Free As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman Page A

everything else that seemed to be happening lately, it had been an impulse that snuck up from behind, caught her by surprise. Ivy opened her mouth and words came out that she hadn’t planned. She sat down at her desk at school and wrote answers that she knew were wrong.
    Same thing now. Ivy wasn’t sure where the urge to slither onto the floor came from, except that it allowed her to bury her face in Mackie’s fur. He hardly even lifted his head, just gave another soft snort as Ivy cried and cried against him.
    —
    Her phone buzzed, but Ivy ignored it. Just Darcy probably, texting back to say something lame like
yeah
to Ivy’s equally lame
bummer
comment. Ivy wiped her nose, keeping her face buried in Mackie’s flank, which rose and fell at a pace as comforting as the tides. Her phone gave another insistent rotation and Ivy finally reached up to grab it off her bed. Maybe the game had finished early and Melissa was going to come over after all.
    whats up read the words on the screen.
    She glanced down at the number, unfamiliar at first, before realizing who it must be.
    He’d given her a ride earlier, after Melissa was stuck in detention and her other friends lamed out.
    Ivy’s whole face heated. She stared at the message, thumbs hovering.
    not much she typed, hearing Darcy cackle in her head.
Can’t you come up with anything better than that?
    u? Ivy added, Darcy laughing all the harder.
    same came Cory’s reply. want to do something?
    i thought a storm is coming? can u get ur car?
    i can always get the car
    my parents might not want me to go out Ivy typed, which wasn’t a lie, although she had the scary, perilous sense that she might be able to get around the rules just by threatening another outburst, or launching a camouflaged exit strategy.
    Cory’s reply appeared on her screen.
    dude, did you see how slow i drove when i dropped you off? ur parents would probably let me take u to burning man if i asked
    Ivy wasn’t sure what he meant, but the message sent a thrill down her shoulders. She leaned over and squeezed Mackie, muffling her squeal in his coat.
    The front door banged downstairs. Hard. It made the wall in her bedroom, which was right above the entryway, vibrate. Ivy’s dad always yelled at her for being careless with the door. “Hypocrite,” she said out loud, the word a surprising, bitter tablet on her tongue. Plus now her dad would probably be buffing out the mark on the wall when Cory arrived.
    Her phone trembled in her hand and Ivy looked at it again.
    so what do u say
    Ivy glanced out into the hall. She typed swiftly, before she could change her mind.
    sure come on over
    There came the sound of twin thuds then—hard to place, different from the door—and Ivy set her phone aside.
    “Mom?” she called out. “Dad?”

CHAPTER FIVE
    S andy surprised herself by cleaning her plate. Pasta, salad, bread, all gone. A balloon of red wine drunk even. By dinnertime, she wasn’t usually all that hungry; actually, Sandy had never been the biggest eater. But tonight Ben had awakened all sorts of appetites, and Sandy felt a slow, grateful burn as she looked across the table to him.
    “This was nice,” she said softly.
    He gestured to the plates. “Great meal.”
    “Great lots of things,” she said, and he reached out, closing her fingers up in his.
    “Not much left to clean,” Ben remarked as they stood. He surveyed the lone pot on the stove, the sparse place settings required by just the two of them.
    “We could even leave it for tomorrow,” Sandy teased. She could no sooner imagine her husband putting off chores than she could see him resisting the challenge of a climb.
    But Ben surprised her, appearing to consider the idea before glancing at the clock. “It’s early,” he said, and it was, just a few minutes after seven. “I’ll finish up. Meet you upstairs.”
    A long, luxurious night stretched ahead. Sandy decided she would fill the oversized tub in the master bath, big enough for two,