After I Fall (19 page)

“What about them?”

“I know I’ve never told you anything about them. There’s a reason for that. It’s just…really hard to talk about.”

I nodded. “I get that.”

“But I’ve put it off too long. I need to tell you about the car accident. How it happened. What—”

The sliding glass door slid open again.

Eric winced in frustration.

I tried not to do the same. He was finally ready to confide in me. Finally ready to tell me what had happened to his parents.

And now it wasn’t going to happen.

“Eric?” Lisa said quietly from the doorframe. “Mr. Munson is here. I don’t think you should keep him waiting. EmLynn should probably go now.” She gave me an apologetic smile.

I reached over and squeezed Eric’s hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said. His tone was light but his words weighed heavily on me. He was right. I didn’t know what his future held.

“Will you call me later, if you have time?” I asked.

“I’ll make time,” he assured me.

I grabbed his arm before he stepped inside. He paused and turned to face me.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you,” I said as I pulled him into a hug.

His arms went around me immediately. He held me so tightly my ribs ached. His breath fluttered my hair and I didn’t want him to let go. I squeezed my arms around him more tightly, wishing I could do more.

“Eric,” Lisa quietly prodded.

With a sigh, the hug slipped away.

When I reached my car I sat in the Zierden’s driveway for a few minutes. I was trying to wrap my head around everything I’d heard in the past half an hour.

Eric was right. I couldn’t help him.

But, I realized as I shoved the key into the ignition, I knew someone who might be able to.

I knocked on the half-closed door of Phillip’s study.

“Yes?” he called.

I took a breath, mentally crossed my fingers and said a prayer. When I pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside, he raised his eyebrows at me curiously. I couldn’t blame him. I’d never purposefully sought him out before. Not in his private quarters anyway, and usually not ever without one of the girls in tow.

He leaned back in his seat as he subtly pushed aside the portfolio he’d been flipping through.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“No. Not really.”

“Want to come in? Have a seat? Elaborate a little bit?” He motioned to the leather sofa. I crossed the room and took a seat on the edge of it.

“It’s about Eric,” I said. “I think he’s in a lot of trouble. Or he’s going to be.”

He made a sympathetic face and waited for more of an elaboration.

“I don’t think he did it.”

“I’m not judging,” he said carefully. “But what are you basing this on?”

“Because he said he didn’t. I believe him. I trust him.”

Phillip didn’t say anything as he tapped a pen against a ledger. I knew I wasn’t very convincing.

“Look, here’s the thing. Not all the jewelry was found in the truck. Tens of thousands of dollars worth was stolen and they found
one
pendant. Anyone could’ve put it there. It was no secret that Jace and Eric didn’t get along. Jace was horrible to him at the country club. They also had a mild altercation at a movie we went to. Someone could’ve realized he’d be the perfect person to pin this on. I mean, who is going to defend a foster kid?” I bit my lip. I was dangerously close to tears.

“EmLynn, I just don’t know…”

“I do! He looked me in the eye and swore he didn’t do it. And like he said, why would he be that careless? To drop his ID
and
to leave a pendant behind? I mean,
come on
!”

“When you put it that way…” Phillip nodded, “it does sound suspicious.”

“Right. But not to the police department. I’m sure they’re thrilled that it’s an open and shut case. It gets Mr. Deveroux off their back. It makes the department look good. And what’s it to them if some foster kid gets nailed for something he didn’t do?”

“Maybe there will be another break in the case,” he suggested.

I shook my head. “Why would there be? They think they’ve got the guy. They’re not looking for anyone else.”

“You must be telling me all of this for a reason.”

He waited patiently for me to spell it out for him.

“Can you do something to help him?”

“Such as?” he slowly asked. “What do you think I can do? Bribe the police department?”

He was joking.

I thought.

“No. Yes? I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just thought maybe you could help. He didn’t do it.”

“How do you
know
that?” he asked softly. It wasn’t a challenge. Not exactly. I felt as if he simply wanted affirmation. “Some thieves…aren’t too smart. Sometimes things get left behind. It’s how cases are solved.”

“Because I
know
him,” I said firmly. “I’ve never asked for anything from you before. If you help me with this, I swear I will never ask for anything from you again.”

He sighed.

And remained silent.

I stood in front of him, feeling like a helpless child.

“Okay,” I said, deciding to try a different tactic. “Let’s just say I’m wrong. I’m not, but let’s just say I am. Let’s say Eric did do it. Is it really fair that his whole life is going to be thrown away because of one mistake? You and Mom said yourselves that Mr. Deveroux isn’t a nice guy. He’s going to make Eric pay for this every way he can. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? Haven’t you ever done something you regretted and would give anything to take back?”

He shook his head and grimaced.

“They want to try him as an adult. Does that mean this will stay on his record?
Forever
?”

“I’m really sorry he’s going through this,” Phillip said quietly.

“Sorry enough to help someone who doesn’t have anyone else?” I pleaded.

I braced myself for his refusal. I wasn’t above begging and pleading but I wasn’t sure that it would do any good.

“Do you know what I think? What I honestly think?” I had only just pushed the pieces together in my mind.

“What do you think, EmLynn?” Phillip’s voice wasn’t mocking. I could tell he truly wanted to hear what I had to say.

“I think Jace took advantage of the robbery. I think he set him up.”

“Em—”

“No, hear me out!” I interrupted. “Shortly after he started working at the country club, his keys were lost…or stolen. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Those things happen. But think about it. Jace has had it in for Eric since they met.” Phillip didn’t look convinced. He had no reason to be convinced with the limited knowledge he had. I proceeded to fill him in on the events that had transpired the day Eric got fired.

His expression remained impassive. “You seriously think Jace intentionally hit him with the football?”

I nodded slowly. “I know he did. I
don’t
think he meant to cause so much damage. I think it was just dumb luck. He hit Eric just right. The ball hit him behind the knee, knocking him completely off balance.”

“Okay. I’m with you so far,” he said with a nod.

“There are little things, like Jace making some nasty remarks about Eric being a foster kid. He got in Eric’s face when we went to a movie.” I paused. “I know none of this sounds damning on its own, but when you put the pieces together, when you look at the big picture, I think it’s clear.”

“You think Jace stole Eric’s keys and ID and planted them,” he reiterated.

“Yes. I didn’t realize his ID was also missing, but it could’ve been with the keys. I think he also planted a single piece of jewelry. It would be easy for him to go to his mom’s room after the robbery and grab something, anything, to put in Eric’s possession.”

“You think Jace was behind this?”

“I think Jace took advantage of the situation. I think he saw the opportunity to set Eric up and he took it.” I shook my head. “Or maybe I’m totally off base. I bet a lot of people that Mr. Deveroux does business with spend time at the country club. It could’ve been someone else that set up Eric. Maybe someone who knows that there’s animosity between him and Jace? You and Mom both said Mr. Deveroux has a lot of enemies. Maybe one of
them
saw the opportunity to use Eric as a scapegoat.”

Silence filled the room for several long moments as Phillip worked through my theories.

When I couldn’t take the silence anymore I said, “Regardless, I’m positive Eric didn’t to this. It’s not fair that he’s caught in the middle. Who’s going to help him if we don’t? I know the Zierdens want to, but I don’t know what they’d be able to do.”

He surprised me when he finally spoke.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I would do anything for you. Just like I would for the twins. I honestly don’t know what I
can
do,” he admitted. “Give me the night to think it over.”

“Oh my gosh Phillip…
Thank you
.” I felt my body become limp as the tension melted away.

The moment felt like it called for a hug. Given the fact that we’d never hugged before, I brushed the feeling aside. We both knew that it would be awkward and it would probably feel somewhat forced. Instead, he rose from his desk and clapped his hand gently against my shoulder.

“I’m not making any promises, but I’ll work on it.”

*  *  *

I crept into the kitchen the following morning feeling like nothing less than a beggar. I rarely bothered to join my family. I was sure they would think if I was joining them it was because I had an ulterior motive.

I did.

Of course I did.

I felt horrible for it but, at this point, there was nothing that could be done about it.

I had talked to Eric briefly the night before. Things were not sounding good for him. His lawyer was urging him to take the plea deal. But to do that, he’d have to turn over the rest of the missing jewelry. It was jewelry that he swore he didn’t have.

He sounded so distraught. He was sure the Zierdens didn’t believe him, even though they claimed they did. He also felt guilty for putting them through this. Even though he was a minor and it couldn’t be printed in the paper it didn’t matter. It seemed as if the whole town knew. He was worried that it would reflect badly on Lisa and affect her career.

I’d tried to convince him he didn’t need to worry about the Zierdens. I was sure they would be standing behind him no matter what. I did hope he was wrong about this negatively impacting Lisa’s career. Her income depended on the commissions she made. If she lost clients, she’d lose commissions.

Maybe…maybe Phillip could help her somehow. Send some business her way.

I shook my head. I was not going to ask Phillip for any more favors. I was feeling guilty enough about the favor I’d already asked for. I knew it was out of line. I knew that Phillip owed me nothing.

But I had no one else to turn to.

I didn’t dare mention the conversation I’d had with Phillip to Eric. I didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Phillip had every right to tell me he thought it over and that the answer was no.

My heart pounded as I made my way into the kitchen.

I could hear the girls squabbling and Mom chiding them.

My feet padded quietly across the tile.

Natalie spotted me first. “Emmm!” She reached a sticky hand my way.

Phillip glanced at me over the top of his paper. I couldn’t read his expression. It wasn’t irritated or apologetic or…It was simply blank.

“Are you actually joining us this morning? Without being coerced?” Mom asked with a cocked brow. “What’s the special occasion?”

“I, uh…,” I stammered.

“I asked her to pop in this morning,” Phillip said as he slid his chair back.

I raised my eyebrows at him the same moment Mom asked, “Why is that?”

“Our anniversary is coming up. I wanted to run something by EmLynn. But as for you,” he said to Mom, “you do not need to know the details. I have to have some element of surprise, don’t I?”

Mom looked skeptical. She glanced at me. I smiled and shrugged.

“Let’s go to my office, shall we?” He motioned in that direction and I nodded, leading the way. When we were both inside he closed the door.

“Now, first things first. I do not want to lie to my wife. Therefore, let’s talk about our upcoming anniversary. I’d like to take her away for the weekend. We haven’t had a weekend away since the girls were born. Is there any chance that you would want some company in the pool house for a few days?” he asked.

My heart was hammering. I didn’t want to talk about vacations, or babysitting.

“Sure, of course. That’s fine,” I said. Taking the twins for a few days wasn’t exactly my idea of fun, but I didn’t hate it either.

He crossed the room and took a seat on a wingback chair. He motioned to the couch and I didn’t refuse.

“I want nothing more than to clear the air between us,” he said.

I nodded. “I’d like that too.” I meant it. Things had been strained for too long. It was mostly my fault and it certainly wasn’t doing me—or anyone else—any good.

He looked relieved. “I just want you to know I never set out to be the bad guy. When I finally realized your mother was married, I was prepared to walk away. I did walk away. The thing is, she followed. She left your dad even though I told her she shouldn’t.”

I nodded. It was what Mom had already said. Not to mention, it seemed like something she would do. Mom did what she wanted, when she wanted.

“Once the divorce was final, I realized she wasn’t going to go back. I’d loved your mom since we were in high school. It seemed senseless to let her slip away again.”

“Why did you two ever break up in the first place?” I demanded.

“I was a year older. I got accepted at Columbia. She wanted me to wait a year so she could come along. I didn’t. I had plans. Goals. I didn’t want to be held back. I thought we could make the long distance thing work for a year.”

“Mom didn’t like that plan.”

“No,” he agreed. “She did not.”

“I bet you wish that you never went your separate ways.”

He didn’t spare a second to contemplate it. He simply shook his head and immediately refuted  me.  “No. I don’t.”

I felt an eyebrow quirk up. It wasn’t the answer I was expecting.

“If we’d gone to college together, she wouldn’t have met your father. If she hadn’t met him, she wouldn’t have you.” He paused, smiled, and continued. “I like having you in our lives. So do the girls. Everything happens for a reason. I’ve always believed that. I have no regrets.”