Chapter 4
four
IVY
Ivy didn’t even bother knocking on the door as she let herself into Nathalie’s house with the key they’d exchanged years ago. She walked straight from the front door to the kitchen and started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.
Work had been insane. Life had been insane. Penny was a jerk.
That was all she knew right now.
“Raiding the liquor cabinet already?” Nathalie stepped into the kitchen and eyed her carefully. “It’s not even seven o’clock.”
Ivy rolled her eyes and popped the bottle of rum onto the counter. Penny had hated rum with a fiery passion. Not that Ivy liked it that much either, but today in honor of the wife she couldn’t get rid of, she was going to drink it to her heart’s content.
“Penny took the kids tonight.” Ivy poured herself a shot, spilling some onto the counter while Nathalie watched her with that ever-precise gaze of hers. Ivy hated that gaze sometimes, and right now was one of them. Because Nathalie wasn’t obtuse, and she knew that there was far more going on than Ivy was saying.
“And…?” Nathalie added, trying to pry more information from her.
“I’ll tell you when Lachlan gets here…” Ivy trailed off, hearing the front door open and the twins jabber on about something, their voices so cute the way they filled the house.
Nathalie glanced over her shoulder, as if she could see Lachlan coming in. “She’s here.”
“She’s not in the kitchen yet,” Ivy countered. She threw back the shot and then poured herself another. “Are you going to drink with me, or not?”
“I didn’t realize that I was invited. You just came in here and stole my alcohol.”
Ivy snorted back a laugh. Nathalie looked so indignant, but it was a common thing for them to do. Ivy had gotten rid of all the alcohol in her house when Penny had accused her of being an alcoholic and a drug addict—along with submitting herself to routine tests to prove that she wasn’t. And Lachlan had the good stuff but not the hard stuff, all the wine and champagne they could ever want. But Nathalie had the good, hard stuff that Ivy was looking for tonight.
“You don’t mind, and you know it.”
“I don’t.” Nathalie stepped forward, pulling off her reading glasses and folding them onto the corner of the counter. “But if you don’t tell me why you’re taking shots on a Friday night in my kitchen soon, I’m going to take the rum away.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Ivy poured herself another shot and drank it just to prove a point. “Besides, after you hear what I have to say, you’ll be plying me with rum for days.”
“Hmm, I’m not sold on that one yet. Lachlan!” Nathalie called loudly over her shoulder. “We’re in the kitchen! Ivy’s getting drunk by herself.”
Lachlan finally stepped into the kitchen and looked at the two of them instantly. “Well, don’t let her do it by herself. There might be more rumors that she’s an alcoholic if we do that.”
Nathalie’s lips twitched upward into one of those rare drop-dead gorgeous smiles that Ivy always loved seeing.
“See!” Ivy said. “Now that’s a true friend.”
“But I’m not? Because I question you stealing my rum?” Nathalie placed a hand over her heart like she was offended, but they all knew that she wasn’t. “Come on, share the wealth.” Nathalie snagged a few more glasses, but instead of pouring each of them shots, she started to mix together a drink.
Yes, that would be a better choice. So would food.
Ivy didn’t say anything as she started to dig through Nathalie’s fridge for whatever quick and greasy food she could find in there. When she pulled out some dip, she found the chips and planted them on the kitchen counter as well. “We’re going to need more than this. I skipped lunch today.”
“Oh, so you don’t want to get so drunk you won’t make it home.” Nathalie laughed lightly. She then moved around the kitchen, pulling food out from places that Ivy had no clue existed and put together a table full of snack foods.
“Perfect.” They all sat around the kitchen table and started snacking. But Nathalie’s gaze never quite left Ivy’s.
“Are you going to tell us what this impromptu night of drinking is all about?”
“They won’t set a date for the divorce… again.” Ivy winced and knocked back even more of her drink. “Because Penny is insisting on another evaluation of our homes to determine where it’s best for the kids to stay the majority of the time.”
“Oh, Ivy,” Lachlan said, her voice trailing off. “Another one?”
“Another ten grand down the drain for them to tell us, once again, that the kids will be better off with me the majority of the time. Just you watch. That’s exactly what the next quack will say.”
“Quack?” Nathalie repeated.
“Yeah, not quack. I’m mad, okay?” Ivy pulled a piece of bread from the table and ripped it in two before she started eating it. “I’m tired. I just want a divorce. Two years of this is bullshit. I’m tired of the lies, of Penny trying to throw her weight around, and of her thinking that she can run me over whenever she damn well feels like it.”
“Well, she does like to do that,” Nathalie mumbled around an olive.
“Oh, and I didn’t mention that she also has issues with Greer. So she wants me to fire Greer because she’s a bad influence on the kids. ”
“Hardly,” Nathalie said.
“She’s insane,” Lachlan added.
“Right?” Ivy pointed at Lachlan. “This is just another way to disrupt the kids’ lives, which will make me seem like the bad parent in the whole situation and give her more ammo to come at me when we’re discussing custody. I’m so tired of this.”
“No one is surprised that you’re tired.” Nathalie glanced around the kitchen, her eyes squinting before she straightened up again. “I think that’s honestly a huge part of Penny’s strategy in this. Wear you out until you give up. She wasn’t expecting for you to leave and file for divorce. She certainly wasn’t expecting for you to fight back this long. She’s stepping up her harassment game?—”
“Oh, boy, is she. I didn’t tell you about what she said to Greer at school drop-off the other day.” Ivy winced. She hated that Greer was being pulled into this drama with her, that any of them were. But it seemed to be all that her life was about right now, and it was impossible to escape it.
“Tell Lachlan. I already heard it from Greer.” Nathalie stood up and walked out of the room.
Ivy pointed at her and then asked Lachlan, “Where’s she going?”
“No clue.” Lachlan leaned in, her hands on the table. “I think you need to tell Penny to fuck off.”
“Lachlan!” Ivy dissolved into a fit of giggles. She wasn’t used to Lachlan using that kind of language.
“I’m serious. You need to throw as many punches as you can to get her to back off. I don’t want to lose Greer. I like her, the kids like her, and she’s quite honestly the best nanny that we’ve hired so far.”
Ivy sighed heavily again, her head spinning lightly from all the alcohol. “I know she is.” Guilt swam up and ate its way into her stomach. She hated that she was the problem child in this arrangement. She was the reason most of the nannies had left or been fired, even if Nathalie and Lachlan had agreed and dealt with it. The drama was hers and hers alone.
“I wouldn’t blame you if when all of this goes down, you decide to keep Greer on between the two of you and then leave me out on my own.” Ivy sipped her drink again, staring at Nathalie’s that had barely been touched. Could she take Nathalie’s without getting in too much trouble? She was pretty sure Nathalie would make a comment but that was it.
“We won’t do that. We’re here together, remember?” Lachlan finished off her drink and then looked around. “Where did she get off to?”
“I went to check on the kids,” Nathalie said, sliding back into her seat. She glanced down, finding her glass was gone.
Ivy didn’t even think to feel guilty about that one. She had the glass between her fingers and stared directly at Nathalie, waiting for the snide little comment. She was surprised when it didn’t come.
“Greer’s hours are over for the day, you two. You can’t just leave your kids with her and expect her to watch them.”
“Oh shoot!” Lachlan said, looking exactly where Nathalie had come from. “I didn’t think about that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.” Nathalie flicked her gaze to Ivy. “I put Alaric in charge of the twins, but they’re already yawning. You might be taking home some sleepy girls.”
“Perfect.” Lachlan smiled sweetly. “They’ll be wonderful to move from your house to mine, I’m sure.”
Nathalie hummed her agreement before snagging a piece of cheese from the container in front of them. “I did invite Greer to join us, but I think she’s still out of sorts over Penny and is trying to keep some time for herself.”
“Can’t blame her.” Ivy stared down into Nathalie’s drink and then took a sip. “I hate what this is doing to her. You’d think I’d be better at this by now.”
“Why would you be?” Nathalie asked, pulling another piece of cheese from the container. “Penny keeps changing the rules on you.”
“Kind of.” Ivy had never quite told them everything that had happened while she and Penny were still together. She’d never fully explained the abuse that she’d endured. But then again, with how Penny was acting now, she wouldn’t be surprised if the others had put two and two together already.
She went quiet, listening to Lachlan and Nathalie talk about their days and Lachlan fill Nathalie in about the two complaints that week. Ivy’s head was already spinning, and she wasn’t sure that she was going to be able to walk back to her house and make it inside without help. But that would be a problem for another day. For right now, she still wanted to get drunk with her friends, bitch about her ex, and maybe ease a bit of her woe onto them.
That was what friends were for, right?
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Greer stepped into the kitchen and stopped suddenly.
“You’re not interrupting anything,” Nathalie said coolly, eyeing Greer over. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”
Greer cringed. Even Ivy could see it in her intoxicated state. That wasn’t something Greer was comfortable doing. “I think I’ll just grab some food and eat it in my room.”
“Feel free to make yourself a drink if you want it. Ivy’s already plundered the rum.” Nathalie was speaking to Greer, but she was looking directly at Ivy. “It’s all up for grabs.”
“I’ll pass. Thank you for the offer though.”
This was a side of Greer that Ivy wasn’t used to seeing. Because Greer lived with Nathalie, Ivy really only saw her when she was with the kids and when it concerned kid things. But this was completely outside of that. It was normal in a way that Ivy hadn’t expected, and it was awkward. Maybe Greer didn’t actually like this arrangement. Maybe it was too much for her—or anyone—to handle.
When Greer was gone, Ivy looked both Lachlan and Nathalie over. “You don’t think she’s offended, do you?”
“Offended? No.” Nathalie shook her head and popped another piece of cheese between her lips. “I do think she’s very specific about what she believes her role is, and she doesn’t break down those walls often.”
“Except with the kids,” Lachlan chimed in. “I’ve noticed she’s far more relaxed when she’s interacting with the kids.”
Nathalie pointed at Lachlan and nodded. “Yes, she loves Alaric. I have no doubts of that.”
“But she doesn’t seem comfortable here…” Ivy mumbled to herself. “I wonder what we could do to change that.”
“You can start by finally divorcing your ex.” Nathalie winced. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I know at this point a lot of it is outside of your control.”
Ivy hummed her disappointment, but she felt exactly the same way. She needed to separate herself from Penny as much as humanly possible. It was just that she was pretty sure that’s where she was at right now. She couldn’t force Penny to back off any more than she already did, and she couldn’t do anything else until they finally had a divorce and a permanent custody arrangement in place.
“I think Greer will get more comfortable over time. Not all of us are built the way you two are.” Nathalie finally changed the topic back to what they’d originally been discussing. “She needs to get to know us, and we need to get to know her.”
“And how are we supposed to do that when she hides out in her room when she’s not with the kids?” Ivy asked.
“We’ll have to entice her out. Somehow.”
“You? Entice someone to come out and play?” Lachlan snorted, the noise brilliantly amusing and light-hearted. Ivy envied it. She wished she could go back to who she was before she married Penny, to when she was just as light-hearted and easy as Lachlan.
“I can be nice,” Nathalie said.
“Can you? Because the complaints at the practice would say otherwise.”
Nathalie pursed her lips and stared Lachlan down. “I can’t help it if people are angry with me when I tell them test results that they don’t want to hear.”
“That’s not what all the complaints are about.”
Ivy leaned forward onto the table, her head spinning from the amount of alcohol in her system. “Hey, I don’t want to talk about work. This isn’t time for that.”
“Fine,” Lachlan agreed, nodding sharply.
Ivy looked over at Nathalie to make sure that she also understood the assignment.
“Agreed.” Nathalie put her hand up in the air. “But we’re also not talking about Penny anymore, either.”
“That sounds like a gloriously perfect night. Truthfully.” Ivy grinned broadly. “I think it calls for another round of drinks!”
“So sleeping on my couch it is. Got it.” Nathalie stood up and made each of them drinks.
“Probably,” Ivy agreed. “And you’ll love every second of it.”