Wrapped Up in You Read online

  Chapter 12

  If you’re not turning up the tension, you’re only cheating yourself

  For the next two days, Ivy went through the motions at kickboxing, at work, everywhere, all while braced for Kel’s inevitable appearance.

  Because she’d sneaked out on him at the diner.

  It’d been for a good cause, she reminded herself. She’d done it for him. And yet at that thought, she rolled her eyes. She couldn’t even sell the lie to herself.

  Family drama made her nervous and anxious and extremely uncomfortable. Add that to what she was feeling for Kel, a guy who was the opposite of a keeper—hello, he was leaving town soon—and she’d just run scared.

  Not cool.

  But . . . she’d also wanted Kel and his mom to talk, for their sakes, and she was no one to them. She hadn’t needed to be there.

  It wasn’t hard to keep herself busy. Work had picked up, having her considering upping Jenny’s hours. She’d procrastinated on doing that up until now because of the cost. And getting bigger meant putting more of herself out there, and that was terrifying. What if she failed?

  In the past, she’d always positioned herself to be able to get out quick if needed. From anything. There’d been years where all her belongings had fit into a single backpack.

  That was no longer the case. For God’s sake, she’d spent two hours last night deep into Pinterest, looking for ideas on how to decorate the condo she didn’t yet own. Her board was filled with her hopes and dreams, and she’d only stopped when she’d literally dropped her phone on her face.

  Now it was the end of a shift and she was getting ready to leave her truck in Jenny’s hands for the dinner service. But Jenny was on the phone blowing smoochie kisses to some guy, and finally, out of patience, Ivy gave her the wrap it up gesture.

  Jenny slipped her phone in her pocket and gave what could only be called a dreamy sigh.

  “You’ve gone out with him once,” Ivy said.

  “Twice. And he’s The One, I know it.”

  “That’s what you said about the last guy.”

  “The last guy had me fooled,” Jenny said. “But this time, this guy . . . he’s going to stick. He is,” she said to Ivy’s look of worry. “I know it.”

  “Yeah? How can you be so sure?”

  “Because my heart says so.” Jenny rubbed the middle of her chest.

  “Might just be indigestion.”

  Jenny laughed. “So cynical. What has love ever done to you?”

  What had love done to her? Name it. She’d sacrificed plenty in the name of love. Believing time and time again in her mom, that this move, this job, would be the one and they’d settle somewhere and be a family. Hadn’t ever happened. Believing in her brother and his stupid get-rich-quick schemes that never turned out to be anything but trouble. And then there’d been Dillon. Yeah, she’d actually believed he might be The One, and she’d probably sounded just like Jenny. Hopeful. Excited. Happy.

  But that had ended in not only heartbreak, but also losing the place she’d come to think of as home, and the small community of his friends as well. To her, love meant her making stupid sacrifices. And yet in return, no one had ever sacrificed for her in any way.

  The bottom line, love offered nothing but pain. “Just . . . be careful,” she said to Jenny.

  “What’s the fun in that?”

  Sadie showed up just then with a carload for Ivy.

  Her trays.

  Ivy began unloading them with Sadie and Jenny’s help, feeling the weight of Sadie’s gaze. “What?”

  “You know what,” Sadie said.

  Ivy blew out a breath. Yeah, she figured she did. Sadie wanted to know why Kel hadn’t returned the trays himself. “It’s complicated.”

  “Uh-huh,” Sadie said dryly. “He’s a man, isn’t he? Men are complicated.”

  Jenny laughed. “Agreed. But then again, the very best things always are, aren’t they?”

  “One hundred percent,” Sadie said. “But to be fair to men everywhere, women tend to be the ones to make everything so complicated. I certainly did with Caleb. Good thing he’s a patient man. Also good thing he had the sense to know I was worth all the trouble. Anyway, yesterday Kel asked Caleb to return the trays for him. Said something about you probably not wanting to see him, since you’d ditched him on a date by climbing out a bathroom window to escape him.”

  Jenny turned and gaped at Ivy. “You dined and ditched on the hot cowboy? Seriously?”

  “Oh my God. No.” Ivy closed her eyes and shook her head. “That’s not how it went down.” She gave it some thought and sighed heavily. “Okay, that’s pretty much exactly how it went down. But it wasn’t a date.”

  Jenny shook her head. “Wow.”

  Sadie just laughed in amazement. “So it’s true.” She bit her lower lip. “I overheard them talking. Caleb really had to drag it out of Kel. I bet you anything he’s not used to being ditched on a date, not a guy like that.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning,” Sadie said. “Kel’s . . .”

  “Sex walking?” Jenny offered helpfully as she walked off to serve some customers.

  “I was going to say tough,” Sadie said to Ivy. “And steady as a rock. And he’s also a real good guy all the way through.” She said this last with fierce affection, and Ivy felt another stab of regret.

  “I didn’t ditch him . . . exactly,” she said quietly. “I was giving him some space.” And that was the truth. Because that night, sitting there in the diner watching Kel and his mom, she realized the stoic, always in control Kel was a master at hiding his emotions. Maybe even as good at it as she was. He’d had to be in order to be strong for his sister and grandparents, to help run the ranch, to be the man of the house.

  Which meant they had more in common than she could have ever guessed. And maybe . . . maybe that’s why she’d crawled out a tiny bathroom window and run like hell.

  Without a word.

  It’d been so rude. She knew this. She felt bad for it. But she couldn’t say she’d surprised herself. She had a long history of not looking back. So it was doubly annoying that this time, with Kel, she wanted to.

  Sadie stared at her and then suddenly smiled. “Wow. I didn’t see this coming, but I should have. You like him. You really like him.”

  “Woman, bite your tongue.”

  “Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll shut up,” Sadie said, and when Ivy just snorted, she rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I don’t know how to shut up. Tell me anyway.”

  Ivy shook her head. “I . . . can’t.” And because Sadie looked hurt at that, she confessed her truth. “I’m flying blind here. I haven’t been able to put words to my feelings yet.”

  Sadie nodded in understanding. “I can understand that. But I worry. I worry you don’t think that you deserve happiness. Because I didn’t, not until all too recently. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

  “We’re tougher than we look.”

  Sadie laughed at that. “Don’t worry, you both look tough as hell. Impenetrable. And that’s another thing I worry about, because you’re not. You’re sweet and kind, and just a really great person, Ivy.”

  Ivy scoffed.

  “No, I mean it,” Sadie said fiercely, surprising Ivy with her vehemence and grabbing her hand, holding on tight, apparently not willing to let her joke this away. “Sometimes I can feel the weight of your . . . I don’t know.” Sadie tossed up her hands. “Your past maybe? And it makes me ache for you, Ivy. You hold so much of yourself in. I want to be there for you. Let me be there for you, like you always are for me.”

  “You are here for me,” Ivy said softly. “You brought me my trays back. That was really nice of you, and—”

  “Best friends are more than nice to each other.”

  Ivy stilled. “Best friends?”

  Sadie gave her a well, duh look, and at the sheer irritation in it, Ivy felt emotions flood her. Warmth, gratitude . . . affection. “I didn’t know that’s how you