Tangled in Ivy by Ashley Farley

Author:Ashley Farley [Farley, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Leisure Time Books
Published: 2020-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

While Melanie proved to be excellent company, I missed my wife terribly during those summer months. Ivy never returned any of the long-winded messages I left on the answering machine at the cottage. And, when I drove down to see her one scorching Saturday in July, Ivy hopped in the boat and took off, leaving me standing on the dock. I gave up after waiting two hours for her return.

Trudy advised me that I was only making matters worse by trying to contact her, and that I should give Ivy her space.

Melanie wore the healthy glow of a pregnant woman. Her skin glistened and her white hair shined from the vitamins and herbs Nita provided. Determined not to gain too much weight, she watched what she ate, her diet consisting mostly of fruits and vegetables, and got plenty of exercise by climbing stairs, circling the vast rooms, and walking the hallways at a fast pace. Once the manuscripts had been submitted to the prospective agents, with little to occupy her time, she soon became antsy. She awaited my return home from campus every evening with great anticipation. We ate dinner together in the kitchen, and afterward, Melanie helped me grade papers. We spent weekend afternoons on the piazza, drinking iced tea and watching sailing regattas on the harbor, the overhead fans offering little relief from the southern heat. When the weather was too hot to even be on the porch, we camped out in drawing room with the drapes drawn. We organized the books in my library according to author and title, and we schemed plot ideas for her next novel, which she was eager to get started on. We watched old movies and played countless games of gin rummy. But our favorite pastime that summer was reading. We devoured classics and current bestsellers, often the same books at the same time, sharing lengthy and in-depth discussions about them after we’d finished.

I’d never had a friend like Melanie. During those seemingly endless summer days, we shared our souls by confiding our deepest secrets. She told me about her idyllic childhood—being from a family of wealth and privilege with two loving parents—and how hurt she’d been when those loving parents turned their backs on her in her time of need. She lent a sympathetic ear when I confessed that I was the son of a poor lobsterman and described in detail the beatings I’d received at my father’s hand. Melanie accepted me for who I was. She made me feel whole, in a way I’d never felt before, and I would miss her when she left.

I told her as much on our last night together in late September. We were eating dinner together on the piazza and Trudy had just informed us that Ivy would be returning to Charleston the next day, on Wednesday, October 1, ten days before Melanie’s due date and twelve until Ivy’s.

“I’m going to miss you too, Graham,” Melanie said, picking at her salad without taking a bite.

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