Dreams~Shadows of the Night (20 page)

Once she found out that he may have taken the job for extra money to marry Catherine, Ivy’s anguish turned to hostility that quickly transferred to the young woman. She’d disliked Catherine at first sight. She was envious of her delicate beauty and intelligence, but most of all she was jealous that her son desired Catherine.

When she discovered Josh had gone to Catherine first, instead of coming home upon his return, Ivy had been consumed with
resentment. By the time he finally did arrive on their doorstep, a shattered man consumed with fear that he’d lost Catherine to Tom, Ivy despised her with a fury that knew no bounds. Layers of anger continued to build until she’d encased herself in a shell of hatred too thick for empathy to
break through.

Ivy set herself up as judge and jury and plotted revenge against Catherine as meticulously as a general going to war. She would have preferred that Josh stay close to home, but she’d consoled herself with the knowledge that taking the job in a remote area of
Alaska
had kept him away from Catherine, until Jerry had intervened.

Now despite all her careful planning, Josh had come here with all the appearance of settling back into a relationship with Catherine. Because he seemed blinded to the fact that she was wrong for him, Ivy knew it was up to her to rescue her son from his own confused emotions. She had no qualms about using any means at her disposal to accomplish her goal, including Josh’s obvious attachment to Tom’s child.

It hadn’t surprised her that Tom had taken his own life. The man had always been weak and apparently he’d entangled himself with a woman as feeble in spirit as himself. Although she cared nothing for their baby, Ivy had seen that he would be
a convenient tool in implementing her plan. Now all she needed to do was get Josh alone.

>>>>dreams<<<<

He wandered into the kitchen where Ivy was washing dishes. She dried her ha
nds and smiled at him.

“Where’s Catherine?” she asked, hiding her animosity.

“Upstairs putting the baby down for a nap.”

“He’s like a small replica of Tom, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. Sometimes it almost hurts to look at him knowing Tom is gone.”

“I know, but we have to be thankful that Tom left
t
his wonderful little bit of himself behind.” She pointed to a coffee pot. ”Will you join me for a cup? It’s fresh.”

“Sure.” He pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Where’s Dad?”

She touched her cheek.

“At the dentist. A filling fell out last night.” Ivy filled the mugs and brought them over to the table. “Would you like another piece of cake?”

Josh shook his head and patted his stomach.

“No thanks, I’m about to bust as it is from everything I shoveled in during lunch. The food was great as always, Mom.”

She sat across from him. “It’s so wonderful how you’ve gained back your weight. It was hard seeing how emaciated you were after your return from South America.”

“I guess I did resemble someone out of a horror movie.”

“I don’t like to think about it.” She touched a hand to her heart. “It hurts too much knowing that you suffered and I was helpless to do anything to stop it.”

“I made you suffer, too and I’ll always be sorry for that.”

“Well, you’re here now and that’s the most important thing.” She waited a heartbeat. “I’m glad we’re having this opportunity to talk in private because I have some things I need to tell you. They’re not pleasant, but they have to be said.”

“What things?” he asked warily.

Despite his guarded look, she was determined to go on knowing she had enough salient
facts to add credence to the story
she’d concocted. “I’m talking about Catherine’s behavior while you were away.”

“I was afraid of that.” He shoved himself to his feet. “I don’t want
to hear it. I’m trying to p
ut negative stuff behind me. It’
d make things a lot easier
if you would, too.”

She clutched his hand to keep him from walking away. “Darling, listen to me, please. You know how much I love you. The only thing that matters to me is for you to be happy. I would just as soon cut my tongue out than say anything that might hurt you, but there are things you don’t know about Catherine. If you
still want to be with her after I finish, then I can’t stop you, but at least I’ll know I
did my best to try and save you
.”

“Save me? Don’t you think that sounds a bit
melodramatic?” He jerked his chair back and sat down again. “Tell me something; why do you dislike her so much?”

“Because she’s a selfish, deceitful woman.
She barely showed any concern that you’d been kidnapped. She only cared about her own self.”

Ivy allowed the ice inside her to coat her words now.

“You have no idea what went on while you were gone. No matter what she’s told you, she did have an affair with our poor hapless Tom. She led him on all the way, and he followed along like a puppy on a leash.”

Chapter Eighteen

“You’re wrong, Mother. They wouldn’t do that to me,” he insisted. “I don’t know why you’d think they would. Anyway, you haven’t any proof.”

“Oh, but I do.” He shot her a surprised look and Ivy began to relate her carefully constructed tale. “For one thing, she was at his apartment practically every time I called, and they slept together when they came here that night to tell us about your kidnapping.”

“I don’t believe you. Tom wouldn’t have shared a bed here in your house.”

“I went upstairs to see if they needed anything before I went to bed. I could hear Tom’s voice in Catherine’s room and believe me he was doing more than talking to her.”

“Were you spying on them?”
he demanded. “Jesus Mother, that’s sick.”

“Of course not. I told you, I merely wanted to see if they were settled in.” She watched, as he shook his head obviously refusing to accept her explanation. “Josh, I changed the sheets. Tom’s bed hadn’t been slept in and Catherine bedding reeked of sex.”

His chest heaved.

“Why are you doing this? Do you enjoy tearing me apart?”

“You know better than that. I have to tell you the truth. My conscience simply won’t allow me to sit back and watch Catherine continue to hurt the innocent. I blame her for Tom’s death. You know how sensitive he was. She led him on until he was hopelessly enthralled with her. Then she decided she wanted some widowed doctor at her hospital and went after him. Successfully, I might add, as their affair went on for quite a while.”

His hands curled into tight fists.

“Who told you she was with another man?”

“Tom. He called me one day literally crying his heart out over her defection.”

“Who is this doctor? Do you know his name?”

“I do. It’s Ryan Wade. You can check with the hospital if you don’t believe me. But right now you should be more concerned with what happened to poor Tom. He was beside himself and when he tried to continue on with Catherine, she manipulated him into a relationship with her cousin, so she could concentrate on her affair with the doctor. Tom ended up eloping with the girl to
Las Vegas
because she got herself pregnant.”

“It wasn’t exactly the Immaculate Conception, Mother. From what I understand Tom was very much in love with
Nancy
and he was devastated when she died. The family should have been there for him. I know I couldn’t be, but what about the rest of you? Now that we’re on the subject, why didn’t any of you try to help Tom?”

She wasn’t about to admit that she’d waited several days after Catherine’s call before she told the family about Tom. Nor
would she admit how,
when John suggested contacting Catherine, she’d convinced him the girl didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Hearing Josh’s accusing tone made Ivy dig in her heels like a bull preparing to charge. “Because Catherine told us she and her aunt preferred to have us stay away.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She knew Tom was like family.” He frowned. “Maybe he was so in love with
Nancy
that he felt he didn’t need any of us as much as he used to.”

“Perhaps. But how do you know he loved this
Nancy
? We only have Catherine’s say so. Men get women pregnant every day without marrying them. I think Tom took her on because she was the cousin, so he’d have an excuse to stay close to Catherine. As for us not being with Tom, we didn’t know about his wife’s illness or death because Catherine couldn’t be bothered to tell us until it was too late. How could you even think that we would have let him suffer alone? If only Tom would have contacted us himself we might have been able to save him.”

“She said Tom didn’t want to upset you because you had to deal with what happened to me, but she felt he needed us and when she did call, you hung up on her.”

Ivy shook her head and clucked her tongue.

“Oh Josh, you know I would never have done such a thing to our Tom. She’s lying like she’s lied about everything else. Look how she’s kept little Tommy from us and if that isn’t bad enough, she’s using the baby to lure you back into a relationship because the doctor dumped her.”

“He dumped her?”

“He certainly did
– a
nd to save face, she told everybody she broke it off herself because you had returned and asked her to marry you. She even had the audacity to spread the rumor that you two were secretly engaged before you left.”

“How could she tell everyone we were going to be married when she didn’t even know I had returned from
South America
until I confronted her at her aunt’s?”

“We did know, dear. I never told you, but Mr. Marsh called us. I telephoned Tom right away to let him know you were back and of course he told Catherine.”

“She certainly didn’t act like she knew, and I asked Marsh not to say anything.”

“Catherine is quite an actress. But please don’t be angry with Mr. Marsh. He thought it would be best to prepare us because he could see you were so ill. I didn’t tell you before now because I gave him my word I wouldn’t mention that he called.”

“He shouldn’t have said anything,” he grumbled.

“I disagree. We had a right to know considering your health. As for Tom, he was upset
because Catherine insisted there was no way that they’d ever be together again.”

“He was upset because his wife died
,” Josh contradicted.

“That may have been a small part of it, but it was really Catherine he wanted. Despite having that adorable baby boy to live for, he didn’t even try to bond with his son. I’m afraid dear, misguided Tom still had illusions of being with Catherine. He committed suicide when he finally realized there wasn’t any chance that she would take him back.”

“If you called Tom and told him I had returned, why didn’t he try to contact me?”

“Oh darling, please don’t ask me that. It’s been hard enough for me as it is being the one to tell you all this.” Ivy hung her head while she whipped up a few quick tears.

“Why stop now? You’ve told me everything else you may as well spill the rest.”

“Well, if that’s what you want.” She let out a heavy sigh and dabbed at her tears with her apron. “He told me he was too ashamed to face you after he’d betrayed your trust by sleeping with Catherine. I’m sure all that guilt was another thing that contributed to him taking his own life. That’s another reason I blame her for what happened.”

“He could have kept the affair a secret. I need never have known.”

“Too many people had seen them together. Someone was bound to slip up and tell you sooner or later. But even if no one did, Tom was so eaten up with shame he probably would have ended up confessing to you himself. How could things ever be the same between you once you learned how he’d carried on with Catherine? Tom was your best friend, but he violated that friendship and she encouraged him every step of the way.”

He sucked air through his nostrils like a man fighting to breathe.

“I hate this.”

“I know how difficult all this is for you.” She sighed again. “Tom was such a pragmatic soul. He never saw the world exciting like you. Everything was drab to him.”

“What did you expect from him considering the way he grew up?”

“He could have overcome it if he tried. Whatever joy he did have came from your relationship and look how he repaid you. But Tom always was weak, and I’m sure that’s why Catherine was able to take advantage of him.
I hold her responsible for his betrayal more than I blame him. His actions were clearly manipulated
by her
influence
.”

“Tom never was very good with women. Maybe if I had known any of this I could have talked him out of thinking things were so bad he had to kill himself.”

“No, I say it’s a good thing you didn’t know what was going on. God knows what you might have done if
you
had
hear
d about his involvement with Catherine
.”