Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
IVY
The past few days have been so freaking fun.
I didn’t realize how badly I was missing fun in my life until I started spending time with Xander, and then Cooper and Britney.
The couple left the day after we had the surprise pizza party at my place, which was full of laughter.
I’ve never felt that comfortable with people.
Since then, Xander and I have continued to work together during the day, but we haven’t spent time together outside that.
And it’s okay. He’s still flirty and funny, and I’ve started to relax in his company. I don’t even blush as often when he flirts or touches me.
“Let’s start with the elliptical today,” I say when we get to the gym. We already finished our breakfast burritos.
I come an hour before our appointment time every day so we can eat together, and it’s honestly my favorite part of the day.
“I really need to start jogging,” he replies.
“I think that’s feasible.” I nod, making notes in my phone. “You can start that today, actually.”
“Really?” His eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“You’re so happy about running. I hate running. I won’t do it unless something’s chasing me.”
He snorts. “I won’t let anything chase you, wildcat. Great, treadmill it is.”
“I have rules.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge, and I can’t help but bite my lip. “Of course you have rules.”
“You do that on purpose to distract me, don’t you?”
“Do what?”
“That.” I reach out and pat his upper arm, and Oh my God. It’s pure muscle. All my girlie bits are doing the freaking cha-cha right now. “How many hours do you spend on upper body here in the gym without me?”
He smirks. “A lot. Admit it. I’m your favorite.”
He tries at least once a day.
I roll my eyes and step back.
“You will jog. You will not run. So you can get started, and I’ll tell you when to hold at a certain speed.”
“Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like being told what to do?”
I snort as he steps onto the treadmill and starts walking. His gait is normal, showing no signs of favoring the healing knee, which is great progress. He wasn’t horrible when I first got here, but I can already see a big difference.
“Whenever you’re ready to go faster, go ahead and kick it up. No hurry.”
He immediately boosts up the speed, and when he lands on a nice, easy jog, I say, “There you go. Keep it there.”
Xander’s gaze turns to me, and his face says Really?
“I can do this in my sleep, Red.”
“I know, but you have to start slow, remember? You’re not pounding too hard.”
“That’s what she said,” he says, barely even winded, and I can’t help but snort.
Fuck he looks good. His ass is so fantastic and looks even better while he’s running. As if that’s even possible.
“You’re a riot.”
“I know. Let’s go to the movies later.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Do people still go to the movies?”
“That was code for watch something in my media room,” he replies and kicks the speed up by one, as if I’m not standing right here.
“You have a whole media room?”
“Of course I do. I have to watch hockey somewhere.” He grins and must think I don’t notice when he kicks the speed up by one more notch.
“I see you, you know.”
Before he can reply, my phone rings, but I ignore it. I usually turn the ringer off altogether when I’m working, but I forgot today.
Unfortunately, it starts to ring again.
“Get it,” Xander says.
“Don’t touch the speed,” I say, trying my best to make my voice hard and bossy, but Xander ignores me. “Hello?”
“Ivy, this is Bridger Blackwell with the Bitterroot Valley Fire Department. We’re at your bar here in Silver Springs.”
My heart bottoms out, and I squat, my knees unable to hold me up any longer.
“My mom?”
“We got her out. She seems just fine, but she’s being checked out by medics. She’s not terribly with it mentally, so if you could come answer some questions, it would help us out.”
“Okay. Yeah, sure. Okay. You need me to come now?”
Jesus, I don’t even know what I’m saying.
I feel Xander’s hand on my back, and then he takes the phone from me, and I cover my face with both hands as I listen to him take over.
Thank God he’s here to take over.
Because I feel myself spiraling into a panic attack.
“This is Xander Hendrix. I’m with Ivy. Hey, Bridger. Fuck, yeah, okay. We’re on our way. Be there in ten. Thanks, man.”
He sits next to me on the floor and runs his hand down my braid, soothing me.
“Take a breath for me, Red.”
“Oh my God.”
“Breathe. I know this is a shock, but we have to go, Ivy, and I need you to calm down first.”
I nod and take in a shaky deep breath. Xander does it with me, his eyes on mine, and after the third one, I swallow hard and then feel my lower lip wobble.
“What did she do, Xander?”
He’s grim when he brushes his thumb under my eye, over my freckles. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”
“You don’t have to—”
“You’re not finishing that sentence, Red. I’m with you.”
He climbs to his feet and then helps me to mine, and once I’ve grabbed the small handbag out of my work bag and he has his wallet and keys, he leads me out to his SUV. But I have my truck here.
“I can follow you in,” I tell him.
“I don’t want you driving right now. You’re upset. We’ll get your truck into town later, even if I have one of my siblings help me. Let’s go.”
I don’t bother to fight him because I don’t want to. I like having him with me. Before I know it, I’m buckled in and he’s driving us into town.
“What does it say about me as a daughter that my first question is what kind of bullshit did my mother pull to cause this?”
“I’d say you’re a daughter who knows her mother,” he replies simply and reaches over, laces his fingers with mine, and gives my hand a squeeze.
“Bridger will have some answers. Maybe it wasn’t her fault.
It must have been a bigger fire if the Silver Springs department called in Bitterroot Valley for help. ”
“God.” I close my eyes and continue to cling to Xander’s hand. “That building isn’t freestanding. There are other businesses around us. Someone could have been hurt. Someone could have lost their business. Oh my God—”
“Hey, no panicking. Bridger said they have it under control.”
I nod and lick my lips and take another shaky breath, doing my best to keep myself calm, but I have a really bad feeling about all this. To my surprise, Xander lifts my hand to his lips and presses tender kisses to my skin.
And just like that, my heartbeat slows down a little, and Xander keeps my hand in his, resting on his thigh, for the rest of the drive.
Finally, Xander pulls into a parking lot down the block from Lucky’s, where the fire department has the street blocked off, and I push out of the car and hurry around the barricade with Xander right behind me.
The air is heavy with smoke, making my eyes water. The building has scorch marks around the windows, and it makes me want to cry. Not for my mom, but for Chris. For me and all the years I spent in there, working hard.
For the employees who depend on this job.
“Bridger,” Xander calls out and waves, and the tall firefighter, who I’ve never personally met, comes right over to us.
“You must be Ivy,” Bridger says with a nod. “The Silver Springs chief is tied up, so I’m just going to fill you in and ask some questions.”
“Thank you,” I reply because that’s really all I can think to say.
“The upstairs apartment is a loss,” he begins. “The downstairs bar area has extensive smoke damage and part of the ceiling caved in. It’s certainly not safe to go inside, so please don’t do that.”
I nod, and when Xander slips his arm around my shoulders, I unabashedly lean into his strong side.
“We’re pretty sure your mom—Brenda?”
“Yes, Brenda.”
“Fell asleep with a lit cigarette, and that’s how it started. She’s pretty intoxicated. A customer walking by saw the smoke coming out of an open window and called it in. She was still asleep when the first responders went through the door, and they had a hell of a time waking her up.”
“Jesus,” I mutter and rub my hand over my face. She’s lucky she’s alive.
“The surrounding buildings didn’t sustain any damage.”
“Thank fuck.”
“We’ll have a full report for your insurance in the next few days.”
I blink at him. First of all, I just hope and pray that my idiot mother didn’t cancel the insurance on the bar just to try to save some money for her other habits. Second, would an insurance company even entertain a claim like this?
I can’t imagine it. It’s her own goddamn fault.
“And where is she?” I ask Bridger.
“There’s an ambulance right over there. They were listening to her lungs and giving her some oxygen. They also gave her an IV of fluids to try to sober her up.”
I nod and offer him what I think is a smile. It might be a grimace.
“Thank you for your help.”
“You bet.”
I break away from Xander, immediately feeling a chill from where he was pressed against me, and take off for the ambulance.
When I walk around to the back, I see my mom, dressed only in a robe that’s gaping open—for fuck’s sake—sitting in the back, holding an oxygen mask to her face, and a medic is taking the IV needle out of her arm.
Her eyes move to me, and her entire face transforms into a glare.
“Only took me almost dying for you to show the fuck up. Where the fuck have you been?”
“Living my life.” I glance up at the medic, who looks like he’s been dealing with my mom’s sparkling personality for a while now, if the scowl on his face is anything to go by. “Is she free to go?”
“I need oxygen,” Mom barks.
“Actually, you don’t.” The medic shakes his head and looks beyond ready to cut Mom loose. Can’t say I blame him. “Your lungs are clear. You’re free to go.”
“Fucking idiot,” Mom mutters as the medic takes the oxygen mask from her and gestures for her to climb out of the ambulance.
No, I don’t help her. I don’t want to touch her.
The fluids did her some good, since she seems relatively sober and doesn’t wobble on her feet.
“Let’s go home,” she snaps at me. She’s such a fucking bitch.
“Mom, your home burned up because of your nicotine habit.”
“Your house, smart-ass.”
Oh God.
Oh fuck, I have to take her home with me. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and I can’t afford to put her somewhere else.
Fuck. My. Life.
I want to scream.
I want to hit something.
I want to beg the universe to tell me this isn’t true.
But right now, I just have to get her off the street and hidden away before she flashes all of Silver Springs. Before this is spread all over the town gossip.
Which is likely too late, if I’m being honest.
“Come on,” I finally say with a sigh and turn to find Xander striding my way. His gorgeous green eyes are pinned to mine, and he looks so angry.
But I know he’s not mad at me.
“Can you give us a ride to my house?” I ask him, and his eyes shift to my mom and back to me. “Please?”
He gives me a curt nod, and we lead my mother over to his SUV.
“I see, you’ve been whoring around with the famous hockey player rather than taking care of your responsibilities. Typical. Such a fucking whore.”
I feel like I was just kicked in the stomach, but Xander rounds on my mother and gets in her face, and Mom goes pale.
“Say that again. I fucking dare you.”
“Are you threatening me? Ivy, he’s—”
“Shut the fuck up, Mom. Get in the goddamn car so you can stop humiliating me in front of the whole fucking town.”
Her jaw drops, but she does as she’s told and manages to keep her mouth shut during the three minute drive to my place.
“I need clothes, and yours are way too big for me,” she announces after she climbs out of the vehicle. “You’d better go get me some. Use his money, he’s made of it.”
She walks ahead, and I close my eyes in mortification.
“Xander—”
“Nope. You won’t apologize for her. I’m going to be honest with you, Red, I don’t like leaving you here with her.”
Please don’t leave me.
I want to beg him to stay, but I don’t want to subject him to any more of her drama, so I shake my head and let him hug me. I lean into him, soaking up his warmth, and build my walls up so that woman who birthed me can’t hurt me.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll order her a few things from Walmart or something.” I sound so much more confident than I feel right now.
“I can—”
“No, you don’t have to do anything else. I’ve got this.” I pat his chest. “Really, thank you for everything you’ve already done.”
He sighs and kisses the top of my head, and I want him to keep doing that. “Okay. Call me if you need me. I’ll get your truck over here this afternoon.”
“I appreciate it.”
“I won’t be able to meet until a little later tomorrow morning. I have to be at the ranch early for something. In fact, why don’t we take tomorrow off and you get a handle on things here too?”
I’d rather die than have to stay here with that nightmare of a woman all day tomorrow, but I understand.
“Okay, I’ll see you on Wednesday, then.”
I turn to walk away, but he grabs my chin and turns me back to him.
“You’ll call me if you need anything.” He studies me for a heartbeat. “I mean it, Red. Anything at all, even if you just need to scream into the phone.”
I nod and offer him a shaky smile. “I will. Thanks.”
Steeling my spine, I turn and walk up the path to my door and push inside, and immediately feel like I’m going to have a stroke.
“Cat ran under the fucking bed,” Mom says from the couch, where she’s smoking—where the fuck was she hiding those?—and channel surfing on my TV.
At least Cally is somewhere safe. I’d like to join her.
“You won’t smoke in my house,” I begin and walk over to pluck the cigarette from her mouth, then walk into the kitchen to run it under water and toss it in the garbage.
By the time I’ve turned back around, she’s lighting another. She’s smug as fuck when she blows out smoke.
“Fuck you,” she says.
“I’m calling the cops and having them remove you for trespassing. Go be homeless for all I fucking care.”
Mom rolls her eyes and puts her butt out on one of my coasters. “You’re so dramatic.”
“No, I’m not. Try it again. I dare you.”
“You’re awfully lippy. Being with that asshole seems to have made you brave. I’ll slap it right off your face.”
I shake my head and walk away, intending to lock myself in my bedroom for the foreseeable future.
I hate her so much.