19. Room For You
Room For You
Ivy
I’d never been so glad to see people walk into my shop like this. Maisy wasn’t alone; Chelsea and Rex, Richard and Brooks, too, followed her inside. No matter how hesitant I’d been about them Sunday night, they were here.
Seth’s grip released like a switch had been flipped. He dropped back, eyeing the men who had entered. They eyed him back. They couldn’t have seen what happened. Or if they had, they were too polite to bring it up. Either way, the men stayed nearby, and I was very grateful.
Maisy gravitated toward the boot wall, running her hand along the leather with the practiced eye of someone who knew quality.
“I love this,” Chelsea held up a denim jacket with embroidered wildflowers on the back, tilting her head like she was mentally pairing it with three different outfits.
Oblivious to the threatening man at the counter, the two women waved at me. I returned the wave, putting on a brave smile, while every muscle in my body was still coiled tight, adrenaline with nowhere to go, arm throbbing where his fingers had been.
“Hi everyone. I hoped you’d stop by to see me and my collection of boots.” I didn’t dare bring up Colt, not in front of Seth. I didn’t want him to have any indication that these people were connected to Colt in any way, for fear they’d be added to Seth’s list of people he’d harm.
“Oh, believe me, we’re here to shop, but we also wanted to spend time with you,” Maisy said, her eyes darting between Seth and me. “Unless this is a bad time?”
“Your timing is perfect. He was just leaving.” I glared at him.
Seth tugged at the lapels of his jacket, rolling his shoulders, as if transforming. The snarl gone, replaced by a smile that, if one didn’t know him, might be considered handsome.
“Ladies,” he started, warm as sunshine. “If you’re looking for a great pair of boots, you won’t find anything better than what Ivy sells. She’s the best in the county.” He shot me a look that promised this wasn’t over, and moved toward the door. “I’ll be in touch again, Ivy. You can count on that.”
The bell chimed as he left. The coldness followed him out.
I stood behind the counter with my arm throbbing where his fingers had been and my phone still recording on the counter beside me.
For what felt like the first time all day, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding.
I hit stop on the recording, my bare wrist without the bracelet a painful reminder of Mom, of love and loss.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on it right now.
I turned my attention to Colt’s sisters with a smile.
An hour later, I realized how much I really enjoyed them.
They were a force of nature, smart and strong, women who obviously had money, but more than that, pure class and the sweetest of hearts.
They had practically pulled half my inventory off the shelves and created a growing pile on the counter that included everything—boots, dresses, shirts, jeans, a tooled leather belt, the wildflower denim jacket, a stack of graphic tees silkscreened by a local artisan group with Montana-centric designs.
Most of it presents for everyone in their family, and for themselves. They even wanted a gift card to give Colt to spend before he came home for Christmas.
I had never seen anything like it in my life. Money was not a problem, which was good considering the rising total. I rang things up in a grateful daze, my hands shaking slightly from what had happened minutes before they arrived, steadying a little more with each scan of a price tag.
I made sure to smile at the right moments, laugh at their jokes, keep my eyes on whoever was speaking—all while my mind was splitting its attention.
Half of it was here, trying to keep up with the conversation.
The other half was thinking about what came next: the moment they left, I would lock the door, pull out my phone, and call Gavin.
I had a recording—Seth’s voice admitting to the fence-cutting, the things he did for his dad, all of it.
It had to be enough. If the sheriff could arrest him, my sisters and I might be safe.
I gathered Maisy’s husband Brooks was a professor of architecture, only after he’d already built a multi-million dollar firm with his twin Archer.
Rex and Richard were the heirs to the Buchanan Energy throne, but now focused on real estate development.
They talked about their kids easily, their homes warmly, and Colt with a tenderness that made me miss him so much.
Every few minutes, I found myself glancing at the windows.
The street out front. The gap between the boot display and the door.
Watching for a figure in a leather jacket.
The part of me that kept the smile in place and asked the right questions and efficiently rang up their purchases was running on fumes, on pure performance, the same way I’d held it together in Seth’s grip.
But I kept the smile steady and my voice light, and my eyes from landing too long on any one window.
“We’re going to need these shipped,” Chelsea said, eyeing the pile. “There’s no way this is fitting in our bags. I mean, we flew out here on the private jet, but this is a lot to pack in there. I hope that’s okay.”
“Can you be sure to add a percentage to cover the shipping costs to the final total?” Rex handed me a black card.
“Absolutely. I ship all the time. I’ll have everything sent to you by next week.” I would definitely need to restock before Christmas now; no one would hear me complaining about that.
This single visit would make my monthly budget, and then some. I boxed and wrapped and tagged while they wandered back for a second and third pass, pulling things off shelves I’d forgotten I had.
It was during the final tally—while Maisy photographed the pile to send to their mother—that the conversation shifted. Maisy set her phone down and looked at me with Colt’s eyes. The same blue-green and sense of calm behind them.
“Ivy, can I say something?”
“Of course.”
“We obviously miss our brother. We’d love nothing more than to have him come home.
” She paused, choosing her words with the care of a woman who’d thought about this.
“But seeing him again here was different. We think something happened on the ship that he won’t talk about.
We’ve been worried about him. But seeing how happy he was next to you, the way he looked at you, I could tell he’s doing very well here. ” She exchanged a glance with Chelsea.
The heat rose in my cheeks, and I kept my eyes down at the receipt printer like it required my full concentration. They saw him as happy—with me. But I probably ruined it. I was happy too. And now I don’t know where we stand.
“If he’s happy here, then that’s all we want for him,” Chelsea concluded.
“But we would love it if he’d come home for Christmas. Mom would love a visit from him. And you should come too. She’d adore you. I mean it. Holly Creek was designed for Christmas. You’re welcome there with Colt, Ivy. Please know that.”
My chest swelled. These women had known me for a minute, and they were inviting me into their family’s Christmas celebration.
I thought about my sisters—steadfast Daisy, dependable Sage, and bright Poppy—and how much they would have loved this afternoon.
Both groups of sisters would have gotten along well.
I missed the chance to talk with them more on Sunday night.
I appreciated they had stopped in today—in more ways than one.
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” It was the only response I could give them.
“We texted Colt last night.” Chelsea pulled on her coat and sighed. “He texted back and sounded exhausted. But at least we got to say our goodbyes. I hate leaving like this, but we have to get back. We left all the kids with Mom and Richard’s wife.”
“And we left them my farm babies to take care of, too,” Richard reminded her. Everyone laughed, the women rolling their eyes.
“My brother, the wanna-be farmer,” Rex shook his head, grinning.
I had punched in the black card numbers, added a bit for shipping, and gulped when I saw the total.
I didn’t feel the need to announce it, simply handed Rex back his card and turned my card terminal his way so he could see it and sign. He didn’t bat an eye.
“We met the Hollis’s yesterday and toured their beautiful property.” Richard sounded like he had a lot of respect for the land behind his words; I could tell.
“It is. I know Colt and I, and I’m sure the Hollis’s are grateful for all you did in that situation.” I eyed the pair of brothers.
“We’re the ones who should be grateful. We’d always talked about buying property out west. Our dad would have loved this place.”
Maisy squeezed my hand across the counter. “Take care of yourself, Ivy. Most importantly, take care of our brother.”
“I will.” If he’d let me. If I had ruined things and he’d take me back, anyway.
They gathered a few bags of things they were taking with them for now and headed for the door. My pulse sped, debating some way to keep them here a little longer, eyeing out the windows for a sign of the man I didn’t want to see.
The moment they cleared the door, I would lock up and call Gavin. Ask him to hurry here so I could share the news I’d collected about Seth—and ask him to protect me and my sisters until they caught him.
To my surprise, Colt was suddenly there at the door, coming inside.
His eyes red and weary, with deep purple circles that could almost pass for bruises.
It was a wonder he could even stand straight.
His hair was flattened from dirt and grime, and probably a hat he hadn’t taken off since Sunday night.
His shirt wasn’t tucked in, and mud caked on his boots.
But he was here, maybe worn down to the bone, but never a better sight for my eyes.
Relief flooded me—my hero—though I wasn’t sure in his condition if he’d be able to fight off Seth if it came down to that. The plan to call Gavin went sideways in my chest. I’d call. I would. But not in the next thirty seconds.
“You didn’t think I’d let you all leave without one more hug,” he called.
Maisy made a sound that was half laugh, half sob, and threw her arms around his neck. Chelsea was right behind her, wrapping around him from the side, and the three of them stood there for a long moment, holding on to each other with the fierce love of close siblings.
I knew that love. Which was why I had to be smart about Seth. I couldn’t let him hurt my sisters. I turned away and busied myself with packing some of the order up because all I really wanted to do was openly cry.
When they pulled apart, Maisy cupped his face in both hands and studied him. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks.” He half smiled.
“You need a meal and twelve hours of sleep.” Rex slapped him on the back.
“I’ll get right on that.”
“Ivy, we’re counting on you to take care of this poor guy today. Look at him,” Chelsea begged.
“Of course, I will.” My eyes locked with his, and there was still so much heat between us, filled with everything we left unsaid.
“You come home for a visit over Christmas, okay? Mom will love seeing you. And we've already invited Ivy. She’s absolutely welcome.” Chelsea firmly gripped his forearms. His tired eyes shot to me again, wary.
“After that, if you want to come back here, that’s totally fine.
It’s your life, baby brother. We just want you to be happy. ”
“And now that we can build a vacation home here on the Hollis ranch, we can visit often,” Rex brought his wife in for a kiss on the temple.
There were more hugs, more promises to text, and then they were gone. The bell chimed. The door shut. I ran to it and locked up, flipping the sign to closed.
“Wylde? What are you doing?” Colt protested.
“I missed you so much. I’m sorry for what I said Sunday.” I flung my arms around him, trying not to cry, reality hitting. Scared that something bad might happen to us with Seth out there somewhere.
A sigh sounding like relief whooshed from his lungs, and his arms wrapped around me, too. “Fuck, I thought I’d lost you.”
“No. Never.” I kissed him, all over his dirty, precious face.
“But when you said about the West being your place—”
“I did say that, Colt. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room in it for you.”