Finding Love in Ivy Falls

Chapter Eight

MANNY

Brave and Beautiful Woman

If I could envision the perfect day, it would be this one. The temps hovered in the low sixties, but the blossoming yellow sun made the air warm. Lou, Iris and Rose sat in the back seat of my truck, tucked in shoulder to shoulder like books resting on a shelf. Their sweet little voices sang along to their favorite country songs.

Tess sat in the spot I loved, right next to me, as the open windows blew back her auburn hair. She usually wore it tied back from her face, but today it was loose and floating in the wind like glistening copper. She’d looked so shaken after her conversation with Barb and Susan a few days ago, and it was good to see her relaxed now. The tension gone from her shoulders and perfectly pink mouth.

Dried brown and yellow leaves crunched under the tires as we flew down the small two-lane highway that led to Breyer’s farm. My hand lay open on the seat. I itched to reach out and place it on top of hers, but I needed a signal, some sign, that we’d reached that point in whatever was growing between us.

A few yards up the highway, a bright red sign directed us to turn left to enter the farm. We took the narrow road barely wide enough for two cars. Along the fence line was a handful of horses, some gray and others a tawny brown. The girls squealed and jockeyed for position to see them.

‘Keep those seat belts on!’ I warned.

The road ended at a large dirt parking lot that was already filled with two dozen cars. The sweet scent of freshly baked pies, and ripe apples, floated in through the open windows.

Once I parked the truck, the girls unbuckled and scrambled out. They cheered when they saw a large tractor pulling a long bed filled with several families.

‘Can we do the hayride, Mommy?’ Iris bounced on her toes, and Rose nodded along like she wanted to ask the same question. That heavy weight Tess had been carrying since Billy left, since the store began to have issues, melted away. This was what she needed. What we needed. To make special memories with the people we cherished. The ones who wanted to spend time with us. Who would never run away.

‘Let’s get your coats on first,’ Tess said. ‘We’ll pick some apples and then do the hayride.’

‘And then, of course, the corn maze.’

Tess smiled at the way my voice was just as giddy as the girls’.

I slid Lou’s coat on over her T-shirt, and Tess helped the girls with their sweatshirts.

‘What kind of apples are we going to get?’ Lou said to Tess once I’d zipped her up. ‘Daddy buys the ones that crunch, not the ones that go all mushy in your mouth.’

‘We have to go to the stand near the entrance. They’ll tell us what trees are available for picking.’ Tess pointed to a makeshift wooden booth with a sign that said, In today’s orchard…

Lou raced over to Tess and slid her hand into hers, and my heart swelled. Iris and Rose rushed up beside them and held on like a beautifully loving chain. As the four of them walked in the direction of the booth, I yanked my phone out of my back pocket and snapped a picture. A thought breezed through my head, and my breath went unsteady.

This could be my family.

I was jumping way too far ahead, but my mind had already put the picture of them in a frame. Set it on the mantel as a reminder of this perfect day.

After selecting two baskets to collect our apples, we followed the small wooden signs leading to the orchard. The breeze picked up, and the girls rushed ahead, jumping and singing a made-up song about fall and the taste of apples.

Tess let her head tilt back, and the sun danced over the top of her pink cheeks. I couldn’t help but move in and gently bump her side. She turned to me with one brow arched. ‘Did you just hip-check me, sir?’

I inched in closer and brushed my hand over hers. ‘Do you have any idea how stunning you are? That you have this gorgeous dotting of freckles sprinkled over your cheeks and nose, like a beautiful set of constellations.’

‘Manny.’ She flushed. ‘That’s very sweet.’

Her eyes lingered on my lips before she quickly looked away. I wanted to believe in that moment that she wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her. In an act of bravery, I reached out and linked my pinkie with hers. I looked forward, too afraid to see the reaction on her face. That she might want to pull away. Instead, she gave a little squeeze, and it sent a sweet rush of blood to my head, and, well, other places.

‘Pop!’ Lou came running back in our direction, and Tess quickly released me. The pain of losing that connection was visceral. ‘The painted sign next to the trees up ahead says “Gala” – is that the soggy or crisp kind?’ Lou asked.

‘You like the kind called Fuji.’

‘Oh, okay.’ She looked to the spot where I once clasped Tess’ pinkie, and her smile faded before she raced back to Iris and Rose.

‘Thank you for today,’ Tess said as we kicked at rocks and gravel, trying to keep up with the girls.

‘No need for thanks. I’m glad we made time to do it.’

She went quiet and chewed on her bottom lip. I’d known her long enough to understand something else was weighing on her mind.

I reached out and gently tapped a finger to her head. ‘What kind of things are swirling around in that brain of yours?’

‘There’s a lot going on, and I hope…’ She pulled in a rough breath. ‘Well, I hope I can handle it all.’

‘You’re strong. Smart. You’ve got this, Tess.’ I held her gaze, needing her to know that I was right there to support her.

‘Thank you, but I must admit I feel unmoored right now. With the store and now this new loan the bank just approved, it feels like I’m walking this unknown path, and I’m not sure what’s around the next corner.’ She tugged on the end of her hair. ‘All of it scares the hell out of me. If this goes sideways, I could lose everything.’

I hated the quiver in her voice, wanted to do anything I could to reassure her, but I also needed to listen. Let her know she could tell me anything.

‘It’s in my nature to be thoughtful, prepared,’ she went on. ‘But it’s like I keep trying to grasp for something solid, and all I’m getting is air.’

She gave the ends of her hair another tug.

‘Because of Billy, I almost didn’t agree to take over the bookstore after my mom got sick.’

‘What?’ I bit out. ‘Why?’

‘Since we were teenagers, he’s had this uncanny ability to get inside my head. Make me doubt myself. It’s not like he ever came out and said I didn’t have the brains to do it, but he’d drop small, cutting comments like I wasn’t a math person, so how could I run a business? He’d needle me about my personality. The fact that I didn’t like confrontation. How that’d make it tough to be a good boss.’

The longer she talked, the more I hated her ex. It wasn’t just that he ran away like a coward, it was that he made her doubt her abilities and her intelligence. That he made her think she wasn’t the brave and beautiful woman the rest of us saw. If it took me a lifetime, I’d prove to her that she was an angel on earth. That her presence in Ivy Falls made the town so much sweeter, better. That she deserved to be loved unconditionally, and supported in everything she did.

The question was, would she let me in to be that shoulder she needed? And even if she did, what would that mean for our friendship, which had become one of the most important things in my life?