Finding Love in Ivy Falls

Chapter Twenty-Two

TESSA

Heart Of The Matter

The sound of tiny, alarmed voices made me jump out of bed. I grabbed my phone, its screen a dull black.

Oh, crap. I’d forgotten to charge it.

After all the craziness of last night, first the mind-blowing sex with Manny, and then the unwanted reappearance of Billy, I was surprised I’d slept at all.

When I got home with Billy in tow, I thought for sure Dad’s head was going to explode. I explained the situation in the square. After he took a few calming breaths, leveled a death stare at Billy, he agreed we could talk about it later today.

The voices in the family room grew louder. I pulled on my robe and raced down the hall. Iris stood next to the couch, her little eyes pinched in the corners. A trembling Rose hovered behind her.

‘Girls, it’s all right,’ I said quietly.

Billy, much to his credit, recognized their confusion and stayed quiet.

‘Isn’t he… Is that our daddy?’ Iris looked him over, her eyes narrowing like she didn’t really understand what she was seeing.

‘Yes,’ I said, pulling a shaky Rosie into my side. ‘He’s only staying for a short time, but he wanted to see you.’

Billy gave me a startled look, and I held his stare, willing him to follow my lead for the girls’ sake.

‘Hi, Iris and my Rosie,’ he said, keeping his voice soft. ‘I’ve missed you.’

Both girls stared at me with confusion and fear.

‘It’s okay to say hello,’ I said gently.

Iris inched in closer to the couch, her stare fixed on Billy’s face. An eggplant-colored bruise bloomed under his eye like a boxer who’d gone too many rounds with a much bigger opponent.

‘Why is there a bandage on your head? And what happened to your lip?’ Iris asked.

Billy reached up and touched his eyebrow. ‘What, this? It’s nothing. Just a little scratch.’

Rose moved out around me and, with a full-throated voice, said, ‘If you’re our daddy, why don’t you live here?’

Leave it to my firecracker to get right to the heart of the matter.

Billy gulped down a full breath. Good. He deserved to be in the hot seat. To be pinned in place by the children he’d cruelly abandoned.

‘I had to go away for a while. Needed time to think about some things. But now I’m back.’

Iris, my sweet, shy girl, inched forward and climbed onto a cushion beside him. Rose hesitated, looking to me for guidance with wide eyes.

Billy disappeared when she was so little. All she knew of him were the photos that still littered parts of the house. As much as I wanted to scream at my ex for causing this kind of confusion in my girls, I didn’t want them to be afraid of their father.

I plastered a smile to my lips and bent down beside Rose. ‘It’s all right if you want to sit next to your sister.’

She took tentative steps toward the couch and took the spot beside Iris.

Billy smiled at them both. Asked about school. Their friends. The girls were shy at first but eventually told him about their teachers. How they loved soccer and having regular dinners with their grandpa.

He took his time with them. Waited for their cues as to when to ask questions and when to listen. There was so much to be angry about with him, but I’d forgotten how he could slow down, pay attention to his girls when they needed him.

A little gurgle came from Rose’s tummy, reminding me of the time.

‘Girls, you need to run and get ready for school. We’re late.’

‘No, Mama!’ Iris cried. ‘I want to stay here and play with Daddy now that he’s home.’ The joy in her face nearly tore me in two.

‘Sorry, honey, but your teachers and friends are waiting for you at school. Both of you need to get going,’ Billy said, thankfully backing me up.

‘Will you be here when we get home from soccer practice?’ Rose asked, pointing her big brown eyes, courtesy of his DNA, at him.

‘Please don’t go away again, Daddy.’ Iris sniffled like she thought he might vanish at any moment.

Both girls stared at him, their lower lips quivering.

This scene might kill me.

‘Your mama’s right. School is super important. Go get your clothes on. Brush your teeth. I’ll see you again soon. I promise.’

They gave him a sad nod. Iris reached for Rose’s hand and together they walked down the hall.

Yep. My heart might actually snap in two.

‘Don’t do that,’ I said once they were out of earshot.

‘Do what?’

‘Make them promises.’

He had the gall to look hurt.

‘Come on, Billy. We both know you can keep your promises as well as you can keep a job – which is not at all.’

‘My past behavior has sucked, I know. But give me a chance to prove I’ve changed.’

Thin yellow light streamed in the windows, casting shadows over his gaunt cheeks. He really was ten pounds past skinny, and his hair was short and patchy in places like it’d been trimmed with dull garden shears. Holes riddled the sleeves of his worn black hoodie. Another new tattoo on his neck was some kind of snake I didn’t recognize.

How appropriate for him.

‘We can talk about this later. For now, I want you to leave.’

He gave me a look like somehow I was the one breaking his heart, and it only ignited the slow-burning fury that was growing in my chest.

It was just like him to show up right when we were starting to get our feet under us. It was as if he had this sixth sense, knowing when things were going well so he could swoop in and suck all the joy out of things.

Our junior year of high school I was named a National Merit Scholar and couldn’t wait to tell my parents. All the way home in the car, he and his friends teased me about being a ‘hot nerd’. They swore they were only joking, but there was a cruel dig to their words that stuck with me for days.

After Rose was born, my dad offered to help with a down payment on a house. I was working full-time at the P&P, and Billy floated between catering jobs and bartending. We said yes, both tired of the cramped apartment where we lived.

I loved our little bungalow, but every time Billy drank (which was way too often), he’d make some nasty remark about how my ‘daddy and his money’ always came to the rescue. He constantly claimed I’d never understand him and all the demons he was fighting. I’d spent ten years trying, but after a litany of excuses, and one too many apologies, my ability to trust him was obliterated by a slip of paper with a few lines claiming he couldn’t live with us anymore.

‘Once the girls are ready you can say goodbye, but then you need to walk to the sheriff’s department. Figure out how to get your car back. When you get settled in another town, text me. We need to discuss signing the divorce papers and how you’re going to help me support the girls once you find a job.’

‘Tessie, can’t you come back after you drop them off?’ He glanced at a clock hanging in the kitchen. ‘You have a while before the bookstore opens. Give me a chance to explain my plans.’

‘Fine, but this better not be more of your games. Another set of lies you’re so good at telling.’

‘I swear you won’t regret it.’

The sooner I heard him out, the quicker he’d be gone from Ivy Falls. I was about to say that when a sharp knock on the back door stopped me.

Great. That could be one of two people: Torran or my dad. I couldn’t deal with either right now.

I tightened the belt on my robe, marched to the back door and threw it open.

‘Good morning, Tessa,’ Mrs Vanderpool said firmly. Her hair lay in tight silver curls against her head. Thick pink glasses were perched at the end of her nose. Baby let out a little bark as he sat tucked under her left arm.

‘Is he here?’ The taut set of her voice told me whom she meant.

‘Yes,’ I sighed. ‘Come in.’

She walked into the house, and her gaze darted around my small kitchen. When her stare landed on Billy sitting on my couch in the family room, she set her jaw. The sudden tic in her cheek said his swollen eye and split lip caught her off guard.

‘I wanted to come by and say thank you again for what you did last night. For not hurting my Baby.’ The little brown and black dog gave another yip like he agreed.

‘Of course,’ Billy said, moving from the couch and stopping next to me.

‘Are you back to stay or just passin’ through?’ she spat out.

‘Staying. Starting today, I’m going to look for a job and a place to live.’ He gave me a determined gaze. ‘Begin making up for my bad choices to both Tessie and my girls.’

‘Well,’ she huffed. ‘That’s the least you can do.’ Baby gave another little yip, and she lovingly patted his head. ‘As long as you’re staying, I can offer up the small garage apartment behind my house for a month rent-free. It’s not much, but it’s the least I can do.’ Before I could object, say I wanted Billy to find a place somewhere besides Ivy Falls, Mrs Vanderpool added, ‘I can also talk to Silvio. He’s not a fan of yours, but he’s too old to be workin’ at the store long hours with only part-time help like he’s doing now.’

Billy bobbed his head. ‘Thank you, Mrs Vanderpool. That would be great.’

I wanted to stop time. Pull Mrs Vanderpool outside and tell her I didn’t want any of this, but then Dr Sheridan’s words about her slowing down, how Baby was her whole world, made me clamp my mouth shut. The woman was also the most stubborn person I’d ever met, and no matter how much I objected, she’d never change her mind.

‘We’re ready for school.’ Iris said as she and Rose rushed back into the room.

‘I’ll be on my way then,’ Mrs Vanderpool said. ‘You,’ she set her fiery gaze on Billy, ‘be at my house by three today.’ She waved him closer and lowered her voice. ‘And if I catch wind of you pulling any more nonsense, you’ll be out on your backside quicker than you can blink. This town can overlook stumbles, but you’ve already blown any grace you’ve been given because of what you’ve done to this sweet little family. One more slip-up and it won’t just be me kicking your tail across the city line. Got me?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

Without so much as a goodbye, Mrs Vanderpool turned on her heel and left.

Billy went to the girls and tried to help them with their backpacks. Iris let him, while Rose took a hesitant step away, still unsure of him.

She wasn’t the only one.