Page 59 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

The frown lines pinching between his brows said he wasn’t convinced.

‘It’s okay, Manny. It felt right to be with Beck again.’

He scrubbed a hand over his mouth and leaned back against the wall. ‘I can see how he feels about you. The way his eyes track your every move. I was the same way with Gina.’

I never had a chance to meet Manny’s wife. She died of a brain aneurysm two years after Lou was born. Manny didn’t talk about her often, but when he did his voice was tinged with a kind of pain that only comes from losing the love of your life.

The sharp tap of hammers floated in through the open windows. ‘Fix that hair before Lauren comes up here. She has some questions about that double basin sink we’re putting in the kitchen.’

Shouts came from the men working on the roof.

‘I better get outside and make sure those fools know what they’re doing.’ He walked to the doorway and stopped. ‘Hey, Tor, next time go to his place. This isn’t your own private love shack,’ he chuckled.

‘If there is a next time,’ I shot back.

‘It’ll happen again. You can see that by the way you look at each other.’

‘And what way is that?’

‘Like two starving lions who spy their first meal in days.’

‘Oh, please. Don’t go all Animal Planet on me.’

‘Sorry.’ He shrugged. ‘I just call ’em like I see ’em.’

Chapter Twenty-Five

BECK

No Room for Awkward Small Talk.

Having Torran in my arms last night was the first time in years I’d let go of all my worries. The upcoming pitch. My sister’s sobriety. Both were overshadowed by the smell and feel of her.

I’d heard her stirring this morning but refused to move. Afraid to wake and find regret shining in her eyes. I’d never stopped dreaming about touching her soft skin, feeling every inch of her body move under me. We’d lived separate lives for ten years, but when we kissed it was like we’d never been apart.

Thankfully with Manny’s surprise appearance there was no room for awkward small talk. Things were never simple or easy with Torran – and I wanted more.

She’d agreed to dinner, and I was determined to make it the first step in winning her back. After I parked I rode the elevator up to my condo, my mind racing with all the ways I could sweep her off her feet.

A romantic dinner.

Flowers.

No. She deserved something better. Unique. An overture that said I was trying. That I wanted and believed in her.

Once I reached my floor, I stepped out into the hallway and almost tripped over a young woman curled up a few inches from my neighbor’s door. He was a budding singer-songwriter and had a revolving door of women and parties. The hallway was always littered with beer bottles and trash, and I worried this girl might be one of the asshole’s castoffs.

I stalked past her and a part of me thought I should check on her. It was what I would have wanted if someone had encountered Piper that way. After a few more seconds of overthinking it, I walked toward the sleeping girl. A heavy black coat covered most of her face.

‘Hey. You can’t be here.’ I touched the girl’s shoulder to make sure she was breathing. She shifted and finally sat up. Dark brown eyes the same color as mine stared back at me.

‘Hi, big brother. Surprise.’

I double-blinked and shook my head, making sure she was real. ‘Piper? What are you doing here?’

After so many years of begging her to come home, it didn’t seem possible that she was right in front of me.

‘Well, that’s a shitty hello, especially for someone who took a red-eye from New York just to see you…’