————
“No way.” I shake my head at Ivy’s ridiculous story.
“I swear to you it happened. Soph can back me up,” she says with a self deprecating laugh. “I bent over to grab the whiteboard marker, and my pants split. Right up the crack. Thank god I was wearing my period underwear. I had to go to the office to get a change of clothes.” I take a swig of my beer, and bite down on a smile. “Which just ended up being basketball shorts from the lost and found that were two sizes too big, and had to be rolled four times.”
Ivy laughs and covers her eyes in embarrassment. We're sitting next to each other on the couch at a respectable distance, and her bare feet are propped up next to my socked ones on the coffee table. Thankfully, she had mercy on me and threw on a light sweater. I’ve never despised a piece of clothing so much.
I’m doing my best not to obsess over her shiny black toe nail polish. When have I ever cared about a woman’s toes? Never, is when. I’ve never had a foot fetish.
I’m starting to think I just have an Ivy fetish.
“Did you really hate it?” I ask her, referring to her earlier comment about teaching.
She shrugs one shoulder. “Hate’s a strong word, I guess. I didn’t love it. I knew I didn’t want to teach forever. I’ve always loved writing, and haven’t really been good at anything else. I’m kind of glad I got fired.” She scoffs, and picks at the label of her beer. “I don’t know if I would’ve ever taken that leap, and left. You know?” She rests her head on the back of the couch and speaks up to the ceiling. “I was only doing it because of some obligation I felt I had.”
“What obligation?” I’m trying to find out every single thing about her, without seeming like a creep, or interrogating her.
She doesn’t answer right away, but after a few beats she says, “My parents were teachers.”
I don’t miss her past tense.
“I guess I was just trying to feel as close to them as I could. They both loved it. I tried my best… I just didn’t love it like they did.”
Her voice has gotten so quiet. I know I need to tread carefully. I turn to look at the side of her face, taking in every feature.
“What happened?”
It’s an open ended question, giving her room to decide how much she wants to divulge.
“They died. A little over eight years ago.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Car accident.”
Jesus.
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, Ivy.”
“Me too,” she whispers.
“Is that why you moved here? Shit, sorry. You don’t have to answer that.” I wince.
None of your business, asshole.
“No, it’s okay, really. You deserve to know about the woman taking care of your kid.” She lets out a breath, the air vibrating her lips. “No, that’s not exactly why I moved here. My parents died while I was in college. I don’t really have any extended family. I have an aunt on my dad’s side, but she lives on the east coast, and I only ever met her once. My mom and dad were older parents, so theirs were already gone when I was young.”
She takes a sip of her beer, and I do the same.
“I met Daniel, my ex, a few months after they passed. I was… drowning in grief,” she murmurs, and her expression hardens.
I can feel my hackles rise.
“It’s a miracle I even stayed in school. When I met him in class, and he showed interest in me, I clung to him like my life depended on it,” she shakes her head, letting out an audible sigh. “In retrospect, I think he knew he was all I had, and took advantage of that. He got more manipulative over the years, and I just took it. I didn’t want him to leave me. I was terrified of change, and what it’d mean for me. I had friends, but they were all his friends too. If I left, I’d be alone again.”
My chest aches for her. She’s talking so softly. The energetic, sassy Ivy is nowhere to be seen right now.
“What made me leave was finding the thong in his back seat.”
She snorts, and my blood turns to ice at the thought of anyone treating Ivy that way. Bastard didn’t know what he had.
“I knew if I stayed after that, my mother would turn in her grave. I secretly searched for jobs in fear of him finding out and trying to force me to stay. We’d been together so long, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to resist him. I found a teaching job in some place called Canyon Creek, and left. It’s been two years, and I’ve taken that time to heal, go to therapy. I’m okay with being on my own. But now I have Sophie, and Rose.”
