“The best,” he confirmed. Her relationship with Justin was also amazing. And she got along great with his brother and now his mother. All in all, Justin had something he never had before—a big, loving family. No matter how old he got, he’d have their support. “We can’t pretend that things are settled with Darcie. We both know better. And I can’t promise my mother won’t overstep at times.”
“With the best of intentions,” Ivey added.
“Yes.” His mother could smother a person, but she smothered them with love, not ill will. “It won’t always be easy.”
“Corbin,” she whispered. “I’m a veterinarian. I deal with wonderful people and awful people. Beautiful animals who have love and animals that have been horribly mistreated. I heal some and lose others. I still love my job and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Nothing in life is always easy. But together, I believe it’ll be easier.”
“Agreed.” He was kissing her, loving her, wishing he had time to get her alone, when voices carried up from below.
Justin and Hagan were returning from their tour of the boat. In his growing, carefree way, Justin talked about life on a lake, and Hagan—who really was a good guy—gave his agreement.
Ivey kissed Corbin’s throat. “Justin is flourishing with all the attention.”
He really was, and it gave Corbin hope. “So will you marry me, Ivey?”
“Yes. But for right now, let’s keep it to ourselves, okay? This is such a momentous thing for Hope, I don’t want to steal any of her limelight.”
Grinning, Corbin said, “I’m not sure my mother could suffer the shock anyway. We’ll let her get used to one wedding at a time.”
“As to the wedding...are you wanting something big?” Ivey rushed on before he could answer. “Because I’d rather something small and simple. I could invite my folks and your family and Hope, of course.”
God, he loved her. “Whatever you want is fine with me.” Thinking it through, he added, “We’ll let Mom get it out of her system with Hope and Lang.”
Ivey laughed. “There you go.”
Just then the patio doors opened and Justin came out. “Hagan wants to try tubing. Uncle Lang is going to take us out. Do you want go, too, Dad?” He turned to Ivey. “It’s super fun.”
“I would love to go,” she said. Leaving Corbin’s lap, she caught Justin in a hug.
He didn’t resist, just hugged her briefly and then wiggled free. “I gotta put on my trunks. Go get ready!” And he took off.
Having Ivey as his wife was going to be amazing.
Corbin couldn’t imagine a better life.
Chapter Seventeen
“All week,” Hope complained, “you’ve been keeping a secret. Don’t deny it, because I can tell. Give, already.”
Ivey laughed. She and Hope were so close, it was impossible to distract her. God knew Ivey had tried, talking about Hope’s upcoming wedding. And then there was news of her expanding relationship with Charity.
Ivey had met Hope’s sister when she came to the clinic to share lunch. It was obvious the woman was truly remorseful. Not only because of what she said, but how she confided in Hope and how Hope reciprocated.
They’d fallen into an easy rapport that belonged exclusively to sisters, whether they were blood sisters, like Charity and Hope—or sisters found through friendship, as was the case with Ivey.
These days, her heart felt so full it was almost scary.
Because Lang slept over with Hope each night, Ivey and Corbin had switched up reading to Justin. Neither of them was as dramatic a reader as Uncle Lang, but Justin preferred snuggling close to her.
With his dad, he had long talks before each book. With Lang, he laughed a lot. And with Ivey, he indulged all the cuddles.
“I’m just happy,” Ivey finally said to Hope as she finished stitching up a bite mark in a cat’s side. Apparently the cat had slipped out the door, then gotten a little too close to a neighboring Rottweiler who wasn’t a fan. Luckily the cat wasn’t seriously hurt. The bite would heal, but Ivey knew it could have been a lot worse. And elderly Mrs. Tassie would have been devastated.
This was one of those very rewarding circumstances where she could heal an animal and reassure a truly wonderful pet owner.
“It’s more than that,” Hope insisted while keeping all her attention on the cat. “Yesterday when we were floating in the lake, you had this faraway look in your eyes, and you kept smiling for no apparent reason.”
Ivey had all kinds of reasons, actually. “The water was warm, Daisy enjoyed her swimming lesson, I love my flamingo float you gave me and it was so pretty how the blue skies reflected on the surface of the lake. It was all just so relaxing and serene.”
“Daisy did like swimming, didn’t she?”
“She gets more confident and outgoing every day.” Much like Hope. “Justin has been good for her. I was afraid she’d miss him when he was off playing with his grandmother, but so far, she’s adapted well even to that.”
“Yes, she has, and I agree that’s all wonderful,” Hope said. “But I know you too well to think that’s all it is. So tell me, already, because I’m dying to know.”
“All right.” Ivey smiled as she put in the last stitch. “Corbin said he loves me.”
After a suspended second of silence, Hope snorted. “That’s not news. Everyone knew he did.”
“Well, now he’s admitted it. And that is news.”
As if she couldn’t credit such a thing, Hope asked, “Were you really uncertain?”
“No. He made me feel loved in a hundred different ways. I did worry that he might be too overwhelmed with worries to realize it, though. But, Hope, he said the sweetest things about me.”
Teasing, she replied, “I say sweet things about you all the time.”
“And I love you for it.” With the surgery complete, the conversation paused as they moved the cat to recovery.
With that done, Ivey removed her gloves and washed her hands. “I’m going to stay here a while to monitor him until he’s fully awake.” She didn’t want to let Mrs. Tassie take him home until she knew he’d be okay.
“I can stay with you,” Hope offered.
“No way. You and Lang are still celebrating.”
“We have our whole lives to do that.” She hesitated, then added, “But Charity was coming by.”
“Wonderful.” Ivey was so happy that Hope had her sister back, she would never get in the way of that. Shooing her, she said, “Go on. I’ll be fine.”