Page 41 of Tempest

Letting out a snort, she slid off his lap. “Biscuits and gravy.”

His grinned sinfully. “That kind of day…is it?”

“I’m going to add scrambled eggs and sausage as well. I figure we need a meal like that if we hope to have enough energy.”

“Damn, girl. I like the way you think.” He kissed her head and then moved under the shower. “I’d better get cleaned up.”

“Not that it’s going to last long,” she muttered to herself as she stepped out of the shower. As she toweled herself off, she wondered if the forces that were converging were going to result in a massive blowup. Maybe after all was said and done, she would be holding Ryan’s hand. Even if it did scare her to pieces.

***

Colin strolled in the back door, and Ivy smiled at her brother. “You missed the fish fry yesterday.”

“On purpose,” he responded, as he grabbed a piece of watermelon out of the bowl. “The last place I want to be is at the Catholic church for a fundraiser.’

“That’s right, your mama raised you Baptist.”

“Why are you making sausage and biscuits?” He looked at Ivy and then smirked. “Never mind.”

“You hush up, Colin Bellows. I’m making this because he’s never had a proper southern breakfast.”

“If that’s the lie you’re telling yourself, far be it from me to tell you different.”

She slid the biscuits into the oven and then studied her brother. “What in the world are we going to do with Daddy’s company?”

“Sell it, walk away from it, or burn it to the ground,” he replied with a straight face. “I don’t want any part of it.”

“Well, as far as the denial river you’re on…I suggest you hop off and face reality. We have to deal with it in some form or fashion.”

“Says you.” He plunked himself down on a stool and threw his sister a look. “Ivy, the man never did right by either one of us. At least he approved of you.”

“What in the hell are you talking about? Bill Bellows never once said a word of encouragement. I hardly saw him after he left Mama and me. You know that.”

“He always was bragging about you and saying things like he wished I was as smart as you. He never let up.”

“The man had no idea how smart or dumb I was. He never came around very often after I turned nine. I remember sitting on the couch that faced the front window at Mama’s house every Saturday for almost a year. Daddy was supposed to pick me up and take me out for the day. I think he made it a couple of times. You can do the math and figure out how many Saturdays I waited and he never showed up.” Running her hand along the counter, she shook her head. “Having a photographic memory is more that remembering information, it’s also rembering experiences. Clearly. The feeling of my stomach cramping up as soon as I sat down to wait for daddy is as familiar to me as something that happened yesterday. To this day, my stomach hurts when I have to wait for someone.” Tapping her hand, she sighed.

“Mama finally put a stop to it and said Daddy wasn’t coming around anymore. About that time, she enrolled me in dance classes and anything else she thought I might like. After a while I hardly thought about him and what he was doing. Until you came along. I thought having a baby brother was like a makeup gift for Daddy leaving.”

“Looking back, it was kind of unusual that our mamas let us have so much time together, given the situation. They should have been mortal enemies,” Colin added.

“Or allies. They both dealt with Bill Bellows, and that probably made them like war buddies. Only the other one knew what it was like,” Ivy responded.

“Why aren’t you more pissed at him? Why does it seem easy for you?”

Ivy came around the counter and sat down next to him. “Colin, I got tired of carrying it around with me. Being pissed off about who Daddy was or wasn’t is too damn heavy to carry around. My back was hurting from the strain.” Leaning over, she kissed his cheek. “My issues bubble up from time to time, make no mistake. I just have beat them into submission because Mama told me that Bill Bellows wouldn’t steal my happiness if she had a breath in her body. I can’t let her down.”

“You got lucky with Bea and Grams; those two are like a hurricane. Nothing gets in their way. My mother could be brought down by a summer breeze. I blame Daddy for that as well. I never had what you had, so my anger has often gotten the best of me.”

The oven timer dinged, and Ivy popped up. “Colin, you have me, and I’m not going to let our daddy take any more of your happy days away from you. This company doesn’t mean much to me. I like my job, and I have a lot of respect for the company I work for. I have no desire to get into the oil business.”

She pulled the biscuits out of the oven and slid the pan onto the counter. Looking around, she admired her small house. It was warm and homey, and it was all she would ever need. “I don’t need much more than I have, so I’m happy to sell the company as soon as we can.”

Snorting, he leaned back and crossed his arms. “Then all we have to do is worry about managing all that money we have. That could be a full-time job.”

“There are people who can do that for us. We don’t have to change our plans unless we want to.”

Shaking his head, he watched her start the gravy. “We are about to have more money than a lot of small countries. I guess it’s up to us what we do with it,” he replied.

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