Where the Ivy Hides (24 page)

Thankfully I only had to withstand ten minutes of shooing my mom away, while adamantly denying any reason for grapefruit spoons
and
any wedding jitters on my part, when Livvy walks into my room.

A whole new bouquet of gift bags in tow.

“Hey, sweets. Black Louboutin bag has the goodies.” She tosses the bags on my bed before heading towards my bathroom, “Can I pee real quick? What time is our flight?”

I’ve already emptied the contents of the black Louboutin bag out onto my bed and began mentally calculating how much coke I had to get myself through this will-it-or-won’t-it-happen wedding by the time she finishes speaking.

“Sure, piss. Four o’clock.” I provide.

One. Two. Three. Four. I count the coke before asking, “I get two, right?” Shit. I should’ve jumped on this shit when it was still a win-win-win.

But I didn’t know my fucking life was going to crash down around me two days later, either.

When she comes out of the bathroom she answers, “Yeah, two off the top. You want me to pack it?”

Shit. I didn’t even think about that part. Delilah always had our party favors FedEx’d over the day before. I didn’t ask how we got it—it was there. That was all I ever needed to know. I blink up at Livvy. “Yes?” I ask her. “Are you going to tell me how?”

She scoffs at me, “Hell no. That’s for me to know and you to wonder. If we go down, I need you as innocent as possible. Someone’s gotta bail me out, and I know Reese won’t do it.” She bends over the lines of coke she lined up while she speaks and snorts them. One. Two. Three. Four.

Completely out of left field and for reasons I’ll never know, as soon as I see Livvy snort those four lines, the number four becomes significant in my mind. Maybe it’s a sign. Hell, maybe it’s that ever illusive, fate.

It’s something for me to hold onto, hell think about it. There were four bags and four lines. The plane leaves at four. It hits me. I got the answer. I know what I’ll do.

Since finding miss slutty-sitter prancing from Ryker’s house to her car, I’ve made two decisions. I decided to
not
decide, and I called Livvy; I have two more decisions. And I won’t make the fourth without making the fifth. My next decision is the third and my last easy one.

I look between Livvy packing and the blow on the bed.

Now, the question is: Do I get my ass on that damn plane? 

Chapter 30

Ryker

To be completely honest, between me mum and me Lily Blake and everything else in the world that was going on the day of me and Ivy’s wedding, me head had barely had time to hit the pillow the night before, and me phone was ringing at the crack of dawn, waking me arse up at an ungodly hour on me wedding day.

No, I was not a good fiancée last night. I didn’t call and let me Ivy know me plane had landed and that I’d made it safe to me mums.

And I had plans to call her and tell her as soon as I got off the phone with ADT the next morning.

Apparently, the new security system I had installed in the house last week must have had a default. Or that’s how the security company explained the
glitch
since there was no evidence of a break in when the alarm went off this morning at eight, Seattle time.

Now, when Bowen called thirty minutes after I hung up with the security company, his blurted confession sounded much closer to the truth than ADT’s version. But ADT also didn’t know I had loaned out keys to a complete horrid excuse of a child sitter. And after running into Reese, Livvy, and Bowen, me daughter’s ex-sitter, Jenny decided to take Bowen up on his offer for a sleep over. The only problem was, Bowen’s new girlfriend was at his house in his bed, and Jenny still lived with her dad.

Their only problem was solved when Jenny remembered me house was vacant and she still had a set of keys.

I solved me own problems when I called a locksmith and had them change me locks, immediately.

I’ve just finished shaving and cleaning up me beard when someone knocks on me bedroom door at me mum’s, “Ay. Come in.” I head towards the door gathering all me shit off the overstuffed chair and toss it in me closet when Rome walks in.

“Hey, brother. How are you? Don’t answer that. What the fuck is wrong with your phone? I’ve called three times.”

I glance to the last place I saw it, me bedside table. “Hell if I know, Lily probably has is playing that bloody Minecraft. Why?” I finish buttoning the sleeves of me linen shirt—I can’t do a tux, Ivy’ll have to get over it. It’s a beach for Christ’s sake.

“What flight did you take out of here? Don’t answer that, look, Ryke, Ivy came home this morning after her run wanting to know when and who you left with last night. Now, I came this close to fucking breaking Pepper last night.” He holds his pointer and thumb fingers close together, inches from me face “So call me a little distracted, but when I told my sister eight last night and alone, I’d better not have been fucking lying. Am I making myself clear?” He growls, barking out the last few words, standing in me face.

“Ay.” I speak as clearly as possible. “You weren’t lying, brother. Where is she?” I move around him before making my way out of me room. When I get into the hall, I call out over me shoulder, “You better walk and talk boy, I’m not kidding, Rome, where is she?”

Just before me mum’s front door slams behind me, I hear him tell me, “She’s at the condo, brother. And she has Livvy in tow.”

“Bloody fucking hell. Goddammit, why, me Ivy? Just why?” I mutter as I straddle me bike and pop the clutch. “Why, love?”

After I park under the carport of the condo I proposed to me Ivy at less than a month and a half ago, I run up the stairs and barge into the front door. Me future mum-in-law instantly drops a box of flowers she had in her hands, “Jesus, Ryker. You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at your mother’s, son. Not here. We only have two more hours!” She balks.

I nod.

And bolt for the stairs.

When I see her, me heart shatters. I can’t believe she’s the same girl I kissed goodbye the day before while she smiled up at me and promised to be the one in white, at the end of the aisle today. That Ivy isn’t the one before me. She’s hunkered in the corner of the bathroom with her long veil hanging over her mascara smudged face with tears streaming down.

“Livvy, just leave me alone.” She doesn’t slur her words and I breathe a held breath, watching as she turns the rest of the way, putting her back to me before lying across the cold tile floor and looking at herself in the mirrored wall she’s facing. When I see the baggies of coke fall from her lap and onto the floor, dread circles me gut before clenching down.

“Why, Ivy love? Why this time?”

I watch as her spine goes rigid and seconds later her eyes find mine in the mirrors reflection in front of her. “Ryker?” she whispers.

“What are ya doin’, me Ivy?” I ask her.

“What are you doing here?” She cries and goes to sit up, but slips on all the damn bloody lace. And me heart breaks the rest of the way.

“Where else am I supposed to be, love? Hm?” I stalk towards her and as soon as I’m close enough, I snatch her up from the floor and slam her against the mirror wall of the bathroom. When we’re nose to nose, I growl the words at her, “I’m where I’m supposed to be at, Ivy. Now get outta that bloody head of yours and get where you’re supposed to be. I’m not doing this alone again, Ivy. It won’t happen. Mark me words.”

She keeps struggling against me from behind her veil and me hands keep getting caught up in the material, so I wrap as much of it around me fist as I can, and I yank me Ivy’s head back, before boring me eyes into her dark blues, “You asked your brother two questions, love. Now ask me.” I demand.

“I what?” she cries, looking at me bewildered.

“Ask me!” I shout.

Her eyes look back and forth between mine, “Wh-what time? What time did you leave? And who did you leave with?” She stutters, almost as if she’s confused.

“At eight, and I was alone. Now why those two questions, Winter Ivy?”

When her sad eyes look into mine, the only thoughts in me head is, when did she get so lost? And why does me Ivy always bloody hide?

But it’s her answer that does me in, “I-I thought I lost you. And I can’t fucking lose you again, Ryker. I just can’t.” She whispers before my mouth crashes against hers.

Epilogue

I smile.

I pause.

I breathe.

“You ready, angel?” My daddy asks.

“I’m ready,” I whisper and as soon as I hear the beginning notes of the wedding march, I feel goose bumps raise on my skin.

I watch my daughter, Lily Blake waving at her daddy as she takes her place beside my mom and tears well up in my eyes before I can quickly blink them away.

When my eyes glance up and find Ryker’s though, they stay. He smiles and it takes my breath away. He’s so handsome. I can’t believe this day is actually happening.

I can’t believe I’m finally getting my happy ending.

Day’s like today and endings like these aren’t meant for people like me. Or so, I raised myself to believe.

Or so, I once believed.

In my old life, maybe.

Hell, I probably would have run off and hidden, or worse, used and hidden inside myself.

But Ryker didn’t let me. Not this time.

This time, he found me. He caught me. And we got our shit ironed out.

This time, he just started rambling, recording everything that had happened since he last saw me yesterday. And when he got to the part where Bowen called this morning after ADT did, all the pieces slid into place.

We made love against the shower stall after he washed and kissed my tears away. I ran my fingers through my wet hair, brushed some mascara on, smeared lip gloss across my lips, and Ryker laced up the back of my dress.

Then he linked our hands together, pressed his forehead against mine, and begged me, “Ivy love, please. Just marry me today. I won’t be able to live this life without you, hon. I know because I already tried.”

And that was that.

When Ryker’s eye brows shoot up, he winks at me at the same time I feel my dad tug on my arm and I step forward.

Because it’s what I do.

I’m Ivy fucking Payne.

I adapt.

I move forward.

I survive.

The End.