Get a Grip (Hollywood Nights) (26 page)

             
People reacted primarily to the baby news. They were suddenly swamped with congratulations and well wishes and every female hand within reach was out to touch her belly. He was practically pushed backwards as both of their mothers hugged Ivy.

             
“I’m going to get in the pool.” Bo chuckled as Ivy smiled and talked to the group of women now surrounding her.

             
He pulled off his t-shirt and headed for the water.

             
“Wait a minute!” Mathis called. “You stand right there for one second.”

             
Bo didn’t listen. He took a decent run and then cannonballed into the pool. When he came up, Mathis was at the edge waiting with arms folded. He was wearing a pair of neon pink and green swim shorts. Bo was sure eventually he would be blind because of his fashion choices. “What?”

             
“Mr. Bliss. If I am not mistaken there is a little something on your shoulder.” Mathis said it loud enough for others to hear.

             
One of her nieces had swum over to where he was and started reading it out loud for everyone. “It says property of Ivy Bliss.”

             
“I knew you were a keeper, but this is something else. You go ahead with your bad self.” Mathis grinned.

             
“Do not get any ideas.” His partner, a guy Bo had not met before today, said. Mathis laughed and the two walked off together in a conversation all their own.

             
The girls swam up to him on either side and asked, “Does this mean Aunt Ivy owns you like I own my turtle?”

             
He laughed. “It means that my heart belongs to her.”

             
“Why didn’t you let her write it on your chest then?” The other one asked.

             
“You’ll understand one day when you are older.” He laughed again and pushed off the side of the pool. He got out and walked towards Ivy as she walked towards him. “I don’t know how to explain this to them.”

             
“I see you figured out how to tame that dragon,” May said as she passed.

They both said at the same time, “Yes, I did.”

              He looked at Ivy and she looked at him. They burst out laughing.

             
May smiled and said, “I’m happy for you both then.”

             
Bo pulled Ivy into a hug and she squealed because he was soaking wet and she was still completely dry. He bussed a kiss on her lips and then let her go. He stepped into his shoes and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

             
He was inside the men’s room when the door opened. He didn’t think anything of it until the tap of heels hit the tile floor. He looked over his shoulder and saw Adele walking towards him.

             
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” He tried to finish and move as quickly as possible.

             
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked.

             
“Psycho, I’m not doing anything to you.” He tried to walk past her but the place had three urinals and one stall and not a lot of space to navigate in. She stepped to one side then the next to block him. He didn’t want to get too close to her either.

             
“No?” She stomped. “The tattoo, the baby? Those should be mine. You know they should be mine, Bo. You love me. You’ve always loved me. I love you. I made a mistake.”

             
He was trying to physically keep himself in check. He wanted to push her out of the way, but he wouldn’t touch her. He hoped someone would come to the damn bathroom and save him.

“Let me pass.”

              “Is that all you have to say to me?” She was crying. Many, many years ago that would have been enough for him to stop and listen to her, but not anymore.

             
“Yes, damn it. Move.” He moved left and then right quickly enough to get past her.

             
She saw the tattoo on his shoulder and screamed at him. She was still screaming as he left the bathroom and started back towards the pool. He thought she would quit when she realized where he was going, but she didn’t.

             
He veered off because he wasn’t going to put Ivy or his brother through that humiliation. He stopped once he had plenty of room to run if he had to and faced her. “Stop it. You are married to my brother. I’m married to Ivy. I love her. Stop.”

             
“You don’t.” She sobbed. “You love me. You told me you loved me.”

             
“When?” Ivy asked from one direction. Then he heard another familiar voice coming in the opposite direction of Ivy. They were in a horrible square of mismatched couples facing one another. 

             
Alex repeated the question, “Yeah, when?”

             
Adele was surprised to get busted and she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Always. He always did.”

             
He looked at Ivy and moved towards her. She looked at him cautiously and began walking toward him. “No. I did once, but I don’t anymore. I haven’t for a very long time.”

             
He hated saying he ever loved her, but he was engaged to Adele in the past, so he couldn’t lie. He looked at his big brother and hated that he was hearing this. If it was just Ivy, Bo could rest easier. Ivy would believe him and everything would be okay. No matter what Alex believed, nothing would be okay for him ever again.

             
“How much have you had to drink Adele?” Alex asked.

             
“I’m not drunk!” she shouted. Bo realized then that she was a bit wobbly. “I’m pissed off. I wanted a baby. He wouldn’t give me one. You won’t give me one.”

             
Ivy gripped his back hard and he looked from her to Adele then to Alex as he shouted, “I can’t! I can’t fucking give you a baby. I physically can’t do it. You are such a bitch, Adele! I’ve given you everything else, but nothing is good enough. He didn’t want to have a baby with you. Don’t you remember that? He didn’t want kids. I did. I couldn’t. I tried. I fucking tried!”

             
“I hate you!” Adele said weakly and dropped to the ground in a crying heap.

             
Bo watched his brother take two steps towards her before he stopped. He could see the moment Alex broke. He watched his knees fold and the man drop. He felt Ivy’s grip tighten on his flesh and she hugged him close. “Bo! You have to help him.”

             
“I’m not leaving you.” He looked down at her.

             
“I’m going to go talk to her.” Ivy had big fat tears in her eyes.

             
“No, no you are not. She is crazy and I don’t know what I would do Ivy if she touched you. I know she’s a woman, but I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He wasn’t going to let her go.

             
She looked over her shoulder at the pair in pain and said, “Look at her. She’s destroyed. You said you didn’t know what brought them together, what they want from each other. Now you know. She doesn’t want you. She wants him. She just wants what I have with you because she couldn’t get it from you, and he wanted to give it to her.”

             
He shook his head no and held tight as she pulled away from him.

             
“I’ll be careful. Trust me. You have to trust me.” She pulled harder and said, “Go talk to your brother, Bo. He needs you.”

             
Bo looked around the small area they were in and wondered how soon someone else would stumble upon the scene. He wasn’t letting Ivy go. Alex had put his hands over his face. He removed them and Bo could tell, even across the distance, his brother was crying.  Adele was much more vocal and dramatic about it. Alex pushed to stand up again and wiped his eyes. Bo was glad because it stopped Ivy from trying to fix this situation.

             
Alex said through his emotion, “I’m sorry for…all of this. Trust my little brother, Ivy. He won’t betray you like we did him. Ever. I know that. I never meant to hurt you. I loved her then.” He looked at Adele and said, “I hate myself because I even love her now. Monday morning I’ll start the paperwork for the divorce.”

             
Bo could feel Ivy’s grip on him tighten and she turned into his chest and sobbed. He held her tightly. His heart was aching because he had no idea Alex ever felt anything for anyone, much less remorse for what they had done.

             
Alex wasn’t even to the building when Adele scrambled to her feet and ran after him. She launched herself at him and practically knocked him down as she begged him for forgiveness.

Bo couldn’t watch anymore of it. He squeezed Ivy and then started walking them in a different direction.

              They walked quietly along a path leading to the vineyard.  He tried to process everything that just happened. “I’m sorry you had to see all of that. I was trying not to let her make a scene in front of everyone. I don’t know how this happened. I just had to take a piss.”

             
She snickered at his side and then sniffed. “She’s drunk. Your brother realized she wasn’t coming back and went to look for her. I was just heading inside to grab some clothes. I was going to swim, but now that everyone is in the pool it doesn’t look as big or as relaxing. This cover up doesn’t provide much warmth.”

             
“Are you cold?” He made a U-turn on the path and started them back towards the rooms. “I wish I had something to give you.”

             
“You give me plenty. I’m chilly. I’ll be fine if you want to walk.” She leaned in close to his side.

             
“I want to go back to our room and pretend we are in Vegas, or New York, or home, and none of this happened,” he said sadly.

             
“He’s been hurting a long time, Bo. You all have,” she said gently.

              “I don’t want to talk about it.”

             
“Okay.” Ivy sighed. He knew it wasn’t okay, but he didn’t want to deal with it right now. “Let’s talk about something else then.”

             
“Anything.”

             
“Our moms are discussing baby names. I’m not fond of anything they are coming up with. I want us to come up with the name.” She looked at him when he laughed and asked, “What?”

             
“Nothing, I was just thinking we will need to get a stamp to mark it every day as property of Bo and Ivy Bliss. I doubt he or she will want that tattooed.” He laughed again. “God, I’m going to be a father. I’m going to be a mess. You realize this right?”

             
“You’re going to be amazing, just like you are at everything else you do.” Ivy’s confidence humbled him.

***

             
The last person Ivy expected to run into at the coffee shop was Adele Bliss. Yet there she was, waiting. Ivy took a few cautious steps forward. Adele greeted her with a tentative smile and said, “Hi. Mom said I might find you here.”

             
“Mom?” Ivy stood outside the coffee shop with Adele. Her tummy rumbled.

             
“Mom Bliss.” Adele clarified. “Do you want to grab some coffee?”

             
“I don’t drink coffee.” Ivy replied automatically.

             
Adele looked at the sign on the door that indicated nothing more than a coffee shop and then looked at the ground. “Oh. Well I guess I’ll…”

             
Ivy didn’t like that the woman was about to cry so she said, “There is a bakery inside. They make the most interesting sweets.”

             
Adele wiped a tear and asked, “Can I join you for cookies then?”

             
Ivy nodded. She was cautious of Adele, but something told her that the woman wasn’t as villainous as she had been portrayed. She didn’t doubt in Bo’s mind and from his perspective there was no other way to see her. They were family. She had the feeling they would be remaining family. Ivy opened the door and said, “Come on in.”

             
They sat outside at a corner table. Adele had her coffee and picked at a slice of cake. Ivy had a slice of cake and four cookies along with a glass of milk. She didn’t pick at any of it. Adele finally sank the fork all the way through the cake and took a bite.

             
“This is really good.” She was surprised. Ivy nodded. “I wasn’t expecting it to be so…flavorful.”

             
“Everything is that way.” Ivy could talk about food without a problem.

             
Adele had two more bites before saying, “I came to apologize for what happened. I’ve been struggling with some things and I drank too much…”