Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(73)

“I want to know how Arlo is,” she said tightly. “Is he really going to be okay?”

“Yes,” Caleb said gently. “He is.”

She let out a long, shuddery breath. “You’re sure?”

“I promise you. He’s going to make a full recovery.”

She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her, and sighed. “Caleb, I’m so sor—”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me.”

“But my brother—”

“Baby, this was not on you.”

She closed her eyes. “I appreciate you saying that, but Brandon . . . he wouldn’t have done this without me opening my big mouth.”

“You’re supposed to be able to open your big mouth around family,” Caleb said and then paused. “I called because earlier today, thanks to an anonymous tip, the police apprehended two guys for B&E, felony theft, and some other stuff. They spilled their guts to reduce charges.” He paused again. “They implicated Brandon,” he said quietly. “And that, along with Arlo’s statement, sealed it. There’s a warrant out for Brandon’s arrest.”

“Okay,” she said just as quietly. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“The police are probably going to want to talk to you. Don’t say anything unless your lawyer’s with you.”

“I don’t have a lawyer.”

“Yes, you do. He’ll be in touch. And Ivy . . .” She heard the regret and sympathy in his voice. “If Brandon’s caught, he’s going to go away for a long time.”

“I know,” she said. “But he’s not coming back. He knows he detonated everything here and he’s not stupid. His healthy sense of self-preservation will keep him gone.”

“I’m sorry,” Caleb said quietly.

“If I can’t say it, neither can you.”

“Got it,” Caleb said. “Now . . . about your condo.”

“It’s no longer mine.”

“We’ll work something out.”

“No,” she said and then softened her voice. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you’d do that, but it’s not fair. I’m going to start over and get there. On my own.”

“Ivy, I understand, believe me, but it means you’ll miss out on getting into this building.”

And here she’d thought she couldn’t hurt more than she did. “I know.”

“But—”

“It’s okay, Caleb. I have to do it this way. For me.”

He sighed. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

She bit her lower lip. “So . . . Kel’s devastated?”

“Yes. Did you think he wouldn’t be?”

She wasn’t sure what she thought. “He’s not alone there.”

“So give him a chance to fix it.”

“He had it, but he didn’t want it. He’s not the right one for me if he doesn’t want me as is, Caleb,” she said softly.

“Ivy—”

“Gotta go,” she said softly and disconnected. Wincing, she shoved the phone away and turned back to her truck, coming to an abrupt stop at the sight of the girls huddled around one of the picnic tables. Molly, Sadie, Tae, and Haley and Dee—who were sitting very close together.

No. She was not ready for this, so she sneaked into the truck. She adored them, even loved them, but she was pretty sure that by now they knew what had gone down. And she wasn’t ready to come face-to-face with the consequences of her lies.

The phone buzzed an incoming text. It was a group text, with all the girls on it.

Sadie: Come back! We’re waiting for you!

Molly: I saved you a muffin. And none of that healthy shit either. I’ve got the double chocolate chip muffins.





At that, Ivy stuck her head out of the truck. Everyone waved her over and with a sigh she went.

When Molly caught her eyeballing the table for the muffins, she smiled. “Oh, I lied. Just wanted to make sure you were getting the texts.”

“Wow. That was mean.” But Ivy sat. “What’s up?” she asked, as if she didn’t know. First rule of the Screwup Club—play innocent.

“Tina told us she saw you at the coffee shop earlier and that you looked like shit,” Sadie said. “She said that men are scum.”

“They are,” Ivy confirmed.

“Yes,” Tae said. “And?”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Molly said. “Not all men are scum. Lucas made me breakfast just this morning.”

“Was that because you’d done him a favor first?” Tae asked.

Molly went a little red in the face. “Maybe. In the shower. But it took him longer to make me breakfast, so really, I’m the winner.”

“Not if you have sore knees,” Sadie said.

“If you fold up two washcloths and set them on the tile before you start the shower,” Dee said, “problem solved.”

Haley blushed tomato red.

Sadie took Ivy’s hand, looking her in the eyes. “I want to tell you something, without you getting all fidgety and weird and trying to escape with some dumb excuse so you don’t have to talk about your feelings.”