Waiting Fate (16 page)

It wasn’t. It was Vick. She deleted the message without reading it. With a mischievous grin, Gunner snatched it out of her hand. “Oh, so your phone does work. We’ve been texting you for weeks with no response. I thought maybe —”

Ivy reached for it, but it was too late. Gunner had already seen the messages from Archer.
I knew I should have deleted those. Way to go, Ivy

His face lost all color.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jay asked, getting up off the couch. Gunner tossed him the phone and turned wide, accusing, hurt eyes on Ivy. She didn’t know what to say, so she just stared back at him.

Jay swore. “What is this?” he asked, throwing her phone back at her like it was diseased.

She flinched. “
Don’t
throw things at me, Jay.”

Jay’s face warred between anger and confusion at her reaction. “How long?” he asked.

“How long what?” Ivy sighed, rising to her feet. Sitting while they towered over her put her at a distinct disadvantage, and she was having enough trouble not trembling in front of them as it was.

“How long were you two lying to us? Going behind our backs? You’re
married
, Ivy! Do you know what that’s called?”

Ivy shook her head, gritting her teeth to keep from spitting at him. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Jay, but I’ll tell you this. Before you call me whatever you have running through that ignorant mind of yours, you should know that I’ve been trying to get divorced for years.”

“That doesn’t make it any better, Ivy,” Jay snapped. Ivy felt like he’d just stabbed her in the heart. Didn’t it? Was she as horrible as the person she saw reflected in his eyes?

“If you’ve been trying to get divorced for this long and it hasn’t happened, it’s because it wasn’t meant to. You should go back to your husband.”

Ivy knew Jay had that whole weird thing about divorce. But the fact that he could say that, without having any idea what she’d gone through or what she was escaping was too much. “You don’t know anything.” She grabbed her coat off the couch, and without another word, she whirled and stormed out of the room, grateful that the tears waited until she made it outside.

Jay’s anger had hurt, but not as much as the pain in Gunner’s face. She scrubbed the tears from her eyes as she rammed her car into reverse, almost backing into an oncoming car. She shrieked, slammed on the brake, and pounded her fist on the steering wheel.

You should just go back to your husband
.

She’d rather die. It took her several minutes sitting half on the road and half in Jay’s driveway before she calmed down enough to shift into drive and get herself out of there. She hadn’t gone more than two miles when her phone started beeping. She didn’t pick it up, not until she got home. She pulled into her parents’ driveway, shut her car off, and checked her messages.

Why didn’t you tell us
? It was Gunner. Had it been Jay, she would have sworn at him and left it at that. She thought of a smart reply about how it was none of their business, but Gunner was hurt. She didn’t want to hurt him. She never meant to hurt him. She loved Gunner, like one loved a good friend. He was the one that checked on her when she was sick, who saved her a seat and teased her into being comfortable.

I didn’t want to hurt you,
she wrote back.

Seconds later, he wrote her again.
Then you knew how I feel and you chose him anyway?

Ivy frowned. How he felt? “Oh no, no, no. Oh Gunner.” Now she understood. Now it all made sense, and her already-broken heart shattered for him, for the way she’d hurt him.
I didn’t know
.
You never said anything…

I was doing the right thing. I was waiting until your divorce was final.
Archer didn’t have the decency to wait.

Ivy leaned her head back against the seat, feeling the tears soak into her hair. It was cold, way too cold to be outside now, but Ivy couldn’t go inside with red eyes and smeared makeup. Her parents would worry. So she sat, shivering, in her car while she tried to figure out what to say.
You don’t want me, Gunner. I’ve got so many issues.

Don’t tell me what I want or what I can handle. I would have handled any of it for you
.

Ivy sobbed. How could she have not realized? And how did she tell him that she could never love him like that?

She couldn’t.

Instead she wrote,
I’m sorry, Gunner.

She cried herself to sleep with her head pressed against her steering wheel, until her mom found her and brought her inside. Bev may have not known what was wrong, but she knew her daughter was hurting, and she was there to tuck her in and hold her hand while she cried.

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Walken. Per Alaska state law, since the child has not been living in the state for the last two months, we no longer have jurisdiction over this case.” Ivy had guessed it was coming, but the crushing disappointment still almost overwhelmed her. “However…” The judge cleared his throat. Ivy couldn’t see him, but he sounded kind, except when he spoke directly to Vick, who he didn’t seem to like one bit. That made Ivy like the judge even more. “Given that you have already waited beyond the six month waiting time, I would be willing to send a personal note to the court that does currently have jurisdiction and ask that this be put through without a further waiting period.”

Ivy wanted to squeal with gratitude, but thought it might be a tad inappropriate. “Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you so much.”

“And as for you, Mr. Walken, the restraining order stands. You are to stay at least five hundred feet away from Mrs. Walken at all times. Do not contact her.”

“Your Honor, she stole my daughter and left the state —” How Vick could possibly sound so arrogant when he was being yelled at by a judge was beyond Ivy.

“Do not interrupt me, Mr. Walken. Given the circumstances, I dismiss the kidnapping charges you are suggesting be filed against her.” The judge sounded at once annoyed and amused; annoyed, Ivy guessed, because he’d been interrupted, and amused because who in their right mind told a judge what charges should be filed? “If there is nothing else, we can adjourn this appointment with the note that Mrs. Walken will file for divorce in the state of Utah.”

“I will, Your Honor. Thank you.” Ivy hung up. It could have been worse. At least the judge was on her side and willing to help. Before what was left of her energy deserted her, she called the courthouse in her city to find out what she had to do to file for divorce in Utah.

****

“Okay, woman, just what is going on there? I’m gone for less than a month, and you guys explode into some new world war.” Gigi’s usual exuberance was dampened a bit, even over the phone.

“Ugh. Don’t ask. Everything fell apart. You aren’t allowed to leave again.” Ivy plopped down on the floor next to Desee, who promptly stacked the blocks she was playing with between them.

“Help, Mama,” she ordered.

“Wanna fill me in?” Gigi asked, but it, too, was an order.

“Archer and I… went out on a date. Now we hate each other. And Jay and Gunner hate me. I think Austin’s still okay though. Not sure.” Ivy stacked the blocks absently. Desee eyed their tower with distaste and knocked it down to start over.

“I see.” Gigi was quiet, and Ivy, desperate to fill the silence, said, “Now I understand why you and Jay were always just friends.”

“You… what?” Even over the phone, Gigi managed to sound utterly lost.

“You and Jay. I thought there was something between you. I thought…” Ivy hesitated, feeling ridiculous. “I thought you just didn’t do anything about it because you didn’t want to ruin your friendship.”
Like mine and Archer’s.

“Umm, no.” Gigi fell silent again, but this time Ivy focused on building a tower that wouldn’t disappoint her toddler and refused to stick her foot in her mouth. Again.

Gigi sighed. “I like him. But it just doesn’t work that way. We’re friends. We’ve always been friends.”

Ivy found herself nodding before realizing that Gigi couldn’t see her. “Yes. Right. And it isn’t worth it. Nothing is worth losing a friend. Or three.” Her voice caught. “Anyway, I better go. But call me when you get back in town. We can go play or something.”

Gigi laughed. “That’s why I was calling in the first place. I’m back. Want to watch movies tomorrow?”

“Oh. Yay! Yes, definitely. Do you want to come here?”

“Sure. Text me when you’re ready and I’ll head over,” Gigi said, her voice sounding more like its bubbly self now.

“Will do. See ya.” Ivy hung up the phone. At least she hadn’t lost all her friends. She still had Gigi, thank goodness.

****

“I just have to go file the paperwork and sign up to take a child custody divorce thingy class, and then we wait on Vick.” Ivy tucked her phone against her shoulder as she shoved the paperwork into her purse.

“Yeah, but waiting on Vick could drag this on forever,” Bev said.

“He only has so long to contest it. Then it will proceed without him.” Ivy had been sure to ask about that when she’d called the Weber County Courthouse. “I’ll meet you at the store and pick Desee up on my way home, so you and dad can go out tonight.” It was her parents’ anniversary. They were going to dinner, but Ivy wasn’t even sure her dad even knew what they were going to dinner for. She should remind him to at least buy a card.

“Are you sure you’re up to it? Maybe you need to just rest tonight.”

Ivy could hear the worry in Bev’s voice and smiled. “No, I’m okay. Maybe Desee and I will have a spa night.” That little girl loved her toenails painted. Having her hair done, not so much, so they’d skip the hair-doing. And Ivy could use a little pampering herself.

“Okay. So I’ll meet you at four in the parking lot?”

“Yep. See you then.” Ivy hesitated because her family wasn’t big on expressing their affection, verbally or physically, but she felt she should tell her mom anyway. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Bev said, surprise evident in her voice even over the phone.

Ivy hung up and grabbed her purse and her car keys. Her hair was a mess, and she tried to smooth it before she walked out the door, but she didn’t see the point in putting any effort at all into her appearance. She was going to file for divorce. Did anyone expect her to look like she cared? Shoving her glasses more firmly on her face, she hurried out the door to her car. She had forty-five minutes to drop the papers off and meet her mom.

So of course, she hit the first red light she came to. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, trying not to hear the country song on the radio. It always made her cry. Why was it that people would write such sad songs? Didn’t they realize life was hard enough?

She got the green arrow and hit the gas, reaching as she did to change the station. She looked up just in time to see a small silver car fly through the red light. Ivy screamed and jerked the wheel hard to the right, but that was the worst thing she could have done. Instead of getting hit in the side, the silver car smashed into her head on.

She felt her thumb catch as the airbag exploded and her entire body jerked forward and the car flung around like a toy. And then there was silence. Her glasses had flown off to who-knew-where, and she couldn’t see beyond her airbag, but she looked at her thumb in horror.

Something was so wrong with her thumb. She was still trying to figure out why it was so misshapen when the driver-side door was wrenched open, falling to the asphalt, hanging by wires or cables or something. Ivy blinked, wondering why she couldn’t remember what they were called that held her car door on.

“Are you okay?”

She raised her eyes from the door to the face of a man with a handlebar mustache. He looked like he’d just stepped out of an old western movie. “My mom would love you,” she said.

The man looked over his shoulder and said something to someone behind him. A woman appeared behind him. “Is there someone we can call for you?”

Ivy thought hard. She was supposed to… do something… “My mom! She’s waiting for me to pick up my daughter.”

“What’s her phone number, sweetie?” Ivy frowned, and then her face lit up and she rattled off the number, proud of herself. “But — but, will you please not tell her I’ve been in an accident? She’s a stroke risk.”

The woman smiled gently and put the phone to her ear. Ivy felt the world tilting a little and frowned. “I… I can’t see,” she whispered.

“Okay, honey, just stay with us. Look at me, look right at me.”

Ivy tried. “I don’t want to die,” she whimpered. “My daughter. He’ll get my daughter.”

“You aren’t going to die. Just stay with me, sweetie. Look at me.”

Everything went black.

****

“We’re gonna have to cut her shirt off. I can’t get to her neck.”

“Are you sure you can’t just pull it back? That’s a cute shirt.”

Ivy forced her eyes open. She stung, everywhere, like she’d tried to go swimming on pavement. It took longer for her to realize that everything not only stung, it ached. Especially her foot. And her ribs. And her thumb and her neck and her hip. She moaned.

“Oh, there we go. We’ve got her. Hi, sweetie, how are ya?” An EMT leaned over her, peering into her face.

“Fine?” she asked slowly. There were several chuckles from outside her field of vision. She started to turn her head, but another face, this one a girl who couldn’t have been even as old as Ivy, suddenly appeared on her left, shaking her head.

“Lie still. Try not to move your head. We need to get some x-rays on your neck at the hospital.”
Well, duh. I can’t move my neck anyway. You put a brace on it
, Ivy thought. She could feel the stiff brace holding her head still. Moving didn’t seem to be an option.

Yet another face, this one lower but also the left. “Can you tell us your name?”

“Ivy Bleu. Walken. My license says Walken. I’m getting divorced.”

“How about the date?”

“December fifteenth.”

“Ivy, can you tell us where it hurts?” the first face asked.