you first,” Ivy said wryly as she sipped at a fresh mug of coffee.
It was awhile after her confession and the tears that had followed. She’d gone inside to clean up while I made her a fresh pot and tried to push down the rage I felt toward a dead man.
I chuckled at the idea of Bailey finding out Ivy had confided in me first. “Yeah.”
“I just feel like I can trust you. Not that I can’t trust Bailey, but … timing is everything, I guess.”
“You can trust me,” I promised her.
She nodded.
“Ivy, you need to tell your parents. They know and suspect something like this anyway … and they would never be ashamed of you. He did what all abusers do. He made you feel you were to blame for his actions. But you aren’t.”
“I know that,” Ivy whispered. “Deep down, I know that. I knew it while he was doing it. I … just … I was planning to get away.” She glared at me. “Believe me. I planned that shit every day for two years.”
“I do believe you. Ivy, do you know how many good, strong women are victims of domestic abuse each year in this country? The statistics are frightening. You are not alone.”
“I’m not strong.”
“You bashed a gunman over the head with an Academy Award statuette to protect Dahlia. If that isn’t badass, I don’t know what is.”
Ivy grinned, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That was pretty badass. Is it wrong that that’s what I think of now when I look at it instead of the screenplay I won it for?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No, that just makes me like you even more.”
Her expression darkened. “Would you still like me if I said I was relieved when Oliver died?”
There it was.
The root.
“You feel guilty,” I surmised. “You feel guilty because his death freed you.”
She nodded, swallowing hard.
“That is a natural response. It does not make you a terrible person.”
She huffed. “I … I don’t know if I’m a terrible person or if I’m stupid or weak … but … who entangles themselves with an honorable man when they’re this fucked up? I should never have let Jeff touch me.”
I thought on this a moment. “Are you surprised that you could? That you wanted him?”
Her eyes flew to mine. “Yes, actually.”
“Maybe you have better instincts than you think. Maybe you’ve honed them since meeting Oliver. You trusted me and I can assure you I am trustworthy.” I smiled. “And you trusted Jeff to be the first man you’ve slept with since Oliver. And you can trust him. I doubt there is a man in the entire state of Delaware who you can trust more than Jeff King. Okay, there’s Cooper, Vaughn, and Michael, but they’re all taken so they don’t count.”
She tilted her head, her gaze wandering curiously over my face. “Jack doesn’t count?”
My heart ached. “I used to think so.”
“Until he slept with Dana?”
I shook my head. “I still trusted him then. I still believed in him.”
“Not now?”
“Not now.”
“You don’t trust easily either, do you?”
I thought of Ivy confiding her secrets to me. “I trust you.”
She smiled gratefully.
“Can I tell you a story? Only Jess knows it. It’s the reason I … well … it’s part of the reason I am the way I am.”
“You can tell me anything.”
So I did. On a warm Monday afternoon, I told Ivy Green my story.
Afterward, we sat in silence for a while.
Until eventually I turned to her and said, “Please tell your parents about what you went through with Oliver.”
She closed her eyes briefly and took in a deep breath. “I will. I promise.”
“And if you care about Jeff, don’t push him away. If you can’t start something with him, I absolutely understand, but tell him why. You won’t regret it.”
“He’ll look at me differently.”
“I doubt it, but if he does, then you’ll know for certain he isn’t the right guy for you.”
“When did you get so wise, Emery Saunders?”
“I have no idea,” I answered honestly, smiling as I settled a hand on my belly. “Maybe my kid is full of wisdom and leaking some of that goodness into me.”
“Your kid,” she muttered. “You’re going to be a mom.”
Fear, excitement, and anticipation caused a swooping sensation in my belly.
“If I stay in Hartwell, do I get to be Aunt Ivy?” she teased.
I didn’t tease when I replied, “You get to be Aunt Ivy no matter where you are.”
Her eyes brightened and her voice sounded a