Page 28 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

Or knew I was jealous.

‘I’m part of this project and I’d like to know why you two keep eyeing each other like you’re trying to negotiate a peace treaty. It’s a kitchen, for fuck’s sake.’

Torran’s face softened. ‘Sorry. We get like this on all our projects. I want to restore. Manny wants to replace. It’s a little dance we do with every job.’

‘And no matter my protests, she always seems to get her damn way,’ Manny grumbled, knocking her arm.

There was a silent system of communication between them that made my gut clench. That made me remember at one time Torran and I had shared the same kind of secret language. Now she shared that connection with another man and it was my own damn fault.

‘I’d like to restore,’ I said, coming up alongside Torran and brushing her side. Heat raced through me as my hand found a place beside hers on the crumbling countertop. Not so subtly, she inched away. ‘My mom loved these cabinets. I’d like to see them stay if it’s possible.’

Manny grumbled, ‘Fine,’ and Torran let out a small cheer. She rushed into the next room and Manny tracked her movement until she was out of earshot. ‘So Tor told me you two went to high school together?’ His deep voice was more like a growl. ‘That you had to move away before your senior year. Why?’

‘My dad was a tech whiz. He owned a business that invented several different processors that made computers run faster. It was acquired by a major company for a pretty nice price. He used the money to buy a huge RV. After I finished my junior year of high school, our family left Ivy Falls to travel the US for a year. Dad drove most of the time while my mom homeschooled me and my sister.’

‘Are you planning to live here once the reno is done?’ His gaze flicked to the living room where Torran lingered.

‘Uh, no,’ I hedged. ‘My sister Piper will.’ My stare moved to Torran too. ‘But I will be visiting a lot.’

He must have heard the throaty change in my tone because he gave me a dead-eyed stare. ‘You have history here. I get it, but you and I need to be clear about something.’ His voice went rough, bordering on fierce like he wanted me to remember this moment. ‘This is business for me and Torran. It’s taken a lot of work to get people in Ivy Falls to respect what we do. It hasn’t always been easy, especially in the last few months because of what Tor said about the town in the heat of the moment.’

He stopped and shook his head.

‘But we’ve made it this far, and I won’t let one project screw it up for us. This renovation needs to go as smooth as the Cumberland River. No more accidents or problems.’ Manny’s gaze moved to the second-floor ceiling. ‘Get my point?’

‘Of course.’

The low clop of Torran’s footsteps moving up the stairs echoed through the house. Manny tried to walk away but I grabbed his arm. My fingers barely fit halfway around his bicep. His pointed stare moved to my hand and I quickly stepped back.

‘Tell me the truth. How bad was it after the video went viral?’

He huffed under his breath as if weighing whether he should say anything. Like his loyalty was always to Torran.

That twinge of jealousy sparked again. I used to be the loyal one in her life. The person who’d do anything to protect her, but I’d lost all that when I walked away without a word.

‘It was awful,’ he grumbled. ‘Everyone in town wanted her to leave. And her words weren’t exactly a rousing push for local tourism.’ He grimaced. ‘We had problems at the houses after it too. We’d lay sod and a day later someone had driven over it. A new coat of paint would go on the exterior and it’d get egged sometime in the night.’ He cursed in a low voice. ‘Even Tor’s dad has given her all kinds of trouble. And don’t get me started on all the cruel online comments we’ve gotten on our website. It’s only in the last few weeks that she’s finally started to come out of a funk, and I swear to heaven and earth if you screw this up for her, send her back to that dark place, I’ll make you regret you ever crossed the city line back into Ivy Falls. Got me?’

‘I’d never do anything to hurt her.’ The edges around his mouth went firm. Of course, he knew about my past with Torran. ‘I mean I’d never hurt her again.’

‘Guys, let’s go!’ Torran called from the second floor. ‘We still need to walk through the rest of the bedrooms.’

Manny took a long look at me and shot out his hand. ‘I believe you’re doing this for the right reasons, Beck. Don’t make me regret trusting you.’

After I shook his hand, he rushed up the stairs to the second floor. I hesitated, swallowing down the knot crowding my throat.

There was no way I was letting Torran down. Not this time.

Chapter Fourteen

TORRAN

Fraternizing With The Enemy.

At the edge of town behind Bud’s Meat-and-Three and Cady’s Ice and Water, sat a little park tucked into a hidden cul-de-sac. It was my nieces’ favorite spot with a few swings, three yellow twisty slides and a single ramada with two picnic tables.

This morning it was filled with a few families enjoying the cool May morning. I’d tried to avoid eye contact, but more than a few people shot nasty glances in my direction.

Yeah, it was going to take a bit more than fixing Beck’s house to get this town to forgive me.