Finding Love in Ivy Falls

Chapter Twenty-Six

MANNY

Like A Bad Nightmare

Thankfully Ferris Johnson owed me a favor. He showed up at the bookstore at noon with a crew and quickly fixed the small leak. At my request, he’d walked the P&P’s roof and confirmed that, except for the small crack between shingles, it was in good shape. When he asked about the tarp, I confessed to climbing on the roof in the rain. I stood patiently as he gave me an earful about how it was a stupid decision. That I was lucky I wasn’t in the hospital. I let him grumble on a bit longer before I thanked him again.

My phone beeped with a picture of Lou doing homework at Sugar Rush. A plate filled with cookie crumbs sat beside her electric-blue backpack. So much for total punishment. At least I knew what was bothering her now. It wasn’t an easy problem to solve though. As long as I did the show, the social media alerts, the comments, the teasing, none of it would go away.

Tess spent most of the morning in her office. She’d put a note on the door of the P&P that she’d open at one p.m. after I promised the leak wouldn’t cost her a full day’s business. With Ferris finally gone, I knocked on her door. Her gaze was fixed on the computer screen. The line of her shoulders bunched up around her ears.

‘Hey,’ I whispered so I wouldn’t spook her. ‘Leak is fixed. Penny’s taken down the sign and opened up. Ferris says the rest of the roof is in good shape, but you still may want to file a claim for insurance to cover the books you lost.’

Her eyes stayed on the screen like she was in some sort of trance.

‘Tess, look at me.’

She pulled in a full, shaky breath as I squatted down beside the desk and cradled her hands. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Why is all this chaos happening now when I’m finally getting my feet under me?’

I reached out and took her hand. ‘You’re not alone in any of this. We’ll get through it. Together.’

She slid her hand away from me. Her posture going rigid. ‘At the house today, Billy told me he’s changed. That he wants to be here for the girls,’ she said wearily. ‘There are a million reasons why I should chase him out of town, but I just can’t.’

A dozen worries swam around in my head like fish in a barrel. We’d just decided we wanted to be together and now it felt like that important moment was being stripped away. Like we were driving in reverse when we should be gunning the engine forward.

‘Do you believe he’s changed?’

‘I don’t know. There’s so much happening, and it feels like it’s all getting away from me. Like I don’t have any control in my life, and it scares the hell out of me.’ She rubbed at her tired eyes. ‘The girls, they should have a chance to get to know him. I can’t take that away from them.’

‘I understand all your fears, but if he’s staying, you have to promise me that you’ll be honest about what he’s doing. If he’s not following through on his promises, falling into old patterns, you need to tell me.’ I wasn’t good at hiding the worry in my voice.

‘I will.’ She scrubbed at her eyes again, let out a frustrated huff. ‘I’m just so angry, Manny. A part of me wants to destroy him the way he destroyed me, but I have to put aside my own feelings right now, and I’m not going to lie, it’s damn hard.’

I pulled off my baseball cap, tugged a hand through my hair. ‘I know it is, but swallowing those feelings, is that fair to you?’

‘Fair doesn’t matter. I don’t want to look back on this time and feel guilty that I didn’t give Billy a chance to make amends. To be an active part of the girls’ lives.’

I hated the ache in her voice, but if anyone understood sacrificing for their child, it was me.

‘You know what’s right. I’ll do whatever I can to support you. But I’m also not going to lie to you. I think he’s a snake. Sooner or later, he’s going to show his true colors again. He may have done a good act for Mrs Vanderpool, but that doesn’t mean me, and I’m sure the rest of the town, aren’t going to be watching him like a coyote near a chicken coop.’

‘I’m counting on it,’ she said, giving me a weak smile.

The reappearance of her ex felt like a bad nightmare. One where your feet were stuck in concrete while the one you loved was tied to railroad tracks, a moving train hurtling toward them, and you were helpless to stop it.

I reached out for her again but stopped when a solid thud of footsteps pounded toward the door until it burst open to reveal a very unhappy Torran.