Chapter 22
22
Holly
December 27
Hudson Valley, New York
Early the next morning, Holly climbs the loft ladder to check on Ivy again, as she has several times in the night. Her friend is still breathing slowly and evenly, in a deep sleep that lasted all night. Holly climbs back down to her nest of blankets on the couch, where she slept to give her friend extra peace and quiet, and looks again at Ivy’s phone, but no one has called or texted. “Darn you, Oliver.”
She leans back on her pillow and thinks of the night before, when she reached for her best friend’s hand and told her she didn’t need to beg forgiveness for not telling her about Matt and Abby for one second longer. “I get it,” she told Ivy. “And there’s nothing to forgive. You were trying to be a good friend to me by shielding me from something that, you’re right, would have been devastating a few days ago. But somehow, today, it’s not. If anything, it makes me more certain than ever that I made the right decision about Aiden. Matt does not deserve even one more moment of my life, or my thoughts.”
Ivy had breathed a sharp sigh of relief and wiped away another tear that had fallen. “And not telling you about Oliver and my feelings for him—I could hardly even admit it to myself, let alone to you. I was afraid telling you about it might jinx it somehow.” At that point, she had looked down at her phone, still devoid of notifications. “But maybe he didn’t feel it as strongly as I did. Maybe he’s upset I left. I’ll get in touch eventually, but right now, I’m just so tired.”
“Of course you are. Why don’t you go up and get in bed, and sleep for as long as you can? If your phone rings, or if he texts, I’ll wake you up.”
Ivy nodded wearily. “I’ll just leave it down here,” she said. “So I’m not tempted to check it every minute. I really need to get some rest.”
Holly had watched as her friend climbed tiredly up the ladder before setting herself up for the night on the comfy couch.
Now she checks her friend’s phone for the umpteenth time. “What is with you, Oliver?” Holly mutters through gritted teeth. She can only imagine how sad Ivy will be when she wakes to find out the guy she fell for harder than anyone else in her life has still not reached out.
But then, Holly notices something. A little crescent moon at the top of Ivy’s phone—meaning it has been on “do not disturb” since Ivy arrived. She taps in the passcode without thinking twice—Ivy knows hers, too, and would do the same. Practically the moment she turns off the “do not disturb” function, the phone rings in her hand. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to get up the ladder to alert Ivy fast enough, she hits answer.
“Hello?”
A deep, appealing male voice. “Ivy?”
“No, actually, it’s Holly.”
“The best friend. Hello. My name is Oliver Donohue. A friend of Ivy’s from Hawaii.”
“Oh, she told me about you, Oliver.”
He sounds concerned. “Is Ivy okay? Larry gave me her flight info, but her phone has been going straight to voicemail since she landed, and she hasn’t replied to any of my texts.”
“She’s fine. She’s sleeping. It looks like she accidentally left her phone on ‘do not disturb.’ It must have been an accident.”
She can hear him breathing a sigh of relief. “I thought maybe she had ghosted me,” Oliver admits, and Holly likes him already, admires his candor.
“No way,” Holly says. “Ivy wouldn’t do that.” She refrains from adding Especially not to you , because she knows Ivy is very good at playing it cool, and would want Holly to do the same on her behalf—no matter how head over heels her friend is for this guy.
“Good,” he says. “I was starting to wonder. Which was starting to make the fact that I flew to New York after I found out she was gone…well, a little awkward.”
“Oliver!” Holly claps a delighted hand over her mouth. “You’re in New York?”
“I just landed at LaGuardia about half an hour ago. You’re her best friend, so you’re going to find this out eventually, but I fell hard for her. And when I read her letter, I made a decision. I think Larry called it a grand gesture. I decided to get on a plane. I decided to chase after her.”
“Levitate,” Holly whispers, still in awe.
“Pardon me?”
“Oh, nothing. So you’re in New York,” she says again.
“I am. And I’ve been trying to call Ivy to get the address of your cabin. But she wasn’t answering. Now I know why.”
Holly’s cheeks hurt, she’s smiling so hard. She glances up at the loft, where her sad, sleeping friend is—and her heart feels like it’s expanding in her chest. She gives Oliver the address. “I’m going to head out,” she says. “So that you two can talk in private when you get here. But Oliver? I really look forward to meeting you later.”
She hangs up and leaves Ivy a note, explaining how to use the solar shower and telling her she’ll be back later. Text me when you want me to come back , she says, hoping it’s not too obvious that there’ll be a reason Ivy might not want her friend around. Then Holly dresses, texts Aiden, and drives to his cabin, the smile never leaving her face.