Page 30 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

She looked at her sandals.

‘Tessa, you have to push him on it. The quicker it’s over, the faster you can move on.’

‘I know.’ Her watery eyes focused on her girls. ‘The truth is I don’t understand any of it. If he’s not in love with me anymore, that’s fine. But to leave the girls behind? How does any human, any parent, do such a thing?’

My heart ached for her. She was a beautiful, kind woman. Any man would be lucky to be her partner, but for some reason Billy couldn’t see that.

Sadly, I wasn’t surprised. He’d always been a selfish creature, putting his own interests before Tessa and the girls. I bit my tongue over what I wanted to say. That he’d always taken advantage of her gentle nature, but her love and devotion refused to see it.

The last thing she needed was an ‘I told you so’, so I snuggled in closer, intent on being her rock that refused to move even when she leaned on me the heaviest.

‘It’s hard, Tor,’ she sniffled. ‘It may have not been ideal but at least our parents lived under one roof. Worked as a team.’ She sucked in a rattling breath. ‘I don’t think I’m strong enough, brave enough, to do it alone.’

‘Alone?’ I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. ‘You are not alone. You have me and Manny and all the people in this town who adore you.’

‘Dad too. He’s really been there for me and the girls.’

I wasn’t going to speak up against that. He may have not been around much for us as kids, but he was doing a few after-school pickups and the occasional drive to soccer practice for the girls.

We sat in silence, the chains from the swing rattling as we swung back and forth. In the distance, Iris’ laugh drifted toward us.

‘The girls forgive you for missing dinner yet?’ Tessa finally said.

‘Yes. It only took two weeks of groveling and a large smoothie.’

‘They’re letting you off easy,’ she said, kicking off her sandals. ‘Pity. It was my best chicken Parmigiana yet.’

My stomach grumbled in reply. Tessa’s cooking rivaled some of the best local chefs, and I hated the fact that I’d missed out on one of my favorite dishes, but I refused to make things uncomfortable for her or my nieces. They’d had enough heartache over the last year. I didn’t want to add to that tension by arguing with my dad in front of them.

‘We’ll have a special dessert after dinner tonight. That’ll get them to truly forgive me.’

‘Store-bought, right?’ Her lips twitched as she blew on her own cup. ‘Or maybe something from Sugar Rush?’

I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d tried my best in the kitchen, but no matter how closely I followed a recipe, my cooking was a total disaster. A few months ago, I’d tried to make a cake for Iris’ sixth birthday. It was going well until I pulled it out of the oven to discover a flat, burned mess. I reread the recipe and realized I’d forgotten to add the eggs.

A flash of red scarf caught my eye. With her long legs, and silver hair floating behind her, Isabel walked in our direction.

‘Good morning,’ she said cheerfully.

We echoed our hellos.

‘What are y’all doing here?’ she asked.

‘Just a little sisterly chat,’ Tessa said, swiping at her cheeks. ‘What brings you here?’

‘The ladies are holding our monthly book club outside today. Getting in a breath of that fresh spring air before the suffocating, wet heat, and mosquitos, take over.’

Tessa suddenly found her coffee very interesting. The hairs on my neck went straight up. Book club was usually at the P&P.

‘So,’ Isabel said slowly. ‘I was over at Sugar Rush early this morning getting some donuts.’ She shook the white bag in her hand. ‘And Barb mentioned that you have a new project, Torran?’

Her gaze flashed over to one of the benches under the ramada. Miss Cheri, who ran the town’s small theater, sat with Old Mrs Vanderpool, who stared like she expected me to shout out obscenities at the children. Over the last six months, I’d tried to do everything to get her to soften up. Apologized, sent her a coffee and a donut at the café, but the town’s oldest matron was immovable when it came to holding a grudge.

‘Yes,’ I sighed, turning back to Isabel. ‘Manny and I agreed to help out with the Huckleberry Lane property.’

A smile ticked in the corner of Tessa’s mouth. ‘When you and Manny are done with it, it’s going to be beautiful.’

‘Hope so,’ was all I could offer as two more ladies entered the park and stared absolute daggers at me. ‘You better go meet your group,’ I said. ‘Don’t want to be seen fraternizing with the enemy.’