Chapter 45
forty-five
GREER
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Greer threw her arms around Kam’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. It was a bit of a surprise visit, but Kam had told her that she’d explain when she was there. Greer was waiting desperately for that explanation, but more than that, she was thrilled that she was going to finally be able to show Kam everything that had been her world for the last six or so months.
“It was a long drive. Elia’s freaking out.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” Greer looped her arm in Kam’s and walked her toward the living room. Nathalie had taken Alaric over to Lachlan’s for a few hours so that she and Kam could have some time before they were inundated with the rest of the family. Greer loved calling them that. She loved thinking of them like that.
Kam put her hands on her hips. “Remember when I told you that it’s been awkward and tense since Abagail made a move on Elia? But Elia is insisting that they were best friends for years, so they should be able to work through this.”
Greer squinted her eyes as she plopped down onto the couch. She remembered the way Nicola had walked freely through Abagail’s house, like she’d been there for a while and understood and owned the place. And she remembered—unfortunately—the fact that Nicola had no underwear on under that short mini skirt and no bra under that white tank top.
Kam rolled her eyes and slid onto the couch next to Greer. “It was weird and awkward, and fuck, I’m so glad that Elia doesn’t pull crap like that. Or Lauren.”
Greer laughed lightly at that. “Yeah, you made out not too bad for that breakup.”
Kam groaned and rubbed her hands over her face. “Yeah, but when your girlfriend and her only friend are having problems? It means that you spend a lot of time talking about all the problems they’ve had in the last twenty years that they never wanted to bring up and deal with, and you spend a lot more time with your girlfriend trying to resolve the issues.”
“Very true. So that’s what she’s here doing? Working on those?” Greer asked, resting her head on Kam’s shoulder. She couldn’t imagine being that mad at Kam. Not for anything. She loved her too much.
“Yeah. Exactly what she’s doing.”
Greer nodded, catching the sound of a door opening and closing. So much for a few hours. Not that she minded. Her entire purpose today was to introduce Kam to the family that she had chosen. The pitter-patter of feet was the definite sign that it wasn’t Nathalie—not that Greer expected that. Nathalie had said hours, and she would hold to that. Which meant…
“Ivy…” Greer whispered, her lips quirking upward.
“Ivy?” Kam asked.
Greer nodded and shifted on the couch as Leon barreled into the room, and Shepherd toddled after him. Greer held her arms out for both of them and they ran to give her a hug. She hadn’t seen them in days now, but it felt so good to have them back with everyone. It really was the perfect day for Kam to show up, because now she’d be able to meet literally everyone in the family.
“Leon, Shepherd, this is my best friend, Kam.”
Kam grinned at them, and then held out her hand for Leon. “It’s good to meet you.”
Leon looked at her skeptically, and Greer couldn’t blame him. He’d become more reserved by the month since she’d been working with the family. It had been a concern of hers, and she’d brought it up with Ivy several times, but there wasn’t much they could do about it.
Shepherd, however, came over and climbed right into Kam’s lap, like she was the first best friend that he had. Greer loved it. He curled into Kam’s side and rested his head on her shoulder, staring at Ivy.
Ivy smiled at all of them, her hands on her hips as she stood with her gaze roving over the couch and the picture that they made. Just what exactly was she thinking? Because there was a pull of her lips upward into a smile that Greer loved seeing. Ivy didn’t do enough of that, though she had been doing it more and more lately.
“I’m Ivy,” she finally said, stepping forward and holding out her hand to Kam. “Since Greer is going to forget the introductions for me.”
“Oh, right, sorry. I got distracted.” Greer’s cheeks burned. She’d been looking at the way that Ivy had been standing, the curves of her body, the smart look in her gaze. She’d completely forgotten that they hadn’t met yet.
“You work with Abagail, right?” Kam asked, taking Ivy’s hand and shaking it.
“Yeah.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “That’s been a steep learning curve.”
“I imagine it would be.” Kam smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. What did Kam know about that situation that Greer didn’t? Or rather, what had Abagail complained about this time? “Abagail doesn’t seem like she’d be easy to work with.”
“She’s not. She’s very demanding, but in the end, she’s very good at what she does.” Ivy held her hands out for Shepherd. “Come on, you two, let’s go set up the playroom for another sleepover.”
“Sleepover?” Greer asked.
“We thought it’d be nice if we all went out to dinner tonight, so we hired a sitter.”
“Really?” Greer’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that kind of surprise, or break. Her heart fluttered at the thought that they all wanted to get to know her friend just as much as she wanted Kam to get to know them.
“Yeah.”
“Where are we going?” Greer asked.
Ivy winked as she held Shepherd’s hand and walked toward the playroom. “You’ll see.”
“Well, she’s hot,” Kam muttered.
Greer snorted loudly.
“Your type too.”
“My type?” Greer frowned. “I have a type?”
“Oh yeah… in charge.” Kam laughed loudly. “Now I can’t wait to meet Nathalie and Lachlan.”
“Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?” Greer covered her face with her hands.
“I think exactly what you wanted to get yourself into…which was right in the damn middle of everything.” Kam lowered Greer’s hands down so that she could see her face. “But tell me about the divorce trial.”
Greer sighed heavily. “I have been talking to a lawyer about how to be on the stand when they call me up there, like what to say and what not to say—kind of. How to say things, I guess is a better way of putting that.” Greer pressed her lips together hard. “But it still makes me nervous. I don’t like drama, you know that.”
“I do know that.” Kam squeezed her hand. “But it seems like you found yourself right in the middle of that, too.”
“Unfortunately.” Greer groaned and closed her eyes. “I just don’t want to do or say anything that’s going to hurt Ivy.” She sighed heavily. “Because if I do that, then it’ll hurt all of us.”
“You don’t think that the others are mature enough to know when you make a mistake? Or that they understand the stress that you’re under with this? Or that they believe you over whatever some lawyer is going to say you said?”
Greer narrowed her eyes and looked directly at Kam. “How do you know how to say just the right things?”
“That’s what best friends are for.” Kam looked chuffed by that compliment, even though Greer had slid it in there unexpectedly. “But also, I can see how happy they’ve made you. Whether or not you want to admit that.”
“It’s still so new, though,” Greer mumbled, trying to defend the fact that while everything felt good, it still didn’t feel settled. Then again, would it ever feel that way with the four of them? They seemed to always keep her on her toes, tonight being a true example of that.
“It might be new,” Kam said, wrapping her arm over Greer’s shoulders and tugging her in for a side hug. “But I think it’s right.”
Greer smiled. She should never have doubted that Kam would say and do the right things, that Kam would be there to support her no matter what. She relaxed into Kam’s side and stayed right where she wanted to be, holding onto the thread of friendship that seemed to only strengthen with time.
“Too bad Elia can’t come out tonight.”
“She needs to be fixing her own problems tonight. Next time. I promise.” Kam squeezed Greer’s hand. “She likes you a lot.”
“Does she? She’s so hard to read.” Greer shuddered. A lot like Nathalie in that sense.
“You gotta pick up on the subtleties.” Kam patted Greer’s hand. “But if we’re going out to dinner, then I need the bathroom first. Where am I going?”
“Oh, down the hall to the left.”
Greer watched as Kam walked away. It wasn’t long before Ivy came back into the living room and sat next to her on the couch, turning Greer’s cheek and kissing her. “I wanted to do that as soon as I came in.”
“So why didn’t you?” Greer asked, leaning in for another kiss.
“I wasn’t sure how Kam would feel about it—or you.”
Greer hummed and moved in to steal yet another kiss. “Kam is my best friend, and if she can’t get on board with a healthy relationship of my choosing, then as Nathalie said, fuck ’em .”
Ivy chuckled and ran her fingers down Greer’s cheek and over her chest. “You won’t freak out on the sitter, will you?”
“Why would I?” Greer furrowed her brow and lifted Ivy’s chin up.
“Because she’s not you, and she’ll never do things the way you want them done, and because you weren’t there when we found her.”
“She’s only watching the kids for a few hours, right?” Greer asked.
Ivy nodded.
“Then it should be fine.” Greer moved in and stole yet another kiss. “Text Lachlan and Nathalie and tell them to come over. They don’t have to stay away just to give Kam and me more time. I’d rather everyone be here.”
“Are you sure?” Ivy glanced down toward the bathroom. “We can be a bit overwhelming.”
“Kam’s a teacher. She’s fairly used to dealing with overwhelming situations that involve a whole lot of personalities.” Greer laughed.
“Sounds like someone else I know.” Ivy patted Greer’s knee before standing up and extricating herself from the couch as Kam came back.
“Don’t leave on my account,” Kam said, eyeing Ivy over. “She’s your girlfriend, so you might as well stick around and sus me out as much as I’m going to sus you out.”
“Sus?” Ivy raised an eyebrow at her.
“Her kids are little, Kam.” Greer said.
“Right.” Kam put her hands on her hips. “I spend entirely too much time with teenagers is what that means. Basically we’re both going to be figuring each other out and deciding if we like each other and if we’re good for Greer. That’s what we’re supposed to do as best friend and significant other. Greer did it to Elia.”
“Elia…” Ivy frowned slightly. “Abagail didn’t pass that test, did she?”
Kam snorted. “No, she didn’t. Well, actually, she kind of did. It was a really good sniff test for Elia to know that there was something different about me compared to her past relationships.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because Abagail felt threatened.” Kam shoved her hands into her pockets and rolled up on her toes. “And now they get to spend intentional time readjusting their roles in each other’s lives.”
“Thank God we don’t have to do that,” Greer chimed in.
“Yeah, thank God.” Kam grinned at her widely. “Because if I had to go one day without texting you, I’m pretty sure I’d go insane.”
“Do you two really talk all that often?” Ivy asked.
“We do,” Greer confirmed. “And we call each other most nights. Lately it’s been harder to find the time to have those calls, but we make it work.”
“I guess I do the same with Nathalie and Lachlan. I can’t remember the last time I went a day without talking to both of them. Or you,” Ivy added that last part and looked directly at Greer. “Seems you have found your way right into the middle, haven’t you, middle stuff?”
“Oh God!” Greer was covering her face again, only this time from a sense of embarrassment. That nickname was going to stick around forever, wasn’t it? It was going to be impossible to get rid of.
“Middle stuff?” Kam looked at her skeptically.
“I’ll explain it later.” The last thing Greer wanted to do was to tell Kam exactly why that was her nickname. She’d avoid that one until Kam really pushed her for an answer.
“Oh, this is going to be good.”
Greer groaned. Screw it. In for a penny… this was the family that she’d wanted all along, wasn’t it? So why not just accept that they needed this. They all needed each other.