FIGHT FOR ME (2 page)

“Okay, thanks. I’ll come get you from the playground in a minute, all right? I’m going to go talk to Mr. Fray for a sec.”

Emma nodded and ran off toward the playground with a few of the girls.

Ivy knocked on the periwinkle blue door of the kindergarten. A few moments later Lucas opened it. He grinned at the sight of her, but it was a polite smile. He looked more put together and professional when he looked at her than he had this morning.

“Oh, Ivy. Come in.” He stepped back and held the door open wider for her.

“Sure.” She followed him into the classroom.

Tiny desks filled the room. A chalkboard and whiteboard at the front of the class were filled with simple words in large letters like “CAT” and “BALL.” A large poster depicting the alphabet stretched above the boards. Student artwork covered the walls.

It was a charming room. Lucas looked somehow out of place, but he didn’t act like he was. He walked over to his desk near the back of the room and sat down. “Pull up a chair?”

The only chairs Ivy saw were kindergarten-sized ones, so she pulled one up in front of the desk. She was a lot shorter than him in that chair.

He tapped his fingers on the desk. He didn’t say anything.

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah.” He looked up at her from the papers on his desk. The classroom was very quiet. “This might be a little weird, but…”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering how Jess is handling Nikolai’s death.”

Nikolai was Jess’s husband. How did Lucas know his name? Why did he want to know about Jess? How close
was
he to her sister and Emma?

“She seems all right, I guess. It’s been awhile. She hasn’t moved on but she’s coping.”

“That’s… That’s good.” Lucas stood up. “That’s really all I wanted to know. I would ask her myself, but I didn’t want to bring up anything she wasn’t ready to talk about.”

Ivy stood as well, returning the tiny chair to its original position at a desk. “Yeah. She’s okay.”

“I wanted to know because Emma seems to be doing well and I wanted to know if Jess was the reason for that. It sounds like it.”

“Okay. Anything else?” Ivy didn’t realize how upset she sounded until the words came out. She inwardly cursed herself. It was a completely normal conversation. He was just concerned about the family life of one of his students. And she had thought it was going to be all about her.

“No, that’s all I wanted to ask. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help Emma cope at school. I know you’re going above and beyond to help out Jess and I’d like to do my part.”

Was this guy for real? Kind, caring, good with kids, unbelievably gorgeous. And apparently not as interested in her as she’d guessed. Just her luck.

“Thank you. I’ll let you know.”

He smiled, still polite and blank in the eyes. “Thanks for coming in.” He sat down again at his desk. “I have some work to finish up. I think Emma’s waiting on the playground?”

“Yeah, she is.” Ivy started to open the door.

“See you tomorrow.”

He said it right as she was leaving, in a quiet tone that she barely heard. If he had said it any other way she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But it sounded like he honestly, truly was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

Ivy fetched Emma from the playground with something of a bounce in her step. She wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, or why it had happened, but she had a distinct feeling that her time in Paisley wouldn’t be quite as bland as she had expected.

She would have to ask Jess if she had any ideas what that whole thing was about when she got home.

Chapter Three

Ivy was curled up on the couch with her laptop, catching up on emails from work, when Jess got home. It was an hour after Emma’s bedtime.

Ivy worked as the editor for a real estate publication in the city. She was officially taking this month off, but she still wanted to be available to answer questions. She shut her laptop when she heard Jess at the door.

Her sister walked in and yawned. “Hi.”

“You had a long day.”

“Yeah. I finished up a project my boss has been on my ass about for weeks. It’s so nice to know you’re here taking care of Emma.” Jess took off her jacket and walked into the kitchen. She took a microwave dinner out of the freezer and put it in the microwave.

“No problem. She’s an adorable kid. We spent the whole afternoon in the living room finger painting. She’s a prolific artist.”

“Aww. I wish I could have seen that.” Jess took her dinner out of the microwave and started to eat it out of the original packaging, leaning against the counter. “So bringing her to school and picking her up went all right? Administration didn’t get on your case about not being her mom? That school is a little anal about that kind of thing.”

“No, it wasn’t a problem at all.” Ivy wondered if she should really bring up what Lucas had asked. She had been waiting to talk to her sister about it all day. “I talked to Mr. Fray… Lucas.” His name felt good in her mouth.

“Oh, Lucas? He’s a nice guy.”

“Do you know him?”

“I guess. At the beginning of the year –not too long after Nikolai...” Jess set down her dinner on the counter and started again. “At the beginning of the school year I talked with him about Emma’s situation and he was very sympathetic. He often goes out of his way to make sure we’re doing well. If Emma had started school with any other teacher I don’t think she’d be doing as well. But she loves him. I appreciate him, definitely, but I do think he’s a little odd.”

“He asked me how you were doing today.”

“That’s sweet of him. If he asks again, tell him I’m doing… okay. Better.” At this question Ivy saw her sister’s expression tighten. She understood why Lucas hadn’t wanted to ask Jess this question directly.

“Why do you think he asked? It surprised me, a little.”

Jess shrugged. “I guess he’s kind of taken an interest in us. He was just being nice when he asked.”

“You don’t think it’s a little weird?”

“Nope.” Jess looked down. “I mean, you probably don’t have a kid with a dead father in most classes as a teacher…”

“Hey, Jess,” Ivy said compassionately. She stood from the couch and walked over to her sister. She gave her a tight hug. “I wanted to hug you earlier, but I didn’t want to bring up anything for Emma…”

Jess hugged her back. “Thank you. I’ve really needed you here. I… I wish you could have stayed here ever since the funeral.”

They went to sit on the couch, Jess with dinner and fork in hand.

“You should have just asked.”

“I know. I just couldn’t ask you to leave your life like that.” Jess sighed.

“It’s fine. I haven’t taken more than a week off since I started that job. Also... Coming here isn’t leaving my life. You and Emma are really important to me.”

Jess smiled. “Thank you so much.” She took the last bite of her instant meal. “I’m going to go start getting ready for bed.” She got up and threw the plastic container in the trash and the fork in the sink. “Oh, this Friday Emma’s going to be in the kindergarten’s spring play. I can’t be there because it’s in the middle of the day. Would you mind going and filming it for me?”

“Of course. That’s sounds so cute. What’s she playing?”

“She’s the magic butterfly that comes out at the end and solves all the animals’ problems. Since I can’t be there she’s told me all about the story and practiced her lines a lot for me.”

“Aw! That sounds precious. I’m excited. I’ll let her know in the morning that I’ll be there.”

“Thanks again,” Jess said. “Emma loves having you here, you know,” she said. “She needs as many loving adults as she can get in her life right now.”

Ivy smiled. “I wish I could stay longer.”

“I think mom is going to come out a little while after you leave,” Jess said. “But I wish you could stay too. I… I really do need a hand.” Without another word, Jess left to brush her teeth and get to bed early.

Ivy spent the rest of the night mindlessly surfing the internet. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d said that coming here wasn’t like leaving her life. She kept imagining Lucas as a part of her life. No matter what their future was –even if they didn’t have one –she couldn’t stop thinking about him and she could predict that she wouldn’t be able to forget that face (and body) easily. Lucas Fray was a part of her life, and he didn’t even know it. Whether she liked it or not, thoughts of him weren’t going anywhere.

She wondered if he’d be at the kindergarten play. He probably would be –it would be his students up on the stage showcasing their acting talents. She hoped he would be there.

Chapter Four

He was.

Ivy had barely seen him on Wednesday or Thursday; he hadn’t talked to her except for a few brief “hellos.” But there he was, sitting in the first row of the school’s auditorium that also functioned as a cafeteria and a theatre.

There were fake trees and rocks and grass on the raised platform at the end of the room. Soft classical music played over the hum of parents chattering.

Ivy made her way through the parents and folding chairs to the second row. She sat down in the chair behind Lucas.

“Is the play any good?” she asked jokingly.

He turned around in his seat and smiled when he saw her. “I definitely think so. You’ll be proud of Emma. She’s a great fairy.”

“I’m excited.”

“Jess isn’t coming?”

Ivy shook her head. “She’s at work. That reminds me…” Ivy took her phone out of her purse and pulled up the camera. “I’m here to film the play for her.”

“She’s been working a lot lately. Is she all right?”

Ivy bit her lip. There he went again, asking about Jess. A polite, concerned person would just ask once. Lucas had to be more than just concerned.

“Yeah, she’s all right. It’s better than working long hours
and
having to worry about Emma all the time.”

“That’s very true.” Lucas met her eyes for a moment before turning back to the stage. The music had quieted down and a short, elderly woman with frizzy hair, presumably the principal, walked up to the stage.

“Hello everyone. Thank you for coming to our kindergarten spring play. I hope you enjoy it. From what I hear they’ve been working very hard on it. Oh, and please no flash photography during the play. There will be plenty of time to take pictures of your children in their costumes after the show.” She smiled and walked back into the audience. A polite smattering of applause filled the auditorium.

Ivy couldn’t quite follow the plot of the play. She would get to watch it later with Jess, anyhow. She spent a good portion of the play looking at the back of Lucas’s head, neck, and shoulders.

She could see the way his shoulders moved just slightly when he breathed, how he tilted his head to the side when surprised, how when he laughed he barely moved at all. Though she didn’t exchange one word with him during the entire forty-five minute play, she felt like she got to know him a little better.

When Emma came on to the stage in her fairy wings and sparkly makeup, Ivy realized just how much she was enjoying staying with her sister. It had only been a few days and already, several times, her heart had beat faster than it had in years. Lucas, however confusing, was gorgeous and represented exciting possibility. Emma was adorable and made her heart warm up every time she spend time with her. Jess was someone that she knew well and really loved.

It all made her wonder why she had spent her post-college years working all hours of the day in the name of making money and barely making any deep friendships or relationships. As Emma used her magic wand to solve the problems of the entire animal kingdom, Ivy realized that she felt… different. She didn’t want to go back to her surface life in the city.

She liked it in Paisley.

She vowed to explore the town this weekend instead of just staying inside with her laptop like she had the past few evenings.

The curtains opened and the three kindergarten teachers of the school went onstage to bow with their students. Lucas looked just as adorably happy as the students as he bowed, smiling. His hair fell into his eyes and his button up shirt rode up a little above his jeans.

When it did, Ivy thought she saw a glimpse of a large tattoo on his hip. Did she imagine it? Maybe it was just a shadow.

Lucas stood and his shirt settled into place again. He looked entirely innocent once again.

Ivy stopped the recording on her camera and clapped, hard.

* * * *

Ivy, Emma, and Jess spent that evening watching the recording.

When the recording ended, Jess gave her daughter a big hug. “I’m super proud of you, honey. You’ve definitely got a future in acting.”

Emma jumped up and down a few times, clearly excited by this idea.

Jess laughed. “Settle down. It’s time to go to bed.” Jess turned to Ivy. “I’m going to put her down. When she’s asleep do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“Sure.”

“But I wanna watch a movie!” Emma pouted.

“You can watch cartoons tomorrow.” Jess picked up Emma and kissed her on the forehead. “C’mon.”

They left Jess’s room, where they had been watching the recording on Jess’s desktop.

Ivy stood, yawned, and got ready for bed herself.

When Jess came back, the house was quiet. She poured them each a glass of red wine. “This week was exhausting but really productive. I really can’t thank you enough for coming out here, Ivy.”

Ivy smiled and sipped her wine, getting comfortable on the couch. “No problem. I was thinking of going out this weekend. Would you be all right with that?”

“Yep, sure. I can stay at home with Em. I barely got to see her all week.”

“Is there actually anything to do around here?”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Yes, there is. There’s a great little downtown with boutiques and classy restaurants and a few clubs. Well, just two. There’s also a gorgeous park a few minutes away. Oh, and the library is great. You probably noticed the big gothic stone building on your way in? That’s the library. What were you thinking of doing?”