Chapter Three
Ivy thanked Lucy, the owner of the B & B, for helping with the luggage. She backed up against the door to close it, leaning against the wood for a moment. The ride in the deputy’s SUV had put Bella to sleep again, a state Ivy envied, she was so tired. But she didn’t have time to rest. Not yet.
She carefully laid the toddler on the queen-size bed in the quaint room they’d been given. Looking around, she appreciated the touches of authenticity in the Victorian-era building. On the way in, she’d noticed a decent-sized library, shelves full of books. Had she been planning on staying, she could see herself spending a great deal of time in there. “You had me at library,” she muttered with a small grin.
Though the cat plates on that one wall had her rethinking things a bit. They pretty much covered the entire wall. “I guess to each his—or her—own.”
Lucy had told her this room was the only one with an en suite bathroom. Ivy poked her head through the door and lost her breath for a moment. Situated beneath a frosted window was the biggest damn clawfoot tub she’d ever seen. Granite countertops surrounded the porcelain sink, and bright, cheery flowers dotted vases throughout the suite.
Her gaze went back to the tub. After nearly a full day of traveling, she was hot and felt grimy. She’d love nothing more than to sink down into a tub full of water, a book in hand, and spend an hour or two soaking away her troubles. But until her backup arrived, she’d have to make do with quick showers.
And speaking of backup… She went to her purse where she’d dropped it on a floral armchair and grabbed her final “burner” phone. Setting her bag on the floor, she plopped onto the chair and dialed her friend, Presley.
“Go,” her friend answered. Short and to the point, that was Presley Fitzhugh.
Ivy shook her head then leaned it against the tall back of the chair. “It’s me.” She sighed. “That POS car conked out on me in Georgia, outside a little town called Grayslake. I’ve booked us into a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town while we wait to hear how bad it is.”
Presley muttered a curse. “How’re you doing?” she asked, her voice soft and full of concern.
Like Ivy, she’d grown up in foster care. Both of them had started life hard, being made wards of the state of Tennessee as toddlers, ending up in foster care in Chattanooga. No one had known Ivy wasn’t fully human, but unlike Ivy, Presley was human through and through. She’d been adopted by the Fitzhughs when she was eight. She and Ivy remained close friends, the Fitzhughs being added to the list of people allowed to be around Ivy. Even after the Fitzhughs picked up and moved to Vegas when Presley was a junior in high school, she and Ivy stayed in touch.
Then, about the time Bayleigh married Garland Scott, Presley’s adoptive parents died in an automobile accident. Presley’s trip to Tennessee to spend time with Ivy and meet Ivy’s other best friend Bayleigh had never happened.
The good news about that was Garland hadn’t heard of Presley. As far as Ivy knew, he was completely unaware of her existence. Which was why it was perfect for Ivy to take Presley’s last name for cover. They were pretending to be sisters, and would be traveling together with Ivy’s “daughter” just as soon as Presley joined them.
“I’m tired,” Ivy said now in response to her friend’s question. “Freaked out. I don’t have much money left. And I’ll have to meet the Itan if I have to stay longer than twelve hours.”
Presley might be full human, but she was Ivy’s best friend from pretty much babyhood, so she knew all there was to know. She also understood that she was to never let anyone realize she knew about shifters. Because then she’d have two choices: become a mate of one, or be killed.
That would change now, because as far as the shifters here in Grayslake were concerned, they’d believe that Presley was Ivy’s family, and family was under different rules.
“How’d you get to the B & B?” Presley asked.
“A sheriff’s deputy gave me a ride.” Ivy thought of Cullen MacAvoy and suppressed a shiver. The man was gorgeous. She had to wonder what his bear looked like, then reprimanded herself for even thinking it. She wasn’t going to be there long enough to get interested.
“He was cute, wasn’t he?” Presley asked, laughter making her voice higher than normal.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you went quiet after you told me a deputy gave you a ride. That means you got caught up thinking about his eyes. Or his ass.”
Oh, well, now, he did have a fine ass, too.
Ivy shook her head as if she could shake the carnal thoughts away. “I need you to make a detour and come to Grayslake instead of heading to the Everglades. Where are you, anyway?”
“I just crossed a state line, so I’m in Oklahoma. I think.”
“You’re not driving right now, are you?” That was one of Ivy’s pet peeves, people driving and yakking on the phone at the same time.
“No, you dumbass. You know me. I’m pulled off on the side of the road.”
“Did you even stop anywhere and sleep last night?” Ivy tried to do the math in her head. She knew Presley got started about an hour after she had, so she’d left Vegas around two PM yesterday. She struggled for a few moments then gave up. “How far is it from Vegas to Oklahoma?” she asked.
“You always were shit with distance and math.”
“Just answer the question.”
“I’ve traveled just under a thousand miles, and only have about a thousand to go. Give or take, since apparently I’ll be heading north from Atlanta instead of south.”
That really didn’t help a whole lot. “So, you’ll get here by…”
Presley laughed. “Yep, shit with distance and math.” She laughed again then went on, “Day after tomorrow, most likely. I’ll drive today about ten hours and check in somewhere to get some sleep, then I’ll hit the road early in the morning tomorrow. I expect you’ll see me around lunchtime or thereafter.”
“Be careful.”
“Absolutely.” She paused. Cleared her throat. “Listen, hon, there’s something you should know.” Another pause, this one longer.
“What?” Ivy finally prompted.
“I talked to Mrs. Harper a few hours after you left.”
Margaret Harper was one of Ivy’s neighbors in Chattanooga.
Presley cleared her throat again. “She said a large man stopped by, stood around banging on your front door for a few minutes. When nothing happened, he walked around to the back. The next time she saw him, he came out through your front door. She called the cops.”
Garland. Garland Scott had broken into her house. “Did…do you know if he took anything?”
“She didn’t say, and I think she would’ve if she’d seen him walk out carrying something. But you can bet he lost what was left of his temper and did a number on your stuff.”
Ivy had no doubt that bear claws had shredded most of her possessions. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Chances were good, though, that Garland had no idea where she and Bella were.
But he knew his daughter was with Ivy, and he’d not stop until he found them.
“All right, so, I should get back on the road,” Presley said. “I withdrew a wad of cash from the bank, so we should be set for a while. We can use my credit cards in case of emergency.”
“But—”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Miss Fitzhugh, but I’m the only one not living under an assumed name, right? And Mr. Garland Scott has no idea I even exist, right? So, we can probably use my credit cards if we need to, right?”
Ivy heaved a sigh. “Yes, right.”
“Okay, then. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait!” Ivy paused until Presley let her know she was still there. “I’m going to toss this phone,” Ivy told her friend. “You’ll need to call me here at the B & B.” She got up and walked to the bed, and rattled off the number printed on the phone on the nightstand. “Be careful,” she said.
“Right. You, too. Give Bella a kiss for me.”
Ivy said goodbye and ended the call. She shoved the phone in the front pocket of her jeans. Just as she was about to bend over and wake the baby, a soft knock sounded on the door. She went over and opened it a few inches to see Lucy’s smiling face.
“Oh, good, I didn’t wake you,” the innkeeper whispered. She stepped back and gestured to a folded wooden contraption leaning against the wall. “We had this crib up in the attic. I thought you’d both be more comfortable if you had your own beds.”
Ivy’s tension loosened and warmth built in her chest. “That’s so sweet,” she murmured and stepped back. “Thank you.”
“Of course!” Lucy came into the room with the crib and in a matter of minutes had it set up in the corner on the far side of the bed. She went back out into the hall and returned with an armload of pillows, sheets, and blankets. “I don’t know how your little one is, but many of our cubs like to roll up in blankets, even during the hottest part of summer. Little hibernators.” She chuckled.
Ivy took the bed linens from the other woman. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I suppose, with you not being a full shifter you might not know this, but bears have a strong desire to hibernate, just like our wild cousins. So, we like to get all comfy and feel safe. Is it hard to wake the little one?” she asked with a soft look at Bella.
“Yes. Most of the time, actually,” Ivy admitted. She’d never been around a kid as hard to wake up as Bella. Now she understood why.
“Well, it doesn’t get any easier as they get older.” Lucy smiled and headed toward the door. “Oh,” she said and turned in the doorway. “Dinner is served at six, but if you and the little one are hungry, I could fix sandwiches.”
Ivy felt another release of even more tension. “Oh, that would be so great. I don’t have a car at the moment, and I noticed this place is somewhat…isolated from the town.”
“Yes, well, first of all that discourages humans from staying here, and secondly, we’re right on the lake and have the forest all around, so anyone who wants to get their shift on and run wild can do so without having to worry too much about outsiders.” She smiled again. “If you can get your daughter awake, I’ll have sandwiches for you in a jiffy. Then maybe you can take your little one for a walk along the lake. She’d like that, I’m sure.”
Ivy listened until she heard the woman’s footsteps going down the stairs before she closed the bedroom door. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and put on hand on Bella’s belly. “Bella, honey, wake up.” She rubbed her hand across the toddler’s tee shirt. “Come on, slug-a-bug. It’s sammich time.”
The little girl rolled to her side and blinked a few times. A big yawn cracked her jaw and she let out a loud yawn. “Ee-ee?”
Ivy bit her lip. Bella had never been able to pronounce her name completely, so instead of “Edie” she said “Ee-ee.” And Ivy hadn’t been able to explain to the eighteen month old girl that she should call her mama now. Because the little one didn’t grasp the concept of Heaven and what that really meant for her mama.
“Yes, sweetie. It’s Edie. But you need to call me Ivy now, okay?”
That she could explain, if anyone overheard the toddler calling her Ivy instead of mama. Isn’t she precocious? she could ask on a laugh. Calling her mama by her first name.
Little brows drew down in a ferocious scowl. “Ee-ee, mama? Mama, Ee-ee!” The little girl was obviously done with being away from her mother. The reddening face and trembling bottom lip were the portents of a meltdown.
“Oh, baby.” Ivy fought back her own tears and drew Bella onto her lap. “Mama’s not here, Bella. Remember I told you she went away?”
“Where?” the little girl demanded. “Go, too!”
Ivy closed her eyes. Resting her cheek on Bella’s head, she whispered, “We can’t go where your mama is, baby.”
The tears came then, and more demands to see her mother. After a few minutes she relented, collapsing against Ivy’s chest with a few sniffling sobs.
Ivy hugged her close. “Your mama’s in Heaven now, but she loves you. She’ll love you forever. And you know what? She’s still watching over you.”
There was silence for several moments before a soft, “Heben?” came from her lap.
“Yes, baby. Mama’s in Heaven.” Because of your son-of-a-bitch father.
“Heben.” Bella snuggled into Ivy and sighed.
Ivy gave it a few more minutes then asked, “You hungry?” When the tousled head nodded against her breasts, she said, “How ’bout we go downstairs and get us a sandwich?”
Bella sat up straight. “Sammich!” she screeched with a wide smile, her youthful resilience and bear-love of food chasing away her sadness. For the moment.
Ivy wasn’t looking forward to the time when the little girl was old enough to understand the reality of what Mama being in Heaven meant.
“Yay, sammich!” Ivy stood, hugging the toddler maybe a little too hard, but she couldn’t help it. She set Bella on her feet and took her hand. “Let’s wash your face, then we’ll go.”