Olivia hardly slept that night. She went over her speech over and over again on how she was going to tell Heath she had a daughter. It had been foolish of her to think she could hide it from him. Thankfully, Kathy talked some sense into her, when she did. What had she been thinking hiding Ivy for who knew how long, until Heath got over the idea of a kid. She had always prided herself on being an honest person, but she deceived Heath for her own personal gratification.
Olivia told Ivy about her date not wanting to hide anything from her. Ivy didn’t seem to interested, but she had listened and told her she was happy for her. Ivy was apprehensive about any male in their life and would probably continue to do so for some time. The sooner Ivy met Heath and saw with her own eyes that Heath wasn’t a bad man the better. The only thing Ivy seemed to care about right now was school and Susan. As long as Ivy was happy, then Olivia was happy. Everything else would take time and fall into place.
Whether anything came between Olivia and Heath, she would stay here and give her daughter the life she deserved.
Today, she would introduce Heath to Ivy. She had it all planned out. Ivy would come to the diner after school and work on her homework, and when Heath came to pick her up, she would introduce them.
Olivia stared at the clock continuously throughout the day, waiting for five. It seemed like time was ticking by at a snail’s pace. The diner was slow, making it harder for time to pass more quickly. Just to help pass time Olivia cleaned all the trays and restocked all the condiment bottles on every table and organized all the sugar packets.
“Mom, are you okay?” Ivy asked coming up behind her, as she was rolling silverware in a napkin.
“Fine, why?” Olivia’s eye strayed to the clock on the wall by her head. Four-thirty. Heath would be there in a half hour. It was almost time. Her nerves set in, and her hands started shaking.
“You keep staring at the clock, and you’re shaking. Are you nervous about your date?”
“Not exactly.” Just telling Heath she had a kid and frightening him away.
“Will you be home late? I didn’t pack any extra clothes, if I’m staying the night with Susan.”
“No, I won’t be home late.” She may not be leaving at all.
“Will you wait here in the diner, until I leave? I’d like you to meet Heath.”
Ivy shrunk back. “I don’t want to meet him.”
“Ivy, please it’s only for a few minutes.” She wanted Heath to meet her and see that children weren’t something to be avoided.
“I just don’t want, too.” Ivy snapped. “You want to date him fine, but leave me out of it. I don’t want to have anything to do with the men in your life.” Ivy stormed out through the back, no doubt going to Kathy’s house to hang out with Susan.
Olivia buried her head in hands. That hadn’t gone well at all. What did she expect? Ivy to forget about the monster they lived with for years and jump for joy her mother was seeing someone new.
“I take it that didn’t go well?” Kathy said, taking a seat in Ivy’s vacant one.
“Not in the least. I knew it would be hard for her to accept me dating again and would need time, but she won’t even meet him. I can’t blame her. After my ex, she’s very distrustful of men.”
“Give her time. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better, quality man than Heath and his friends.”
“I saw that first hand. That’s one of reasons I finally said yes to going out with him. I’ll hold off on their meeting for a while. Give Ivy some time and let her see that Heath isn’t a bad man.”
“But you’re still going to tell Heath you have a child, right?” Kathy gave her a side glance, letting her know her answer better be yes.
“Yes, I worked out my speech last night.” Regardless of Ivy’s attitude, she was going to tell him.
“Speech?” Kathy squeaked.
“Well, I wasn’t going to just wing it. I had to plan out what I was going to say.” This was a serious conversation. She needed to plan it all out.
“Huh,” Kathy shook her head. “If you ask me, it’s not that hard to tell a man you have a child, and if he doesn’t like it, he can shove off.”
“I appreciate the advice.” Yeah, she wouldn’t be saying anything of the sort. She wanted to be diplomatic and explain why she didn’t tell Heath, when she’d had the chance to last night. Blurting out she had a kid and just accept it or leave, wasn’t how she envisioned doing it.
“You’re welcome.”
Olivia’s eye started to stray to the clock again, but she resisted at the last moment. Heath would get there, when he got there. She needed to go over her speech one more time, before she saw him. “I’ll be in the back if you need me.” There were only two customers inside, and she had already served both of them. The next shift would be in soon to relieve her.
Olivia went outside, taking a deep breath and looking over at Kathy’s house. She just needed to be patient with Ivy. Everything would work itself out. She would tell Heath, and if he didn’t leave, then in time she would introduce them, and all would be well.
At least, that’s what she was telling herself. If it didn’t, she didn’t know what she’d do. After everything she’d been through over the past few months—years really— she had to believe something good would come of it.
