“Scar, want to come sit on my lap?” I ask her, thinking she might take a nap too if I coax her. Scarlett shakes her head and moves in even closer to Carlie. I try not to let it bug me. The girls are used to spending a lot of time with Carlie, and she’s more than a nanny to them. She’s basically been their mom the last several months, and that shows in their relationship with her. Another reason I need to ditch my too-demanding job.
Carlie grins at me, then turns to Ivy. “Did Law not warn you Malcolm was coming?” she whispers.
Ivy shakes her head. “He didn’t say anything.”
Carlie scowls. “He was supposed to. He’s been kind of distracted lately with something. He’s been playing really well, so I don’t think it’s football, but you never know.”
“Oh?” Ivy’s eyebrows shoot up. “I haven’t noticed.”
Carlie glances over toward Malcolm and frowns. Ivy taps her fingers against her leg, nervous about something. Malcolm? Or is she lying about knowing what’s distracting Law?—
The ring. Ivy must know about the ring Law bought for Carlie. He showed me the day he brought it home. He’s making sure that she’s ready to take the next step since she’s wanted to move slow from the beginning of their relationship, but he told me he couldn’t wait any longer to buy it. He needed the symbol of their future in his hands. He was more excited about it than I’ve seen him over anything in a while. With that on his mind, Carlie’s flight getting cancelled, then Ivy’s broken ankle—I can see how telling Ivy that Malcolm was coming to the game slipped his mind.
“I’m sorry he didn’t tell you.” Carlie leans forward andsqueezes Ivy’s knee. “This is weird. At least I didn’t invite Caleb.” She beams at Ivy and then winks.
Ivy snorts with laughter. “Thanks, Car.” She bites the inside of her cheek. “It’s fine. We probably need to have a conversation. Act like normal people. I’ve been avoiding going places I know I’ll see him in Nashville, and that wasn’t the point when I moved back. The point was to move on.”
Carlie frowns in commiseration. “I know it’s not easy, even if I also know you’ve probably prepped for this conversation. I bet you have a workbook page for it and everything.”
“That’s actually a good idea.” Ivy pretends to mull this over.
“We could all take turns distracting him so that youdon’thave to talk to him,” I offer. “You live in the same town. Closure doesn’t have to come today. On Christmas, when you’re supposed to be having fun.”
Ivy turns to me, and she slides her hand toward me, like she’s going to reach for me, before quickly pulling it back. I want to hold her hand too. I could do that to warn Malcolm off. I mean, if she wants me to, I can totally do the fake boyfriend thing for her. It’s what any friend would do. Then maybe she’ll like it so much, she’ll want to keep it up.
“It’s fine. We’ll see what happens. Maybe he’ll avoid me the whole game.”
We all three glance at Malcolm and then at each other. Over two hours in this relatively small room together with only six other people? Unlikely.
“Carlie, can I have a root beer?” Scarlett asks her instead of me.
Ivy lets out a breath of a laugh before swallowing it, looking over at me with dancing eyes. Carlie hides a smile of her own, but it’s not surprising. Scarlett knows exactly which one of us is going to acquiesce to that.
Ivy’s the one who answers, casting me a mischievous smile before she does. “It’s Christmas, Scar. Of course you can have a root beer.”
I shake my head at her. “You’re going to pay for this.”
Ivy casts me a devil-may-care expression. “If you think threatening to make them sleep with me tonight is a punishment, you don’t know me very well. I love Scarlett and Zoey sleepovers. I’m thinking of taking them back to Nashville with me. Ha!”
“Ooooo, Daddy! Let’s go to Nashville!” Scarlett says, clapping her hands.
Or Ivy could stay in Houston with us.
I want to slap my forehead to force the thought out of my head.
Ivy eyes me with wide eyes and an expression that says,Oops, sorry.
“Nashville would be a fun place to visit,” I tell Scarlett, and she nods. To Ivy I say, “Sounds like a win-win.” I give her the same careless expression. Then we stare at each other for several seconds until Carlie clears her throat.
“I agree with Ivy that you can definitely have a root beer,” Carlie says, sliding forward to stand and taking Scarlett’s hand to lead her away.
Ivy’s cheeks turn pink, and she leans her head against Zoey’s, avoiding looking over at me.
“What happened to your ankle?” a voice says.
Ivy and I both look up to see Malcolm standing next to the spot Carlie just vacated, a plate full of food in one hand and the other hand in his pocket.
Ivy looks over at me, eyes widening for a moment, before she turns to Malcolm. “Skating accident,” she says, her voice forced casual.
