Felicity’s mother. Nan Holloway.
Hadn’t Darek said something about how she’d wanted to take Tiger from him?
And then this incident capped off what felt like one badly timed event after another.
Ivy should have just told him the truth right off, ripped the scab from the wound, dealt with the blood and gore. They’d get it over with, and he’d walk out of her life, stop wasting their time.
Unless Darek could forgive her . . . and it was that thought, and the way Tiger greeted her, that had silenced Ivy. Maybe three years was long enough to grow forgiveness in his heart. Maybe he’d listen to her story and realize . . . what, that she hadn’t meant to set Jensen free?
Although, really, how free could the man be?
Especially now, standing in the middle of the crowd, looking like he wanted to run.
Jensen looked at her. Then to Tiger. Back to her.
Like she had betrayed him.
He turned, pushing through the crowd, Claire on his heels.
Darek was just climbing to his feet. The man with the football emblem on his shirt helped him up. Patted him on the back as if Darek had simply fallen.
For once, she didn’t want to know the gory details.
Tiger still clung to her.
“Let me take him,” Nan said, so close to her that Ivy jumped. She crouched beside them and Ivy released Tiger into her arms—after all, she had no right to him. But she ran her hand down his back as he clung to his grandmother, still crying.
“Shh,” Nan said, glaring at Darek.
He strode over to them, his mouth a grim line. He was breathing hard and almost looked as if he might cry, his eyes reddened. She nearly wanted to cry at the sick expression on his face.
“Give him to me, Nan,” Darek said.
But Nan picked Tiger up, holding him as he wrapped his legs around her waist. “I think you need to cool off, Darek,” she said with something just short of a snarl.
He took a breath, glancing at Ivy, then back to Nan. “I’m fine.”
But Nan wasn’t having it. “You’re not fine. Brawling in public? What’s next, Darek? First you show up on Sunday with Theo looking like he’s been dragged down the street by a pack of wild animals, and today, I see you wrestling like one! I’m not sure this is the kind of parent my grandson needs.”
Ivy saw a spark of heat in Darek’s eyes and just about put her hand on his arm.
“I know Felicity wouldn’t approve, God rest her soul. She’d be horrified to see how you’re behaving.”
“Maybe she should have been thinking about that before she decided to run out—” He clipped off his words.
But Nan looked like he’d struck her. “I know you never really loved my daughter, Darek. But she adored you, and don’t you dare go desecrating her memory! She was a good wife to you, a wonderful mother—”
“Nan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
Nan seemed just short of snapping herself. She tightened her hold on Tiger, took a step back. “I’m taking Theo home with me. I’ll get him cleaned up, feed him, and bring him back to you tomorrow.”
This time, Ivy did slip her hand onto Darek’s arm.
“No.”
“Darek, he’s upset—”
“I’m upset! Did you not see the man who killed your daughter playing with your grandson?”
His voice came out booming, and Tiger wrenched around in Nan’s arms, so much horror on his face that it made Ivy want to weep.
“Darek!” Nan snapped.
Tiger turned back to Nan, wrapped his arms tighter around her neck.
Darek winced. Gritted his teeth. Turned away.
His breaths rose and fell in his shoulders, and Ivy wanted to press her hand to his back. But suddenly, with Nan looking at her—the entire town looking at her—she had the sense that she might be a villain in this story.
Taking Felicity’s place.
The truth rushed up at her. Ivy didn’t belong here. She should leave. Now.
She couldn’t breathe.
Run. Away.
Her feet crunched on the rocks as she backed up, and the sound made Darek glance at her.
Please. He said it with his eyes, the pain in them rooting her to the spot. Don’t go.
Or maybe she just hoped he was saying that. Nevertheless, she stopped.
Darek slowly turned back to Nan, his shoulders rising and falling. He rested his hand on Tiger’s back and said quietly, “Tomorrow. By noon.”
Nan seemed speechless for a moment. Then her voice dropped. “You’re doing the right thing, Darek.”
He nodded, nothing of agreement in his face, and bent to kiss Tiger on the cheek. “Be good for your grandma.”
Darek stood there as Nan walked away with Tiger, so much heartbreak in his eyes that Ivy couldn’t help but take his hand.