by Arlene James
He’d thought her pretty back in high school. Now she was nothing less than stunning, and he wondered what she’d been doing with herself all these years. He wasn’t the only one to notice her.
“Isn’t that Ivy?” Charlotte asked, coming to stand beside him.
“I believe it is.”
“Who’s Ivy?” Tyler asked, appearing at Charlotte’s other side.
“Used to be head cheerleader around here,” Holt supplied. “She was, what, two or three years ahead of you, sis?”
“Three,” Ryan said. “Class of ’96.”
“Oh, I know her!” Cara exclaimed. “She’s staying at the motel.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow at this news. Why, he wondered, did she not stay with her father? It occurred to him then that he hadn’t seen Olie Villard in some time. He’d seen and heard even less of Ivy. Now Ryan wondered just how the old man fared, and if some difficulty with him might account for Ivy’s sudden reappearance after all these years. Concerned, he addressed his brother.
“Have you seen Olie around lately?”
Holt shook his head. “He’s always been one to keep to himself. I have heard, though, that he’s attending the Magnolia church with Rose and her family.”
The church on Magnolia Avenue, which happened to be situated quite near Ryan’s house, was a “plant” of First Church, which, being landlocked, could no longer meet the needs of its burgeoning congregation. The pastor at First Church, Grover Waller, had encouraged several young families to consider transferring to Magnolia Christian in order to help support that fledgling congregation and its young pastor, Davis Latimer. Ryan had considered making the move himself, but the Jefford family had been members of First Church for three generations.
Ryan couldn’t resist the urge to glance back in Ivy’s direction. “You don’t suppose Olie’s ill, do you?”
Holt’s expression grew troubled. “He didn’t look well the last time I saw him, but with Olie it’s hard to tell.”
Not the most pleasant of men, Olie had always worn a rather sour expression. Some said he’d been that way since his wife had abandoned the family many years earlier. Ryan just barely remembered the woman himself, but he knew that Ivy had resented her. He’d once overheard her say, with that certainty peculiar to teenagers, that it would have been easier for everyone if her mother had died when Ivy was a baby rather than just take off and leave her.
Ryan vehemently opposed that notion himself, since his own mother had taken her life after his father had died in an oil field accident when he was twenty. That experience had been anything but easy, though it had all happened long ago, almost fourteen years. Shocked to realize that it had been at least that long since he had last spoken to Ivy, he decided to rectify the situation.
“I’ll be back.”
“But you just got here,” Holt protested. Ryan ignored him and fixed his gaze on Ivy’s table as he made his way through the chattering throng. He could visit with his siblings anytime. This might be his only chance to catch up with Ivy Villard, and suddenly that seemed much more important.
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
Ivy looked up. This was not the first time she’d heard that particular sentiment tonight. It was, of course, less than accurate, but at thirty she was old enough to appreciate hearing it. She was not sure how she recognized this particular former schoolmate, however, for he had changed immensely. She recalled a tall, thin young man with large features and extremities and too much thick, wavy, golden brown hair. He’d grown into those features, and those hands and feet no longer looked like they belonged to someone else. Even the hair fit now. Ivy smiled.
“Hello, Ryan Jefford, and thank you.”
Ryan’s oddly familiar hazel eyes warmed. “It’s good to see you, Ivy. It’s been too long.”
“Yes. Yes, it has,” she agreed, shifting sideways to drape an arm across the back of her folding chair. She let her gaze sweep down and then up again. “You don’t look anything like your brother or Hap,” she told him. “I saw Holt standing over there and knew him at once.”
Ryan chuckled. “I take after our other grandfather, Michael Carl Ryan, or so I’m told. Seems appropriate since I’m named after him.”
“He must have been a handsome man,” she said bluntly, making a show of reading his name from the badge pinned to his chest, “because you, Ryan Carl Jefford, look great.”
Inclining his head in thanks, Ryan said, “Well, then, that makes two of us, Ivy Madeline Villard.”
She laughed. To her surprise, he pulled out the chair on her right and sat down. After exchanging words of greeting with Rose, he began to chat with Daniel about an upcoming track-and-field event, allowing Ivy a moment to take stock of the familiar-yet-unfamiliar man beside her.
In high school, she had found Ryan to be a very nice guy, but rather stolid and even a little boring. She no longer trusted the judgment of the foolish young woman she had been, however. That former version of herself had chosen the flash and dash of Brand Phillips—he wasn’t called “FireBrand” for nothing—over any chance of marriage and family.
Looking back, she marveled at how easily she had jettisoned the idea of a normal, responsible life. She could not even claim that she hadn’t known what she was doing. Brand had made no secret of the fact that he considered marriage and parenthood unnecessary, confining, boring and a trap. He’d only promised her a grand adventure and she had to admit that he had delivered, but at what a high, painful cost to her!
For one horrible moment, Ivy suddenly hovered on the verge of tears. The pain never seemed to leave her for long or diminish in intensity. Ryan turned to her then and stunned her by seeming to read, with appalling ease, the distress that she had hidden for so very long. Abandoning the discussion with her brother-in-law, he reached toward her, his big, solid hand covering hers lightly.
“You okay?” His hazel eyes peering intently into her darker ones. Blinking, Ivy said nothing for several seconds before he went on. “I can’t help wondering if all is well or if some problem has brought you back just in time for the reunion?”
“Problem?” she echoed.
“Is your father all right?” he asked, wondering what troubled this beautiful woman whom he remembered only as a teen.
Ivy swung her gaze back to him, her mouth opened to blurt that she wouldn’t know, but then Rose jumped in, the stylish cut of her nut-brown hair swinging jauntily above her shoulders as she nodded. “Dad is fine,” she supplied.
“Looking forward to another grandchild,” Daniel added, smoothing a hand over his wife’s distended belly.
Ryan chuckled, and Ivy felt his hand relax atop hers just before he took it away. “Home to greet the new baby, then?”
“Not exactly,” Ivy hedged.
“That is,” Rose interjected uncertainly, “the baby is still two months or better away.”
Ivy frowned, her gaze going at once to Rose’s greatly expanded waistline. Although shorter and sturdier than her, Rose looked much too large to be eight or more weeks away from giving birth.
“Are you sure you’re not having twins?” Ryan joked, apparently agreeing with Ivy’s assessment.
Rose crinkled her pert nose. “It’s awful, isn’t it? I’m big as an elephant.”
“You are not,” Daniel insisted. As near to full-blood Choctaw as could be found, Daniel surprised Ivy by flushing hotly. Even the scalp beneath his ink-black hair seemed to glow a dark, dusky red. “It’s what they call a high-pressure pregnancy, lots of fluid.”
“All the more cushion for our little girl,” Rose said, smiling down at her stomach.
Little girl.
Ivy’s heart cracked open inside her chest, and the grief she’d kept bottled up for all these years poured out. Memories stormed her, yet she managed, just barely, to maintain a rigid calm.
“It’s a girl,” she heard the nurse say, cold metal gliding over her skin as the fuzzy, black-and-white image coalesced on the screen beside the examination table.<
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“It’s a girl,” the doctor announced months later, whisking the baby away.
A little girl, whom Ivy had never held or even seen, except at a distance.
A little girl who called someone else “Mommy.”
Chapter Two
“My sister-in-law, Cara,” Ryan said, standing in front of his chair. He’d stayed longer at Ivy’s table than he’d intended, so long that his family had finally wandered over in search of him, necessitating a spate of introductions.
Ivy clapped her long slender hands to her cheeks, gaping at Cara. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were part of the Jefford family.”
Ryan glanced from one to the other, surprised that they had evidently already met.
Cara laughed. “No reason why you should have known. I understand you haven’t been around for a while, and the wedding was just three weeks ago. I should have made my identity clear when we met at the motel.”
“I just never dreamed that Holt had married,” Ivy said, exclaiming, “And you, too, Charlotte! It’s been a season of weddings for the Jeffords.”
Charlotte laughed. “So it has.”
Ryan said, “I was telling Ivy about the house you and Ty are building.”
“Yes, the old Moffat place, just east of here,” Charlotte said, smiling that utterly content smile of hers.
“What a beautiful spot,” Ivy murmured. “I’ve always loved that place.”
“Listen, Cara’s been on her feet all day,” Holt interrupted, his arm curling around Cara’s shoulders as he addressed his brother. “We’re going to find our seats now.”
Ryan nodded saying, “You go on. I’ll be along shortly.”
“I could use a chair myself,” Ty announced, urging Charlotte to follow Holt.
“Nice to see you again, Ivy,” Charlotte said, falling in line.
“You, too. And congratulations! Both of you. I mean, all of you!”
The family moved away with smiles and little waves. Ryan intended to say a quick goodbye and take his leave as well, but then Rose began to push up from the table, muttering that she should visit the ladies’ room before dinner. Daniel stood to help her to her feet, and then trailed along behind her protectively, leaving Ryan alone with Ivy. Not only did it seem rude to walk away at that point, he found that he did not want to. Ivy had always intrigued him, and that appeared not to have changed. He glanced at his wristwatch and saw that he had about a quarter-hour before he must report to the head table, so he sat down again.
“You don’t have to keep me company,” Ivy said with a gentle smile.
“Nonsense,” he told her. “We have lots to catch up on. So what have you been doing with yourself? Why haven’t I seen you in all these years?”
Ivy’s smile wilted around the edges and shadows darkened her warm brown eyes. “I’ve been on the move pretty much the whole time. That’s how it is in my business. You go from one radio market to another, hoping to catch on in enough places to build a national following so you can squeeze a few more dollars out of the next contract.”
To Ryan, that seemed a singularly unappealing way to live. He couldn’t imagine pulling up roots every few months. “Where are you working now?”
“If all goes as planned, Oklahoma City.”
“Ah, so that’s what finally brings you our way.”
She shrugged delicately. “It just all sort of worked out.”
“Must be difficult to make friends and build relationships, moving around so much,” he surmised. “I assume you’re not married since I notice that you’re unescorted and not wearing a ring.” He reached for her left hand and turned it over atop the table as if to prove his point.
“I’m not married,” she confirmed before looking pointedly at his own hand. “Neither, apparently, are you.”
He laughed. “Never married. Never even been close.”
“And here you’ve stayed all this time?”
“And here I’ve stayed all this time. Maybe that’s the problem. There aren’t many single women here in Eden.”
“Oh, but there are many ways to meet people, surely. I mean, stranger things have happened.”
“You’re telling me! Just look at Holt and Charlotte.”
“So why not you?” Ivy asked, her eyes locking with his.
“To tell you the truth, I think I’m just too busy. I don’t have time to date, let alone fall in love and get married.” He spread his hands, and smiled. “So what’s your excuse?”
Ivy looked down, saying, “I drove a nail in that coffin a long time ago.”
The forced lightness of her tone hinted at sadness, and Ryan suddenly felt ill at ease. Shifting in his seat, he strove to bring back a casual, chatty air. “Career girl, huh?”
“Something like that.”
“I understand devotion to one’s career, believe me,” he said, sounding a little too hearty even to his own ears yet somehow unable to stop himself. “Education is my calling, and let me tell you, it’s more than a full-time job. Much as I love it, though, it gets in the way of normal life. Take your dad, for instance,” he blundered on. “I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen him or even thought of him in a long time. Until I saw you here tonight, I didn’t realize how long it’s been.”
“Really?” she asked, looking slightly stricken. “You haven’t seen him at all?”
Ryan wanted to bite his tongue. Now she sounded worried.
“No, I’m sorry, not in…well, months, at least.”
“Not even at church?”
“Not even at church,” he confirmed.
“I’m assuming you still attend First Church,” she said anxiously.
“Yes, I do, but—” He gulped. Where was a hole when he needed one? And why didn’t she already know this? “Olie doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t?”
“According to Holt, he goes with Rose and Daniel and their boys to our new sister church, Magnolia Christian.”
Ivy seemed to ponder that. Gazing off into the distance, she murmured, “I see. Yes, I suppose that makes sense.” She glanced back at Ryan, straightened, put on a smile again and said brightly, “I’m sure his grandsons decided that for him. Rose says he dotes on her two boys.”
Disturbed, Ryan studied that smile and found that it did not quite reach her eyes. The Ivy that he glimpsed there in those cinnamon brown depths seemed once more sad, a little lost, uncertain. He had the urge to take her hand again, but didn’t.
“I guess you’ll all be attending Easter services at the Magnolia church together,” he ventured cautiously.
Her chin lifted as if she would nod, but then she looked away again. After a moment, she haltingly told him, “I can’t quite see myself attending Easter services anywhere but at First Church.”
Ryan nodded, pleased and troubled at the same time. “That’s good to hear. We’d love to have your family join us.”
He caught the sharp edge of agony in her eyes and wondered what he’d said before her gaze skittered around the room. Suddenly, he understood that if Ivy attended First Church tomorrow, she would do so alone. Before he even knew what he intended, he heard himself saying, “N-naturally, Rose’s family will want to be at their home church, so maybe you’d like to go with us. I mean, you’re at the motel already, and—”
She stopped his flow of ill-considered words by grasping his sleeve lightly with her fingertips. “That’s very sweet of you, Ryan, but not necessary.”
The touch of her fingers cemented his resolve to keep her from attending Easter services alone.
“No, really. Since the weather’s nice, we’ll probably all just walk over from the motel together. Won’t have to fight for a parking space that way. Why don’t you come with me, er, with us?”
“Does First Church still do a sunrise Easter service in the park?” she asked.
Ryan nodded. “Granddad can’t quite manage it anymore. Too much walking and standing.”
“But they still do it?”
“Absolutely.”
She sat back with a look of anticipation on her face. “Well, then, that’s where I’ll be.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t mind a little company,” he suggested, surprising himself.
Ivy sat forward again, looking as surprised as he felt. After a moment, her warm, brown eyes began to glow. “Really?”
“It’s a beautiful service, and I’d like to go. No reason we can’t walk over together.”
“That sounds lovely, Ryan.”
Ryan was relieved to see that she meant it. The shadows he glimpsed behind her smile seemed to have fled.
He spied the Halseys returning then, Daniel following as Rose maneuvered her belly through the tables and chairs. He saw, too, that most people had taken their seats, and he knew the moment of his departure had come. Oddly reluctant to go, Ryan nevertheless got to his feet squeezing Ivy’s hand once more as he said, “Shall I knock on your door, say half past six?”
“That sounds about right. It’s number four, by the way.”
“Number four. See you in the morning, then.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Ivy smiled warmly. He flipped a wave at the Halseys and turned toward the dais, smoothing his tie with one hand.
What had he just done? Ryan wondered as he made his way to the front of the room. Escorting a single woman to a sunrise church service was one thing, but dealing with his family’s questions about it would be something else. Then again, they didn’t really have to know, did they? It would mean attending regular services later with the family, but two church services in one morning never did a fellow harm. That way, everyone would be happy. Ivy wouldn’t have to go alone, he’d get to take part again in a service he truly enjoyed, the family would be together as usual, and that would be that. Satisfied with his plans, he turned his attention to enjoying the festivities.