Waiting Fate (11 page)

“You’re sad. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean —”

Ivy glanced at him with a quick smile. “I miss it. But it doesn’t have the unique geographical features that Utah does — like Goblin Valley or Bryce Canyon or the thousand other national parks in Utah that I’ve never seen.”

Archer looked stunned. “You’ve never seen any of them?”

Ivy shook her head. “We didn’t camp much when I was growing up. My parents had moved past the camping stage in their lives. We had a cabin, and we had Vegas and my sister’s place in Arizona. That’s the extent of our travels, for the most part.”

When Archer continued to stare at her, dumbfounded, she continued, “I think before I was born they traveled more, but by the time I came around, they were ready to do the retirement-settle-down thing.”

“I see.” Archer sat back as Ivy rounded the last bend. There was no gate blocking them from the parking lot, and there wasn’t a single car in sight. “Looks like we have the place to ourselves,” he said.

Ivy hopped out and flung the back door open. “Ready for some sand?” she asked.

Desee’s face lit up, but she glanced at Archer and didn’t make a sound. “Come on, Sadi. Let’s go run.” Ivy patted her leg and Sadi jumped out, stretching like she’d been stuck in the car for a century instead of a half-hour.

“Doesn’t she need a leash?” Archer asked.

“If there were other dogs here, yes. But otherwise, she comes when she’s called.” With a crooked grin she continued, “She likes me.” She unbuckled Desee from her seatbelt and set her on the ground. Sadi instantly moved between the baby and Archer, her tail between her legs. “Desee, do you want your bucket and shovel?” Ivy asked. She was proud of Sadi for protecting Desee, even though she was terrified, but Ivy tried not to make a big deal of it.

Desee looked up at her, eyes like marbles in her head, and nodded. “Come with me.” Ivy motioned to Desee. She knew how uncomfortable both her baby and her dog were with new men. Or other men who were not so new but pure evil. So she kept herself between them and Archer, chatting like there wasn’t a palpable fear so strong in the air around them that she could cut it with a knife — if she had brought a knife, which she hadn’t, because that would have been ridiculous.

She hadn’t told Archer all of the story. He didn’t know exactly what Vick had done, so he couldn’t possibly understand their fear. But he seemed to. He gave Desee her space but would every so often wink at her or poke her chubby little tummy. Desee, not an easy little nut to crack, didn’t cave and stared at him with the big eyes. “I’m so sorry. It’s nothing personal. She does this to
everyone
. Especially men.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got time.” He winked at her. Ivy got goose bumps. Desee snatched her bucket, and clutching Sadi’s fur in her chubby little hand, scurried off toward the sand as fast as her short legs could carry her.

Ivy and Archer followed. “I can’t believe your dog doesn’t run away.” Archer said as they watched Sadi and Desee pick their way through the rocks to the beach.

“She’s horrible with other dogs. She’d attack if one showed up. But otherwise, she’s an angel. In Texas, where I lived before I moved to Alaska, I could walk her miles through neighborhoods, and she’d stay right by my side. And in Alaska, we hiked all over those mountains, and I hardly ever had her on a leash. She’s a good dog.” Ivy smiled affectionately at her little German shepherd. Sadi could also open the fridge and get food out, she could turn door handles unless they were locked, and had jumped a six-foot fence once to save Ivy and Desee from an angry mutt-dog who was three times her size. Sadi had traveled from Utah to Texas with Ivy, been her only companion for three months while Ivy stayed trapped in an apartment with no car, phone, or TV, and then come back to Utah and on to Alaska. And then home again. That dog was the best friend Ivy had ever had in the world.

The waves were mild and lapped gently at the sand. Desee plopped herself on the semi-wet ground and began digging with her fingers, shovel forgotten. Sadi peered up at Ivy, begging with gigantic brown eyes. Ivy laughed. “Go, Sadi. Run!”

Sadi ran. Oh, that dog loved to run. Long and hard, and she didn’t stop until she was nearing collapse. But she always came back. Ivy watched her for a few seconds, loving the abandon that Sadi raced away with. When she turned to come back, Ivy glanced back at Desee. Archer had settled himself next to her and was filling her bucket with sand. Desee sat silently, not watching what he was doing, just staring at his face with an indeterminable expression.

Ivy sat next to them, realizing as she did that she was getting sand all over her butt, but not caring. At least, not caring
now.
When it came time to vacuum her car seats, then she might be annoyed.

Sadi raced past them, not even hesitating, her feet pounding against the sand as her breath came in controlled, steady pants. “You have a strange dog,” Archer said, raising an eyebrow as Sadi spun and raced back the other way.

“Yeah. She’s awesome.” Ivy smiled as she watched her dog run. They spent the next several minutes digging. Ivy would talk to Desee every so often, explaining what she was doing as she built a castle; Archer helped quietly, flipping over the bucket for turrets and starting over again. Desee, also, remained silent, but she did start digging, watching Archer out of the corner of her eye.

There was a chance that the castle was the grandest thing Ivy had ever built, and she was leaning back to take a picture of it when Sadi dropped a large stick in her lap and blinked at her, pleading. “This is muddy, you know,” Ivy muttered, but she stood up, dusted her butt off, and threw the stick as far as she could, making sure to keep it away from the water. Ivy loved the sand, but not water. In fact, she may have been the only dog Ivy had ever met that couldn’t swim. One time, on a camping trip in Alaska, Vick had thrown Sadi off a dock. Sadi had sunk under the water and not come up. After several seconds of thrashing and her head not breaking the surface, one of Vick’s friends had gone in after her, carrying her to shore. Sadi was deathly afraid of the water. Even sprinklers made her nervous.

Ivy played fetch for several minutes, laughing as Sadi kept dropping her stick when she’d try to bring it back — the thing was bigger than her head. So it took Ivy a while before she realized she could hear quiet chatter behind her. She froze, afraid that if she turned to look, Desee would notice and stop. “You get water. For here,” Desee said, and out of the corner of her eye Ivy watched Archer stand up to get water out of the dam, carrying the bucket carefully so he didn’t slosh water over the sides. “Good!” Desee squealed as he filled the moat.

Desee was talking. Not just talking, but talking
to
Archer. It hadn’t been months, or even weeks. Ivy was so stunned she didn’t notice Sadi had dropped the stick at her feet until a big paw smacked at her shins. “Okay. Sorry!” Ivy bent to retrieve the stick, gagging a little at the slobber, and hucked it again as hard as she could. A few more throws like that and she was going to be sore tomorrow. Sadi took off, stretching her body out as she ran as hard as she could.

Behind Ivy, Desee giggled. Ivy felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “No, Archie. Flag not in ditch. Flag here.”
Archie?

“Oh. Right. The flag goes in this wall?”

Desee giggle again. “No!” More giggles. “Here!”

“Oh. The flag goes in the doorway.” Desee cackled, the laugh she reserved for being tickled or something truly hilarious. She didn’t laugh like that often, and Ivy just about fell over. Sadi, too, seemed to realize something wasn’t normal. She stood next to Ivy, the stick dangling from her mouth, watching. Ivy turned slowly, afraid if she moved too fast Desee would remember that she was afraid of people and go back to the big-eyed silent treatment. But Desee continued to laugh, so hard she fell backward into the sand. As she struggled to sit up, Archer held out his hand to help and she took it.

Ivy was sure she was going to pass out right there and die from happiness. She glanced at Sadi, who still stood transfixed. As if aware of Ivy’s stare, she looked up and blinked, dropped the stick, and trotted off. Ivy was pretty sure that in dog language, Sadi had just called Desee a traitor.

Ivy sank down next to Desee, still half-afraid if she intruded, Desee would retreat into her shell, but Desee said, “Mama, look! We made big castle!”

“I see that, baby. It’s as big as you!” Desee beamed, got up, mimicked her mom as she tried to dust her pants off, and chased after Sadi. Her short little legs didn’t get her very far very fast, but she sure could move them.

“She’s gotta be the cutest kid I’ve ever seen,” Archer said.

Ivy smiled as she watched her run across the sand, her little arms moving faster than her legs. “Thanks. I think so too.” Turning her attention to Archer, she said, “That was so not normal. I meant it when I said it takes her months to start talking to people.”

Archer winked at her. “I’m good with kids.”

Ivy snorted. “Apparently.”

They stayed for two more hours, until Desee fell asleep building a shell pile. Archer scooped her up, like it was the most natural thing in the world, and carried her to the car. Ivy waited as he set Desee in her car seat, expecting him to ask for help — those car seats with all their safety features were complicated, even more so for a guy who didn’t do it on a regular basis. But Archer snapped her in and swung Ivy’s door open. Sadi stood back, her tail between her legs, until Archer went to his side of the car. Then she crept up and slid inside, ever so slowly. Ivy’s heart ached for her.
Never again, Sadi. I won’t let anyone hurt you again
.

“So whatcha got planned for the rest of the night?” Archer asked as Ivy navigated the canyon again.

“I have a huge paper due Monday. Desee and I will be writing that tonight.” Ivy glanced in the rearview mirror at her sleeping baby.

“Gotta be nice having your mom there to help out, huh?” Archer asked.

Ivy nodded, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye because taking her eyes off the road would just be crazy. “It is, but she’s off to Arizona for Thanksgiving. It’s just me and Desee tonight.”

Archer frowned. “How will you get your paper done?”

Ivy shrugged. “I’ve been doing my homework with Desee on my lap for almost two years.”

“It doesn’t sound like an efficient way to work.” Archer sounded dubious and Ivy burst out laughing.

“It’s not. She likes to help type. And color on my books. But whatcha gonna do?” Ivy grinned in the rear-view mirror at Desee, who slept like an angel. At least sleeping helped the stuck-in-the-car-seat-forever phobia.

“How about this? I’ll stay and play with Desee. You write your paper.”

“Why would you do that?” Ivy asked before she realized that wasn’t the most polite way she could have phrased that.

Archer smirked at her. “Because you need help. That’s what friends do, right?”

Ivy’s heart sank, even though she was grateful for his offer.
Friends. Right.
“I would appreciate it so much. If I could cook, I’d even offer dinner. I
do
have leftovers and TV dinners though, if you’re interested.” Ivy pulled into her driveway, scanning the road for suspicious vehicles, like she did every time she came home. And like every other time, there were none. Archer saw her, though, and frowned. She felt a blush creeping up her neck, yet again, and tipped her head forward so her brown hair hid her face.

Chapter Ten

“So you can’t cook, huh?” Archer asked as Ivy laid a still-sleeping Desee on the couch.

“Nope. Like my ex says, I’m quite the catch,” Ivy said. She didn’t seem to even realize she’d said it until it was out, and then she froze. “I mean, I can
cook
. Like mac and cheese, and I make some mean scrambled eggs.” He could tell she was trying to be flippant, to brush off her comment, but Archer could see the pain underneath. She hid it well, and if he hadn’t spent so much time memorizing her every move and learning by heart every emotion that passed across her face, he wouldn’t have noticed. But he had spent all his time watching her, so he saw the pain, and he felt his fingers slowly curling into fists. Her ex deserved to be pummeled into the ground. And maybe locked in a box with fire ants.

“Are you sure you don’t mind keeping an eye on her? She should sleep for at least another hour. This baby likes her sleep.” Ivy glanced at him and then back at the ground. Her shyness was adorable, especially when she seemed to think she was so good at hiding it.

“Not at all.” He settled himself on the couch next to Desee.

“Here’s the remote if you want to watch TV.” She backed away. “I’ll just be around the corner if you need me.”

“We’ll be fine, Ivy. Get to work,” Archer smirked. He had two little brothers and a thousand cousins. He could handle one cherubic little baby. As he watched Desee sleep, her pacifier tucked under her bottom lip in the strangest way Archer had ever seen a baby hold a pacifier, he wondered if Ivy had any idea at all of how easy a baby Desee seemed to be. He’d heard Ivy say it often, but didn’t all mothers try to convince everyone their kid was the best behaved on the planet?

He could hear her in the other room, muttering under her breath, keeping time with the tapping of the keyboard. Unlike most of the people Archer still knew from high school who had stayed pretty much the same, Ivy had changed. She wasn’t the enthusiastic, carefree girl he remembered. She was still kind and sweet, but her eyes had darkened with pain and her smile was more forced. And always, the hunted look that would cross her face when she thought no one was watching.

She was scared. She was hurt. But she was also strong. She put Desee first in everything, and she was fighting to finish school against all the odds. And she’d had the courage to leave a horrible situation. No, she wasn’t the same girl at all, but that just made him care even more.

Now he just had to convince her that
he
would never hurt her. His eyes drifted again to the hallway.
Yeah. That’s gonna be real easy.