“Mom.” Ivy hugged her mother fiercely. Damn it, she shouldn’t have let what happened with Gabe and Metric stop her from coming home. To think that her parents would ever be disappointed in her was crazy.
“Glad to see you, love. Get inside before you freeze. The pie has just come out of the oven. Alice, Frank and baby Josh are coming over. I got to clear the table of my notes.”
“What are you working on?”
“It’s about a broken-hearted ghost who haunts her former mother-in-law.” Her mother smiled at her. “I’ve been told I have to state that it is not inspired by personal events.”
Her dad gruffed from the door. “My mother was a saint.”
“Yes, she was, dear.” Her mom patted her dad’s chest. “I almost burned the pie. I was so lost in it. I have a read-through tomorrow night. Would you like to come?”
“Sure, Mom.”
The familiar smell of her childhood home froze Ivy on the mat. Their living room, with its worn leather couches, the new geometric artwork on the wall, and pictures of her growing up and her extended family, was home. The hardwood hall led to the white and blue kitchen her parents had redone a few years ago.
“Do you want a coffee? Do you feel any jet lag?”
“It’s only an hour,” Ivy said. “Yes, coffee.”
“You haven’t met your potential mother-in-law, have you?” her mom asked as she tidied away her notebooks.
“No. Gabe’s not in touch with his mom. I don’t think there is a potential mother-in-law in my future any time soon.”
“Oh, Ivy.” Her mom hugged her.
“No, it’s okay. I just, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. I like him, you know, Gabe.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I wish you came home more, and he was more comfortable around us, but he’s a good man.”
“He is,” Ivy whispered.
She strode to the coffeepot, took a mug from the mug tree, made her coffee, and looked back towards her mom.
“We’re just….” Ivy trailed off. She really couldn’t talk about it.
“Having a rough patch?”
“Maybe,” Ivy said.
“Well, I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Now, look at this pie! We had a bumper crop of raspberries last year, and I have so many frozen in the downstairs freezer I keep giving away pies. I think everyone is sick of them.”
“Impossible.” Ivy grinned as her mother handed her a plate.
“It’s good to have you home.” Her mom kissed her cheek, and Ivy sighed. Some kind of weight had been lifted off her when she saw her dad.
I have no guard up here, she realized. She could just be herself here, in this house she so wanted to leave. She didn’t have to prove anything.
“Eat the pie, Ivy,” her mom said.
“He’s so adorable!” Ivy held up Josh and laughed as the baby cooed.
