Page 31 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

She ignored her friends and gave me a full-watt smile. ‘You, honey, will never be the enemy.’

A small part of my heart tugged at the softness in her voice. She reminded me so much of my mom.

‘See you two around.’ Isabel flounced off in the direction of the ramada and the heat of Tessa’s stare burned into my back.

Taking another large gulp of coffee, I said, ‘You knew already, didn’t you?’

Tessa returned her focus to the girls, but the corner of her mouth gave a betraying twitch.

‘Manny can’t keep a secret to save his life. I bet I wasn’t out of the house for two seconds after our walk-through before he called you.’

‘Not true.’ She took a dainty sip of her tea. ‘While you were working late at the Parkview house last night, he brought Louisa over for dessert. I practically had to pry the truth out of him.’ Her gaze flicked back to the girls hurtling down one of the circular slides. ‘He’s worried about this deal. How it will affect the short ninety-day time frame you’ve put in place. How he’s going to have to split his days between that project and the finishing touches on Parkview.’

‘We juggle projects well,’ I said. ‘It’ll be fine.’

‘You can’t blame him for worrying. Money is always a concern with a small business.’

Tension wafted off Tessa in heavy waves. A question about why the ladies were meeting at the park instead of the P&P hung on my lips but I couldn’t quite push it out.

‘Iris, be careful!’ Tess called out as her oldest pumped her legs to go higher on the swings. The lines around her mouth were deeper. Small purple shadows lingered below her thick black lashes. She was too damn young to look so tired and broken. ‘Tell me more about this agreement with Beck,’ she said while still keeping an eagle eye on her girls.

‘Beck’s paying us to do the reno but I told him he has to be available for questions. That he can’t be a silent partner. He has to be all in if we’re going to do it right.’

‘I know what I said at the store, but do you think you can trust him after…’ Tessa tugged on the end of her braid, her own personal tic whenever she brought up an uncomfortable subject. Just like our mother, she wasn’t good with confrontation.

‘There are a dozen reasons I can list why this is a bad idea,’ I admitted, ‘but the thought that some other contractor could screw up the property is a more tangible pain. I need to restore the house and make everyone see that I have a serious stake in this town. That I care. Show them all I’m not a total screwup no matter what that video shows.’

My sister reached over and squeezed my hand. ‘No one thinks you’re a screwup, Tor.’

‘I love that you can lie to me with a straight face, especially with half this park shooting me death stares.’

She huffed out a laugh. ‘Tell me the truth. How weird was it to see Beck dangling from the ceiling?’

‘God. What else did Manny tell you while you were having this “surprise” dessert?’

‘Don’t do that,’ she whispered. ‘We’re just friends.’

Every time I teased Tessa about Manny her entire body went tense like she’d been zapped by a live wire. She deserved to have love, companionship again, but she insisted that her only focus could be on the P&P and the girls.

‘I know. Sorry.’

She shook it off like she wanted to change the subject. ‘How much damage did he do?’

‘A lot. He took out half the ceiling in the second-floor hallway.’

‘Wow,’ she whispered. ‘That much?’

‘Yeah. It’s proof he’s completely clueless about what to do with the house.’

‘So, this is all business?’

Tessa gave me her patented mom stare that warned she’d know if I was lying.

I wasn’t going to tell her that when I’d brushed Beck’s leg in my truck, I almost hit the roof. That it was practically illegal how good he smelled. That I had visions of pressing my mouth to his full lips to see if his kissing had improved in ten years.

‘Of course. We’re partners – that’s all.’

‘Does Beck agree?’ she pushed.