Fuck. He was right. I was still pissed. And being here was a reminder of that.
“I just hate the way he turned his back on all of us, you know? My sister acts like everything is fine. The guy spent her college fund. He left us with nothing. And now he’s building some custom bullshit house for his new family? How am I supposed to be okay with that?”
“You don’t have to be. You just have to be okay with you. You can’t control who your father is. But shutting out the people you care about because your dad is an asshole only hurts you, Ty. And in all the years since you left, I’ve never heard about you dating anyone. Same as Ivy. You both don’t seem like you’ve moved on at all to me. Maybe your therapist is right. Maybe you both need closure.”
“I do just fine, trust me.” I wriggled my brows and tried to make light of it.
Truth was, I found a way to meet my needs without ever committing to anyone. Because after being with Ivy for so long, no one held a candle to her.
And no one ever would.
I’d accepted my fate. I was okay with it.
This was the path I’d chosen, and I had to stay the course.
Everyone was better off for it.
Aside from me.
Chapter Seven
Ivy
“Heartache is for the birds.” Ivy, the summer before starting college
“What are you wearing?” Gigi asked as I held the phone to my ear. I made my way to the Rusty Pelican to meet Zack. I was walking from my office, and she was driving to meet Gray for lunch, so we weren’t FaceTiming like we normally did.
“A pencil skirt and a blouse. Work attire. I’m kind of sick of dressing up for dates, that’s why I recommended the lunch date. I’m over the dinners. I’m over all of it.”
“Well, that sounds like a great attitude to go into this date with,” she said over her laughter. “Do you think you’re feeling this way because Ty is back home?”
I sighed and thought about her question. “Yes. He’s the devil. Just his mere presence is messing with my head, and I hate him. I need him to leave Willow Springs so I can go back to my normal life.”
She chuckled. “Maybe you should hear him out, Ive. I mean, he sure is trying to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing he could say that would matter. And he’s a big country star now, and I’m living back in Willow Springs. A town he hates. So, what’s the point?”
“The point is… you have unfinished business.”
I pulled the door open to the Rusty Pelican. “Just cross your fingers that this guy Zack knocks me on my ass. I need a distraction. He needs to have regular-sized hands, not smell like anything strange, not talk in the third person, not be named after a can of soda, and just be normal. Is that so much to ask?”
“My fingers are crossed for you. Call me right after. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I ended the call and Mae Stone greeted me when I entered the restaurant. “Hi, Mae. I’m here to meet a guy who just moved here named Zack.”
“Yes. He has a table in the back for you,” she said, with a grin spread clear across her face.
“How is Wren doing?” I asked. Mae’s boyfriend was like a dad to Jett, and we all loved him.
“You know that man is always up to no good. He wants to build a mother-in-law guest house for my mom out back and start renovating my house. I think it’s all a ploy for him to move in with me.” Her head fell back in laughter, and it was nice to see her so happy. Ever since she and Wren got together, she just seemed lighter and full of joy.
She turned the corner into the back area of the restaurant which I rarely ever sat in, and I looked up to see Ty sitting in the booth. I came to a dead halt.
“That’s not my date,” I said, turning to watch Mae hurry off. No one else was back here.
“Just give me a minute, Ive. Please.” He pushed to his feet and moved toward me. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Did you run Zack off?”
“No. I am Zack. I made a fake profile so I could get you here,” he said, with that charming smirk on his face that I’d grown to despise.
It made my legs quake and my stomach flutter.
Why did the butthead have to be so handsome?
“So, you catfished me? That’s how you make amends?”
Laughter bellowed from him, and he cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t catfish you. I’m just as good-looking as Zack.”
I shook my head. I knew he wasn’t going to stop until he got to say his piece. And I was starving. “Fine. How come there weren’t any camera guys out front? They’ve helped me to know what places to avoid.”
“Mae snuck me in the back door, and the hotel is helping me get in and out without being seen. Come on, have a seat. We’ll eat and talk.”
“I don’t know why you suddenly want to talk. Five years ago, I begged you to talk, and you clammed up. So why now?” I dropped to sit in the booth across from him.
“I’m older and wiser.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want you to hate me anymore. I need you to understand why I left. According to my therapist, I have issues from my past that are showing up now. So here I am.”
“Your therapist thinks we need to talk? Why?”
“Because you’re the only girl I’ve ever loved, Ive. I don’t want you to have bad feelings toward me. She thinks it’s the reason I can’t write music anymore. We have unfinished business.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, and I saw the vulnerability there. The Ty I used to know was honest and real.
My Ty.
His words hit me hard.
The only girl he’s ever loved?
Was that true? It had been for me. But I wasn’t the one who chose to leave.
“You never reached out.”
“Well, you blocked me shortly after I left. And back then, I was too ashamed to tell you all that I was going through. I thought you were better off without me. It was too much at one time, you know?”
“I didn’t care that your dad did what he did, Ty. I always thought your father was a bit of an ass,” I said with a chuckle, and he smiled. “But that didn’t have anything to do with you.”
“Ivy, come on. It had everything to do with me. I came from this well-to-do family in our small-ass town, and all of a sudden, my father was the town villain. It was all anyone could talk about, at least up until the day we left.”