Finding Love in Ivy Falls

Chapter Two

TESSA

In Hibernation For Way Too Long

‘That’s a good look on you. Please tell me where you found blue tights in your size,’ I teased Manny as we walked past the tables set out in front of the Sugar Rush Café.

Only seconds after the owners, Barb and Susan, appeared with a tray of ghost-shaped donuts, the kids were gobbling them down. As Manny’s daughter, Lou, and my girls, Iris and Rose, reached to take one, we both shoved napkins in their direction. We’d started doing this lately. Anticipating the exact same thing our kids needed. It was nice. Comforting.

‘You’re one to talk.’ His gaze moved down my polyester blue-silver gown that pinched at my chest and hips. ‘Although I have to admit in that wig you do make a pretty good Elsa.’

He gave me that familiar look. The one that said he was trying to be serious but instead made a laugh bubble in my throat.

I tried not to stare, but, man, he could give Henry Cavill a run for his money. And don’t get me started on the blue tights, and the way the bottom half of his costume, which was about the size of a man’s Speedo, hugged his thick thighs and other parts of his gorgeous body.

I quickly looked away, pretending to tug on my white wig that had shifted when I’d chased Iris and Rose down the sidewalk toward the town’s main fountain. At seven and five, neither of my girls could make a decision on who would be Anna and who would be Elsa from Frozen . In a compromise, I’d agreed to be the older sister so both girls could be Anna.

‘Pop, can I go check out the games with Iris and Rose?’ Lou asked.

Poor Manny did look uncomfortable in his outfit, but Lou beamed at him like he was the real Man of Steel.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But stay close by.’

She took off with the girls, her little cape flapping behind her. Manny’s eyes held that hint of pain I’d learned to recognize over the last few years. He was thinking of Gina, his late wife, and what she was missing. I nudged his shoulder, needing to get him out of his head.

‘That costume does suit you, Manny,’ I said as we kept walking.

Inflatables of ghosts, goblins and vampires bobbed and swayed on every corner. Orange twinkle lights hung across big picture windows of the businesses that faced out to the square. Older folks sat in rocking chairs in front of the hardware store. Cauldrons filled with candy were perched on their laps as they waited for kids to stop.

‘Since when is dressing in costume for Halloween a requirement for adults?’ he said, shoving back his own red nylon cape.

Again, he did the Superman thing justice. His broad shoulders filled out the costume nicely, and the slicked-back black hair was a sexy touch, especially with the slight grays poking through. Most days, I only saw him in paint-splattered jeans and a ratty baseball cap when he was at a worksite with my sister.

‘Don’t get too far ahead,’ I called to all the girls as they rushed past Minnie’s Market, their dresses sweeping past stacked bales of hay and several carved jack-o’-lanterns set along the sidewalk.

This was one of the many reasons why I loved Ivy Falls. There wasn’t a holiday people didn’t celebrate, but Halloween was when my hometown went all out. Even the local business signs, usually filled with humorous sayings for our town contest, were holiday themed. The one outside Mimi’s Pizza said Witch Types of Toppings Do You Want? and the Dairy Dip’s read Selling Over Twenty Flavors of Ice Scream! My girls giggled at that one.

In front of the Ivy Falls Community Bank, my father stood with his bank manager and girlfriend, Isabel. They were dressed as Gatsby and Daisy. Dad looked perfect in his black starched suit. Isabel wore an elegant white flapper dress. Her lips were so red they rivaled the roses in the town’s community garden. When they spotted the girls, they bent down and opened their arms, cradling all three of them and fawning over their costumes.

I stopped for a minute, watching the scene. Manny stood beside me, a bright smile lifting his ridiculously carved cheekbones.

‘It’s a perfect night,’ he said, inching in closer, his hand twitching at his side like he wanted to lace his fingers between mine.

We’d been doing this dance for the last several months. Gently brushing past each other, poking sides when we told jokes. Doing anything and everything we could to innocently touch each other without actually committing.

Whenever we were with my sister Torran and her boyfriend Beck, they watched us with eager anticipation. Waiting for that moment when Manny and I would finally talk about what had been simmering between us since we’d first become friends.

I’d been ignoring the way my skin hummed every time he came to my bookstore, the Pen & Prose. How when we walked through a door together, he’d gently press his hand to the small of my back. The dormant parts of my lower body finally waking like they’d been in hibernation for way too long.

Every time I thought I’d be brave enough to say something, make the first move (which I knew he was waiting on), I hesitated. My soon-to-be ex-husband, Billy, had burned me so badly the scorch marks on my heart were just beginning to form scar tissue.

All the rational parts of my brain understood Manny would never hurt me, but when I let myself imagine what that future might look like, my bones went cold, and my stomach tumbled. From the beginning, he’d been a confidant, a friend, and I couldn’t bear to lose what we’d built over the last year.

‘Tess, did you hear me?’

I shook my head, shoving away all my fears, and met his fervent stare.

‘You all right?’ He gave me a steady look.

‘Yes,’ I stuttered. ‘Just thinking about how much this town means to me.’

His lips thinned, and his hand twitched at his side again. His gentle sweetness was like a gravitational force pulling me in. I began to inch closer when a young woman I didn’t recognize beelined down the sidewalk in our direction.

‘Hi,’ the girl gushed, tossing back her long blonde curls. ‘Could I get a selfie? My friends and I are fans of your show, and they’d die to see you dressed like that.’

Manny’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His panicked gaze shot to where Lou stood.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, stepping in front of him. ‘He’s needed immediately at another event. Maybe another time.’

Before she could protest, or hold her phone up to take a picture anyway, I gripped his hand and raced toward the bank. When we reached our families, Dad arched a brow at me. ‘That excited to bob for apples?’

‘Yes, sure,’ I said roughly.

As if sensing something was off, Isabel corralled the girls to the old wine barrels placed at the edge of the building.

‘Let’s go, Miles. Think we’re going to need those towels too. Rose has been telling me for weeks she plans to submerge her entire head.’

Dad chuckled and said, ‘That’s the spirit,’ before grabbing some beach towels off a wrought-iron bench and chasing after her.

Manny glanced down to where our hands were still clenched together. ‘Thanks. Should I just call you my bodyguard now?’

‘Can you afford me?’ I teased.

He paused. Gave me that knee-wobbling hint of a smile. I’d caught him doing this a lot lately. Looking at me like he wanted to press the outline of me into his memory. As if I might disappear at any moment. A sad side effect of grief. Of losing someone you loved much too soon.

‘We better go,’ he finally said, releasing my hand. ‘Lou is very competitive. If we don’t moderate, she’ll put her entire body in that barrel just to win.’

I jokingly hip-checked him. ‘Gee, I wonder where she gets that from?’

‘What?’ he said innocently.

‘Come on. I have never seen anyone get as invested in Rummikub as you do. It’s like an obsession.’

Lou took off her crown and wrist cuffs and eyed the barrel with a grave look.

‘Yep. We better go,’ he said.

We hustled down the sidewalk and reached the corner at the same time as Beck and Torran appeared on the other side of the square.

They took one look at us and burst out laughing.

‘Now that is what I call commitment, you two.’ Beck grinned at us.

‘Seriously, Manny. You are the only guy I know who can actually do that costume justice,’ Torran joked.

‘Oh, that’s for sure.’ Old Mrs Vanderpool appeared from out of nowhere and gave Manny an appraising look, which made all of us burst into another round of laughter.

Manny and Beck went to help Dad and Isabel with the apple bobbing. I tried to follow, but Torran grasped my arm and pulled me a few steps away.

‘Costumes, huh?’ There was a gleam in her eye I did not like.

‘Yes,’ I sighed. ‘It is Halloween, you know.’

Her gaze moved to Manny in that costume that hugged him in all the right places. ‘You two look good together.’

‘Come on, Tor. Are we doing this again?’

‘Doing what?’ She feigned innocence.

‘Trying to insinuate there’s something between Manny and me. You know I’m still tangled up in all the legal stuff with Billy.’

She crossed her arms over her chest. Her defensive move every time the subject of my ex came up. ‘Has he signed the divorce papers yet?’

I looked down at my dress and played with the edges.

‘Tessa, it’s been nearly two years.’ Her voice went rough.

‘My lawyer can’t find him.’

Her mouth went hard. ‘What do you mean?’

‘He disappeared from that apartment he was living in with…’ My throat went dry. ‘With… her.’

Torran let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. ‘Just when I think he can’t become a bigger douche canoe, he proves me wrong.’

The sound of the girls’ giggles and cheers floated toward us. ‘I’m begging you. For tonight, let’s forget all the drama and enjoy the fun. For the girls.’

I knew that would send an arrow straight to her heart.

‘Fine, but if that man ever shows his face in this town again, he won’t have only me to deal with.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know. You and the townspeople with torches and pitchforks,’ I teased even as a knot tightened in my chest.