Waiting Fate Read Free

for a single mother, her baby, and her small German shepherd, but Alaska itself had been kind to Ivy for the past two years, and it was kind as it let her go. The trip was beautiful but uneventful, even as it tore her heart to shreds to leave this place that seemed to claim half her soul. Such an odd imbalance — the peace she’d found in Alaska and the horror she’d experienced in her home — in Alaska.
    One day, she would come back. She had promised herself that yesterday as she’d left, looking out at the ocean, and that promise gave her the courage to go. Well, that and the baby snuggled in her car seat in the back, trusting her mama to keep her safe.
    It took six days, but pulling into her parents’ home in Utah was a balm to her broken heart. Her mom and dad both met her in the driveway, taking her purse, Sadi’s leash, and her keys, and then enveloping her in hugs before she was even out of her car. Desee squealed to be free of her seat, and Ivy was pretty sure she would never go near it without a fight again. Sadi slipped her leash and rushed into the house she hadn’t been in for two years, smelling everything, knocking things over with her tail, tackling Andy the cocker spaniel in an enthusiastic greeting. She shied away from Jack, but that was understandable, given what she’d been through. Poor Sadi.
    “I thought we’d never get here!” Ivy exclaimed as she unbuckled Desee. The baby tumbled herself out of her car seat and sat up, grinning.
    “Oh, look how big she is!” Ivy’s mom, Beverly, scooped Desee up off the floor of Ivy’s car, holding her out so she could get a good look, happy tears running down her cheeks.
    “Tiny little thing.” Ivy’s dad, Jack, crooked a finger at Desee and she latched on, guiding it to her mouth to bite.
    “She’s teething. Back molars coming in, I think,” Ivy said with a grin as her dad grimaced in pain.
    “Sharp teeth,” Jack muttered, but his smile didn’t fade.
    Ivy hadn’t been home for over a year, and the last time she’d been able to come home had been briefly for Vick’s grandfather’s funeral.
    Her dad hadn’t changed, but then he hadn’t changed in the last twenty years. Almost seventy-five years old and he looked sixty. He was balding, but still had short, spiky grey hair on the sides. Ivy secretly snickered at the fact that he had more hair on his face than he did on his head. She planned to tease him about it as soon as she got the chance, but she’d be polite for at least thirty seconds first.
    Bev was almost sixty-five, but it seemed both of them had stopped aging at sixty. Her wild gray hair was in disarray, as it always was, and she would complain about it and perm it and try to tame it into place, but always she lost the battle and Ivy loved it. She was tall — clearly Ivy hadn’t gotten her lack-of-height genes from her mom.
    No matter how young they both looked for their ages, Ivy worried. Jack had high blood pressure and Bev fought all kinds of health issues. They hid them well, her sneaky parents, but Ivy knew enough to know that if she wasn’t careful with all her drama, she could be the death of them. It was a thought that had haunted Ivy since she’d asked if she could come home.
    “Kate and her family are on their way. They left Scottsdale as soon as the kids got out of school last night. Your big sister should be here in a few hours,” Bev said, not taking her eyes off her granddaughter. Desee stared at her with big hazel eyes. She had trust issues and didn’t speak to anyone but Ivy and Sadi. Ivy hoped it was a phase.
    If Ivy had any energy left, she would bounce on her toes and maybe squeal a bit. She hadn’t seen Kate in forever, and she missed her big sister.
    “Well, come on inside.” Jack waved them toward the house. “No point getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.” Ivy hid a grin. The mosquitoes here had nothing on the bird-size nightmares in Alaska.
    They hadn’t made it ten steps inside before a grey