Ivy - A Kaylor AU

Chapter 4

Karlie

I jumped in surprise at the woman's voice that came from behind me.  I spun to face the unknown person, keeping Emery firmly behind me in the process.  We had been here plenty of times in the past couple of years and never encountered anyone before.

I came face to face with those same piercing blue eyes as earlier in the day.  Her blonde ringlets were pulled into a messy bun, and she had a smidge of something on her cheek that I couldn't place from this distance.  A warm smile crossed her lips as she gestured towards the flowers peeking out from behind my legs.

"Thank you, flower expert. I don't know what we would've done without you," I answer teasingly, giving her a smile in return.  My grip relaxes on my daughter, and she tugs impatiently on my arm.

"The pleasure is all mine," she says, teasing right back and giving me a wink.

"Mommy!" Emery whines, tugging harder on my arm.  I give the blonde an apologetic look before kneeling down in front of my toddler.

"Emery, I know you want to help to give Daddy your flowers, but Mommy is busy right now. When we are all done, we will go to the park, but you have to be a good listener and be patient, please," I gently remind her while helping free a few flowers from the bunch and passing them to Emery. "Here, baby, get started with these, and then Mommy will help you."

Emery looks at the flowers in her hand with delight, running over to throw them one by one at the base of the headstone.  I step to the side to have both my baby and the blonde in my sight.

"I told you mine, but I never got your name earlier," I say to the blonde, who had busied herself looking at her phone.  She quickly shoved it in her pocket.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I'm Taylor," she said, taking a few more steps toward me and offering me her hand.  I took the outstretched hand and shook it gently, a familiar feeling coursing through me. "I sort of just assume that everyone here knows me at this point, and I thought you looked familiar earlier."

"I think I would've remembered crossing paths with you," I state boldly, fidgeting with the flowers to pull more loose before the toddler got bored of the ones she had.  I genuinely couldn't recall having seen the blonde before, but I had spent the last two years in a haze, dealing with my own grief and raising a tiny human at the same time.

"Fair enough," she retorts, eyeing Emery, picking the petals off of the flowers. Emery's eyes are shining as she lets the petals fall all over the grave.

"I didn't mean to distract you guys on your walk. I can buy you more flowers to replace those so you can take them home to your husband," she offers sincerely.

"That's quite okay," I respond, giving her a soft smile.  "Emery is already giving them to him." I gesture to the headstone where an engraved carving of Josh memorializes him, with the inscription "Loving husband, father of the light of our lives."

Her face dropped instantly, the kind of reaction I'm used to when people realize I'm a thirty-year-old widowed mother.  "I am so, so sorry," she says earnestly.  I usually hate this song and dance, but I can tell her words are sincere and full of empathy, not pity.

"It's okay, Taylor.  You didn't know," I offer her a small smile.  "And he gave me the best gift anyone could ever give me before he left," I say softly.  "We come here fairly often. I just want to make sure she knows her dad."

As if on cue, my daughter bounces back over to us, no trace of the flowers I gave her five minutes ago.  She looks between me and Taylor.  "F'iend?" she questions, cocking her head towards the blonde.

Taylor kneels down on my daughter's level, despite the fact she was wearing shorts.  "I'm Taylor," she introduces herself to the toddler. "Me and your mommy are friends, I guess," she smiles nervously, glancing back up at me.  I return a smile of reassurance.

"No, me f'iend," Emery whines, looking at Taylor.  I mouth a quick apology for my toddler's demanding behavior.

"Yeah, kiddo, I can be your friend too," she smiles warmly.