21. What Permanent Feels Like
What Permanent Feels Like
Ivy
The shipment bound for Holly Creek was ready at last. Colt stood beside me at the post office counter, helping me fill the bin with the pre-labeled boxes, with the focused attention he gave to most things. Even a stack of carefully prepared packages bound for his sisters.
“Maisy and Chelsea will have tons of things to wrap up and put under the tree,” I observed.
“It’ll be the best Christmas ever between all these presents, and you there with me.” Finished, we walked out hand-in-hand.
“I know I fought it originally, but now I cannot wait to get away, even if it’s only for a week over the holiday. Take a breather from Forest Grove.”
We strolled down the street freely on this sunny but chilly day. Life had resumed after all the drama that unfolded with Seth last week. My little hometown was not the same as it had been, though. Or maybe it was me—I had changed.
Seth was in county lockup, and that should have been the end, with the town settling back down the way it always did after a hard season. But the Congressman had lawyered his son up and was fighting the arrest with all he had. Thankfully, a righteous judge ruled Seth a flight risk and denied bail.
That didn’t stop Congressman Brewster from taking advantage of the media buzz around this, crying foul.
He suggested that Sheriff Patrick had conducted a politically motivated investigation, that evidence had been improperly obtained, and that the whole thing reeked of outside interests targeting a prominent local family.
The audacity with which they painted themselves as victims made my stomach churn.
Gavin had called me twice since the arrest. Once to confirm that the DA’s office was confident in pursuing this case against Seth. And another time to tell me that Seth had refused to cooperate or answer questions.
At Chamber meetings and in every corner of town, the people of Forest Grove were painfully split down the middle, choosing sides in arguably the most important sheriff’s election they’d ever had.
Trevor had gained followers, but Gavin wasn’t giving up the fight.
Colt and I and Knox and my sisters, all of us joined his campaign, doing whatever we could for him.
The election was in November. There was still everything to play for.
Daisy and Sage were back at our family home. Poppy had called from college nine times in four days and was lobbying hard to come home for fall break early, which Daisy wouldn’t allow.
Knox spent a few nights sleeping in his truck outside our home at first, keeping an eye on things—on Daisy. The hug she had given him sparked something. And she seemed to smile a little easier now around him.
I had closed the shop all week for repairs and was waiting for new inventory to arrive.
Colt and I spent every moment together we could, even taking Silver out for his first ride to the pond.
The best part was that we’d taken to sleeping together in the apartment above my shop every night.
In bed, every morning waking in Colt’s arms, I found a moment of peace with a very good man.
We almost reached my shop and the end of our stroll when I spotted Tina walking out of The Copper Cup, laughing, glowing really. She’d linked arms with a handsome cowboy in a white Stetson beside her, and they were smiling at each other in that new-love sort of way.
“Ivy! I’m so glad to run into you.” She waved as we got closer.
“Hi, Tina. How have you been?” I noted she had styled her hair differently, or maybe highlighted it from the mousy brown, perhaps fresher makeup too.
“Fine. This is Austin. He works on a ranch over near Lewistown. We met at the last Cowboy Night.”
“And we haven’t been apart since, except for work.” Austin had a rich and deep voice that matched well with his tall, dark appearance. Adorably, he pulled her to his side and kissed her temple.
“How nice. I’m so happy for you. Does that mean I won’t be seeing you at the next one, if you’re off the market?”
“She is definitely off the market.” He winked at her.
As they passed us, Tina stopped and hugged me. “It’s all because of you that I met him. You and your Cowboy Nights. I have a great feeling he’s the one. Thank you, Ivy,” she whispered in my ear.
I gawked after them in awe, Colt witnessing the entire thing.
“See that, Wylde? Because of you, two people have found each other. You should be proud. Your idea to rebuild this town is working. One couple at a time.”
On the one hand, my heart surged. Maybe some things in town were a mess right now, but I had to believe and hope that love would prevail. Colt and I were proof of that.
On the other hand, it left me wondering about the Forest Grove Gossip Gal. If Tina would not be attending Cowboy Nights, and if the Gal kept writing, then she couldn’t be the author. Back to square one, trying to figure out who it was.
When we returned to the apartment, we made coffee. Yes, we could have bought some downstairs at the Copper Cup. But I’d never had a coffee maker here, so that was the first thing Colt and I bought together.
Standing with our mugs, waiting for the last drip, it was all so domestic.
Over the past week of basically living together, we’d learned a lot more about each other.
Like how we each took our coffee, how we brushed our teeth, and all about our sleeping habits.
And I wouldn’t change a thing about Colt.
We poured coffee into our mugs, and I sat across from him at my dining table by the window. My hands wrapped around the mug for warmth, staring at him instead of the view of the street below and the mountains in the distance.
He had a book open in front of him, though I was fairly certain he hadn’t turned a page in the last ten minutes, because he’d been eyeing me instead.
Scratch that—smoldering at me.
I suddenly laughed, breaking out into a huge grin.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.” I paused. “I’m just happy you’re here. And… I love you.”
I’d said it once before—two days ago while making love in the morning, both of us half awake, and my voice croaking.
This was the first time I’d said it with a full voice that he couldn’t mistake.
He shoved aside his book on military history and reached across the table for my hands.
“And I love you,” he said. “In case saying it while fully awake changes things.”
“It does.”
“Good. Because I meant it. Now, come here.” He patted his lap.
I gladly went around the table and sat in his lap with my arms around his neck and his around my waist. My head rested on his broad chest. His chin rested on my hair.
We stayed like that for a while, in the comfort of each other’s arms. All so domestic, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“This feels so good, being here with you. Like the calm before the storm. The sheriff’s election is going to be a fight, though,” I worried.
“I know.”
“The Congressman will not stop until he sees Trevor elected. And the town is split—“
He lifted my chin up and kissed me in the way that made me lose myself.
When he pulled back, I’d forgotten what came next.
“We’ll handle it together. That’s what we do now. Right?” He asked.
I studied his face: the firm jaw, the blue-green eyes, the way he said I was something worth staying for.
“Yes, together,” I agreed. And then I kissed him back.
He lifted me and carried me to bed, and the world outside did what it was going to do. While in here, there was only us. Everything else could wait.