Finding Love in Ivy Falls

Chapter Twenty-Five

TESSA

Life Of The Party

By the hard set of his shoulders and shadows beneath his eyes, Manny looked like he’d been through hell. He’d already endured so much with losing Gina, trying to raise Lou on his own. And balancing his time between work and the show couldn’t be easy. Now, with Billy back, it’d sort of muddied things between us too.

I started the coffee and sat in a chair at the table. He kicked out a booted foot and tugged it closer. ‘Have I ever told you that your hair smells like honeysuckle?’ He made his voice lower, sexier. ‘That every time I see you, my heart takes off like a damn shot.’

Heat started in my throat and rose up to my cheeks. ‘Keep talking,’ I teased.

He reached across his lap and took my hand. The sweetness in his eyes was almost too much.

‘Hey,’ he said with a low thrum that I loved.

‘Hey back,’ I whispered.

‘You okay after last night?’

‘Which part are you talking about?’ I ran my fingers over the stubble on his jaw. ‘The part where I finally got to see you naked or the part where my ex showed up out of nowhere?’

‘I’d like answers to both those questions.’

‘ Raisins! Fucking raisins! ’ his bird screeched out.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, muffling a laugh.

‘The vet says to ignore it, and Lou is trying to teach him new words, but so far no luck,’ he sighed. ‘Just one more issue to tackle.’

I slid my hands up his muscled chest, resting them on his shoulders. ‘To answer your question, you and I were perfect last night. Billy, well, that’s a different story.’

My phone buzzed, and a picture of Torran and the girls making fishy faces popped up. I quickly turned the screen over.

‘How many times has she called?’

‘I stopped counting at twenty.’

‘She knows Billy is back. At the site this morning, she grilled me about it. You can’t keep avoiding her because she’ll hunt you down.’

‘I know,’ I said wearily.

‘Talk to me, Tess. What’s happening with him? Did he say when he’s leaving?’

‘I started to talk to him about it, but then…’ I was dreading telling him this part. ‘Mrs Vanderpool showed up at my door.’

He inched up a brow.

‘She wanted to talk to Billy. Thank him for not hitting Baby in the street.’

He scratched at his jaw. ‘That was nice of her, but I sense there’s more to the story.’

I glanced down at my lap, tension crowding my chest. ‘She offered to let him stay in her garage apartment. Said she’d talk to Silvio about giving him a job.’

Manny leaned away, and I shot out a hand to hold on to him.

‘She made the offer without warning me. Billy immediately accepted.’

‘Well, that’s not a shock,’ he said brusquely.

‘I know this complicates matters, but Billy and I have to clear the air between us. Figure out some kind of plan so we can co-parent.’

He mumbled out a low complaint.

‘At first, Rose didn’t know who he was. She kept looking to Iris for clues on how to react. The man is her damn father and she doesn’t remember him.’ I couldn’t hide the hurt in my voice. ‘I may think Billy is a walking piece of biohazard, but the girls need to build a relationship with him. He used to be a good father. I hope he can be once again.’

He tore his hands through his mop of dark hair. ‘And what if he’s lying about wanting to change? Hurts you all? It’ll kill me to see you or the girls in pain.’

‘I won’t let that happen. You have to trust me on this one.’

‘I do trust you . Him… not so much.’

‘Manny.’ I pulled his face forward, pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. ‘I know all of Billy’s tricks. If he starts to pull his same crap, I’ll make him leave.’

He gave me a kiss back, this one filled with a hesitant sweetness. Like he was holding back all the things he wanted to say.

The coffee maker beeped. I held on to him for a second longer before I stood and poured us both a cup.

‘So what’s up with Lou?’

‘A girl at school told her I was going to run off to be famous in Hollywood. Leave her behind.’

I returned to the table and set the steaming mug in front of him. ‘Why are children so cruel to each other?’

‘She already has trauma from losing Gina. I can only imagine how crushed she must have felt when Brittany said that to her.’

‘You can’t save her from the Brittanys of the world. All you can do is make her feel secure. Reassure her that things aren’t going to change.’

‘But won’t they?’ I didn’t like the hesitation in his voice. ‘If Tor and I keep filming, the notoriety will only grow. How can I protect Lou if it keeps getting bigger and more out of my control? Lauren’s already pressing us for more out-of-town speaking engagements. And she told me that my full social media presence is written into the next contract.’

‘You are the most down-to-earth person I know. They’ll listen to you when you tell them you need boundaries. That you have a small child to consider.’

‘That sounds rational, but there was a serious tone to Lauren’s voice I’d never heard before. Like she thought the network wasn’t going to budge on the point.’

I curled my fingers through his and loved how I felt settled inside. Like our hands were always meant to be twined together. ‘You’re in control here. Hearth and Home is going to do whatever they can to keep the show going. The ratings are major, and that means they’re making a lot of money. They won’t want to lose such a good thing.’

He clutched my hand tighter. ‘Guess you’re right. But if they won’t lay off the social media pressure, I may have to consider the alternative, and I don’t want to think about how that might affect Tor too.’

He let out a low, loose breath. Words weren’t necessary. I’d come to know this man so well. He’d sacrifice pretty much anything in his life to protect Lou and keep her happy.

Looking at him made a piece of my heart bloom open. For so long I’d seen him only as a friend. A shoulder to lean on. But the more time I spent in his presence, saw his true nature, the more I wanted to be closer to him. Nestle into his arms and remember what it felt like to have him cradle me in and make me feel safe.

My phone went off with a buzz, reminding me of the time. I called Penny and explained that I’d be late. That the roof had a leak and we needed to put up a sign that we wouldn’t be open until later in the day.

‘I have to go home. Deal with Billy. See you later at the store?’

Manny gave me a solid look. ‘The roof will be fixed by lunchtime. I promise.’

I glanced over my shoulder, and all was quiet in Lou’s room. Leaning forward, I planted my head against his chest, loving the steady rhythm of his heart. ‘I believe you.’

He tugged me in around the waist. ‘Call your sister. She deserves to hear the whole story from you.’

‘You’re right.’

He brushed his hand over my cheek. It was easy to get lost in the soft caress of his touch, the warm cage of his arms.

I finally pulled away, my own heart stuttering. There was a little girl in the other room waiting on her father. A father who would always be there for her. Who would make sure she was taken care of.

Every part of me wished that for my own girls. Before Billy left my house today, he was going to understand that truth.

I ran my hand over the new pane of glass in the back door. It wasn’t an exact match, but it’d held. Kept us safe. That was all that mattered.

Two steps inside the house, I came to a rough halt. The kitchen counters sparkled, and the scent of chemicals and lemon filled the air. A low rumble pulled me to the back rooms. Billy stood next to Iris’ desk, navigating a vacuum cleaner across the carpet. Both of the girls’ beds were made, and the floor was clear of clutter.

‘Billy,’ I said, but he didn’t react. I flicked the lights off and on to get his attention.

He spun around. ‘Oh, hey, Tessie.’

‘What are you doing?’

He shrugged. Turned the vacuum off. ‘Making myself useful.’

I took in a slow, measured breath. ‘In all the time you lived here, you never once ran the vacuum or cleaned the kitchen. What are you up to?’

His shoulders sagged, and he faded down onto Iris’ soft yellow bedspread. ‘Things have gone to hell.’ He scrubbed a hand over his buzzed head. The swelling around his right eye reminded me too much of a raw T-bone. He reached out for his old guitar that sat on a stand at the end of Iris’ bed. ‘Oh, I missed this sweet girl.’ His fingers stroked over the strings with a low thrum. ‘It was wrong to leave with Trini,’ he said in a bare whisper. ‘To go all the way to Georgia. I regret every moment I’ve spent away from you and the girls.’

I barked out a laugh. ‘Can’t have been too much regret. You’ve been gone for over two years.’

‘I’ve never been a quick learner,’ he mumbled, setting the guitar on the bed. ‘While I was away, I learned how good I had it here. You loved me even though I could never love myself. Even though I was a loser who could never hold a job, too caught up in wanting to be wild and free like a stupid teenager. But I swear I’ve grown up. I miss Ivy Falls. This is my home. Please forgive me.’

This was his apology for running off like a coward? For leaving me alone to take care of our two children? Fury burned in my chest, and I fisted my hands into the side of my skirt, willing my temper to hold.

‘Do you know how much you destroyed me when you left? My mother was dying, Billy. I was a shell of a person, and you decided that nothing mattered except yourself. You tossed away our life, our children, like they were nothing. What kind of man does that?’

At least he had the decency to hang his head. ‘A scared, dumb and thoughtless man, but I want to prove I can be different. Show you and the girls that I’m worthy of your trust and love again.’

There was a thickness to his voice that shocked me. We’d been together over ten years, and I’d only seen him get emotional a few times. His default was to always crack a joke or be the life of the party.

He’d had a terrible home life. His parents constantly fought. They divorced his senior year, both of them taking off for separate states, leaving him behind to couch-surf with friends until he graduated. He’d made a lot of dumb choices, and every time, I’d let him off the hook because he was dealing with so much.

‘Those are hollow words and promises if they don’t come with action. You’re great at coming up with plans, Billy, but terrible at executing them.’

His shoulders gave a little. ‘Yeah, I know.’

The image of the girls smiling at him this morning filled my head. They needed a father. Things between the two of us burned to the ground a long time ago, but just because we were done did not mean the girls had to lose him too.

He gave me a steady stare. ‘I know I’ve let you down so many times in the past. Let my partying and bad decisions make a mess of things. But that all changes now, Tessie. I swear.’

For most of our life together, Billy’s personality had taken up the whole room. Even as a teen, I was enamored with the way his loud laugh, wide smile, could draw people in like hummingbirds to nectar. But now, he looked small, broken, with a battered face to boot. He’d done the right thing by saving Baby, and it gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe things had changed for him.

My phone buzzed with another call from Torran. I deliberately turned the screen to him. ‘I won’t fight you staying at Mrs Vanderpool’s, or taking a job with Silvio, if he’ll have you, but if you screw this up, you won’t only have me to deal with.’

He paled. The only thing Billy was afraid of more than a day without a drink was Torran. If he didn’t keep his promises, she’d make his life a lot worse for him than I ever could.