CHAPTER 4 – HEATH

             Heath couldn’t get Ivy out of his mind after he saw her. He’d searched for her but didn’t find her. She must have left the building immediately. Clearly, something had happened since she now walked with a cane. It’d been about seven years since he’d last heard anything or tried searching for her. He’d found nothing and believed she must have left the city.

             Heath remembered the last time he saw her. They’d fought about an affair she had with some unknown idiot. Even when he showed her the photographs he had, she denied knowing who it was or even knowing where those photos were taken. This was the affair he’d come to suspect was a setup to drive Ivy away from him. He hated the thought that Monica and his mother may have conned him.

             Heath had to admit she stuck to her story well and wondered if she could continue with it after all this time.

             When he got into work the next morning, Parker was there waiting with a file.

“It appears the personnel files are still in paper format. So, last night, I had the head of HR assist me in finding her file. I took the liberty of looking at the file, and I hope you don’t mind. There’s a list of things that popped out at me, and I sent you a message with links to her social media accounts. Most are private, but the few with photographs are at the top. I recommend you look at them when you look at her file. It’s enlightening, especially if you then look in the mirror or have a childhood photo of yourself nearby.”

             “What are you talking about?” Heath took the file in confusion.

             “Just do it. If I say anything more, you won’t believe me. But I think the lady may have some questions to answer when you’re done.” Parker didn’t look thrilled about this and that had Heath questioning what he’d find. “I think your mother’s ideas about a lot of things are more off than you thought in the past. Just review it while I’ll get you a coffee and be in with your schedule for today so we can go over any changes I think you’ll want to make after this bombshell.”

             Parker knew more than most, but Heath hadn’t told him everything. Heath wasn’t sure he liked the idea that Parker nosed around in Ivy’s personnel file and stalked her on the internet. But he had asked him to get involved. “Fine, get me that coffee and we’ll talk in, say, twenty minutes.”

             “I’ll give you five, ten at the most, before you’re yelling for me. I’ll have your coffee by then.” Parker left, leaving Heath standing there in his outer office with the file in one hand and his briefcase in the other.

             Heath didn’t have a clue what Parker found, but was sure it would make him unhappy. He dropped his briefcase onto the floor beside his desk and settled into his chair. With the mention of coffee, he now craved one.

“Now what put Parker into such a tailspin?” Parker had attached a large sticky note to the outside of the file. Heath didn’t see it before because Parker held the file close to his chest. There were only a few lines of print on the note, not much at first glance.

Heath read the bullet points on the sticky note. “Let’s see. Hit and run injury. Well, that explains the cane and limping. Look at married status and dependents. Is he telling me she’s married with ten kids in seven years or something?” One thing made sense, but now he wanted to know why she hadn’t called him to help her in her time of need.

Heath felt a pang of disappointment and hated the idea of Ivy being with anyone else. Even though she had an affair while they were together, and he’d married someone else. Thankfully, he’d correct that marriage with a divorce. He technically was legally separated from Monica now.

When he opened Ivy’s file, the first page contained all her pertinent information. He expected it to say she was married, but it didn’t. It claimed she was single and had no common-law partner. But a dependant son appeared in her file. A son who would soon turn eight years old. His birth date was a few weeks after Heath had married Monica.

The medical information for the museum’s health insurance was here too. He almost flipped out until he spotted the date of her accident.

Heath had to do some math, but if he wasn’t mistaken, the accident happened on the day she moved out of their condo and left him.

He didn’t look any further, but began pulling up the links Parker sent him. He’d found an archived article on the hit and run. Though her name wasn’t in the article, Parker noted it fit with where she lived currently, and that they had never found the driver.

Heath couldn’t figure out why Ivy hadn’t called him when she’d gone into the hospital after the accident. The pain she must have been in and to be all alone. That must have been why she missed the graduation ceremony. But where were her family? Why hadn’t someone stood in for her? A family member should have been there to accept her diploma and awards. He didn’t even know their names, come to think of it. Heath had never heard her talking to any family members. She’d never introduced him to them, and she’d mentioned no family members during their time together. He’d never thought to ask her about them or her life before he met her.

Heath remembered how hurt he’d been and how he’d been concerned but brushed it off, believing she did this to avoid him. But when he looked more closely at the information Parker dug up on the accident, it had to have been traumatic. A freak accident that ended up with a broken leg and a head injury.

He couldn’t help but wonder where her lover was in all of this. First, he thought the mentioned unknown friend accompanied her to the hospital was her lover, but they referred to the friend as a she. So, she wasn’t with her lover. He wasn’t sure what to think.

             Now, looking at photos, he’d never bothered much with social media, and he guessed he should have. But back then, it wasn’t much of a thing.

             He opened up the first link and found the photo album. Most of the photos were profile photos, or photos taken in sites near where she worked for the museum. There wasn’t much for vacations or nights out.

             Then he tripped over one photo of a small boy. At first, he thought she’d somehow gotten a photo of him as a child, but he didn’t recognize the background and the photo looked too new. Film had changed since then with the advancement of the digital era.

             On closer inspection, he found a description. ‘My bug Geoffrey Smythe turned six today. He’s the light of my life.’

             There was no way Heath could deny him. As soon as anyone saw them in the same room, they’d see they were family.

             Now everything Parker said made sense. Ivy had things to answer. Hell, his mother had things to answer. She would have been pregnant with Geoffrey when the accident happened. Heath’s mind all but shut down in response to the ramifications from this discovery and that’s how Parker found him.

“Okay, maybe you need something a little stronger than this, Boss.”