Page 36 of Recovering Ivy

“No. He’s taking care of his wife. And if you’d stop being such an ass to him you’d see it. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her or the babies.”

Was I being an ass? Probably. But Lincoln was being over-the-top with Jasmin.

“He’s acting crazy,” I informed her.

“It must be a family trait,” she snarked and put her hand on her hip. “I think I’ve called you crazy a time or two or five million.”

She had a point.

“Yeah, well, you’re in actual danger. Jasmin’s not. All she has to do is grow a couple of humans then pop them out.”

“Oh. Right. That’s all she has to do.” Ivy shook her head like I was stupid and started unloading the bags Declan and I had placed on the counter.

“One more thing. Garrett was watching the feed from the camera I planted in Forester’s office. Sarah Long, formerly Sarah Matthews, showed up today asking for Ivy,” Declan shared.

“What the fuck!”

“She walked right in and demanded to know where Ivy was,” he continued.

“Ivy or Susan?” I asked.

“Ivy.”

“Fuck! No goddamned way is that woman coming near Ivy!” I exploded.

“How did she know to find you there?” Declan asked Ivy.

“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her since Joey’s funeral. And before that it had been years. I don’t keep in touch with her, I promise.”

Ivy had stopped fiddling with the takeout containers and was now shaking.

“Everything will be okay,” I promised and pulled her into my arms.

Damn, she felt good pressed against my chest, her arms snaked around my back and she’d dug her nails in.

“I don’t know why she’d go there,” she semi repeated.

“It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t exist for you.” I kissed the top of Ivy’s head before turning to Declan. “Do you know where she’s staying? Her home address is in Pensacola.”

“No. I’ll call Garrett and ask him to check around. All we have is her going into Forester’s office demanding to know where Ivy is. Forester said she’d called out and Sarah stomped out.”

“Look at the shittiest motels first. She won’t have any money. More than likely she’ll need to score, too,” Ivy mumbled.

I hated this for her. Ivy had enough on her plate, she didn’t need her mother in the same airspace as her as well.

“Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about. All you need to do is get settled and eat dinner. We’ll sort the rest out.”

“I wish it were that simple. When Sarah is on the warpath, she’ll stop at nothing to get to me. She probably just needs money. I’ll give her some and she’ll be on her way.”

“The fuck you will. Does she do this a lot? Search you out and ask for money?”

“No. Not always money. Sometimes she’ll come looking for me to remind me I’m her daughter.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Declan asked, beating me to it.

“You know, she comes by my job or bangs on my door until I open it and tells me I’m nothing but a spoiled bitch who forgets where I come from. Or her favorite is to tell me I’m too big for my britches and I think I’m better than everyone else when I’m just really trash.”

What.