Chapter 28
twenty-eight
IVY
“Ivy Villegas?”
“Umm…yes?” Ivy faced the doorway of her office. There was a young man standing there who looked like some sort of food delivery driver. She frowned at him, not remembering ordering anything for a late lunch.
He stepped forward and held out some papers. “You’ve been served.”
Ivy leaned heavily back in her chair as the man vanished out of the office door and disappeared down the hallway. What could she possibly be sued over now? She reached for the envelope, not entirely sure that she wanted to open it and read it, but what choice did she have? She needed to know what was going on.
The knock startled her, and she glanced up to find Abagail in the doorway, leaning against it. “What was that about?”
“Got served.” Ivy frowned and held the papers up for Abagail to see.
“Again?”
“She never stops. I don’t suspect it’ll end for a long time.” Ivy ripped open the envelope and skimmed the papers, her heart sinking. She leaned forward and pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing away the tears that wanted to erupt. She was so sick and tired of this.
“What is it?” Abagail stepped forward and held her hand out.
What did it matter who knew anymore? She was tired of fighting all of these battles on her own, and it seemed like they would never end. She was tired of losing friends because they took Penny’s side instead of hers, because they agreed to be character witnesses for Penny and refused to believe her when she told them what was happening.
“Adultery? When the hell do you have time?” Abagail’s voice rang through the room.
Ivy snorted and laughed. She shook her head, but the tears mixed with laughter as it echoed through her office. She couldn’t stop it. It was insane, wasn’t it? It was utterly ridiculous. And adultery? Really? The two times she’d had sex since the separation had been with Greer and Lachlan, and that was years after kicking Penny out.
“She needs to get over herself,” Abagail muttered and threw the papers onto the desk. “Who does she think she is? Queen of England?”
That just sent Ivy into another fit of giggles and laughter. She held her stomach as they rolled through her and the tears started to stream down her face.
“Does she think that she has the right to say who you sleep with because you’re still legally married because she won’t just sign the papers you’ve been trying to get her to sign for years?” Abagail looked more offended than Ivy felt. And for the first time since she’d started working there, she felt like Abagail actually had compassion for the ridiculous nature of the entire situation.
“She does think that.” Ivy shook her head and wiped her cheeks. “She really does think she has the right to control that when it comes to me.”
“Ridiculous. No one can control another person—ever.” Abagail frowned. “What are you going to do about it?”
Ivy sighed. “I don’t even know. I’m so tired of fighting this.”
“Don’t give up fighting now.” Abagail slid onto the desk, looking down at Ivy. “I’m serious. You’ve put up with this bullshit long enough. It’s time that she gets a new life and leaves you out of it. She needs to find someone else to harass.”
“Oh, I hate thinking about that.” Ivy shifted her gaze back down to the papers on the desk. “I suppose I’ll talk to my lawyer about this and see what she suggests.”
“Have you thought about getting a new lawyer? Someone who’s actually going to fight for you and go to town on this bitch?”
Ivy was loving how defensive Abagail was getting. It really was the first time that Abagail seemed to fully embrace that this drama wasn’t her fault and that it was a whole lot to deal with. “I’ve contemplated switching to another law firm, but I’m not entirely sure who I might go with. And I’ve already sunk in a lot of money to this one.”
“I can call my friend, if you’d like. She married a defense attorney who specializes in contentious divorces.” Abagail raised her eyebrows in question. “Or I can give you her information and you can call her and ask for advice. She doesn’t live in Massachusetts, so they wouldn’t be able to take on your case, but they might know someone or be able to give you better information than I can.”
“Who’s that?”
“Athena Pruitt. We go way back to when we were kids. I’m sure she’d do it as a favor so you wouldn’t have to pay a consultation fee.” Abagail rubbed her hands together. “Besides, I’m a sucker for getting justice where there’s injustice.”
“You? Really?” Ivy raised an eyebrow at her. “I never would have pegged you for that one.”
Abagail hummed. “You don’t know me that well, do you?”
“Kind of hard to get to know anyone when I’m accused of sleeping with everyone. If Penny knows you’re a lesbian, then you’re probably on her list of potential suspects that I’ve slept with, too.”
Guffawing, Abagail rolled her eyes. “As if you were my type.”
“Am I not?” Ivy made her voice sound offended even though she wasn’t. Abagail certainly wasn’t her type—too much business and not enough play—but that could be entirely different in the bedroom. Not that Ivy had any desire to find out, especially with accusations of adultery flying around.
“No offense, Ivy, but you’re a bit too old for me.”
“Really?” Ivy raised an eyebrow. “You’re that kind of woman.”
Abagail shrugged nonchalantly. “You like what you like. Don’t come after me for liking a woman who can keep up with my stamina.”
“Oh my God.” Ivy’s cheeks burned. “Just because I’m in my forties doesn’t mean I can’t keep up. Not that I’d try with you.” She muttered the last bit.
“Don’t even start with me.” Abagail pointed at her. “But if you want my advice, which of course you do, because that’s exactly what you need—more advice.”
“Are you actually going to give it or just laud it?” Ivy leaned back in her chair, looking her boss over carefully. They were walking on thin ice right now, edging toward the personal which Abagail seemed to always stay out of if possible.
“Shut up, and I’ll give it to you straight. Mostly.” Abagail smiled at her own little joke. “You need to fight fire with fire. Stop holding back, stop only responding to what she does. If you want to end this as quickly as possible, you need to push back at her. You need to fight, not just defend yourself. And I’m pretty damn sure that’s what Athena is going tell you.”
“I don’t want to fight her, though.” Ivy frowned. She’d spent years married to this woman, and there was still love in her heart for Penny despite everything that had happened during and since. She loved her for giving her two beautiful children, for being supportive—sometimes—and for being her first love. It didn’t matter if there was all this drama afterward, Ivy couldn’t bring herself to stoop so low as to hurt Penny exactly like she’d been hurt.
“You see, I know what you’re thinking.” Abagail crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “You won’t hurt her. She’s impenetrable to your actions when it comes to harming her. She’ll act like she’s hurt, but she’s not. And you know that. Deep down somewhere inside of you, you know that Penny doesn’t give a flying fuck what you do with your life or not. She just wants you to pay for ruining the one good thing she had.”
“Good thing?”
Abagail nodded. “Yeah, someone permanently in place for her to abuse.”
Ivy’s jaw dropped. “She didn’t… she’s not that…” but she stopped herself from saying anything else. Abagail was right. Ivy had taken away Penny’s favorite toy simply by filing for divorce and now she was throwing the most epic toddler tantrum and meltdown of the decade because of it.
“See?” Abagail’s face lit up. “Don’t treat her with human decency, because she won’t give you any.”
“I hate that, though.”
“I knew you would.” Abagail winked at her. “It’s because you have a heart. Unlike me.” She laughed at that. “Now, get back to work. You can call your lawyer when you’re not on my time.”
Abagail stood up and gave Ivy a pointed look before walking out of the office. Ivy didn’t have to be told twice. She spent the rest of the day working and finishing everything on the never- ending to-do list that Abagail gave her, which would just be right back to the same length tomorrow morning.
By the time she made it home, she’d talked to her lawyer, and she’d gotten the name for Abagail’s friend and set up a time to talk to her the next day after her workday ended. The one time the three-hour time difference between the East and West coasts worked in her favor.
She dropped her stuff in her kitchen and immediately walked out of the house again, going directly to Nathalie’s. It always seemed to be their natural gathering point, and it helped that Nathalie’s house was in the middle of the three homes.
Greer was sitting at the kitchen table, holed up with books, and Nathalie was sitting on the couch in the living room. Ivy debated which person to go to first and decided last minute to sit next to Nathalie. She’d check in with Greer shortly.
“How was your first day back at work?” Ivy asked.
“Exhausting.” Nathalie sighed heavily. “But we expected that.”
“We did.” Ivy side-eyed her. “And you’re taking it easy, right?”
“As much as I can. I promise.” Nathalie rested her head on Ivy’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”
“N-nothing’s wrong? Why would you ask that?” Ivy nervously bit the inside of her cheek and cursed herself for not just opening up.
“You have that look in your eyes. What did Penny do now?”
“She’s countering my divorce claim with a spectacular one.” Ivy was nervous now, because if she said too much, then Nathalie would find out.
“With what?”
“She’s accusing me of adultery.”
“What?” Nathalie pushed herself to sit up and stared wide-eyed at Ivy. “Are you serious?”
Ivy nodded.
“They repealed that law nearly ten years ago.”
Shrugging, Ivy frowned. “It can still be used against me in the divorce, particularly when it comes to property division.”
“Jesus, she’s still trying to get the damn practice. What’s her obsession with it?” Nathalie stood up and walked away from Ivy. She went straight for the kitchen and started making a drink. Ivy watched her carefully, curious as to what exactly she was doing. But she only made one, and she brought it back, handing it to Ivy before she sat back down again. “I think you need this.”
“Feeding my alcohol needs? You are almost back to normal.” Ivy shifted on the couch and smiled at Nathalie. “Abagail says I need to fight fire with fire, hire a new lawyer and stop holding back.”
“For once, Abagail and I agree. Penny’s just going to keep on ruining everything she touches so long as she’s allowed access to it.” Nathalie put her head back on Ivy’s shoulder.
“I’m scared, Nathalie.”
“Of what?”
“That if I fight back, she’ll take everything from me. At least this way, I get some time with the boys.”
“And what if you lose them anyway?” Nathalie took Ivy’s hand in hers and laced their fingers. “Because that’s a possibility, unfortunately.”
“I know it is.” Ivy turned her nose into Nathalie’s hair, drawing in her scent. She’d missed this woman so much in the last couple weeks, just the quiet moments like this that they tended to have together, the times when they would see and meet each other’s needs, but mostly in silence. “I’m so afraid.”
“You have us, and we won’t let you fail.”
Ivy’s lips turned up at that. She was tempted to drop a kiss into Nathalie’s hair, but she held back. Nathalie hated that kind of touch. “What if she takes you all away from me?”
“She can’t. It’s impossible.”
But what if she takes Greer away? Ivy didn’t voice that fear. But she glanced toward the kitchen where Greer was studying. It might have just been two nights of sexy fun, but Greer’s presence meant way more than just that. And she didn’t want to give it up, not when they were finally getting a chance to explore that, not when she was finally willing to step out of her comfort zone and fear and maybe just live again.
Why did Penny have to ruin everything?
Worse than that…
Why did Ivy have to let Penny ruin everything?
Ivy stayed where she was, leaning into the silent comfort her best friend was giving her. Maybe Nathalie was right this time. Maybe, just maybe, Ivy needed to do something different than she’d ever done before.