Chapter Thirty-One
She’d kissed him.
Right in front of everybody, she’d kissed him. All because he’d grabbed food at Curly’s. What would she do if he did something actually impressive, like build her a house with his own two hands?
Grant walked around the party on fluffy clouds after that, his feet nowhere near the ground.
He resisted the urge to stop every person he passed to find out if they’d seen Ivy kiss him, because he wanted everyone to know there’d been a public display of affection.
There were witnesses now, so whatever happened, she couldn’t sweep them under the rug.
“You know,” he whispered in her ear, his hand sliding over the curvature of her ass, “we could sneak upstairs and do unspeakable things in your childhood bedroom.”
Ivy smirked over the rim of her wineglass. “First the tree house, now my bedroom. You’re on a mission to make all my favorite places X-rated.”
“I’m not opposed to a little movie magic— Oof.”
She caught him off guard with a firm backhand to his abdomen, but it was worth it because she was trying so hard to look shocked while trying not to smile.
Toward the front of the house, someone started to tap a fork against the side of a glass. The sound spread through the first floor, clinking glass mixed with the hollow thump of plastic, and then a hush fell over everyone.
Paul stood on the coffee table, a glass of wine in his hand, surveying the assembled crowd.
“Thank you all so much for coming. I know on a Friday night in Coeur-de-Lac, there are a lot of other places you could be, but we’re so grateful you chose to spend your evening with us.
” Laughter rippled through the crowd. “This was pitched to me as a small, intimate gathering to celebrate the holiday season. I had no idea I was going to be the guest of honor at a Professor Weaver look-alike contest. If you were wondering, the winner is my final graduate student, David. Wave to the people, David.”
David, who’d taken refuge in a corner, sheepishly waved a hand. His tweed blazer, green sweater, and brown corduroy slacks looked like they’d been stolen from Paul’s closet.
“We’ve spent so much time together that we’ve started to resemble each other, the way dogs start to look like their owners.
” Another ripple of laughter, but while the chuckles settled, Paul’s chin began to quiver, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Tomorrow David receives his hood, and I move into retirement.
The circle of academic life. I have been so blessed to be an educator for more than thirty years.
Every day I have gone to campus, grateful and amazed that I got to prove my junior high PE teacher wrong because there were, in fact, people who would pay me to read.
“Sophie and I have talked a lot about what our lives might look like once we retired. In recent years, we’ve been able to travel more because our daughter, Ivy, became a flight attendant.
She gave us the gift of sitting at the airport, rooting for people to miss their connections so we could have their seats. ”
Ivy covered her face with her free hand and groaned. “Someone needs to find the gong.”
Paul cleared his throat. “Since so many of our nearest and dearest are gathered here tonight, it seems like a perfect time to make an important announcement. We’re not sure on all the details yet, but we’re going to be selling our house and moving to be closer to Ivy.”
Grant’s gaze moved from Paul to his mother. He didn’t know how he’d managed to find her in the crowd of people, but her face shifted from horrified shock to steely mask in the span of a blink.
“Can you hold this?” he asked Ivy, handing her his drink at the same time his mother began to squeeze through the crowd for an exit.
“Mom!” Grant shouted as he bounded down the porch steps after her. “Where are you going?”
Grace was almost over the property line when she stopped in her tracks. “Why the hell is your truck parked there?”
“There wasn’t anywhere else to park. Why does it matter?” He caught up to her right as her shoulders began to shake. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“How could she not tell me? She’s leaving me, and I have to find out at the same time as every other random person in her life?
She’s my best damn friend. We were supposed to grow old together.
We were going to watch our grandchildren play together in the yard and take cruises without our husbands.
I need her. She can’t leave me,” Grace sobbed.
Grant wrapped his arms around his mother and let her cry into his chest.
“Your dad doesn’t want to be around me and now Sophie, too. What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing,” he soothed, rubbing her back in slow circles. “Dad wants to be around you. So does Sophie. She just wants to be around Ivy, too.”
Grace took a few shuddering breaths, then sniffled.
“Sophie has been distant for months. Your dad hasn’t cared about anything but work in years.
You’ve got your own place and your own life, Lorelai lives in Madison, Austin and Piper are in L.A.
I’m all by myself now.” She looked up at him with a red nose and watery eyes.
“Did you think I joined a bowling league for fun? I’m lonely as hell. ”
“You joined a bowling league?”
She nodded, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her tweed jacket. “I couldn’t stand being in the house by myself anymore.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were lonely? I would have come over.”
A weak smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I know you would have. But you’re supposed to be dating, living life, making memories—not worrying about your mom. I’m not your responsibility.” She blinked back a few tears. “Not yet, anyway. I’m trying to save all my favors for the diaper years.”
Grant put an arm around her shoulders, and she wrapped an arm around his waist as they walked toward their house. “Does Dad know how you feel?”
“Your dad doesn’t even know I’ve left the party.
He’ll come to bed tonight having absolutely no idea we got home at different times.
” She sighed. “Raising kids is hard. It’s worthwhile and rewarding, but it is hard, hard work.
At some point, your dad and I became coworkers instead of spouses, and now that you’re all gone, we don’t have anything in common anymore. ”
“What are you saying?” Grant asked as they mounted the porch steps. “Are you and Dad going to get a divorce?”
The dancing Santa began to shake its hips and sing as soon as they stepped into the foyer. Grace sighed and sat on the bench to take off her shoes.
“Don’t worry about me. Go back to the party and spend time with Ivy.” She tried to look disapproving, but a persistent, wry grin betrayed her. “I heard she kissed you by the mistletoe wreath. Anything you’d like to share?”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, which set off the dancing Santa again. It really was impossible to keep anything hidden from his mother.
“When I have some concrete answers, I’ll let you know.”
“You should invite her over tomorrow night to watch Elf with us.”
“Nothing screams romance like Gemma asking everyone repeatedly what their favorite color is.” But the idea of Ivy integrated into a family tradition was romantic, so he said, “I’ll see if she’s interested.”
The guilt was strong as he left his parents’ house. He shouldn’t abandon his mother when she was sad. He should have noticed she was lonely. He should have warned her that Sophie was moving.
On that last point, he’d been positive that Sophie would have said something to Grace. If he found out from a speech at a party that Tony was moving, he wouldn’t have had the tact to go outside before losing his shit.
“There you are.” Ivy’s voice made him look up. She’d almost made it to his house. “Why’d you leave?”
“Helping my mom get home.”
He reached her on the sidewalk and pulled her into a tight hug. If they got together, were they doomed to repeat his parents’ mistakes?
“What are you doing tomorrow?” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Dad’s last graduation and then…” She shrugged. “Did you have something in mind?”
“Would you like to come over and watch Elf with me and my family? We make hot chocolate, cookies…”
“Are you trying to sell me on wholesome Christmas traditions after propositioning me at my dad’s retirement party?”
“A man can contain multitudes.”
“If I say yes to the wholesome, is the propositioning still on the table?”
Grant stared at her intensely. “The propositioning is always on the table.”
Ivy wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then take me back to your place so I can thank you properly for being the most wonderful man in the world.”
“If I help clean up, does that increase the thanks or…?”
“I need to be home by nine in the morning, so if you want any thanks at all, we’ve got to get this show on the road.”
“Oh, well, in that case…”
He scooped her up, just like he had after he’d rescued her from the tree, and walked quickly toward his truck.
Ivy’s head fell back, and she laughed with the kind of joy that made life worth living.
It was unfathomable that there could ever be a time in his life when he might possibly take her for granted.
He only hoped he’d have a chance to prove it.