Page 92 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘Hang in there. If we’re going to do this, we need to be a team.’

Like I’d seen him do a hundred times before, he reached for the brim of his baseball cap and clutched it with his thick fingers.

‘When Gina died, I thought for sure I would never be happy again. After her funeral, I knew I had to be strong for Lou. That I’d have to be both her parents now.’ His usually strong voice went thin as he took a deep gulp. ‘Partnering with you, focusing on these houses, has made me a new man. Given Lou back her father. I need you to stay strong for me so we can get through this dark moment together. You hear me?’

I wasn’t sure what would happen with Beck, but Manny’s speech tore another hole in my heart. This job, our work, was about so much more than this house. It was about building a future for both of us. I couldn’t give up now. Not after all we’d done to build this business from the ground up.

I squeezed Manny’s hand as Lauren walked back in.

‘You’ve got five weeks. Get it done and we still have a deal.’ She stalked back toward the door.

‘Too bad I don’t have a cute little saying like one of those signs in town to make this all feel better, but we will pull this off. We always do,’ Manny said on a heavy breath.

Lauren stopped and whipped back to face us. ‘What did you just say?’

‘I was trying to put a positive spin on things,’ he offered.

Lauren flipped her hair from her shoulders and began to pace across the paint-splattered floor. ‘Torran, can you introduce me to your father?’

‘Why?’ I said, not liking the way she bounced on her toes like an idea was about to explode from her head.

‘Just make the call. I’ll explain it all later.’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Good. Now I’m off to make some more calls.’ She flew out of the house and Manny and I swapped a confused look.

‘What was that all about?’ he said.

‘I don’t know but that gleam in her eye kind of scared me.’

Manny laughed and pulled me to my feet. I forced myself to look at the damaged floors and paint-splattered walls.

‘How are we going to fix all this, Manny?’ I said, unable to keep the defeat from my voice.

‘We’re going to do what we always do. Dust ourselves off and get back to work.’

‘How? Our crew left to work on a job in East Nashville. It’ll be weeks before we can get them back.’

The lump grew in my throat as I surveyed the destruction around us.

‘Why would Piper do this?’ I should have been raging mad at her, but all I felt was sad after seeing her so sick and pale in the hospital. ‘We spent hours working together. She seemed happy. I thought she loved being here. It makes no sense that she’d allow this to happen.’

‘Grief is an unpredictable animal. Some people can go through all the steps and be fine. Others hold on to the pain and it slowly eats them alive.’ Manny slid his hands down over his face, looking so much older than his thirty-one years. ‘You can dig yourself a hole so damn deep it’s hard to climb out unless you’re willing to accept a hand to help you.’

He didn’t often talk about losing his wife, but in moments like these Manny’s pain felt as raw as if he’d lost Gina only a day ago.

‘You remember how dark those months were after your mom passed?’

‘Yes, it was like trying to swim through a thick, black sea.’

‘You muddle through day after day and eventually with time the pain lessens.’ Manny let out a shaky breath. ‘I never told you this, but after Gina died I went to a dark place. Her parents came and stayed for a while to watch Lou. It got so bad that they threatened to take her from me if I didn’t seek counseling. It took a moment like that to wake me up.’

He skimmed his hand over my head.

‘That girl on the floor the other night was in her lowest moment. Luckily enough, there were people here to make sure she’d come out the other side.’

Manny’s gaze moved to the rough hammer gouges that spread across the once pristine wood floors in the dining room.