Page 108 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

Tears burned the corners of my eyes. I moved in close and placed a gentle kiss on the edge of his neck. ‘Legacy,’ I whispered against the hollow of his throat. ‘One of my favorite words.’

I wound my fingers through his silky hair. He pressed his hard body against mine and I melted into him. He was here with me. We were keeping the house. Continuing a dream his parents would have loved.

As our kiss deepened, a steady tap on the second-floor window forced me to pull away from him. Iris and Rose pressed their faces against the glass and waved to us.

‘They’ve both been slightly out of control since I told them they could be part of the final taping for Hearth and Home.’ I glanced up at the house. ‘I have to hand it to Lauren, she was pretty cool about getting us extra time.’

‘She’s like me, Isabel, Barb and Susan, practically the whole damn town. We all know how amazing and talented you and Manny are.’

Seeing everyone at work inside made my heavy heart light. This community always showed up for the people they loved. For the first time, I let myself believe that maybe I was finally forgiven. That all of Ivy Falls could see how much this town meant to me.

Beck pressed a kiss to my forehead. ‘Once the show goes on the air, it’s going to be a total hit. We all know it.’

The house, his sister, the video, they were trials that had pushed us to the edge. Each one a test to see if we could make it through. And here we were, hand in hand, finally standing in front of a dream we’d built together.

Chapter Forty-Nine

BECK

Not Even A Flicker of Armor.

Eight months later…

The little red dress was absolutely killing me.

Torran stood in front of the mirror in the master bathroom turning left and then right. She huffed out a loud breath and climbed on top of the toilet seat. ‘Finally,’ she grumbled, being able to get a full view of the dress. When Tessa came to the house yesterday with her girls, she had handed a garment bag to Torran and demanded she wear the dress inside to the sneak preview of the show tonight.

Ever since the executives at Hearth and Home had seen the rough edits of Torran and Manny’s show, they were sure it was going to be a hit and urged Lauren and her team to amp up the promo. That meant she’d been here every day for the last week ordering marketing assistants to take dozens of pictures of each room and giving us zero privacy.

She was the reason I was currently hiding in the bathroom which, if I was being honest, I didn’t mind because I was getting a full-on show of Torran in a silk dress that slid easily over her shoulders and dove into a deep V down her chest.

‘Don’t you think it’s a little over the top?’ She yanked up the front like somehow she could hide her beauty.

I moved in and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her down from the toilet seat. ‘It’s sexy and perfect for tonight,’ I whispered against her beautiful neck.

Everyone was gathering in the center of town tonight to watch the first episode of Meet Me in Ivy Falls. Manny and I balked at the folksy title at first, but when word got out, the entire community was abuzz and we couldn’t deny that it would bring a lot of attention to the town.

Mr Wright had given permission to erect a giant screen on the lawn in front of town hall, and Barb and Susan had worked their magic to get all the local Ivy Falls restaurants to serve food and drinks.

The tap of heels against the stairs made me press my finger to Torran’s lips. ‘If we stay quiet, maybe she’ll go away.’

Torran stifled a laugh. ‘Have you met Lauren? She’s more tenacious than Pete’s little dog looking for table scraps.’

I brushed a hand over a piece of spindly pink insulation stuck to the hairs at the nape of her neck. I loved that she wore every house like a badge of honor. Proof that she was willing to do the work to make a property shine.

After my house was finally finished, she and Manny, at the request of the town council, agreed to renovate the Old Thomas Place at the edge of town. It was a special request as it’d just made Tennessee’s Register of Historic Places and was the first home ever built in Ivy Falls.

‘Did you know you have insulation in your hair?’

She checked herself in the mirror. ‘That must have come from the inspection we did today.’

‘How’s that coming along?’

‘Slowly. We’ve been studying all the old blueprints, but the place is a cesspool of rot and rodents. The whole subfloor has to be replaced and the plumbing is older than Mrs Vanderpool. It’s going to take a lot of work to make it historically accurate.’

‘If anyone can do it, it’s you and Manny.’

‘He’s been in a real mood lately,’ she said, trying to rub away the bits of fluff still clinging to her hair.