“Well, aren’t you a lucky duck?” Min replied as she found the tickle spot above Ivy’s hip and the child squirmed with a fresh fit of giggles.
“How’s school? Your mom says you’ve been extra busy lately,” Tom asked as he dropped a freshly shucked ear of corn into the waiting stock pot.
Min focused on Ivy squirming in her lap to try to tamp down some of the guilt. “It’s good. Just a lot of rehearsals. We have auditions for the winter production in two weeks.”
“Our little star,” her mom beamed as she gathered the last few ears of corn into the stock pot. “Let’s go inside. It’s getting chilly out here.”
“That’s puh’cause of the wind!” Ivy shouted, throwing her head back and stretching her arms out wide as if she could catch it.
Once they were all inside, her mother began her usual routine of fussing over everyone – who needed a drink and who needed a sweater and does anyone want something to eat (even though they’d have dinner in an hour) and, Ivy, are you sure you don’t need to use the potty? Min grabbed her bag from the breezeway and excused herself, climbing the stairs to her childhood bedroom to drop off her things.
Walking into the small bedroom was like going back in time. Every time she came home, she was surprised how much it threw her to see her room untouched, exactly as it was the day she left for college. The walls were plastered with posters of Broadway shows. There were so many novels stacked in every corner of the room that she was surprised the cat hadn’t knocked them all down yet. Her stoles and medals from her high school graduation were draped over the CD tower. The mirror over her dresser was lined with photographs from senior prom. She ran her finger over the edge of the photo of herself and the boy she’d considered her boyfriend (the first in a series of no-labels friends-with-benefits relationships). She hardly recognized that girl anymore.
She was just about to head back downstairs when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She smiled as she closed the door and plopped down on her bed, answering, “Miss me already?”
“I missed you as soon as you left. Did you get home alright?” Liam’s gravel and silk voice came through the phone.
“I did. You are speaking with me from my childhood bedroom.”
“Is that so?” She couldn’t help but smirk at the interest in his voice, picturing the arch of his eyebrow as he spoke.
“It’s a little weird, actually. Like a time capsule.”
“Portrait of an artist as a young woman?”
She laughed. “Something like that. What are you up to?”
“Going over my notes for the Dietrich meeting.”
She settled in, adjusting pillows until she was completely comfortable. “Paint me a picture. I want to pretend I’m there with you.”
The hesitation in his voice was evident. “I’m sitting on the couch in the den. Noah and his sister are down the hall arguing about whether to put marshmallows or brown sugar and pecans on the sweet potatoes tomorrow.”
“Brown sugar and pecans all the way.”
“Don’t let Noah know you’re team Liv,” he laughed.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. What are you wearing?”
He barked a laugh of surprise, but when he spoke again, his voice was heated, a low purr that made her press her thighs together. “Dark wash jeans and a t-shirt. The grey one you like.”
“Mmm, classic Liam,” she said, her own voice huskier than a moment earlier.
“And you?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar,” he laughed. “But I appreciate the visual.”
She sighed, fingering the edge of her comforter. “I know I just saw you this morning, but something about being so far away…”
“I know, contessa. Me too.”
There was a tense pause where she wished she could reach through the phone and look into his eyes, see what he was thinking.
“We’re going to figure it out, right?” she asked, immediately wincing. “I mean… I don’t know what I mean.”
“Yes, you do,” he said, his voice low. “Say what you want, Min.”
