Chapter 39
Ivy
“You two go ahead of me, I’ll be right there,” I call over to Wesley from the kitchen.
He looks over at me from where he’s crouched on the ground tying Delilah’s shoe, and arches an eyebrow. “Why are you acting weird?” he asks.
I look down at myself, like I could visibly see the weirdness he’s talking about. I know I am, but I’m choosing to gaslight him right now. “I’m not acting weird, you're acting weird.”
“Alright, let's go bug. Ivy will meet us there,” he says, and ushers Delilah out the door. Before shutting it behind him, he pops his head in one last time. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but behave,” he says.
“No promises,” I snipe back, and scrape my teeth over my bottom lip.
Wesley mutters something about being the death of him, but finally leaves the house.
The second the door clicks shut, I whip my phone out and pull up the delivery tracking link I’ve refreshed twelve times today already.
It should be here any minute. I run over to the large bay window in the front of the house to look outside, and wait like a kid on christmas morning.
As if Wesley and Delilah’s departure summoned it, the large mail truck comes ambling up the gravel road, kicking up dust in its wake.
I don’t even let the delivery driver leave his truck, meeting him at his door to sign for the package.
After handing his tablet back over, I don’t waste a second, tossing my thanks over my shoulder and start hustling up the road to Buck and Maggies.
When I enter the front door, the unmistakable smell of Maggie’s cooking wafts through the air. My stomach grumbles reflexively, but I ignore it for now, and set off to complete the next part for my plan.
Following the sound of several voices all talking at once, I make my way into the large farm style kitchen to find just about every Cooper in here. Oh, and one Fletcher.
Wesley is standing next to Delilah, who’s sitting on the counter. Lincoln, Sophie, Beau, Maggie, and Buck all surround the kitchen island as well, arguing over something I haven’t caught on to yet.
“I don’t know how to work it,” Buck chuffs, slapping his hand down on the marble countertop.
“You hit two buttons, Buck. It’s not that difficult,” Maggie says with an eye roll.
“I just don’t see what was wrong with the last machine,” he grumbles.
“It broke, Dad.” Sophie laughs. “Linc got his wish.”
“Yeah, he probably broke it,” Buck accuses.
Voices raise, and they all argue over the accusations of coffee maker sabotage. I tune them out, and rifle through drawers to find a pair of scissors. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Wesley eyeing me suspiciously, but carry on anyway.
“Beau, would you look at an injury on Sophie’s back?” I hear Maggie ask.
“Mother. No,” Sophie nearly growls. “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”
“Yes, but from an old piece of wood Sophie June. I don’t want it to get infected.”
I slice my gaze over to my best friend, and the bane of her existence, as I cut the box open, and rifle through the packing peanuts. Beau’s eyebrows lower, and he scans Sophie.
“Yes, but I cleaned it. I’ll be fine,” she says exasperated.
“Hush, just lift the back of your shirt and show him,” Maggie demands in her mom voice.
Sophie hesitantly peeks at Beau, and he stares at her for a beat, before only giving her a subtle nod.
“Fine,” Sophie spits, turning her back and lifting the bottom hem of her shirt for Beau.
I spot the shimmering paint through the sea of styrofoam and do my best not to laugh triumphantly.
Refocusing on Beau and Sophie, like everyone else has seemed to do, I watch as he just stares at her lower back, not saying a word.
But there's something in his eyes. It's soft, affectionate even. What the hell?
After about a minute, Sophie breaks the silence. “Well?” She’s clearly irritated.
Beau clears his throat. “Neosporin.” That’s all he says.
One word.
Sophie cheeks flame fire engine red, and she pulls her shirt down immediately. “Shocking.” is her reply as she marches out of the kitchen and into the dining room. I follow her, package hiked up on my hip.
“Take me out back and shoot me, Ivy. I can’t do this anymore,” she hisses, not even turning back, well aware I'm on her heels.
“It was like watching a car crash. I couldn’t look away,” I whisper back.
She turns on her heel so quick, I run into her chest, stumbling backwards along with a few pieces of packing peanuts. She grabs my upper arms, steadying me and muttering her apologies.
“Look on the brightside, you have a date tonight,” I remind her with a broad smile.
“Yeah. You’re right,” she responds, chewing on the corner of her lip.
“Not to change the subject in your time of need, but I need a favor,” I tell her.
“Shoot.”
I give Sophie the rundown of my plan, and she shakes her head at my antics.
“This has gone way too far. You know that right?” she asks through a laugh as she looks inside the box.
“Oh, I’m painfully aware,” I reply honestly.
“Yes. Go. I’ll bring her out there in twenty minutes,” she responds, returning to the kitchen with me, and immediately distracting Delilah for me.
I grab Wesley by the hand, tugging him toward the back door that leads onto the deck.
“Am I about to find out why you’ve been weird?” he asks from behind.
“Yep.”
————
“Ivy, Honey. What is that?” Wesley asks, hands on his hips, staring at the red, shimmery, scaled egg in my hand.
“A dragon egg,” I say, deadpan.
“It’s huge,” he scoffs.
“That’s what she said.”
Wesley sighs. “Walked right into that one,” he says quietly.
“Dragons are big. Hence, the giant egg,” I reply to him seriously now, shaking the dense, plastic egg in my hand.
“And we're doing what with it?” he asks, not inquiring further about how or where I got it.
Good boy.
“Finding a spot for Delilah to find it,” I reply, turning on my heel and marching further into the forest.
The sun is low in the sky, and the late summer breeze has almost turned crisp in the evenings.
Fall is just around the corner, and the pine needles, and forest floor crunch underneath my sneakers, followed by the sound of much bigger, much heavier footfalls.
After a few minutes, I finally find the perfect spot.
Nestled in the crook of a fallen tree, sits a large patch of damp moss. I quicken my steps, and gently set down the pricey piece of glittering plastic, nestling it down deep into the greenery.
“You’re off your rocker,” he mumbles behind me.
I scoff. “You love it. You’re obsessed with me,” I toss over my shoulder as I fluff the moss.
“That I am,” he admits, quietly, coming up behind me with a handful of leaves, and small twigs. He reaches over my shoulder and tries to faintly disguise the egg, making it seem more natural. I shoot him an amused look over my shoulder, to which he just shrugs sheepishly.
I take a step back, and admire our handiwork. Delilah is going to freak out.
I feel the heat from Wesley’s body behind me. He sweeps my hair off of one shoulder, exposing my neck and placing a gentle kiss to sensitive skin beneath my ear.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“No need to thank me.” I shiver in response to his touch, goosebumps hitting me like a tidal wave.
I turn around to face him, and don’t miss the heat in his stare. It sparks something in me, and I smirk taking a couple steps back. Wesley cocks his head, eyeing me up and down.
“What’re you doing?” he asks.
I hope he catches on.
He read a scene in my book last night that should give him some insight. He was so turned on after, he bent me over the armchair in our room, and fucked me so hard I could barely walk this morning.
I shrug a shoulder, and bite my lip, taking a few more steps backward.
He takes a step toward me, but then I turn and take off at a sprint back towards the house.
We walked pretty far, so I have a good portion of forest to run through before I make it back.
Heavy footsteps thunder behind me, and I squeal from the excitement and nerves.
Trees blur as my momentum increases, and my heart hammers in my chest.
“You little brat,” I hear Wesley growl from behind.
I take a chance and peek over my shoulder and see that Wesley is far closer than I thought.
Damn him and his long legs. I run about a hundred more feet before I turn around again, but Wesley is nowhere to be seen.
I slowly halt my steps, and glance around at my surroundings, panting.
That’s when two strong arms wrap around me from behind, startling me and pressing me up against a wide tree.
My laughter makes me breathless, and my heart pounds in my chest. But as I look up at Wesley, he looks breathless from something else entirely.
His eyes are blown out, and our gazes stay locked in the silence between us.
The gentle quiet of the forest has completely enveloped us, and then he’s kissing me.
Kissing me like he couldn’t possibly hold it in a second longer.
I melt into him, hands raking through his messy hair.
Wesley breaks away, breathing heavily. He looks down at me, and his navy blue eyes dance between mine. “I love you,” he breathes.
“What was it you said? You didn’t fall, you plummeted?” I tease, tugging on his shirt to bring him closer.
He nods, and licks his bottom lip. “Headfirst.”
I hum in answer, then pull him down for another kiss. “I love you too,” I whisper onto his lips.
Before he has a chance to reply, we hear the tell-tale sounds of us no longer being alone. Pine needles crunch and voices begin to echo through the trees.
“Iby? Daddy?” Delilah calls out.
When we look around the tree trunk, we see Sophie holding hands with Delilah and walking in our direction.
“Hey,” Wesley calls out.
Delilah spots him immediately, and comes running toward us.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Sophie calls out, amusement lacing every word.
I tell Delilah that my dragon senses were tingling and that’s why we ran out here. She is so excited she is in full detective mode. We lead her right next to the moss covered tree, and I stop dead in my tracks and sniff the air for effect.
“It’s definitely nearby,” I declare.
Wesley mutters something along the lines of for the love of god, but his daughter’s diligence only increases.
I let her lead the way, and when the tree and egg finally come into view, Delilah gasps.
The evening sun is shining through the trees just right to paint a golden hue over the egg, making the moment that more theatrical.
Delilah runs over and unearths it from the stick and leaf pile, picking it up and holding it in the air like it’s Simba and she’s Rafiki.
She giggles and squeals, and starts jumping up and down frantically, and I choose not to think too deeply into how far I took this charade.
I fear the day she finds out it’s a hunk of plastic.
“We have to put it in the fire!” she shouts.
Uh, what?
“Why would we do that?” I ask through a nervous chuckle.
“Uncle Mav said that’s how you hatch a dragon egg,” she says incredulously.
Mother. Fucker.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Wesley’s chest shake with restrained laughter, and I can’t help but laugh too. Wesley slips his hand into mine, squeezing in comfort. We stand there, just watching Delilah marvel and grin at the glittering egg that is very much not flame resistant.
I have absolutely no idea how I’ll get out of this one, but what I do know is that in the middle of the woods, heart overflowing, with Wesley’s hand in mine, and our girl by our side, I’m home.