10. Ivy
Ivy
I’m trying to get an early start on my next project for work, but it’s like my brain knows it doesn’t have to be done yet, so it keeps wandering. I used to like to get a head start on everything. Now, I thrive on finishing at the last minute.
Zara arrives tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday, but I can’t focus on anything except her being here. I’m definitely going to introduce her to everyone first thing. Then I’ll show her Ivydell. Maybe we’ll go for a drive if she gets here early enough, and I’ll take her to that spot where Jensen took me with our picnic from Hilltop. I don’t have a truck with a tailgate, but we could sit on my trunk and look out at the view.
We could get the fourth best barbecue in Texas, stop at Hilltop on the way back, and share a few bottles of wine with Myrna.
She has to spend some time with Myrna and see her jewelry. Knowing Zara, she’ll want to schedule a session with the Spirit Sisters.
And then Friday, we’ll help with any last-minute stuff for the festival.
The slap on my door doesn’t even startle me anymore. Josephine flipped her schedule this week so she’d be around for the festival. She and Zara will hit it off for sure. “Open up. We need to talk.”
That’s not what she usually says. “Hey.” I pull the door open so she can step inside. “What’s going on?”
“Do not trust April. She’s not your friend, Ivy.”
“I know you don’t like her, Josephine, and I understand why, but she hasn’t done anything wrong to me. She’s not exactly friendly to anyone as far as I can tell, but—”
“You don’t understand anything about her. She has never called me before. Not once. But I heard from her this morning as I was leaving Albuquerque. Said she had to warn me about you.”
“What kind of warning?”
“She said she saw you and Cujo hugging on the path, and then you hopped on the back of his bike, wrapped your legs around him, and he drove off toward his casita.”
“Josephine, that’s not at all what happened, I swear!”
“I know. Cujo had already told me all about your rattlesnake scare. I’m just letting you know that this is the kind of shit she does. Especially where Cujo is concerned, apparently. They should’ve kicked her out of Ivydell a long time ago. Petra was hoping she wouldn’t come back this year after she . . . anyway, just don’t make the mistake of trusting her.”
“How’d she get your number?”
“From the list.”
“What list?”
“We all have each other’s contact information.”
“Oh. I guess it makes sense that you would.” And, of course, it makes sense that I wouldn’t have been given the list. I know that, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling slighted by it. Every time I turn around, there’s one more reminder.
“I can’t believe she tried to set me up like that. For the record, the only thing I wrapped around him was my arms, and only to hold on because I was still shaking. Do you think she really believed Cujo and I were sneaking around behind your back?”
“Who knows what goes on in her head? Honestly, she probably just wanted me to freak out on Cujo about it because she knows he hates that kind of shit. Maybe she thought he’d stop seeing me over it. She doesn’t get it, though. We’re not like that.”
“You’re the least jealous person I’ve ever met. How could she have thought that would work with you?”
“Well, you know me a lot better than she does.”
I don’t know why hearing that makes me feel so much better, but it does. “I’m surprised she didn’t call Jensen, too.”
“He hung up on her. She pissed me off, but she burned her bridge with Stinger. She better hope she doesn’t need anything repaired over the next few weeks.”
“Is that how long you think it’ll take him to get over it?” I’ve never seen him truly mad, but I would’ve guessed he’d hold a grudge longer than a few weeks.
Josephine’s mouth opens, but no words come out. Her eyes won’t meet mine. She takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I mean, he’ll be mad for at least that long. Don’t you think?”
“I’m not sure what I think right now.” It’s not my imagination, dammit. Everybody is acting strange.
“Your friend comes tomorrow, right?”
“She’ll get here tomorrow evening. You wanna hang out with us? I was hoping we could drink wine at Myrna’s for a while. If Tawny’s not too busy, maybe she’ll come over, too. I assume the community center will be set up for the festival and off limits.”
“Yeah, sure. Are you helping with the final festival prep tomorrow?”
“No one has mentioned anything. I specifically told Petra I wanted to help but she hasn’t—”
Josephine and I both laugh at the knock, as if my rising anger has summoned her. I was about to lose it over nothing. Petra steps inside and gives me the rundown. The path needs to be cleaned and raked again, but it’ll go much quicker than the first time. All the signs have to be put out—the signs I didn’t get a chance to repaint. And since I never got back to her about a casita for Zara, she took it upon herself to prepare the one next to Myrna’s.
“When did you do that? I never even saw you over there.”
“I came by, but you didn’t answer. Assumed you were with Stinger.”
“You should’ve called me. I would’ve come and taken care of that. But thanks.”
“He’s been angry enough lately. I didn’t want to add to it by taking you away for a few hours.”
“Jensen’s been angry? When?”
“Angry is probably not the right word. We’re all a little off-kilter, I suppose.”
“Because of the festival? Does everyone always get anxious like this right before it?”
Josephine shrugs. “Yeah, I think that’s probably it. It’s such a big undertaking, but you forget every year how draining it is.”
“It is draining,” Petra agrees. She doesn’t seem agitated, and that’s weird, too, because someone just answered for her, and she won’t usually let that slide. The woman likes to speak for herself.
“Sneaks up on you,” Josephine says.
“Sure does. Time slips away. Speaking of Stinger, he’s going to be busy all weekend, so if you want to see him again before Monday night’s dinner, tonight is probably your last chance. I assume you’ll want to spend time with Zara tomorrow night.”
“Yeah, I was thinking maybe I’d introduce her to everyone, take her to dinner, and then we could hang out with anyone who’s available for a wine night.”
“Why the hell not?” Petra throws her arms up. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt anything if we’re all running on adrenaline this year. We can sleep Monday.”
“Jensen can’t. He and I have an errand to run on Monday.”
“Good luck with that,” Josephine says.
“Hey,” I say, looking directly at Petra. “Did you really just encourage me to spend time with Jensen?”
She smiles. “I must be getting soft in my old age.”
“What about packaging your soaps? And we never made the candles. Damn, time really did slip away.”
“You can wrap soaps tomorrow until your heart’s content. I’ll send you home with plenty of oils to make candles. Maybe you can start a side business.”
The reality of how short my time here is hits hard. Zara leaves Tuesday morning, and I leave on Friday. Next week is it.
I tell Petra I want to help with all the outside work in the morning, and then I’ll wrap her soaps in the afternoon. She waves me off when I tell her I’ll be able to help again on Friday. “No way. Zara is driving nine hours to see you. Spend Friday with your friend. The weekend will be over before you know it.”
Josephine says she’ll be available for whatever needs to be done. Petra thanks us both, and then she leaves.
I try not to read too much into anything, to not let my imagination get carried away.
“Are you a vendor at the festival?” It hadn’t occurred to me before to ask Josephine if she was doing tattoos here this weekend, but I assumed she would be.
“No. I’m not an artist this weekend. I’m just a helper.”
“I leave next week.” I don’t know why I say it so abruptly.
“I know.”
“What if I changed my mind about getting a tattoo before I left?” Yeah, not sure why I just said that out loud either.
“I’ll be around until Thursday.” She leaves with a self-assured smile on her face.
I have exactly one week to decide. I text Jensen.
Thinking about getting a tattoo.
. . .
I don’t wait for his words to appear.
Wondering if you might want to come examine every inch of my body and tell me where I should get it.
I might have to go over you twice to be sure.
Door is unlocked and I’m already naked.
I’m a liar, but I can be naked by the time he gets here.
Barely.
“Whoa. Did you drive or take a plane?”
“I was close when you sent the first text. You weren’t naked yet when you sent me the last one, though.”
“But I am now.” I toss my underwear on the bed.
“Hands on the mattress. Bend over.” He reaches behind his back and locks my door.
“Ah, starting your inspection with my backside, huh?”
“Sure.”
I love when his smile turns devious. His eyes glimmer. He licks his lips, and steps toward me, counting as he advances. “One. Two.”
“A countdown? Is that supposed to scare me?” My toes curl in anticipation of his next move. There’s a tingling sensation at the base of my spine, making it nearly impossible to stand still.
“Three.” He lunges for me.
I yelp, but I don’t run away. He laughs, knowing he succeeded in scaring me. I’m braced for him to spin me around or push me onto the bed, but he sinks his hands deep into my hair on either side of my face and stares into my eyes. “You should know that I think of you as mine, Ivy Dell McAdams. I can’t tell you when it started, but if knowing this makes you uncomfortable, I need you to tell me. If a relationship isn’t what you want, say it now.”
“There’s no part of me that wants to say that. As long as you know that I’m not going to change for you, Jensen James Stinger. Not one bit. I’m still going to be me, even the parts that make you crazy. If knowing this makes you want to reconsider, you should do that now.”
“I’ve spent the past four years of my life considering and reconsidering, questioning every choice I ever made, and I have never felt more certain about anything than I do you.”
I blink tears from the corners of my eyes. His kiss is soft, and his fingers massage my scalp as his tongue finds mine. I don’t do romance, dammit.
He’s already changed me. “I guess you want to make love to me now, too.”
“Right after I’m done tattooing my handprint on your ass.”
And they say the perfect man doesn’t exist.
He kisses my neck, and brings his hands to my back, pulling me closer.
“You need to claim me first?”
“I might need to claim you all night long.” His warm hands glide up and down my back.
“The last thing I expected to find here was a shirtless man with a scorpion tattoo, who would change my whole life.” I trace the scorpion’s tail with my fingertip.
“Is that what you tell your friends about me?” He squeezes my ass.
“Of course not. I tell them you’re just some hot guy I’m fucking to pass the time.”
“Well, they probably need some new material.” He pulls the blanket off my bed. “Wrap up.”
“Why?”
“So if any cars pass us, they won’t realize you’re riding in my truck completely naked.”
“Where are we going?”
“To a place with an incredible view.”
“Sunset’s almost over.”
“Full moon. I’ll be able to see you just fine.”