“But it is fine. They’re good people, just not terrific parents. I had my nana who lived here in Highland. I came down and visited her at some point for most summers from fifth grade on. Nana was the opposite of my parents but so similar to me. She made me feel loved, whole, and left me the building the bookstore is in for me to begin my own life when I was ready.”
Ivy seemed to nod to herself but then glanced to Addie, who was now thumb wrestling my dad; to Steph and Drew, who were looking at her like they wanted to tackle her until she had no doubt of their already growing affection for her; to my mom, who sat dumbfounded; to me.
I squeezed her leg again and whispered, “Ivy, you are rather impressive.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Impressive? Why?”
I leaned forward to lightly kiss her forehead. Totally a friend move, right? Was now. Pulling back, I looked at her watery eyes. “Because you just sat there, explaining how the people that should be there for you, the people that utterly failed at being there for you, are fine people; it’s just not in them to parent. Whether it’s Addie’s dad or your own parents, you acknowledged their complete lack of that caring gene, but then soldiered on yourself and don’t appear to resent them for it.”
She laughed. “Oh, Jake, I do resent them at times, at least my parents. Noah is just Noah. He cares; he’s just not here. When Addie is sick in the middle of the night and I have to figure out how to rejuggle my entire schedule the next day, or when she was small and I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, there were plenty of times I wished I wasn’t alone. But the fact is, I was. And there’s no use bemoaning it. It is what it is. My only regret, as you already know, is that Nana didn’t get to meet Addie. I try to tell her stories about her, but it’s not enough.” She shrugged again like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I knew that it was.
Mom cleared her throat. I glanced over and realized she was pissed. Like the mom level of pissed that usually had Steph, Drew, and me hightailing it to our rooms to stay the heck out of her way as kids. She spoke with a quiet, controlled voice. “Ivy, suffice to say, I don’t really have words to express what I’m feeling right now.”
She caught my dad’s eyes, and I noted that he nodded at her, his jaw ticking as he helped Addie down to play with Chief.
Mom looked back to Ivy. “And I’m not sure what’s going on with you and Jake here.” She nodded at me. Thanks for that, Mom. “But you should know that no matter if you two date, are serious, or simply stay good friends, I think I can speak for my entire family when I tell you that we are all here for you anytime you need it.”
“But, I can’t ask—” Ivy began, but Mom cut her off.
Placing a hand up, Mom spoke. “No, I can see that you are independent and have done a brilliant job with your daughter, but I have no idea how you do that alone. My parents, Sam’s parents, were there for us. We’ve been there for Steph and Theo—”
“And thank God they were. I have no idea how we would have showered that first week. I couldn’t keep anything straight on that little sleep,” Steph said from across the table, reaching to squeeze Mom’s hand.
Ivy gave a small laugh. “Yeah, showering was tricky. When Addie was super tiny, I just put her on a towel outside the shower and went quick. As she got older, I put her in a water sling and brought her in with me.” She gave us a quick smile as she looked over in the living room to see Addie talking to Chief. “You adapt, and it gets easier.” Her warm smile found me, then Steph. “It’s worth it.”
“Bookstore Ivy, you’re showing me again why men are the weaker sex, as Steph frequently reminds us,” Drew said with a smile. “You need to let us tell you how damn impressive you are and listen as Margot here tells you we are your backup. You need anything, you tell us.”
Ivy raised a brow with a wicked grin. “Now Drew, am I calling you up at the base in Colorado to come watch my daughter and get your nails painted? Because if you think there are other hotshots that are willing to come with you, we could get a babysitting pool set up in town. I’m sure there are many single moms that would take you up on it.”
I began to growl at the thought of Drew’s colleagues coming to Ivy’s when I realized Drew hadn’t had a quick retort.
Drew cleared his throat. “Well, I guess that’s my opening.” He looked around the table. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you all about. I’ve decided to leave the hotshots and am moving here.”
The table erupted. Steph socked his arm since she was closest. My mom cried out about how glad she was for her baby to be coming home. I said something about how he wasn’t moving in, and my dad sat in silence.
Drew held up his hand. “I don’t really want to talk about it now, but off-season is a good time to make a change. So I let them know before I came out this way.” He looked across the table at me. “Hoping you and Sully weren’t bullshitting when you said I always had a job at the brewery.”
“Drew, language,” my mom admonished.
“Of course, man. And if you want to move in here, that’s actually fine,” I said, raking my memories for anything he might have mentioned in the past year to indicate he was thinking of this switch.
“Nah, I’ve talked to the guys I’m renting the Airbnb from. We’re working something out on the cheap while I look for a spot to land,” he said. Looking down the table, he took in our dad. “Dad?”
Dad sat back in the chair, nodding. Finally, he met Drew’s eyes. “Son, you know we’ve been proud of the work you’ve done out West.” He sat for a moment as Drew nodded, then continued. “But I’m happy as hell to have you back, even if you’ll be downstate.” He let that sit, then on a whisper, he finished, his voice full of emotion. “Welcome home.”
Drew stood and moved to the end of the table. Dad stood too and fell into a tight hug that said more than my dad was capable of expressing.
“How do you expect us to listen to this with dry eyes?” Steph wailed dramatically, hopping up to rush them both. Mom moved to join, grabbing my hand as she went by, and we created a family hug.
We stood there in our huddle, soaking in this news. I looked up, finding Ivy’s eyes, and she shot me a wink. Taking in a deep breath, I let out an exhale that I think I’d been holding in since Drew joined the hotshots.
Drew cleared his throat from his spot in the group. “Just saying, I had a lot of coffee cake, pancakes, and donuts. I’m not responsible for my lower intestines if you squeeze too hard.”
Steph backed away immediately groaning. “Good Lord, you need to grow up.”
I stepped back and moved to Ivy who’d been watching with Addie on her hip.
Steph came to join us and moved to fake whisper to Ads. “Boys can be stinky, Addie. Beware.”
