Page 110 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

My answer was to kiss her long and deep until her phone started blaring with some cartoon song about bumblebees.

‘How have those little girls changed my ringtone again?’ she said more with amusement than frustration.

She turned the screen toward me.

‘Yeah. It’s like he has a sixth sense or something.’

She laughed and hopped off the counter. ‘Hey, Dad, you’re on speaker.’

‘Where are you?’ he asked in his ‘Mr Mayor’ voice.

‘At home,’ she said, tugging her dress back up over her shoulders.

Home. I couldn’t help the wide grin that covered my face every time she said that word.

‘Everyone is already in the square. Lauren’s been calling and texting me for the last thirty minutes about everything from extra chairs to a working PA system. Could you get a hold of her and tell her to cool her jets? Isabel and I have everything handled.’

She smiled at how gently he said Isabel’s name. We’d had several family dinners over the last few months and Isabel had been a guest on more than one occasion. Last week when he came over to help with the sod we were laying in the backyard, he finally admitted he liked her and both Tessa and Torran gave their approval.

‘Lauren is actually here,’ Torran said. ‘Beck and I will talk to her, confiscate her phone if need be.’

‘I can hear you,’ she called from outside the door. ‘Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing in there.’ She went silent before adding in her shrillest tone, ‘I’m leaving right now, and please, for the love of God, don’t break anything before I get pictures!’

‘What is she talking about?’ Dad grumbled.

‘Nothing.’ Torran put her hand over my mouth to stop my laughter.

This time I returned the favor and licked her hand which earned me another little squeak.

‘We’ll be there soon, I promise,’ she said, biting back her own giggle.

‘Do not be late, Torran.’

‘Yes, Dad.’ She ended the call and pulled me back in for another hot kiss.

The sound of the front door closing meant Lauren was on her way to the square to pester Mr Wright some more.

‘We should go too,’ I said, reluctantly pulling away.

‘Only if you promise we can continue what we were just doing later tonight,’ she whispered against my neck.

I kissed her back and said, ‘Oh, that’s a promise I plan to keep.’

‘For forever?’ She held my gaze. ‘Through thick and thin? Good or bad?’

‘Yes, even through issues with permits and green paint,’ I teased.

‘And dumbasses who fall through rotten ceilings?’ She winked. ‘Whatever the world throws at us, we can get through it if we’re together.’

I tugged Torran in close, loving the distinct thrum of her heart against mine. ‘Are you ready to go face all of Ivy Falls?’

‘No.’ A teasing smile that lit up her face said this was no longer about redemption. It was about a future where she could restore the beauty of the town. Show the world its distinct and meaningful history.

Though she resisted at first, she finally let me pull her out into the hall. I still couldn’t believe this was my house. The floors were restored to their deep caramel hue. It had taken weeks, but Manny had fixed the banister and the steps that led us down to the first floor. The entry felt fresh with its cream-colored walls and antique chandelier that Torran discovered on a weekend away in Louisville after the trespassers destroyed the original.

In the living room sat two oversized brown leather couches, two matching armchairs and a glass and steel cocktail table. The focal point of the room was the shiny black piano we’d placed in front of the bay window.

Music had re-entered Piper’s life in rehab. After she moved in, and some weeks of negotiation, we used part of the money in her trust to buy the piano. Every time she played it was like I could feel my parents’ presence. Like they knew we were finally home.

I pecked another kiss on Torran’s cheek, inhaling everything about her. I’d been so terrified to return here. To face a past that forced me to remember a life that no longer existed. But with her by my side, I understood that I could build a new life and memories. A life that would make my parents beam with pride. For too long I’d been running from my fears, and I was grateful that winding path finally led me back to Torran, and Ivy Falls.