Read Online Ever Present Danger by Kathy Herman - Free Book Online Page A

days go?”

    Ivy nodded. “Yeah, not bad.” Thanks , Ivy mouthed to her mother, gesturing toward Montana. “So why’s everybody so quiet?”

    “I think we’re having a mental health day,” Carolyn said.

    “Did Lu come downstairs?”

    “Actually she did for both breakfast and lunch. I was going to have Montana bring her a tray, but she insisted on coming down. She watched a little TV before lunch and then crashed afterwards. I checked in on her a few minutes ago, and she’s out.”

    Ivy combed her hands through Montana’s hair. “Did you spend some time with Gramma Lu?”

    “Everybody acts like she’s not even gonna die!” He jumped upand stomped up the staircase. A few seconds later a door slammed.

    Ivy winced, then turned to her mother. “Has he been like this all day?”

    “Pretty much. Nothing I say seems to help. I think he just needs to feel the grief. And we need to help him through it.”

    “I’m really sorry, Mom. I had no idea he would be a problem for you. I’ve never seen him behave this way.”

    “Well, he’s never had to face losing someone he loves before.”

    Ivy waited fifteen minutes and then went upstairs to Montana’s room and knocked on the door. “Sweetie, it’s Mom. I’m coming in.”

    Ivy slowly opened the door, surprised to see Lu sitting in the rocking chair, holding Montana in her lap.

    “We’re having a little quiet time.” Lu’s eyes looked tired and sallow. “How was your first day?”

    “Good.” Ivy went over and sat on the side of the bed, her hands folded in her lap. “Montana, I know you’re hurting, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to treat Mom and Grandmother Griffith rudely.”

    Montana sniffled and wouldn’t look at her.

    “Tomorrow will be a better day,” Lu said. “I think maybe Montana and I will just sit here together for a while.”

    Ivy observed the calming effect Lu had on Montana and felt as if the wounds of her own inadequacies had been reopened. She had no one but herself to blame that Montana would allow Lu and not his own mother to comfort him. Wasn’t it Lu who had cared for him when Ivy was too high even to realize that she was neglecting him? Wasn’t it Lu who had picked him up from school? Fixed his meals? Held him when he was sick? Tucked him in at night?

    Lu began to hum softly, and seconds later she and Montana seemed to be lost in a world of their own. Ivy got up and left the room, wondering if her hurting little boy would ever accept Lu’s death—or the fact that no one, not even his own mother, could take her place.

    Ivy went downstairs to the living room and saw her mother sitting on the couch, soaking in the afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.

    “How is he?” Carolyn said.

    “He’ll be okay now. Lu always knows what to do.”

    “You sound like you resent it.”

    Ivy shook her head. “I just wish I were more like her, that’s all.”

    “The two of them have been very close, haven’t they?” Carolyn said.

    Ivy was distracted by the sound of the kitchen door opening from the garage. Seconds later, Elam walked in the living room, kissed Carolyn’s cheek, then sat next to her on the couch.

    “How’d it go down at Jewel’s?” he said to Ivy.

    “Good. Nothing much to tell, other than Sheriff Carter was my first customer.”

    “Yeah, that’s what he said.”

    “So you did talk to him,” Carolyn said. “Has he heard any more about the bones they found?”

    “They’re definitely Joe Hadley’s. Not only did the dental records match, but also the DNA. There’s absolutely no doubt. The investigation’s been reopened.”

    “Wow,” Ivy said, trying to act surprised. “What exactly are they investigating?”

    “Right now, they’re walking around my construction site with metal detectors, looking for a weapon.”

    “They really think someone murdered Joe?” Ivy said.

    “Flint won’t say what he thinks, but that’s what I think. He’s not commenting till he