Chapter 45
Forty-Five
Little Ivy’s fingers wrap around my thumb. I bounce her in my lap and distract myself from whatever this day is. I know from Fran that Rosalie called it. Did she gather us all to say goodbye? Being here is too difficult and she’s done? She left Reno, why not Tesoro?
We were doing so well until she learned that I’ve loved her all along.
I’ve always been optimistic—but I’m struggling today.
“Okay,” Maggie says. “So, what’s the plan to make this easier for her?”
“She’s asking questions. We’re answering.” Fran hands Stella a can of soda and looks at little Ivy like she might steal her from me.
“Which means,” Callum says, “no oversharing, Lucca.”
“I do not overshare.” Lucca sits next to Maggie on Fran’s couch, one arm wrapped around her. “Everyone loves what I have to share.”
“Yeah, not everyone,” Roman grunts.
Lucca laughs like Roman has made a joke. “You love me so much,” he says to Roman.
Roman shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “I do.”
“Guys,” Maggie says, standing and facing us all. “We’re here for Rosalie. So, Lucca you will not overshare. Roman, you will simmer on the grouchiness. Fran, I love you to death, but you will not plan Zev and Rose’s wedding today—"
Fran holds up one finger. “Okay, but—”
“No, Fran. Don’t even plan a date for them.” Maggie shakes her head. “No one startle her. We aren’t loud, crazy, man-boys today. We are civilized adults. And Zev.” Maggie presses her lips together, and it seems as if everyone turns their heads to look at me.
I lift my brows, waiting for her instruction—her rule book note for me.
“It’s going to be okay. We’re with you.”
My throat clenches a little. It might have been better if Maggie had scolded me, telling me not to hold Rosalie’s hand, to kiss her, or to touch her in any way.
Lucca crosses his arms and looks at her with so much adoration.
Our once-ladies’ man is quite whipped by his authoritative girlfriend.
He has decided he now loves all of Maggie McCrae’s rules.
Still, he’s Lucca. So, he lifts one brow in challenge.
“You’re not going to tell Ivy she isn’t allowed to cry? ”
“Hey,” Stella barks, pointing a finger at Lucca.
Roman pats Stella’s leg, then threads his fingers through hers. Lucca’s kidding—it’s possible we all know it except Stella.
I glance down at Ivy, who is currently drooling all over my pant leg.
“No, I am not,” Maggie’s voice turns sweet as she looks at the baby.
Ivy grins at her, waving both her chubby hands in the air.
Maggie steps over to where I sit and picks her up, taking her away from me.
“Because Ivy is perfect,” she says, hefting her up in her arms and nuzzling her cheek. “Aren’t you?”
Ivy giggles and snags a fistful of Maggie’s long brown hair.
“She really is.” Stella sighs, gazing at her chubby blonde baby girl.
We’re all peering at the baby when—
“Hello, everyone,” Rosalie says from the doorway of Fran and Callum’s living room.
“Rosalie!” Maggie yips, clutching Ivy closer to her chest. I think she just broke her no startling rule.
Rosalie slaps a hand over her heart, and in some weird universe, it makes me want to laugh. Because there’s my girl. The only one I will ever love or ever want. She’s so close, but I’m not allowed to go to her. I’m guessing that’s against all of Maggie’s rules, too, even if she left that one out.
Maggie squeezes in next to Lucca once more and Stella reaches for Ivy. We are a very attentive audience.
“Go ahead,” Fran says, nodding to her best friend.
Rosalie’s hair falls around her shoulders, and she nervously shoves her hands into the pockets of her skirt. “Right.” She glances around the room, blinking when her eyes fall on me.
I stay quiet and attentive, almost afraid to speak.
And while she’s scared—because I know my girl and this isn’t a comfortable or easy moment for her. She’s also brave.
“I know I’ve separated myself from you all. In some ways, even Fran.”
Fran shakes her head, but she’s obeying Maggie’s rules, too. We’re listening.
“It’s been a weird year—”
“You can say that again,” Lucca says—to which Maggie elbows him.
But his outburst only makes Rosalie snuff out a laugh.
“I asked you all here because I think it’s time I learned a little more about my life.
I’m not sure it’s ever going to come back to me.
And while I find it quite uncomfortable when others know me or things about me— things that I do not know—I think it’s time to start.
” Her gaze falls on me again. She nibbles on her lip.
“So, if it’s okay with you all, I’d like to ask some questions. ”
There’s a chorus of nods and “yes” from our small group.
Rosalie exhales a breath and then she turns to Callum. “Guess I’ll start with you.” She smiles, and though it’s a little forced, it’s still sincere. “When did Fran introduce us?”
“I actually came to your classroom as a guest. Franny didn’t introduce us.”
She scoffs. “And when did my best friend start allowing you to call her Franny?”
Lucca lifts one finger. “I gave her that nickname. She was our lucky charm a few years ago.”
“And how did we meet?” Rosalie asks Lucca.
She asks every person how they met and about their specific relationship.
Callum says she’s like a sister-in-law to him.
Lucca calls her a best friend and tells her she always came to him for advice—not accurate.
Stella talks about teaching Grammy pottery and Rosalie being a friend to her when she really needed one.
Roman agrees heartily that she was a friend who didn’t judge and welcomed others.
Maggie tells how Rosalie accepted her into our friend group despite the fact that she is a referee and had, at times, given more than one Red Tail a red card. Lucca smirks at the comment.
She’s holding up well. She listens and nods and asks question after question. “Wow,” she says. “I should have asked all this long ago. You guys are making me feel pretty good about myself right now.”
There’s a hum of quiet laughter with her comment. And then she turns to Fran, skipping right over me. By the glances I’m getting, I’m not the only one who noticed.
“Fran, do you feel like this is all accurate?” She looks at our friends. “I’m not saying that any of you are lying. I just know that Fran would know my feelings on these specific situations.”
“Except for the part where you’re Lucca’s best friend and always go to him for advice—”
“Hey, now.” Lucca sits up straighter. “Rosalie and I are tight.”
“Yes. It’s all very accurate.” Fran nods toward Lucca. “And we do love Lucca. He’s the best.”
“Now that is accurate,” Lucca says.
Maggie rolls her eyes next to him, but she’s smiling, Lucca’s hand snug in her own.
Rosalie breathes out a laugh. She’s still nervous—I see it. But she’s not giving up. She’s not panicking. She clamps down on her bottom lip and, without looking at me once, says, “And how would you all describe my relationship with Zev?”
The guys look at me.
But Fran just sighs with her answer. “Storybook.”
“You”—Rosalie finally turns to me—“said that it took me a long time to go out with you the first time around. If it was so storybook…” She’s back to looking at our friends—she’s asking them this question, not me. “Why did it take so long?”
“Robert,” Fran says, plain and simple. “It was bad, Rose. I realize you aren’t able to completely understand it, but he made you question everything.”
She nods. “Callum?” She’s getting everyone’s perspective. Will she ever want mine?
My friend clears his throat and sits a little straighter. “I think you wanted to be sure. You wanted to be smart. You were cautious.”
“Yes,” Stella says. Ivy fusses and Roman claims her, letting his wife talk. “I wasn’t there when you met Zev. When we became friends, I could see how much you cared for him, and he for you. But your guard was up.”
Rosalie nods, understanding, and continues down the row.
She’s looking at Maggie. But Maggie just shakes her head.
“When we met, you were over the moon for him. Like crazy in love. I wasn’t there for your…
caution. I just saw two people who couldn’t get enough of one another.
You fit.” Maggie smiles, thinking. “Like two halves from the same whole.”
My eyes prick with unshed tears.
“Well, I was there,” Lucca says. “I got to hear over and over again how bad Zev had it for you. Watching you make him wait was fun.” He winks at her, and it makes me want to laugh, too.
“I was there, too,” Roman says, bouncing little Ivy on his thigh.
Her eyes have drifted and she’s leaning her sleepy head on his stomach.
“I’ve never seen someone so committed and as sure as Zev was about you.
” It’s short and simple, but it’s a shove in the right direction and I appreciate my friend.
A single tear slips from my eye—because I am a crier. Always have been. But the last few months have taken it to a whole new level. I swat the tear away and wait for the next person to speak.
“So, I needed time—” Rosalie smirks. It is a little ironic. “And Zev willingly gave it to me.”
There’s a quiet chorus of murmuring yeses and nods.
She looks at me—head on. It may be the first time all evening that she’s done so. “It seems as if you’re good at giving me time, Zevulun. You are a very patient man.”