Chapter 11 Hudson #2
A pause. “How are you doing? Are you still living in that small town?”
“How do you know—”
“I know everything about you, Hudson. You might have walked away from our family—”
“You kicked me out.”
“You were disgracing the family with your abominable behavior, but I hear you’ve settled down with a wife and a child now. You should bring them for a visit. I’d especially love to meet your daughter.”
She knew about Ivy? Was she keeping tabs on me?
I turned around instinctively, like I could hide Ivy from the conversation. My chest dropped. She wasn’t by my side anymore.
“Ivy?” My voice cracked as I spun around, scanning the aisle. “Ivy!”
Nothing.
“Oh God—”
I ended the call and shoved the phone into my pocket, heart pounding in my throat. “Ivy?” I called again, louder now, pushing the cart aside and jogging past startled shoppers.
How could I have let this happen?
My hands shook. My chest caved in on itself. She’d been right there. She’d been with me. And now—
Laughter. A soft giggle sounded from up ahead.
I turned the corner and found her beside the candy dispenser machine near checkout, grinning around a cherry red ring pop. Standing next to her, one hand resting lightly on the top of her head, was Matty.
I sagged in relief, stumbling toward them like I’d been pulled out of deep water.
“Jesus, Ivy.” I crouched and wrapped my arms around her, checking her, even though I could see she was okay. “You scared me. Why did you go off on your own?”
All it took was a second for kids to disappear in these times, never to be seen again. What would I do without her? She was my whole world.
She licked the sticky gem, shrugged, then mumbled around it, “Mista Customew.”
The first words she’d said in hours. I could have cried.
Matty raised a brow, the corners of his mouth twitching like he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or pissed. He didn’t say anything, though. Just looked at me, unreadable as ever.
I stood, raking a hand through my hair. “Thanks,” I said hoarsely. “Seriously. Thank you. I—shit, I thought I’d lost her.”
“It’s fine,” Matty said. “She’s safe.”
“I’m sorry. She’s… she’s had a rough day.”
Matty folded his arms. “What happened?”
The urge to tell him everything was powerful. I wanted to tell him about the night terrors. About the way she’d cried for Heather. About how I was barely holding it together. About not being able to afford her new therapist. But I shook my head. “I’ll spare you the long story.”
He didn’t care anyway. He’d been avoiding me. The best thing for me to do was to take Ivy and leave.
“Come on, Ivy.”
Ivy wrapped her arms around Matty’s jean-clad leg and pressed her face against him. She scrunched up her face the way she did right before a tantrum.
“No, Daddee.”
“Bug, we need to finish our shopping. Let’s leave the nice man alone.” Nice my ass, but she seemed to have latched onto Matty, and he had kept her safe, so I held back my opinion. “We’ll get ice cream after? You can get sprinkles on your scoop.”
She didn’t budge, shaking her head. Ice cream always did the trick. Matty wasn’t being helpful either, just stood there with my child wrapped around his leg like she was also his.
My heart skipped a beat at the longing inside me for that dream to be a reality.
Ignoring me, Ivy looked up at Matty. “Ivy up,” she demanded, stretching her arms toward him.
“Ivy—”
I reached for her, and she wailed. Anyone would have thought I was kidnapping her.
“It’s okay.” Matty bent and picked my daughter up effortlessly, hitching her to his hip. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder.
My throat tightened. This was the way it should have been. I shouldn’t have let people’s words and my past come between us.
He had been right.
I should have been honest with him. I should have allowed him to reject me instead of giving up on us without a fight.
Matty looked at me over the crown of her head. “Finish your shopping. We’ll wait for you. Won’t we, Ivy?”
Ivy nodded. “Ivy wait wi-wif—”
“Matt,” he said softly. “If you’re going to stay with me, then no more Mr. Customer. You call me Matt, and I’ll call you Ivy. Or do you want me to call you Bug like your daddy does?”
Ivy giggled, wrinkling her nose. “I no buh.” She touched herself. “Ivy.” She reached out and patted his cheek with her sticky hand. “Mah.”
She butchered his name, forgetting the last consonant, and sounded like she was calling Matt ‘ma’, but Matty didn’t seem to mind.
Why did he tell her to call him Matt instead of Matty? I was the only one who called him that. Was it because the name was shorter and easier to pronounce?
“Go on, then.” Matty checked his watch. “Finish your shopping, or Ivy and I will have ice cream on our own.”
For the first time all day, something in my chest loosened.
Maybe I didn’t know where I stood with Matty. Maybe I was still messing up left and right. But Ivy seemed to trust him. She clung to him. And the day had been stressful. Maybe I kind of needed to too.