Evercrossed

  "See now? It puts color in your lace," her mother said.

  Philip played with the feathers for a moment, then unzipped his backpack. "I brought you two things."

  "A Yankees cap! Thanks." Ivy put it on. "This is going to make me real popular with the doctors and nurses here among the Red Sox nation."

  He held up his second gift, a coin, then dropped it in the palm of her hand. The gold piece, an inch in diameter, had an image of an angel with wings spread, stamped on each side. "It came in the mail."

  "Part of a solicitation for a religious charity," her mother explained.

  "It's beautiful. Thank you, Philip. I'll keep it right by my bed."

  "I forgot—Dad told me to give you a hug. He's in Washington at a conference," Philip added, amusing Ivy by giving her a light hug, the way Andrew would have. Only a few months before, Philip had started calling Andrew "Dad." Her brother was young enough to make that adjustment, especially since he couldn't remember the man who was their father.

  "And how is Tarantula Arms?" Ivy asked. "Isn't he going to miss you at camp today?'

  "Tomorrow, too," Philip said happily. "We're staying overnight."

  "Mom, really, there's no need. I'm fine. Look at me—I'm fine!"

  "Well, I'm not," Maggie replied. "And Philip and I have already taken a room at the Seabright."

  "Will's taking me kayaking," Philip announced. "Is he?"

  "And he's getting us fishing rods."

  "Good."

  "And he said he saw an awesome kite shop on Route Twenty eight."

  Ivy smiled and swallowed hard. Philip loved Will, as he had loved Tristan. If she and Will broke up ... Ivy didn't want to think about it.

  "We should let Will visit you now," her mother said. "He's been very upset, Ivy. He saw your car before they towed it. In some ways, I think this was more frightening for him than for you."

  "Yes, I can see how it might be," she said. "Would you ask him and Beth to come in?"

  "Together?" her mother asked, sounding a little surprised.

  "Sure."

  As soon as Maggie and Philip left, Beth rushed into the room and threw her arms around Ivy. Then she pulled back. "Am I hurting you?" Ivy hugged her.

  "There's nothing to hurt." Will came in quietly behind Beth. Glancing past Beth, Ivy smiled at him.

  "I can't believe you're okay," Beth said, gently touching Ivy just above her temple. "In the car, when I looked over at you. . ." She shuddered. "I wish I could get that picture out of my head. I—I don't see how I could have imagined it."

  Ivy looked into Beth's eyes, wanting to know what Beth had seen and longing to tell her what she had experienced. Had Beth, who was psychic, sensed something? Ivy wanted Beth to confirm that Tristan's embrace had been more than a dream, but Beth's eyes were clouded with confusion and worry.

  "Beth, you look worse than I do," Ivy observed. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, sure."

  "I don't remember anything from the ER. They checked you over, didn't they?"

  Beth nodded. "It's just a minor concussion."

  "But a major headache," Will said, speaking at last. "I'm trying to get her to take it easy."

  He was standing behind Beth, looking at Ivy over Beth's shoulder. Could he see it in her eyes? Did he guess that, more than ever, she was thinking of Tristan?

  Maybe not, Ivy thought, and reached for Will's hand. He reached back, cradling her hand in both of his. Ivy knew Will's hands by heart, long fingered and strong, almost always flecked with paint. She loved his hands.

  "You scared the heck out of me!" Will said, his voice shaking.

  "Oh, Will, I'm so sorry."

  He moved forward and slipped his arms around her, holding her ever so carefully.

  "Hey, I'm not breakable. I think I've proven that," she said, holding him tight.

  She started to cry, not knowing all of the reasons why. Will wiped away her tears lovingly, as he always had.

  "I'll always be with you." Tristan had said. He had meant it—she felt his promise as if it were inscribed on her heart. But had Tristan healed her only to send her with his blessing back to Will? Ivy reached for the tissue box. "Nurse Andy thinks of everything. Help yourselves."

  "Don't mind if I do," Beth replied, wiping her cheeks. She and Ivy blew their noses and honked at the same time, which made all three laugh out loud. "I guess your mother brought the robe." They laughed again.

  A crisp knock was followed by Andy poking his head through the partially closed door of the hospital room.

  "Okay, wonder girl," he said, pushing a wheelchair into the room. "I'm sending home your fans. You're wanted in CT world." He patted the chair.

  Ivy hugged Beth and Will once more. "Get some sleep, okay?"

  "I'll be back this after—"

  "I'll probably be asleep," Ivy interrupted Will. "After you've had some rest, if you want to do me a big favor, entertain Philip."

  "If that's what you want," Will replied, looking a little hurt.

  "Thank you, Will."

  When they had left, Ivy turned to Andy, who was pointing to the wheelchair. "I prefer to walk."

  "Sorry, it's against the rules."

  "But I feel great!" she insisted. "I could walk and bike for miles."

  "Then if no one is looking, I'll let you do wheelies."

  Ivy laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Let's roll."

  Six

  I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU, IVY... ALWAYS WITH you… I will always—

  "Be with you in a minute," Ivy heard a nurse calling to a patient. She quickly opened her eyes, read the time on the hospital clock—4:12 p.m.— then dropped her head in her hands. It was happening again: For months after Tristan had died, each time Ivy awoke from a happy dream of him, she ached as if she was losing him for the first time.

  Just now, she had been dreaming. Ivy knew that. But not last night, she thought.

  Last night had been different—it had felt real. "Hey, Wonder Girl!" The door of Ivy's room banged back. "That's what they're calling you," Kelsey said, entering the room, followed by Dhanya, who was carrying a shopping bag.

  "Hi, Ivy." Dhanya's voice was soft and worried sounding.

  "Ohmygod!" Kelsey exclaimed when she saw Ivy's pink robe flung across the wheelchair next to her bed.

  "It was a gift from my mother,' Ivy replied.

  Kelsey held it up and Dhanya's look of concern melted into a suppressed giggle.

  Ivy grinned. "There's a matching gown in the closet," she said, swinging her feet over the side of the bed.

  "I'll get it," Dhanya offered quickly.

  "It feels good to walk," Ivy told her.

  "Oh, Ivy, I'm so sorry! I should never have called Beth for a ride. I'm responsible for what happened to you. I feel so bad. You could have been killed. It's my fault. If I hadn't—"

  "Wait a minute, listen to me," Ivy interrupted Dhanya. "You were right to call Beth. You and Kelsey"—she paused, forcing Kelsey to meet her eyes and acknowledge she had a major part in this —"are responsible for drinking and getting drunk. But not the accident. You didn't cause the accident. Okay?"

  Dhanya nodded, a large tear rolling down her cheek.

  "Dhanya, I wish you'd save that for tonight," Kelsey said. "Aunt Cindy put Dhanya and me on probation," Kelsey explained to Ivy, "and scheduled a parent conference on Skype."

  She opened the closet, then whistled. "Dhanya, this outdoes your Disney Princess gowns." Dhanya blushed.

  "You've seen the Disney bridal gowns, haven't you, Ivy?" Kelsey asked. "Dhanya doesn't have a boyfriend, but she keeps trying to decide which dress she's going to wear when she gets married."

  "Back off, Kelsey," Dhanya said quietly.

  Kelsey pulled the gown off its hanger and held it up. "Want to try this on?" she teased her friend.

  "No," Dhanya replied crisply. "Why don't you?"

  Kelsey pulled off her T-shirt and dropped her shorts—she was wearing her bikini underneath— then slipped the nightgown over her head. Bu
ilt like Serena Williams, she looked both awesome and funny.

  "Let's go to the solarium," Kelsey said. "Put on the robe and we can pretend we're twins."

  "Or wear this one," Dhanya said, opening her shopping bag and pulling out Ivy's light green robe.

  "Thank you," Ivy replied gratefully, slipping her arms through its sleeves.

  Kelsey dug in the pocket of the shorts she had just taken off and retrieved her cell phone. "I'm ready."

  Ivy sat in the chair as Dhanya pushed and Kelsey walked beside it wearing her bikini and the filmy gown, waving to people in their rooms, then waving at the staff gathered around the nurses' station as if she was the queen of a homecoming parade. Ivy couldn't help but laugh.

  The solarium, past double doors at the end of the hall, was a quiet oasis away from hospital chatter and beeping machinery. Filled with sunlight rather than the cold fluorescence of the medical areas, its wicker chairs, ferns, and pots of red geraniums made Ivy feel as if she was sitting on someone's porch.

  "We've got the place to ourselves," Dhanya said. "By the window?"

  "Perfect."

  Dhanya parked the wheelchair then pulled a small white rocker closer, arranging herself as prettily as a cat. Kelsey stretched out on a curvy wicker lounge and checked her phone.

  "So let me fill you in on the guys we've met," Kelsey said to Ivy after a moment of thumb flexing. "Think gorgeous and rich."

  "Okay."

  "More rich than gorgeous," Dhanya corrected. Kelsey shrugged. "Their cars are gorgeous. Their boats are."

  "If they really have those cars and boats, and weren't telling a few lies, like you were," Dhanya replied.

  Kelsey shrugged. "So, I exaggerated a little."

  "The party was at a fabulous house," Dhanya told Ivy. "So somebody had money." She turned to Kelsey. "But who knows who was who."

  Kelsey blew through her lips with disgust. "I can tell by talking to them. But you wouldn't talk. You're such a snob, Dhanya! You want money, looks, and class. You've been hanging around with your parents too much." Ivy tried to remember what Beth had told her about Dhanya's parents. Her mother was from a very wealthy Indian family, had come to the U.S. as a graduate student, and fell in love with an American. Her father was ... a lawyer?

  "So I have high standards," Dhanya shot back. "If I can have what I want, why should I settle for less?"

  She appealed her question to Ivy; Ivy smiled, remaining discreetly quiet, but mentally awarding Dhanya the "point."

  "Anyway," Kelsey said, dragging out the word, her eyes shifting from Ivy to the entrance of the solarium, "I know where they all beach now."

  "Ivy's not in the market for a boyfriend," Dhanya reminded Kelsey, then turned to see what had distracted her friend.

  "I know, but a girl can always look," Kelsey replied, leaning closer to Ivy, hinting not too subtly that Ivy should turn around.

  "What if I don't want to?" Ivy baited her.

  "Ivy, c'mon! You're not married yet!" Kelsey sat back in the chaise lounge and raised one knee, providing a nice view of her curvy leg. Ivy wondered who this provocative show was for, but still didn't turn around.

  "Hey! Don't be shy!" Kelsey called out to the person who had entered the room. "Come on over."

  "I was just leaving." The person who held Kelsey's and Dhanya's attention had a deep voice.

  "But you just arrived," Kelsey replied, smiling. Poor guy, Ivy thought, probably looking for some peace and quiet.

  "Don't let my outfit scare you off," Kelsey persisted. "It belongs to my roommate." She pointed to Ivy. "If you think this is hot, you ought to see her beach wear!"

  "Kelsey!" Ivy spun her chair around, ready to defend herself. But when she looked at the guy, all words slipped away. His intense blue eyes seemed to burn through flirtatious remarks and silly explanations. His gaze was both haunted and disdainful, as if he had experienced and knew something terrible that Ivy and her friends would never understand.

  As long as he looked at her, Ivy couldn't look away. His face, shadowed with several days of stubble, was striking rather than handsome. Clean shaven and lit with a smile, it was a face that could break a girl's heart, Ivy thought.

  Without saying a word more, he turned his wheelchair and left. Ivy heard Andy's voice in the hall outside the door: "Enough already? Okay, pal."

  "I bet that's him," Dhanya half whispered to Kelsey. "The guy they were talking about when we stopped to ask directions to Ivy's room."

  "You mean the one they pulled out of the ocean in Chatham?" Kelsey replied.

  Dhanya frowned. "I thought he was found unconscious on the sand, close to the water."

  "Whatever. Must have been some party, probably wilder than ours," Kelsey observed, and turned to Ivy. "He won't tell them what happened or how he got there. He won't even tell them who he is."

  "It's not that he won't, he can't," Dhanya corrected Kelsey. "He can't remember anything."

  "So he says," Kelsey noted.

  "What's wrong with him?" Ivy asked.

  "Nothing, as far as I'm concerned," Kelsey said. "He's rude, but I can forgive that—what a face!"

  Ivy tried again. "I meant why was he hospitalized? Was it for any reason other than amnesia?"

  Kelsey looked to Dhanya for the answer. Dhanya shrugged.

  "In any case," Kelsey said, "it's obvious that Chatham is the place to be."

  "We have our own beach at the inn," Ivy pointed out.

  "Ivy, you need to stop thinking about yourself and consider Beth."

  "What?" Ivy asked, taken aback. "You know my cousin—she will come to Chatham only if you and Will come. She needs to find a boyfriend of her own. She's way too attached to you."

  Ivy frowned, wondering if there was some truth to that.

  Kelsey checked her phone again. "Fat chance!" she said in response to someone's message. "Delete. Delete. Delete.... Ready, Dhanya?"

  Dhanya stood up and grasped the handles on Ivy's chair. "I can get myself back," Ivy told her. "I'm going to stay here in the sun for a while."

  Dhanya dug in her purse and pulled out a small tube of cocoa butter, handing it to Ivy. "Put it on, close your eyes, and pretend you're at the beach," she said.

  Ivy lifted the cap and sniffed. "Mmm. Much better than hospital disinfectant. Thanks."

  Kelsey stood up. "I've got to get my shirt and shorts, so I'll drop this gorgeous gown on your bed." She pirouetted and danced out the door.

  "Thanks for coming," Ivy called after her. Dhanya hugged Ivy lightly.

  "Come home soon," she said, and followed Kelsey out of the solarium.

  Ivy rolled her chair to another window, one sheltered by an island of plants. She sat there for a long time, looking out at the trees and buildings surrounding the hospital, thinking about distance. How could she feel as if she'd been kissed by someone who was another world away—and as if she was losing touch with someone close enough to kiss? Memories are a curse, Ivy thought. If she had no memory of Tristan, she would be able to love Will the way he deserved to be loved.

  After a while, she wheeled back from the window to return to her room. That was when she saw him: the guy with no memory. He had come back to the solarium and was sitting quietly in the far corner. Turning his head, he met her gaze. The way his glance darted away from her, then back again, and the searching look in his eyes told Ivy that he wasn't faking it. He was haunted by what he couldn't recall.

  Ivy paused, her chair about ten feet from his. "Remembering can be as painful as not remembering," she said.

  His face darkened. "Can it? How would you know?" In some ways he was right; she couldn't know his pain any more than he could know hers. And there was no point in sharing—he clearly didn't want to.

  "Have it your way," she said, and left.

  Seven

  TUESDAY MORNING, IVY WAS RELEASED FROM THE hospital.

  "As soon as I get home, I'm mailing you the rest of your summer clothes," her mother said, while they waited for Andy to bring the dis
charge papers.

  "The thing is. Mom, we don't have much bureau or closet space in the cottage. The only thing I really need is a new pair of sneakers."

  The ones she had been wearing were blood soaked, as were the clothes she had worn to the hospital. The ER staff had put them in a bag for Ivy, and before discarding them she had looked at them with astonishment. She believed more than ever that Tristan had helped her. How else could she have made it through such injuries?

  "Everything you brought to Cape Cod looks the same, sweetie," her mother argued. "I'll take some of those clothes home to free up space for pretty things."

  They spent the next ten minutes discussing clothes, going in circles as endless as her mother's love for ruffles. Finally, Ivy's brother rescued her.

  "Philip, where have you been?" Maggie asked when he entered the hospital room.

  "You told me to wait outside the door while Ivy changed. You never told me to come back in." Ivy laughed.

  Philip picked up the Yankees cap he had given Ivy and placed it on her head. "I gave away the angel coin I brought for you. Is that okay?"

  "Of course," she said. "Lots of people in the hospital could use an angel."

  "I told him he could pray to Tristan." Ivy bit her lip. Philip had never stopped talking about Tristan, believing in him as an angel long before Ivy did; now, his faith in Tristan hit Ivy just as hard as the first time Philip had spoken of him. If she told Philip that she had been with Tristan again, that she had felt Tristan holding her, would Philip—

  But no, she didn't want to confuse her little brother. Andy came in with the discharge papers. "Well, young lady," he said, eyes twinkling, "since you are wearing that cap, I have no choice but to politely ask you to leave."

  Ivy laughed and thanked him for his help. It was noon by the time she arrived back at the inn. With just a few guests, the work for the day was done, and Kelsey and Dhanya were wearing their bikinis. Dhanya threw her towel on the swing and rubbed sunscreen on her legs. Beth, in shorts and a halter top, sat on the cottage steps.

  "We're going to Chatham," Kelsey said, shaking her keys.

  "Lighthouse Beach?" Ivy asked. "Even better," Kelsey replied, "a private beach, I was personally invited, and I'm allowing Dhanya to freeload on my hard work at Sunday night's party. You can come too, if you hurry."