“Home? Home where?”
“With Miriam and me. They asked us if we were open to being her temporary placement, and of course we were.”
Pearl let her head fall back and a small smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you, Lord. I’m so happy. For the two of you and for her. And Harvey, if I ever find him again.”
“You will. The prodigal will return.”
Harvey had become a son to her, but maybe a thirty-something man wasn’t in want of a mother. “You’re more confident than I.”
“Pearl, you’ve wormed your way into his life. He’s changed. He thinks he can go back to life before, but this time he’ll be painfully aware of everything missing. I’m telling you, he’ll be back.”
“I hope you’re right.” But she couldn’t help remembering his words from their argument last week. That Ivy was the only one he had in this world. Did he really believe that?
Pearl hung up the phone. She slumped in her chair, the silence in the house deafening. Normally at this time, Harvey would be bouncing Ivy in his room, singing a lullaby painfully off-key.
She shuffled toward her bedroom, but the cracked door to Harvey’s room drew her in. There was a pile of money on the bed, a gold watch, and a note.
She sat on the bed and picked up the paper covered in big scrawled letters.
For Ivy. I’ll always remember you both. Thank you.
She stacked the cash on the dresser, then collapsed in his bed. The place both her sons had slept. Both miracles. Both gone.
CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN
PRESENT DAY
Ivy and her mother spent the next day tagging items in the living room. While they were working, Mom turned toward her. “So, when are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Reese?”
Ivy pasted on a smile. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Ivy . . .” Mom always could see straight through her.
Ivy groaned. “I kissed him, Mom. Well, sort of. I kissed my best friend, and I ran away. And now I don’t know what to do.” Ivy sank into the wingback chair.
A wide grin broke across her mom’s face. “About time.”
Ivy’s hands dropped to her lap. “Reese is the worst possible person for me to let myself fall for.”
“And why in the world would you say that?”
“I lean on him when I shouldn’t. I have to learn how to stand on my own two feet. And with the whole Seth thing, I’ve forgotten how.”
“Ivy, honey, back before you were in our lives, your dad tried so hard to get me to lean on him. My depression had taken on a life of its own. There were days I couldn’t get out of bed. He was so patient, and I pushed him away over and over again. His strength was evidence I couldn’t measure up to what I thought I ought to.
“There came a point when it was like a knife had cut through the fog. Marriage, relationships, they were made for leaning. Not as an excuse not to grow, mind you. But we all need a place to rest and be reassured. God puts people in our lives to have and to hold. To give this existence richer meaning. I don’t think we were ever meant to fight life’s battles alone.”
A small smile tugged at the neutral expression Ivy tried to maintain. “Reese said something similar the other day.”
“If you don’t have feelings for Reese, that’s a whole different matter. No need to make the relationship into something it’s not. But if you love him, don’t let your fear keep you from such a good man.”
Ivy stood and paced the living room. “We’ve been best friends all our lives. That’s all we are supposed to be.”
“So you keep saying. Who are you trying to convince—him, you, or me? I’ve been expecting this day for years.”
“What are you talking about? You and Dad didn’t bat an eye when we ran all around the countryside together. And you both were so overprotective when it came to dating.”
A musical laugh floated from her mother’s lips. “Oh, honey, we knew the boy was smitten. You were the reason we weren’t worried.”
“Me?”
“The boundaries you put on the relationship were so clear they were almost tangible. Your words, your body language, the way you looked at him. It was clear you wouldn’t allow it to be anything more. Your dad and I always expected that to change eventually. But it never did. Though every girl in Triune was half in love with him, you seemed immune.”
Ivy swallowed. “I wasn’t immune, just scared. Still am. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll lose my best friend.”
“Relationships change with time. You and Reese will change one way or another, whether you like it or not. You can’t hang on to what once was forever.”
Ivy buried her face in her hands.
“Reese is over at our old house. He called this morning and told me to tell you he’d be there all day.”
Ivy peeked through her fingers. “I . . . I should stay. You . . . you’ve come all this way.”
“No, hon, I think you should go. Go to him and sort this out. You and I both know it’s what you want.” Her mother smiled and winked. “Besides, we’ll still have all morning tomorrow for you to fill me in on the details before I have to fly out.”
Ivy cruised down the drive, relishing the blast of frigid air-conditioning from her mom’s rental car. At least this one time she could show up in front of Reese not looking like she’d been through a wind tunnel.
Her car stayed the speed limit, but her heart raced fast enough to make it three times around the world and back on the ten-minute drive. No matter how Ivy weighed and tested her conversation with her mother against her memories with Reese, she couldn’t recall a single time he put distance in their relationship. Not once in the eighteen years she’d known him. He was the one who consistently urged, “Come here, Ivy.” Because she was always the one edging away.
She made the final turns, the curves of those roads burned into her memory. One by one she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.
As her car tires crunched on the gravel drive, Reese stood from the porch, squinting against the light of the sun as it made its slow descent over the ridge.
She parked the car and paused a moment, with the intent of saying a quick prayer, but found she lacked the wisdom for the right words.
Reese sauntered over with his chin ducked and thumbs hooked in his belt loops.
She took a long breath, drinking in oxygen before getting out of the car. As he approached, she moistened her lips and stood. Her voice came out raspy, and she coughed to clear her throat. “Hey . . . hey, Reese.”
He lifted his chin, a shy smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he scuffed his work boot against the gravel. “New car?”
A breathy laugh escaped her. “Mom’s rental. Thank you for that, by the way.”
“Sure thing, Rosie-girl. Glad you got to enjoy a little air-conditioning.” A muscle in his cheek twitched.
Ivy shook her head. “You know what I mean. For my uncle coming, and Mom. For making sure I was okay.”
His gaze traveled away from her, out over the yard. His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “I heard about Seth.”
“It turned out all right. I have a deep appreciation for my uncle’s impeccable timing.”