together, but once Tate had decided that Jack wasn't guilty of anything but stupidity for believing Travis's claim that his car wasn't running, he'd been pretty decent.

The consequences of Travis and Cheryl's mistake didn't only
affect them. Nicki would blame herself if she figured out what Jack realized—that Victor was the one who'd exploited Travis's weakness in an attempt to get back at her. And Lily . . .

“What's going to happen to Lily?” Evie voiced the one question that Jack actually knew how to answer.

“For now, she'll stay with me. Nicki has got enough on her plate, and Carl and Roxanne . . . well, let's just say I'm not inclined to leave Lily with them either.”

“Travis and Cheryl have to spend the weekend in jail?”

“They have to appear before the judge on Monday. He'll set a bond, but your friend Ryan warned me that it might be high. Prescription drugs are becoming a problem in the area, and local law enforcement wants to crack down on it before things get out of control.”

Evie was looking at Jack like he was speaking a foreign language. And maybe he was. She probably didn't meet too many people within the walls of Hope Community who struggled with addiction. Not that they weren't there, but for an hour once a week, it wasn't that difficult to hide it behind a smile.

“It's not your fault, Jack.”

It was the last thing he expected Evie to say. And the one thing he needed to hear.

“I should have known Travis would start using again. He lost his job at Leiderman last week and he didn't handle it well. He's been clean for a while, but this is what happens. He'd rather dull the pain than deal with it. Cheryl does the same thing, but she admits she has a problem. My brother thinks everyone else is the problem.”