Page 90 of Fire

“Oh, Micah.” Franklin leans a hip on the hood of the Suburban. “You’re a Hutton in name only. Constantly in trouble. Constantly underperforming. And Nell is just like you, despite my efforts to the contrary. It’s bad enough Ivy turned out to be such a disappointment, but your daughter is a scourge on the Cole name. We will never down the humiliation of having a granddaughter like her.”

I’m lurching forward before I know what I’m doing. My hands grab Franklin by the collar without my permission. I yank him towards me, holding him nose-to-fucking-nose as he squeals in surprise. “Take that back.”

Ivy gasps, startled into motion. I release her father and step away before I do something I truly regret. That’s two men I’ve had by the shirt in twenty minutes. They push me much farther and someone will have a real reason to get lawyers involved.

“I’m not surprised you resorted to violence,” Franklin says with a self-satisfied sneer. “He’s beneath you, Ivy. You see that, right? Not worth his family name. The best thing I ever did was make sure you two disconnected.”

“The best thing you did?” Ivy cocks her head, her eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”

“I looked after you, Ivy.” A bead of sweat appears at Franklin’s hairline. “The way you needed me to. You’ve never been strong enough to do the hard stuff on your own.”

“What did you do?” Ivy asks again, biting off the words.

“I made sure he didn’t have a place in Nell’s life.” Franklin jabs a finger my way. “I made sure he stayed here, where he belonged and you stayed with us, where you still belong.”

And just like that it all comes into focus.

“You deleted my texts.” I shake my head, huffing a laugh. “How the hell didn’t I see it sooner? You took her phone and read every message I sent, then just deleted them.”

I think back to how utterly devastated I was back then. How I poured my heart out to the girl I loved, vulnerable, miserable, telling her how much I needed her and begging her to respond. And Franklin read it all, he knew I was teetering on the edge, and didn’t fucking care.

“Of course I deleted them,” he responds like I’m an idiot for thinking he wouldn’t. “And you would have done the same thing in my position. It was better for everyone that way.”

“It wasn’t better for me!” Tears sparkle in Ivy’s eyes and indignation colors the edges of her voice. “It wasn’t better for Micah. It wasn’t better for Nell. It wasn’t better for any of us!”

“But it was,” Franklin says. “Think of where you’d be if I hadn’t intervened.”

“Look at who I am now! You broke me, Dad. Thinking Micah abandoned me when I loved him with everything I was? That was the first chink in my confidence. Then listening to you tell me I’m worthless, watching you judge me and my daughter, more chinks. Then you making sure I had no way to support myself? Chink, chink, chink. No school. No college. No job! No friends! You made me completely dependent on you…”

“You made you dependent on me,” Franklin thunders. “You should be thankful I was able to support you through it.”

“Support.” She shakes her head, so angry she’s trembling. “You saw how hurt I was when I thought Micah didn’t love me and you just let it happen. I knew you were difficult but never thought you’d be cruel. You saw I was drowning and held my head under the water.”

Franklin brushes her words away like they’re little more than gnats. “I did no such thing. I facilitated the meeting with Julian. I sat down with his father and suggested you two would be a good match, even though you had an illegitimate child. He talked to his son and made sure your relationship ran smoothly despite your obvious inadequacies.”

I open my mouth, ready to put Franklin fucking Cole in his place but Ivy beats me to it. Gone is the meek woman who stepped into The Pact looking like a deer in the headlights. In her place is the spitfire I fell in love with.

“What century do you live in?” she asks, gesturing wildly. “You facilitated the relationship? Illegitimate child?” Laughing, she runs her hands into her hair. “Who do you think you are? Who do you think I am?”

“I’m your father and you’re my only daughter. I’ve only ever done what’s best for you.”

“You ruined my life.”

“You did that on your own. I’m the one who stepped in and put the damn pieces together. It’s time to come home, where you belong. Your mother’s beside herself. She won’t come out of her room. She cries herself to sleep and I’ve had enough of her nonsense. You don’t belong here. You belong with us.”

“Nell and I are happier here than we’ve ever been. If Mom’s miserable, maybe you should look in the mirror for the reason why.”

“Ivy Maria Cole. You will not speak to me that way. This is the kind of influence he’s always had on you, making you forget your place.”

“Her place?” My eyebrows hit my hairline and my fists clench. “I don’t make her forget; I help her see. She’s not a damned pet, Franklin!”

“You know what, Dad? I think you see the worst in everybody because that’s all you are inside. You assume their motivations are horrible because yours are even worse. I’m not leaving with you, and I’m done letting you make me feel like everything I do is a mistake. It’s time for you to leave.” Ivy points over Franklin’s shoulder, towards the road, then leans against me. I wrap an arm around her, so fucking proud I could burst.

Her dad tugs on his shirtsleeves and sighs. “If this is the choice you’re making, fine. Just know that you’ll have to live with it. You can’t come crawling back to me when it all blows up in your face.”

“I would never come back to you.” Ivy lifts her chin and squares her shoulders, standing straight and strong. “I’d be letting myself down if I ever let you back into my life. And for the record, this won’t blow up in my face. This? With Micah? This is the real deal. A once in a lifetime thing. I couldn’t stop loving him any more than I could ask my heart to stop beating. And the way he loves me back? The way he loves our daughter? It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. So, get in that car, get out of this driveway, and never, ever think you can talk like that to me, or Micah, or Nell ever again. I will no longer tolerate your abuse.”

Ivy’s nostrils are flared. Her head held high. Whatever shred of control the people in Seattle still held over her, she just tore it to threads and dropped it at her father’s feet.

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