After I Fall (20 page)

“Thank you…for paying off my dad’s bills. Mom told me. She told me you did it so that I wouldn’t lose his car.”

He nodded. “You’ve lost enough. I couldn’t stand to see you lose that too. Especially when I had the means to prevent it. No thank you necessary.”

I felt tears burning behind my eyes.

“It’s done.”

I looked at him mutely for a moment. It’s done.
It’s done?
For a moment I thought he was still talking about the car. The expression on his face led me to believe otherwise.

“You mean…?” I was afraid to say the words aloud because I didn’t want the moment to be broken.

“The charges have been dropped,” he affirmed quietly.

“What? How? Are you serious?” My voice flew up a few octaves at the end.

“Yes. I’d rather your mother didn’t know about this. I hate keeping things from her. But this is something I’d really rather she not get her nose into.”

“I don’t understand. What did you do?” I grimaced, hoping he didn’t tell me that he bribed the police department. While I was desperate, I wasn’t that desperate. I didn’t think.

“I worked out a deal with Mr. Devereux.”

“What kind of deal?” Not that it was any of my business.

“He owns one of the biggest construction companies in the area. He’s wanted to partner with me for some time,” Phillip said. “I’ve always politely refused.”

“Because you don’t like how he does business,” I added on, remembering part of a conversation we’d had the other day.

“Right. But I suppose I’ll just have to keep an eye on him.”

“I’m really sorry.” I
was
sorry.

“It’s okay. We’ll make it work. We’re still working out the details. I’m hoping to just throw him a few bones, so to speak. Give him a few jobs to start off with. I have a few apartment complexes going up in a nearby town. I offered him the contracts on both. We’ll go from there. He, of course, tried to play hardball, wanted me to sign a contract stating he’d be my permanent contractor. I refused. To be honest, I didn’t think he’d come around. He ended our conversation rather abruptly last night. I think he expected me to call him back. I didn’t.” He shrugged. “He called me a little while ago. He said he had time to reconsider and asked if the offer was still on the table.”

“Can he do that? Just drop the charges now that the police are involved?” I had a hunch that one the police were involved, things might be a little more complicated than that.

Phillip cleared his throat. “I’m not so sure about that. I have a feeling he’s able to pull a few strings with the police department. Our deal is contingent upon him making the charges go away. I told him I didn’t care how he did it, as long as it got done. I made it clear I wanted no part of that process.”

“And he agreed?” I just had to confirm. I had to hear it said flat out.

“He agreed. The charges are going to be dropped. It should be taken care of by the end of the day.”

“Is it…is it going to be terrible to work with him? I never meant to mess up your business in any way,” I said.

“It’ll be fine. I needed to hire someone. As I mentioned, I’ll just have to keep a close eye on him. His work is acceptable; it’s his
work ethic
I have a problem with. But with me watching him like a hawk, I’ll be sure he does everything above board. Now,” Phillip said as he stood, “we best be getting back to breakfast before your mother decides to come see what’s taking us so long.”

I stood too, following him to the door. He paused to open it.

“Phillip?”

He turned to me, a questioning look on his face.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t give myself time to over think it. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. He didn’t hesitate in hugging me back.

I called Eric but his phone went to voicemail. I decided it might be for the best. I wasn’t sure how fast Jace’s dad would be able to take care of his end of things. I realized it might be best if I stayed out of it for now.

In fact, I thought maybe I would stay out of it completely. Eric never had to know that Phillip and I were involved with it at all. I felt guilty enough that Phillip was going to have to work with Carl. Hopefully it would be just a few projects. I didn’t want Eric to have to share in that guilt, especially when he’d never asked for that kind of help.

I had called Clara next, hoping she could come over to spend the afternoon with me. It would help to pass the time until I was finally able to talk to Eric again…Hopefully when this whole mess was behind us. Hopefully when he had good news to tell me.

Clara, to my surprise, was busy. When she answered her phone she was with Mason. They were on their way to a museum two hours away. They planned to spend the afternoon at the museum, followed by a nice dinner.

Not for the first time this summer, I was really missing Janelle and Mona. They were both so fun and chatty. They were always a good distraction.

I thought about spending time with the twins but considering the mood I was in I was afraid I wouldn’t have the patience for them.

So I spent my morning swimming laps in the pool. I spent the afternoon trying and failing to read a book. I’d read chapters at a time only to realize that I hadn’t retained a single thing.

When Mom knocked on my locked door I actually welcomed the distraction.

“What’s up?” I asked as I stepped aside to let her in.    

“Sweetheart, we need to talk.” She moved past me and took a seat in her usual chair. Her posture was rigid and her tone was tense. She held a manila file in her hand.

I immediately assumed that she had discovered what Phillip had done for me. I wasn’t going to apologize for it. But I decided I would make it clear that yes, I did understand how big of a sacrifice he was making for me. Yes, I appreciated it. And yes, I’d thanked him for it.

“This isn’t an easy conversation to have,” Mom started out. “So if you could just have a seat and let me say what I have to say, I would appreciate it.”

I took a seat.

I assumed she was going to tell me I had no right to beg her husband for anything.

It gave me time to formulate an argument of my own.

“EmLynn, you don’t know Eric, not really.”

Those were
not
the words I was expecting her to start the conversation with. I realized then that maybe this wasn’t about what had transpired between Phillip and me after all. It wasn’t much of a consolation because I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this conversation much either.

“I know him far better than you do. As far as I’m concerned that means my opinion should count for more than yours.”

“I need to tell you something. I also need for you to listen to me with an open mind.” I realized then that not only was she tense, she looked uncharacteristically nervous.

And maybe a little sad.

“Meaning you know I’m not going to like what you have to say.” I shook my head. “Then why bother, Mom? Can’t we agree to disagree? Can’t you just let it go?”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “This is too important for me to just let it go. You and your sisters, you mean everything to me. I know you may not believe that, but it’s true. That’s why I did what I did.”

Silence, heavy and thick, settled into the room.

“What did you do?” I finally demanded.

“Jim does some moonlighting as a private detective. I hired him. I had him check Eric out.”

“Excuse me? You did
what
?”

“I had him look into Eric’s past. You know, once you hear what I have to say, you just might want to thank me.” Her nervousness faded away, replaced by the callousness I was accustomed to.

I shook my head. “Do you just try to come up with ways to make me hate you?!”

She flinched at my words. I felt guilty for a moment. But only for a moment. When she tapped the manila folder that rested in her lap, my guilt evaporated, replaced by anger once more.

I jumped up and pointed at the door. “You need to leave!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she stubbornly replied.

“Well, then I’ll go.” I headed toward the door but she followed. She latched onto my arm, holding me in place.

“You need to hear what Jim found. Eric’s been lying to you. His mother is in prison.”

I shook my head. “No, she’s not.”

“He’s been lying to you EmLynn. His mother is in prison for manslaughter. She killed two children. I know that’s not easy to hear but you need to hear it.”

I felt myself go limp. She slowly released my arm when she realized I didn’t have the energy to go anywhere. Her words were like the worst kind of weight, weighing me down, holding me in place.

“He told me his parents died.”

“I know. He lied to you. She didn’t die. But two children are dead because of her. She killed two kids while driving drunk. They were six and nine years old. A brother and sister. And his dad—”

I started to shake my head. I wanted to do something childish, like stick my fingers in my ears so that I could block out the sound of her voice.

“His father is just as bad. He’s been in and out of prison. He’s out at the moment but that doesn’t really make me feel any better. He’s involved in drugs. His last conviction was for grand theft auto. He’s a
thief
EmLynn. These are the people who raised Eric. Does it really seem so farfetched that Eric is following in their footsteps?”

I hated the fact that my thoughts were so tangled I couldn’t form a reasonable argument.

“As for Eric, it’s a small miracle he’s even passing school, considering how many absences he’s had. He was suspended twice last year alone. Both times for attacking a fellow student on school property. He broke a classmate’s nose, EmLynn.”

“How do I know you’re not just telling me this? How do I know that you aren’t just using what happened to him to drive a wedge between us?”

“You need to open your eyes, sweetheart. You’re not seeing this boy clearly. He’s not the boy he’s been pretending to be. I can show you the report from Jim. I’m sure with a little bit of research on your own, you can confirm it. I have newspaper articles about the car accident. I have a copy of the obituaries. I have the names of both of his parents, his school records.”

“How long have you known this?”

“Not long. Just since this morning. I asked Jim to start looking into it the day Eric was arrested. Most of this information wasn’t hard to come by. Not for him, someone who knows where to look. I asked him to find out if Eric has a prior criminal record but because he’s a minor that will take a bit longer.”

“Because juvenile records are sealed, right?” I asked with a harsh laugh. “Is that legal? To look into them?”

“I think I have a right to know who my daughter is really dating,” she said calmly.

“Now who’s partaking in criminal activity?” I demanded.

“I’m sure that Jim will be very scrupulous with his findings.”

“Considering the amount of money you are probably offering him? I’m sure he’ll be able to find whatever horrible thing it is that you’re looking for.”

“It’s not as if I want this information to be true.”

“Don’t you?” I asked. It came out somewhere between a sarcastic laugh and a sob. “You’ve disliked him from the start. You were probably just waiting for this. I bet it really made your day.”

She shook her head. “It didn’t, actually. It breaks my heart to see you so upset. But that’s why I know that you needed to hear this. You need to be able to make a clean break from him.  Things are only going to get worse for him from here.”

I raked a hand through my hair. I wanted to argue with her. I wanted to assure her that it was a mistake. That he was innocent. I wanted to tell her that I stood behind him because he ought to be seen as innocent until proven guilty.

I couldn’t say any of those things. He’d lied to me.

“EmLynn, he’s going to be in a whole lot of trouble for what he did. So you can blame me all you want, but if he’s sent to…a juvenile facility, or wherever kids like him go, you won’t be able to blame me for keeping you two apart. He’ll have done that all on his own.”

I realized then that she had no idea about the deal Phillip had made. As far as she knew, Eric was still in a lot of trouble. I decided not to enlighten her. I just wanted to get rid of her. If she knew he was free, she’d just continue to bombard me.

“Fine, Mom, you’re right. If he gets sent away, he’ll be out of my life. Now, will you please get out of my living room?”

“Em—”

I held my hand up. “Just don’t. I don’t want to hear anything else. You’ve done and said plenty. Now just get out.”

“I know it seems like a horrible thing right now, but you’re young. There will be other boys. Other boys who are better suited to you,” she reasoned.

A sharp laugh escaped from my mouth. “You
married
your high school sweetheart so how can you even use that excuse on me?”

“Because Phillip is nothing like Eric.”

“Whatever. Just get out.”

I thought she’d protest but to my relief she moved toward the door. She opened it, but before letting herself out, she turned to me once more.

“Phillip has invited the Deverouxs over for dinner the day after tomorrow. I can’t imagine why, he would do that, but he’s requested the presence of the entire family. That includes you.”

She left without saying another word.

I stood there, wondering if this day could possibly get any worse.             

*  *  *

Mom’s words had the damaging affect that she’d hoped that they would have. I couldn’t stop wondering if Eric really was guilty. I didn’t think he’d lie to me, but he had. What if he’d been lying to me about the robbery?

What if he’d been lying to me and Phillip had bent over backwards, and then some, to help me?

Sure, he’d stolen a bouquet of flowers for me. He’d snuck out in the middle of the night and he’d violated curfew. Did that mean he was capable of breaking and entering? Was he capable of not only the robbery, but the destruction?

He’d broken a kid’s nose.

Maybe he was capable of all of it.

Maybe he’d been putting his good side forward, but maybe his bad side was slowly trickling through.

I paced the short length of my living room. Eric had plenty of opportunities to tell me about his parents. He was going to tell me something before I left the Zierden’s. I had assumed that he was going to talk about the car accident that I had assumed his parents died in. Was he finally going to tell me the truth because he knew it would probably come out in this whole mess anyway?

It didn’t make me feel any less angry to think that he was going to tell me the truth now, when he was so close to being caught in his lie.

That wasn’t the only thought going through my head. Eric had hurt someone, really hurt them? He’d been suspended not just once, but twice for violent behavior.

I didn’t want Mom to be right, but maybe she was.

I didn’t really know Eric at all.

When my phone broke into song on my coffee table, I was hesitant to answer it. Especially when Eric’s name flashed across the screen.

When I answered, I could hear the relief in his voice. Not over the fact that I’d picked up, but he said he had something to tell me. I was sure I knew what he was going to say. Regardless when he asked if I could come over, I told him I’d be right there.

I had plenty to say to him, too.

Lisa answered the door. She was beaming.

“Hello! Eric is in the backyard. He’s down by the lake,” she said.

“Thanks. I’ll go find him.”

My heart rattled around in my chest as I made my way around the house. Eric was in the hammock. When he spotted me, he rolled out of it and walked toward me.

He was beaming.

I was not.

“You’ll never believe what happened!” he said.

“The charges were dropped. I know. You can thank Phillip for that.” My tone was tense. I crossed my arms over my stomach, trying to hold myself together.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Why would he do that? How did he do that?”

“He did it for me. Because I asked him to,” I explained. “I asked him because I believed in you. I believed you were telling the truth!”

I hadn’t intended to tell Eric this. I didn’t want him to feel guilty, or indebted. But I was in an awful mood. I was being as callous as my mother often was.

“I was telling the truth,” he said in a slow, cautious tone. “You think I was lying? What’s this about EmLynn? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? You lied to me!”

“No. I didn’t,” he said, his confusion evident.