Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(31)

His mom’s smile faded a little bit, and for the first time he didn’t feel the usual resentment and anger. He felt . . . guilt.

This time when she headed back to the kitchen, silence reigned at the table. He looked over at Ivy. “Sorry about that.”

She stood. “Excuse me a minute?” She headed to the restroom.

He eyed the hot chocolate on her side of the table. Fighting—and losing—the battle, he pulled the mug in close and took a sip. He didn’t know what he expected it to taste like—broken hearts and destroyed dreams? But it tasted like hot chocolate. Delicious hot chocolate.

Five minutes later, Ivy still hadn’t returned, but their food arrived. His was a huge stack of pancakes that he’d wanted only a few minutes ago, but his appetite was gone.

A few minutes later, his mom slid into the booth where Ivy had been sitting. She pulled Ivy’s plate toward herself, much as he’d done the hot chocolate.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Ivy’ll be back any minute.”

“Will she?”

“What does that mean?”

She gave him a slightly pitying look. “Son, she climbed out the bathroom window about ten minutes ago.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Yeah, I think she thought we’d communicate better without an audience.”

“That’s . . . oddly specific.” He narrowed his gaze. “You talked to her.”

“No.” She took another bite. “She talked to me. She called a Lyft.”

Kel couldn’t believe it. She’d ditched him.

His mom took a few bites of pancakes and moaned, closing her eyes. “Sorry, I’ve been on my feet for eight hours and I’m starving.” With a long sigh, she finally pushed the plate away. “Don’t worry, I know you’re not interested in talking to me. And for the record, I did try to tell Ivy that. And I’m not going to take up your time. I just wanted to give you this.” She slid an envelope across the table.

“What is it?”

“An invite to Remy’s surprise baby shower. It’s on the night before Christmas Eve.” She paused. “I know you’re still mad at me, but it’s for your sister. You know that Harper was a preemie and we had to cancel the original shower. She’ll be over the moon if you come. The whole family together in one place.”

It was what he’d wanted every single day of his life during those years he’d been grieving his dad, stuck in Idaho, his mom gone from their lives, nothing of his dad’s to remember him by. All he’d wanted was his family together again.

But he was no longer a kid, and he no longer yearned for such things.

When he remained quiet, his mom nodded as if she’d expected it and stood up. “Okay. So you still don’t want to talk to me. I have to respect that. I hurt you, and we can’t come back from the past. But I hope you’ll at least think about it. I’d hate for you and your sister to miss out because you’re still mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Mom.”

She just gave him a sad smile and walked away.





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.”