Page 203 of Seeds of Malice

His nostrils flare as he exhales hard.

My mouth turns dry.

I need another drink.

He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

"You have nothing to say?"

He stays silent.

"Fine. I'm leaving." I take off, stumbling across the yard.

He follows me and grabs my arm. "Ivy, you can't go home."

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't!"

"Leave her alone!" Dad barks.

I freeze, and my heart pounds so hard I think I might have an attack.

He steps out from behind a tree. "I said to leave her alone!"

Dax steps closer to me. "This is between Ivy and me. Stay out of it."

My father's eyes turn to slits. He steps forward. "Ivy, we're going. Now!"

Dax doesn't release his grip on me. He orders, "Go back to work, John."

My father glares darts at him. "Let go of my daughter, right now."

"Yeah, let go of me, Dax," I say, upset about how he's acting. I did all those things for him and then he didn't even let me enjoy the moment of everyone's acceptance.

He looks at me pleadingly. "Ivy."

"No. I don't want to talk to you right now," I say.

"What did you do to my daughter?" my dad snarls.

"Nothing. Stay out of it!"

"Dax, go home. I don't want to see you."

Dax's eyes widen.

Tense silence fills the air.

My father seethes, "You heard her."

Dax finally shakes his head. "Fine. We'll talk later, Ivy."

"No, you won't. You'll leave her alone," Dad insists.

Dax chuckles. "You're clueless, old man."

"Dad, let's go," I say, not wanting things to get worse.

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