I’d be wise to remember that.
Maybe time would help me reconcile these feelings.
I pulled myself together and pushed to stand. “Thank you. I’m excited to see your mom. And the girls are arriving soon for the wedding, and they can’t wait to see you.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m definitely going to give Coco some shit for getting married first after telling me for years that she’d never get married.” He laughed.
A glimmer of hope settled in my chest. “People change their minds every day.”
He studied me. I saw the way he flinched. He didn’t want me to hold out hope.
“So, are we going to grab Sebastian and take him to an early dinner?”
“Yeah. He’s looking forward to it. We can tell him I’m staying for his game.”
My phone vibrated with a text from Isaac. “That’s great. We need to drop some sandwiches off for the guys before we leave for the airport tonight. I promised them one photo in front of the Willow Springs Community Park.”
His head fell back in laughter, and he took a minute to gather himself before he spoke. “Never in a million years would I think the press would be run like a fucking town hall meeting.”
I responded to Isaac quickly before grabbing my purse so we could head out. “That’s all Isaac. He’s wrangled all those guys up, and it’s so much easier now doing it this way without them chasing us around like wild animals.”
He nodded as he led me out the door and we locked up for the night. When we stepped outside, Ty turned to me. “I wish I could take you on the road, Ive. Everything’s better with you.”
I smiled. His words meant more to me than he would ever know.
“Or you could just stop being a stubborn ass, and you could have me all to yourself and make it official.”
He reached for my hand and led me to his waiting car. “There she is. You always shoot it straight, don’t you?”
“Would you have me any other way?”
“Hell no. I wouldn’t change a hair on your head, Ivy Baron.”
If only that was enough.
Chapter Sixteen
Ty
“Do whatever it takes to make him see how good you are together.” Gigi, college freshman
To say that the next few days were madness was an absolute understatement. I’d toured three hundred days out of the year last year, and I’d still say this past week was more hectic. I’d moved into Ivy’s house and she had us working on wedding shit night and day. In between, we made love, ate, talked, laughed—and it had honestly been the best few days of my life.
My mom and Craig were here, and my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, you name it. Ivy and I made time to see Sebastian every day, and the little dude was probably my second favorite person on the planet, after Ivy and tied with Talia and my mom.
The rehearsal dinner was tonight, and it would be the first time my mom would see my dad since that horrible day we left Willow Springs. Ivy was in full work mode. I gave her a ton of shit about the headset she wore. She was always shouting out orders on that thing to Kathleen and the other people they’d hired to help out. The girl had it down. I just sat there watching her in awe.
My mother and Ivy had stayed up almost all night that first night talking at the hotel. She loved Craig, and my mom said it was nice to see me so happy. It had been a long time since I’d felt this… content.
“Thanks for paying for the wedding,” my father said as he walked up to me at the bar. I’d just watched him walk Talia down the aisle at the rehearsal as I’d stood up there beside Jake as his best man. No doubt my sister had demanded he choose me as his best man because I’m sure he had friends he’d known longer, but I liked him and thought he was great for Talia.
I nodded. “I wouldn’t want to cut into your custom home fund, right?”
It was a shitty thing to say. Hell, I never got enough when it came to sticking it to the man. He’d never apologized or owned what he’d done, not in any sort of meaningful way at least. And that shit didn’t sit well with me. Ivy kept encouraging me to have a one-on-one conversation with him, but why would I waste my time doing that?
“I get that you’re upset with me, Ty. I’d love to speak to you after the wedding, as Sebastian told me you’re staying for a few more weeks. There are some things I’d like to share with you.”
My first thought was to refuse him. But I’d come here to make peace with my past, right? So at least I could hear him out and then be okay with moving on and never speaking to him again.
“All right. I can do that.”
He smiled. “How about the day after the wedding? Saturday morning, brunch. You and me at the Rusty Pelican.”
“Sure. Text me the time and I’ll be there.”
“Thanks for spending so much time with your brother. It means a lot to him.”
I studied him. I wanted him to get it. To understand what it meant to be there. To be present for your kid. “You should try it sometime. He’s a great kid.”
He startled a bit. “I’m the dad. I provide for him. I’m the reason he gets to go to private school, and he has Loretta to take him anywhere he wants to go.”
“None of that shit matters in the end. He wants time. That’s all he cares about. So how about you and Shayla show up at his football game next weekend.”
He thought it over. “I usually golf on the weekends, but I suppose I could change things around. Tee off a little later.”
“I think it would mean a lot to him,” I said, just as someone tugged on my dress shirt. Ivy had insisted I wear a black button-up with my jeans to the rehearsal. I’d pushed for a concert tee and gotten a thumbs down.
“Hey, Ty. Guess what?” Sebastian asked, and I looked down at him with his hair all slicked back, looking like a badass little dude.
“What’s up, buddy?”
“You and I are sitting next to each other at the table.” He shoved his glasses up his nose.
“Yeah? Well, I know people in high places,” I said over a laugh. Ivy set the seating chart with my sister, and I’d insisted Sebastian sit beside me as I knew his parents would completely ignore him. I’d noticed a difference in him at practice and when Ivy and I hung out with him in just the two weeks that I’d been here. He was looking me in the eye, more confident when he spoke. And I was fucking proud of him.
“I think Ivy put us together,” he whisper-shouted and my dad barked out a laugh.
“Hey, son. Ty was telling me about your game next weekend. Would you like me to come?” he asked.