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“Let’s go. We can leave early and run there. I’m getting your mother and sister candles and we’ll get something for Emma.”
He knew there was no winning and decided to not even argue. Especially with her tone that he’d never heard before. He was almost afraid of her.
His mother would love it and maybe deep down he wanted them to think nicely of the woman that he’d said insulting things about in the heat of the moment months ago.
He wondered if that was the reason that he was avoiding having his mother meet Ivy too.
Brooks didn’t think he was that much of a coward, but it seemed he was.
Ivy finished changing, then she grabbed her jacket and purse, shoved the brownies in his hand and snapped her fingers for him to move.
He just shook his head and went along with it...as if he felt he had much of a choice.
“How long are you going to be?” he asked once he parked.
“I won’t take long. I know where everything is. Just tell me the scents and I can grab them fast.”
“Says no woman ever that shops.”
“Brooks,” she said when they got out of his truck. “Remember how I grew up. Even when my father let me go shopping there was a limit on time and money. I think that is why I was so bad when I moved here, but I’m not like that anymore. I got it out of my system.”
He wasn’t so sure he believed that, but ten minutes later they were back in the truck with three little gift bags and she’d been true to her word.
He’d said the scents, she picked them out quickly and then got a more herbal lotion for Emma that would help relax her at night since he knew she hadn’t been sleeping well. Or at least River had said that to him. He was glad he mentioned it in the store to Ivy.
They drove to his childhood home. He’d hoped she wouldn’t judge how small and modest it was. He’d had other women do that.
“This is so pretty,” she said when she got out. He’d parked in the road out front. The driveway wasn’t long and they were the last ones to arrive.
“What is?” he asked.
“Your parents’ house,” she said. “I would have loved something like this growing up.”
“It’s not very big.”
“So?” she said. “I told you I never had my own room until my last two years. And then until I moved here I’d never really had my own space that I could put my touches on. I don’t have childhood memories or anything in one place.”
He never thought of it that way. “But you talk about things with your sisters.”
“Experiences,” she said. “But most times we don’t even remember where we were living. It’s more about what we did. I mean it’s not a bad thing. But I always had all these dreams that a kid would come down the same set of stairs for Christmas morning year after year.”
“No stairs here,” he said. “But River and I had the room off the dining room and that is where the tree was.”
He remembered the reflection of the colored lights on the wall when he was in his room. It was funny how he hadn’t thought of that until she started to talk about this.
“I’m going to give my kids something like that someday,” she said.
He didn’t have a chance to ask her what she meant because he opened the front door.
As always, he walked right into the living room.
His father was in his new favorite chair, River, Emma and Raine on the couch. His mother had to be in the kitchen.
“Hi, everyone.”
“Don’t introduce her yet,” his mother yelled from the kitchen. “I’m coming.”
He turned to look at Ivy and saw her giggle. He leaned down. “She’s excited to meet you.”
