Pancreatic cancer ate Ivy’s mother up, and the end of her battle had been heartbreaking for both my daughter and me. When the end came, we were with her, my dear friend who would forever be the mother of my best girl.
When it was finally all over, I sought Seth out, only to find him happily moved on. At the time I didn’t understand why I was relieved, but it occurred to me afterward, as I was leaving Detroit for Miami, that I needed a fresh start. I needed to breathe on my own for a while. I was glad to be reinventing myself, excited for Ivy to be on the adventure with me, and ready to live and simply be .
I hadn’t clearly thought out the move to Miami. Exchanging one big city for another was not something either Ivy or I had needed. It had taken only a month of being there for me to go to my new boss and explain the situation. I was fortunate he’d been so understanding, and even more fortunate that he’d known the tiny resort town of Mangrove was in the market for a new fire chief.
“The money’s crap,” he told me as he stood in my office. “But it’s beautiful there, and small, and maybe you and your kid—after what you just went through—could use a small, tight-knit community.”
“I think that sounds great,” I sighed, and his smile, in response, was warm and kind.
“I do too.”
While I had stayed in Miami and closed up my office and got out of our lease and hired movers and basically undid everything I’d just gotten done doing, I sent my daughter on ahead of me with my sister’s kid, who was a twenty-two-year-old struggling actress I thought was far more responsible than she turned out to be. I was lucky Ivy had found Hutch and Mike next door along with other friends in the tiny resort community.
But now I really needed them all to butt out of my love life, especially because I had no idea what to do.
Ivy was still talking. “But I understand you have needs.”
I was lost for a second, catching up. “What?”
“ Needs ,” she said, emphasizing the word, making her eyes big for my benefit.
I was about to have an aneurysm. “Please stop.”
“What, Dad? It’s a natural part of being an adult.”
“I’ll pay you to stop.”
“You know Hutch and Mike are right next door. You can always start spending the night other places, because you know I’ll be safe.”
“Ivy,” I began, rubbing the bridge of my nose, my voice pained.
“And c’mon, this is Mangrove. There has never been any kind of violent crime in the history of this town. Coz told me.”
I groaned. All the people I knew who were trying to be helpful, and probably even thought they were, were driving me nuts.
“Not that there are a ton of gay men to choose from here, that’s true,” she continued, pinning me with her stare. “Don’t look at me like that. Hutch said, so you know it’s true.”
I needed a drink.
“He’s going to run for mayor, you know, just because Mrs. Evanston told him not to.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“She hates him for no good reason.”
But having known Hutch Crowley for the last six months, I was sure that Mrs. Evanston had cause. The man was definitely annoying.
“So I was thinking you should ask out Dr. Hammond, cuz he’s superhot.”
I did the slow pan and glared at her, and she waggled her eyebrows in response.
“Yo, Poison!”
Her head snapped up, and there was the boy, that one, the blond surfer with the hair and the dimples and the big blue eyes. She made a noise, that noise, the one my wife had made when she first met me, half whimper, half sigh.
“Don’t do that,” I groused.
I thought there’d be a learning curve, there normally was. I figured Ivy would need me… and she did. She loved me, of course, but she did not need hand-holding.
Except when she did.
Sometimes, not often, but upon occasion she broke into a million pieces I had to gather and hug whole. She needed her daddy when it hit her—at sometimes strange, unfathomable
When it was finally all over, I sought Seth out, only to find him happily moved on. At the time I didn’t understand why I was relieved, but it occurred to me afterward, as I was leaving Detroit for Miami, that I needed a fresh start. I needed to breathe on my own for a while. I was glad to be reinventing myself, excited for Ivy to be on the adventure with me, and ready to live and simply be .
I hadn’t clearly thought out the move to Miami. Exchanging one big city for another was not something either Ivy or I had needed. It had taken only a month of being there for me to go to my new boss and explain the situation. I was fortunate he’d been so understanding, and even more fortunate that he’d known the tiny resort town of Mangrove was in the market for a new fire chief.
“The money’s crap,” he told me as he stood in my office. “But it’s beautiful there, and small, and maybe you and your kid—after what you just went through—could use a small, tight-knit community.”
“I think that sounds great,” I sighed, and his smile, in response, was warm and kind.
“I do too.”
While I had stayed in Miami and closed up my office and got out of our lease and hired movers and basically undid everything I’d just gotten done doing, I sent my daughter on ahead of me with my sister’s kid, who was a twenty-two-year-old struggling actress I thought was far more responsible than she turned out to be. I was lucky Ivy had found Hutch and Mike next door along with other friends in the tiny resort community.
But now I really needed them all to butt out of my love life, especially because I had no idea what to do.
Ivy was still talking. “But I understand you have needs.”
I was lost for a second, catching up. “What?”
“ Needs ,” she said, emphasizing the word, making her eyes big for my benefit.
I was about to have an aneurysm. “Please stop.”
“What, Dad? It’s a natural part of being an adult.”
“I’ll pay you to stop.”
“You know Hutch and Mike are right next door. You can always start spending the night other places, because you know I’ll be safe.”
“Ivy,” I began, rubbing the bridge of my nose, my voice pained.
“And c’mon, this is Mangrove. There has never been any kind of violent crime in the history of this town. Coz told me.”
I groaned. All the people I knew who were trying to be helpful, and probably even thought they were, were driving me nuts.
“Not that there are a ton of gay men to choose from here, that’s true,” she continued, pinning me with her stare. “Don’t look at me like that. Hutch said, so you know it’s true.”
I needed a drink.
“He’s going to run for mayor, you know, just because Mrs. Evanston told him not to.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“She hates him for no good reason.”
But having known Hutch Crowley for the last six months, I was sure that Mrs. Evanston had cause. The man was definitely annoying.
“So I was thinking you should ask out Dr. Hammond, cuz he’s superhot.”
I did the slow pan and glared at her, and she waggled her eyebrows in response.
“Yo, Poison!”
Her head snapped up, and there was the boy, that one, the blond surfer with the hair and the dimples and the big blue eyes. She made a noise, that noise, the one my wife had made when she first met me, half whimper, half sigh.
“Don’t do that,” I groused.
I thought there’d be a learning curve, there normally was. I figured Ivy would need me… and she did. She loved me, of course, but she did not need hand-holding.
Except when she did.
Sometimes, not often, but upon occasion she broke into a million pieces I had to gather and hug whole. She needed her daddy when it hit her—at sometimes strange, unfathomable
Similar Books
