Page 45 of Up In Smoke

“What do you mean your girlfriend was in it? I didn't know you have a girlfriend.”

Luke was surprised. She knew everything else, it seemed. He figured the whole town would be abuzz with their relationship—he and Ivy were not low-profile citizens. He’d thought heneededthe town to be abuzz.

He’d believed the knowledge that Ivy was seeing a firefighter would keep her safe. That clearly hadn’t worked. And he wondered now if he might have made the biggest mistake of all: he might have put a target on her.

And even as that idea clicked into place—yet another horrifying realization today—his mother said, “Yes, I know that place. That's where your father's girlfriend lived. Right before Jose was born.”

“Jose?” he asked, more surprised that his mother had mentioned the name for the first time than that there had been a fifth Hernandez boy. Luke only knew about the baby because Ivy had told him. He didn't even remember his mother being pregnant when he was young. But then again, when had she been home?

But she ignored the question and continued to talk about the location. “I went over there and dragged his ass home more times than I can count. Hugely pregnant, too. The whole town probably saw.”

She waved the cigarette for emphasis and flicked the ash to the side, not seeming to care that it landed on her own porch.

Luke nodded. But if the whole town knew that didn't help narrow their suspect pool at all. “I don't remember any of that.”

“Why would you? You were at home, and I just showed up with your daddy. I think Tiago is the only one who even caught on.”

With that proclamation, Luke felt his heart clench.

“I tried to keep it from you, boys, all of it. You know, I’d do anything for you.”

Her words struck a chord deep inside him.

He'd not considered her a good mother, though he knew she'd done her very best. But the idea that she would do anything for them made sense. She had worked her own fingers to the bone supporting them. She'd hauled their father home when he strayed. And when that had been too much, she'd likely kicked the man out.

But the idea that she wouldstilldo anything for her sons reached deep into Luke and twisted inside his chest. He needed to search his memories.

They'd missed something.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The first thing Luke saw when his eyes finally came open was park ranger Leo Evans. Not the most romantic awakening, Luke thought.

Leo spotted him and didn't even say anything. He just sucked in a deep breath and cracked his neck from one side to the other. Not surprising given the hospital chairs they’d slept in.

Jo was in the bed next to Ivy, laying face down. The robes they’d used from the spa had not covered the back of her legs, and she had suffered severe blisters. Ivy—being shorter—had remained more covered and didn't have anywhere near as many leg burns.

The two friends had wanted to share a room and that meant the two men were now facing each other after spending the night in very uncomfortable chairs on either side of their beds.

Jo shifted and Ivy's voice piped up with a command. “Don't roll over!”

Once again, Luke caught Leo's eye. Both of them were trying to laugh as silently as possible. Jo had not taken kindly to being told what position to sleep in to let her legs heal best. They'd all been on her case to stay face down and keep the wounds upright. It had taken all three of them to make her stay put.

Luke hadn't even realized Ivy was awake. The bandages still hadn't come off of her eyes and she hadn’t moved much. Maybe she’d been letting him sleep.

Even as he wondered about it, another doctor walked in. He was grateful. He knew this doctor, too, and she was kinder and gentler than the other.

As they unwound the gauze from her eyes, Ivy chided her friend. “If the first thing I see is you sitting in the wrong position, Miss Joely Huston, I'm going to be very angry.”

“I just moved my head!” Jo called back angrily, the two of them using the kind of tone only best friends could.

In a moment, Luke had forgotten about Jo as Ivy was blinking, her blue eyes squinting as she adjusted to the first light she'd seen in close to twenty-four hours. But the fact that she was squinting meant she was seeing light.

As Luke smiled at the revelation, Ivy turned her head to him. It was plausible that she'd heard him shuffling around. It was also plausible that she'd heard him laughing at her first directive to Jo. But he was medic trained, and he knew the signs. His grin only widened as he saw her eyes focus on him.

“It's a little blurry,” she told the doctor and Luke knew she was likely calculating what strength of lenses she would need.

But this doctor was better than that. “It'll be that way for a little while. Maybe an hour, maybe a few, but I suspect it will return to normal quickly.”

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