Free Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth Page A

bad.
    â€œAbout your mother, I knew she and Magdalena were talking Sunday after service but I didn’t know it was about a job. That’s wonderful. And I assume your mother is there now?”
    â€œUm, yeah.” Suddenly I wished I hadn’t been so open, him saving me from falling or not. Because, think about it, I wouldn’t have fallen if he hadn’t been standing in my way. He even admitted it was his fault. And if the Hickory Presbyterian Church wasn’t sure enough about him to keep him, why should I be?
    â€œWell, I have to go.” I inched my way back toward the house.
    â€œBut weren’t you on your way out?”
    â€œWhat? Oh, yeah.” I reached for the knob behind me. “But I changed my mind.”
    I yanked open the door and slipped in quickly. “Good seein’ ya!” I called as I closed the door and locked it.
    I peeked through the window curtain. He had a confused look on his face. It was a round face that was easy to read because its normal state was kind of blank. Not blank as in stupid, just no outstanding features, as Mama would have said. He looked kind of young, at least not old, but wore his hair real short so he almost looked bald. You couldn’t even really make out what color it was from the stubble. If you wanted a definition for the word “average” you could just point to Pastor Harold and no other words were needed. He did have kind eyes, though. I mean, when you talked to him, you really felt like he was listening and, I guess, that was nice.
    Finally he got into his small silver car and pulled away. I took a deep breath, then opened the front door again. I headed to Dining Divinely to see if Mama could send tonight’s supper home early with me.
    I took a shortcut to town, down the alley two blocks and then another six blocks on a side street. I came out on Main Street and what did I see but Pastor Harold parallel parking right in front of me. He hopped out of his car and said, “Ivy? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I could have given you a ride.”
    â€œI don’t ride with strangers,” I said, Mama’s training finally kicking in. But I felt kind of bad about it because he really did seem pretty friendly. Especially when he said, “I understand. That’s wise of you. There’s no way to tell a mean stranger from a friendly one. Although, I’m not exactly a stranger, right?”
    He held the door to the restaurant open for me.
    I walked by him and said, “No stranger than most, I guess.”
    He threw back his head and laughed. I felt a kind of smile creep across my face. I didn’t really want it to because I was trying to act all confident and grown up but my mouth had a mind of its own.
    I hadn’t been inside the restaurant since Magdalena had taken over Ed’s Grill. Back then it had booths that felt sort of sticky and the smell of grease hung heavy in the air. Now there were fake pink flowers on every table and place mats with silverware wrapped in a paper napkin and tied with a bow. She’d hung heavy maroon curtains pulled back at the windows. It was kind of fancy compared to what it had been when it was Ed’s Grill.
    Mama had poured coffee into some cups at a table and was on her way back to the counter when she saw me.
    â€œIvy!” At first she smiled, but then she said in her worried mama’s voice, “What’s wrong?”
    It wasn’t until then that I remembered Ellen’s mother’s rule—that it had better be a full-blown emergency before bothering her at work—and I wondered if I would get into trouble. But then, maybe being hungry with no supper qualified as an emergency. I had to go with that because it’s all I had.
    Mama pulled out a chair and said, “Where’s JJ? Sit down here. Tell me what’s going on.”
    â€œOkay.” My voice squeaked a bit. I squared my shoulders because this was no time