Page 9 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Manny said. ‘We need to look at paint for the master bath at Parkview.’

I barely heard him as I turned to get a good look at the man who’d stolen my dream. He stepped out of the shade and when we locked eyes, his grin faded. He slid off his sunglasses and a chill went through me. I knew that tilt to the head. The small scar etched beneath his bottom lip that would be easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there.

The left side of his mouth lifted, showing a deep dimple.

It was really him.

My best dream and worst nightmare come to life.

The man who’d taken my house, who’d smirked as he outbid me, was its past owner and the only man to ever break my heart. Beck Townsend.

Chapter Five

BECK

Armor Fully In Place.

I’d always pictured this moment between Torran and me as some kind of soft reunion where I’d confess my past. Explain why I’d stayed away from Ivy Falls for so long, and that despite everything, she’d forgive me. But with her glaring at me like I was the devil returning to haunt the town, I’d clearly misjudged the situation.

I should have gone home, stayed out of the auction, but I couldn’t do it. The idea of someone else owning a piece of what was my history, Piper’s history, forced my paddle up time and time again. There was no choice now. I had to tell her why I was here. Why I’d bid against her, but before I could put together a coherent sentence, she fled out of the courtyard with the Rock’s stunt double trailing behind her.

Over the years, I’d done a little online snooping. Seen the article in The Tennessean about her business. Even watched that horrible clip on YouTube a few times. Anger cramping in my chest as the paint slid over her beautiful head.

I’d considered picking up the phone and calling her. Apologizing for how I’d left her and Ivy Falls, but I never found the right words to tell her I was sorry about how things ended for us. That if she knew the truth, she wouldn’t want me anyway.

A familiar ache burned in my arms and inched up my chest. I tugged down the cuffs of my suit jacket to hide the reality of what my life looked like now.

My phone pinged with a text from my business partner, Pete. After a few meetings this morning, I’d left the office to come to Ivy Falls. An itch in my brain telling me I had to see the house one last time. Pete never hovered even though I was a few years younger than him. Lately though, he’d been on edge.

In the last month our advertising agency had lost two major accounts, and we were readying a pitch for a new client we desperately needed. Me going MIA I’m sure was not helping with his anxiety, and I didn’t want to think about how he’d take it when I told him I’d just bought a house in a town forty-five minutes away from work.

Voices in the courtyard grew as bidders moved toward the tables to make their payments. I skirted past them and up the brick steps. With every step I thought about what I’d say to Torran, but I knew nothing would erase the decade we’d been apart. The way I’d disappeared from her life without a word. Honesty would have been the right approach, but I wasn’t ready to share why I’d been absent from her life for so long.

What I wanted to know was why she wanted Huckleberry Lane? Was it because it meant some kind of connection to me? The question made me walk faster to the door.

When I finally stepped outside I was relieved to see Sally Mae still idling at the curb. Leaning in the window was the same big guy I’d seen whispering in Torran’s ear at the auction.

I lingered at the edge of the stairs until the Rock dashed across the street to his own truck. Once he pulled away, I raced toward Sally Mae, sliding behind the tailgate as Torran started to back up. As soon as she saw me in the rearview mirror, she slammed on the brakes.

‘Seriously? Don’t you know better than to walk behind a truck with its engine revving?’ she shouted out the window.

Ten years apart and the sound of her voice still shot a thrill through me. I took a thick, uncomfortable swallow before strolling up to the side of the truck.

‘And don’t you know better than to back up without looking?’

Her mossy-green eyes narrowed into a deadly stare.

Yeah, I’d seen her video mishap, and I was a fucking idiot to tease her about it.

The air sparked between us as I put my arms up on the roof and leaned in closer. ‘I’m sorry. Guess I was in a rush to see you before you sped off.’

Her face stayed a hard mask. ‘Maybe you should think twice before walking into a spot you’re not wanted.’

The slow and deliberate way she spoke said she meant more than me just walking behind her truck. I’d forgotten how cutting her words could be when she wanted.

I knew she had a tougher side. As kids, whenever her dad would appear, she’d throw up this wall like she could guard herself from whatever snide comment he’d fling her way. After a while I started referring to it as her ‘armor’. In all the time we’d known each other, she’d never used that side of herself against me. Until now.

‘Okay, I deserved that. But seriously, how are you, Tor?’