AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No. Ivan wasn’t a Fierce. His last name was Andrews. He was Jolene’s sister’s youngest son.
If she was honored to think Jolene would want to set her up with her own flesh and blood she was keeping that to herself.
She thought she was a nobody to most.
Blending in and not being seen. Doing her job and trying to excel at it that way and not make waves was something she’d felt she’d accomplished at Fierce.
She’d never been able to do it anywhere else, as she was thought of as an extra or someone to push around.
She had a backbone but didn’t show it often. She didn’t think she got stepped on anymore but had for years. Or maybe she’d watched her mother have it happen for years by her father.
When her dad left because he said he couldn’t care for her mother anymore, she’d known it was coming, but it didn’t stop the hurt any less.
She wasn’t sure there was anything that could stop that hurt in a child’s life. Or a spouse’s.
Her mother bounced back because that was what she did.
If her mother was devastated over the loss of her marriage, she held it in. They had more important things to deal with. Like the loss of her mother’s sight and how they were going to live. Care for a house. Just move around in day-to-day life.
They figured it out and they thrived and she was damn proud of herself and her mother too.
But she knew how fast things could change in someone’s life and that was why she planned for everything and assumed nothing. She worked and socked away for emergencies.
In her mind, emergencies happened all the time. At least in her life.
She wanted to make sure they always had a roof over their head first and foremost and she felt she’d accomplished that. They could figure out the rest.
“My mother is the crazy one,” Ella said. “We all know that. But don’t sell yourself short. Why would you think she wouldn’t pick you for Ivan? I can see it in your eyes.”
She let out a sigh. “Come on now, look at me.”
“I am looking at you. I just saw my cousin not that long ago too. If he were a woman, I’d bet you would shop at the same places.”
She laughed. “I doubt it.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“He has the big job and all,” she said.
Kendra knew Ivan did risk management and ran some department for a nationwide insurance company. She also knew he was paid to work for Fierce on these projects too. Way out of her league.
“Ivan is a regular old Joe,” Ella said. “Nothing flashy or bold on him. Kind of like you. He loves his job when the rest of us think it’s boring.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with having a boring life or job. I’ve had enough excitement in mine to last a lifetime.”
“How is your mother doing?” Ella asked.
This was why she loved her boss so much. The whole family. She hadn’t told them about her mother for almost six months. Then her mother had forgotten she had a doctor’s appointment and called Kendra at work upset that she might need to reschedule and it would take months to get in again and asked if it was possible for Kendra to leave to take her.
Her mother’s health came first and she’d gone in and explained to Ella that she needed to bring her mother to the doctor, as her mother couldn’t drive. Ella told her to go and never worry about that.
When she’d returned hours later, Ella had stopped in to make sure everything was okay and said if she needed time off to just take it.
She’d never had an employer be so understanding before. Or anyone when it came to her mother and she’d explained some of the situation. Her mother’s blindness and that they lived in the same building and how their life worked to some extent.
From that point on, Ella was always asking about her mother as if she was a friend. Kendra brought her mother here for lunch and dinner a few times and she met other Fierce family members, even Jolene.
“She’s great. Plugging away at work as always. We’re making lasagna for dinner tonight. She sent me a text to pick up a few things if I could.”
