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“She wouldn’t care.” He checked his watch and sighed. “I’m sure she’s in bed not giving a damn where I am.”
I glanced at the clock to see it was only nine-thirty. It was highly doubtful Ivy went to bed if they’d been fighting. “That doesn’t sound like the Ivy I know, Shep. She always cares where you are and if you’re okay. Do you even notice that the very first thing she asks you when you meet up is, ‘are you okay?’ or have you been together so long that you don’t realize it anymore?”
He tipped his head and rolled his eyes up to the top of his head for a moment. “I guess you’re right. Huh.”
“She’s probably at home worried about where you are right now. You should probably shoot her a text and let her know you’re okay.”
“Nah,” he said, sipping his drink. “She told me she doesn’t care what I think, so I don’t care what she thinks either.”
“I doubt that’s true. I also find it hard to believe that Ivy would say she doesn’t care what you think. That’s like,” I waved my hand in the air looking for the word. “Intrinsically not her.”
His shrug said it all. Whatever had happened between them was personal, so I wasn’t going to pry. We sipped our drinks in silence while the clock ticked on the wall across the bar. The place was relatively quiet, but considering it was a Wednesday night, everyone was probably just trying to get through the week.
“Ivy doesn’t want more kids.” The way he said it was as though it had just filtered through to him that it was real.
“I’m surprised by that, Shep. She’s a wonderful mother to Lucy. In fact, she mothers all of us. I thought you guys had settled that out a few weeks ago.”
“I agreed to give her time.”
“But you brought it up again tonight?” The confusion was clearly evident in my voice.
“No, it came up. It wasn’t intentional. I said how much I loved seeing Lucy with Santa this year and I couldn’t wait until she had a brother or a sister to sit with her like Holly and Noel. I didn’t say next year or anything, but she lost her mind, yelling and crying like her beloved mother just died.” He grimaced and held up his hand to me. “I’m sorry, that was not intentional.”
“I know,” I said with a head nod. “Did she say why she doesn’t want to have another baby?”
“She swears she’s too busy to be pregnant again.”
“Well, in fairness, she was really sick with Lucy. Now she has the diner and the bakery to run, where last time she only had the diner. I guess I can see where she’d feel overwhelmed at the idea of taking care of Lucy, running the businesses, and being sick. I imagine there comes a point for a woman where the idea of pushing herself to do one more thing is just too much. We don’t have to do the physical work a woman does when it comes to having a baby, so all I can do is put myself in her shoes and see the work she has on her plate coupled with the idea of what pregnancy entails for her. Do you know what I mean?”
“That’s a bit of a bone of contention too, if I’m honest,” he said, spinning his glass on the bar. “She has too much on her plate and I’m worried about her. I want her to hire a manager for the diner, someone who does the same thing Indie does at the bakery. That would free her up to float between the two businesses, but also not run herself ragged every day. I suggested she hire you as the manager since you know that diner inside out.”
I shook my head instantly. “No. I don’t have the experience for that. Mason would be a better choice.”
“Mason manages the kitchen. He can’t do it all. I suppose he could take the diner management position and you could take the kitchen management from him.”
“No,” I ground out, my teeth clenched. “I’m not manager material, Shep. Let it go.”
“You’re too humble, Lance. Seriously, you would be an amazing manager at the diner. You know everyone and you love to have fun. It wouldn’t take much for you to learn how to do the rest. Ivy wasn’t receptive to that idea either.”
I rubbed my forehead and sighed. He obviously didn’t know the truth. “She wasn’t receptive because she knows I can’t, Shep. You know about my accident when I was a kid?”
“Of course,” he agreed with a nod. “The entire town was terrified for you and Michelle when we found out you’d been hit.”
“Well, that accident left me with a traumatic brain injury.”
“I know, even if I don’t know the details.”
“It means the accident left me unable to read and write, and I will never be able to again.”
“That’s why you don’t drive,” he said slowly.
“Can’t,” I agreed with a nod. “I get by in the kitchen with picture cues and having the recipes memorized, but managing is a different situation entirely. I don’t want to talk about this.” I discreetly wiped a tear from my cheek. I didn’t know if it was a tear of sadness or anger, but that little voice inside told me it was both. I should never have gotten angry at Indie, and most definitely should not have made love to her without telling her the truth about my accident.
Shep gripped my shoulder and sighed. “What happened with Indie tonight?”
“Same thing,” I admitted.
“She didn’t know?”
