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Summer walks her out, but even so I watch her back as she goes. Move to a better vantage point when she leaves my sight. It isn’t until the front door shuts behind her that I relax and pour another cup of coffee. There’s something else I need to discuss with my brothers. Even though I know how it’s going to go, I bring it up anyway. “It’s Mom’s birthday soon.”
Rebel checks the date on his Tag Hauer. “Hmm. Must have slipped my mind. I didn’t realize.”
His steady blue eyes are so much like my own that I can tell what he’s thinking.Are you going to see her?
I think so. You’re not though, are you?
What’s the point? It’s not like she’s in there.He rolls those steely blues so hard at the ceiling they might as well be ammunition embedding themselves in the plaster. “I’ll send her some flowers.”
“Daffodils,” I remind him. They’re her favorite. She used to grow them in the garden when we were little. A vase full of the pretty flowers adorned our table whenever they bloomed. Until they didn’t. We must have been eight or nine that first spring she let the garden go in favor of staying in bed all the time.
“Sure.” He shrugs and won’t meet my gaze. I understand his point of view. It’s the reason he is the way he is. Protective. A fighter. Ready to go a thousand miles for the people who matter.
He pays for her treatment. That’s all he has to give the woman who gave him nothing but responsibility and heartbreak.
“Me either,” Riot says quietly. I used to take him with me when he was still in high school, but that was five years ago. She’d already been at the retreat full time for almost three years at that point. “I don’t really remember her. Not as my mom anyway. She’s always been… not there. She won’t notice. She hasn’t noticed I haven’t been to visit her in a few years now.”
“All right.” I don’t blame them. I’m not looking forward to this visit either. I’ve always suspected that I would be the one who would have issues like hers. I believed it so hard that I wasn’t willing to get close to anyone. And then Ivy came along and… I just keep thinking what if I’m the idiot who chooses the girl who will never let me in because her issues are mountains she can’t overcome? “I’m going to head out.”
“When you see her tell her…” Rebel rubs a hand over his head and I hear the sadness in his voice. “Happy birthday from me.”
“Us,” Riot adds.
“Got it.” I leave them in silence over their half-drunk coffees. Check my phone for messages from Ivy. And see that she’s waiting for me. It’s the pick me up I need. All I want to do is go straight to her apartment and pull her into my arms. But it’ll have to wait an hour or so.
“You’re leaving so soon?” Summer asks as she heads up the steps at the same time I trudge down them.
“Yeah. I have a few things to take care of.”
“And a girl to see?”
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face as I give her finger guns. “You know it.”
She disappears into the house as I unlock the Jeep. I’m about to leap in when Marty jumps out of her Mini Cooper and strides toward me. Grant sits in the passenger seat with his focus on the phone in his hand.
“Rogue, wait a minute. I need to talk to you.” Marty bustles toward me.
“Nope.” I turn my back on her. So she waited to ambush me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her. “Pretty sure we did all the talking we’re going to do inside.”
She tugs on my elbow. “Rogue, I didn’t mean to hurt you. We used to be friends.”
“Used to be,” I snap over my shoulder as I yank open the door to my ride.
“I still care about you,” she says.
“Great. Tell it to your priest.”
“Listen,” she insists. “This is about the girl you’re dating.”
“She is none of your business.” I glower down at her. If she comes after Ivy for the sake of a story I’ll make it my mission to rip her a new one. Her career she built on the back of our bones will be a distant memory.
“There’s something about her.”
“Stay away from Ivy,” I growl like a werebear with a sore tooth. It’s the only warning I’ll give her. My gut instinct has always told me to trust and protect Ivy. I don’t need to Google her to know she’s mine.
“Ivy? That’s her name.” She tips her head to the side, her gaze calculating.
Damn it, I gave her ammunition, something to look for, but she won’t get another thing out of me. Good luck locating Ivy without a last name. “Fuck you, Marty.”
