City Beautiful

by CM Foss

  “Honestly, yes. You have to. Think of it as therapy. Remember the time you ate frozen food.”

  “I’ll never live that down, will I?”

  “You never will.” I reached in and pulled out a slice, holding it to her mouth. She grimaced and took it out of my hands, tilting her head to study it. “It’s pizza, Ivy. Just pizza.”

  Blowing out a loud and somewhat dramatic breath, she gingerly took a bite. I grabbed my own slice and did the same.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s fine.” She pouted.

  “You like it.” I nudged her with my elbow.

  “Only a little.”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “Mine’s still better.”

  Ivy

  “So”—I paused to swallow a mouthful of disgustingly good pizza—“is this the date? Pizza in a car? Cause, I mean… it’s fine and all, but…”

  Patrick started the engine and pulled away from the curb. “No, blondie. It’s not. Have patience.”

  “I’m not being impatient.” I shrugged. “It was a valid question.”

  He placed his hand on my knee and gave it a squeeze, then slid it upward. I licked my lips as I watched it travel.

  “Almost there.”

  Almost there, indeed.

  After a few twists and turns of the car while watching his fingers play casually against my leg, we pulled up to a halt in front of a cute two-story home, just off the main drag, with a sold sign in front of it. I frowned as I looked from the sign to Patrick. He wore a large grin as he hopped out of the car and walked around to open my door, seeming not to notice that I wasn’t smiling back.

  He grabbed my hand and dragged me along behind him. He pushed open the unlocked front door and stood proudly in the doorway.

  “What do you think?” He gestured with his outstretched arm for me to enter.

  I froze. I didn’t want to enter. Or did I? I don’t know. It really depended on why he bought a house.

  I couldn’t speak, so I just stared at him. I knew my mouth was hanging open because it was dry. But I couldn’t move it.

  His face fell briefly before understanding dawned. “It’s not a house.”

  I looked up at the brick siding and black shutters, clutching my jacket around my neck. “It’s not?”

  “No.” He laughed. “Didn’t you read the sign? It’s zoned commercial.”

  I lowered my gaze to him, still confused. “I don’t get it.”

  He took my hand again and led me inside. It was clearly an older house, with hardwood floors throughout. There was a small kitchen to our left but ahead was a staircase and to the right was a cozy, burning wood stove set between two adjoining rooms, empty but for a single table and two chairs. On the table was a bouquet of daisies and a bottle of champagne resting in an ice bucket. I turned a circle as I looked around.

  “You are looking at my new… family practice and holistic wellness center.”

  My jaw dropped farther. “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “I thought you were interviewing at hospitals.”

  “I would rather poke my own eyes out.”

  I snorted and spun around again. “How… what?”

  “I got the idea from Luke.”

  My eyes bugged out of my head. “What?”

  “I know. So weird. But it’s true. Let me show you around.”

  He tossed the pizza box on the table and pulled me down a hallway, while I eyed the unopened champagne longingly.

  “The kitchen will stay but be blocked off, the front office will be in the living room. Then we’ll put two exam rooms down here. Upstairs”—he jogged me up the steps—“we have a room just for blood draws, an acupuncture room for Luke, another consult room, and more rooms for stuff you’ll have to help me with.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. I need your advice on what people need to focus on most to avoid getting sick in the first place. The rest of the office is for regular stuff. But up here, it’s for lifestyle changes, knowledge… proactive steps.”

  My eyes misted as I watched his excitement. “Who are you and what have you done with the city?”

  He grinned and pulled me in for a swift kiss, slapping me on the ass. “Just don’t tell anyone we’re about to eat pizza and drink alcohol in here.”

  “Holy hypocrite.”

  “Moderation.” He winked.

  We headed back downstairs and sat at the little table. Patrick expertly popped the cork on the champagne bottle before realizing there were no glasses.

  I shrugged and grabbed the bottle, tipping it to my lips. It flooded my mouth, streaming out of my lips as I coughed and sputtered and laughed. My eyes were stinging and blurry, but they cleared when the heat from his tongue licked up my neck, catching the droplets of cool bubbles and sending shivers throughout the rest of my body.

  “Thank you,” I said as I passed the bottle to him.

  “Anytime.”

  “And congratulations.”

  “Don’t congratulate me yet.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Well, I know it’ll take time to get running, but this is really great, Patrick. I’m so happy for you.”

  “For us.”

  I smiled. “That too.”

  He took a deep breath through his nose and tucked his hands in his jacket pockets. “To me, when someone says ‘congratulations,’ it should be in honor of something truly special and out of the ordinary. Something not everyone gets to have. And something treasured. My job, this practice… I’ve worked hard for it. But people work hard all the time, and we all have something different to show for it. So… if anyone ever says ‘congratulations’ to me, I want it to be because they look at me and they see you. And they think, ‘you lucky bastard. How the hell did you get so lucky… so blessed?’ Then they can congratulate me.”

  My eyes misted at his words even as I chuckled at his description. I tried to discreetly wipe them, but he reached up and gently tugged my hands from my face, dropping a kiss on each one and holding them between us to continue speaking. “When we first met, you said you were going to change my life. I don’t think either of us knew how true that would end up being. I wanted to be more like you, and every day I’ve strived for that.” He drew a deep breath and let it out. “But even more than that, I want to be with you. Every day and for every reason.”

  I gasped as he slid a ring on my finger and kissed it reverently. “Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?”

  I looked into his eyes, into the face of the man who thought I had changed him, when it was he who had saved me. And there was no doubt in my mind.

  “Yes. For every reason.”

  Epilogue

  I loosened my tie as I leaned quietly against the wooden doorframe, surveying the view into the barn.

  A little blond-haired girl, wearing a puffy pink dress with mud flung all over it, darted giggling across the dirt aisle. Within seconds, I caught another flash from the corner of my eye as her brother chased after her.

  “Kate.” Ivy’s voice carried over to me from where she was milking one of the goats. I smiled at her stern tone. “Give it back. Now.”

  The two kids skidded to a halt, and Kate passed a stolen lollipop back to Everett. She had an impish smirk on her face as she apologized. She was such a cute little shit and looked so much like her mother, I had a hard time getting mad, or at least staying mad, especially when she made that face.

  Ivy thought that was bullshit since I had no problem getting upset at her. That wasn’t entirely true though. I just liked getting her all worked up and then bringing her back down.

  I heard a scuffle behind me as our enormous, brown fluff of a puppy barreled into the barn, almost taking me out at the knees. He ran s
traight through the middle of the kids, smoothly snatching the candy from Everett’s hand and continuing on out the opposite door.

  There was a moment of shocked silence before Everett started to wail. Then Kate started in, probably because she lost another opportunity to steal from her brother but also because she could never stand to see him cry.

  The loud noises startled the damn goat into putting her foot directly into the milking bucket. Ivy jumped off her stool to avoid getting soaked. With a loud sigh, she extricated the goat’s foot and set the bucket aside. She caught my eye as I made my way toward the screaming children in an effort to help quiet them down.

  It was chaos. Gorgeous, fantastic chaos.

  She shook her head in tired amusement and bent to shush and kiss the head of our latest creation, Helen, the incredible sleeping infant who was snugly cocooned to her chest in a sage-green wrap.

  Ivy took Everett aside and I grabbed Kate, and we both talked them off their respective ledges. Their sniffles subsided and smiles lit their faces once more when their mom promised them she had more of her homemade lollipops back at the house. With whoops and hollers that once more startled the goat and finally woke the baby, the rug rats tore out of the building, racing back toward home.

  Helen was screaming, red-faced with indignation at being woken so rudely. Ivy untied her wrap, and I gently lifted our daughter into my arms, cradling her to the side. She quieted instantly, snuffling into the crook of my elbow. With a smile, I looked around the now-empty barn, then back at my wife.

  She leaned into my chest and sighed with contentment.

  “Hey there, city,” she murmured.

  I kissed the top of her head, inhaling the scent of lavender and Ivy.

  “Hi, beautiful.”

  THE END

  Thank you!

  Thank you so much for reading City Beautiful! I hope you enjoyed a little trip through Ivy and Patrick’s world. I sure did!

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  Acknowledgments

  Ah, my favorite part. The part that fills me with equal amounts joy in remembering everyone who helped me through this book and fear that I’ll forget someone within the spaces of my brain. It’s a struggle in there.

  I’ve been so blessed to meet some of the most wonderful and supportive people in my life. As a writer, sometimes you get these ideas for your stories. A plan. And that plan doesn’t always work but can be very hard to let go of. Sometimes you don’t even to see that it should be let go. It takes a very special critique partner with a large set of balls to point that out and tell you to pull the plug. Not to mention taking time out of writing her own amazing books to painstakingly set you straight. K. Langston—there are no words to describe how grateful I am to you, because my feelings are just too strong.

  BN Toler—Oh my gracious, thank you for reading and marking and seeing things I couldn’t. I imagine we’re looking at the same moon right now. You are the Brandy to my Dirte.

  Kim Holden—Oh mama. You are so busy and so generous. Thank you for reading the earliest stages of this and giving your valuable thoughts toward making it better. It worked.

  Amy Donnelly—That trailer. My gracious. Thank you for your beautiful, artistic, and talented self.

  The Legion: Amy, Gemma, Lindsey, Kim, and Brandy—I don’t know what I would do without you girls. Thank you for your advice, for reading when I not so subtly prodded you, and for loving Prick… I mean Patrick. And for hours of hilarity.

  My Whore-ios: Chris, Chrissy, Wendy, Steph, Sally, and Lissa—You girls have my whole heart, always. Thank you for everything you do and everything you are. I love all your parts.

  Jackie—UVT. ‘ Nuff said.

  Lizzie—Thank you for reading this one 347 times, as usual. I don’t know what I would do without you in my life!!!

  Erin Noelle—I love you hard. Thank you for all your support, honesty, and question answering.

  To Mariah and Jade—You are beta readers extraordinaire. Thank you girls so much! I know how busy you are, and I appreciate the time you took.

  My Southern Belles, Erin and Katie—Thank you girls for all you do. I have no idea where I would be without you.

  Streetlight Graphics—You have such a loyal fan in me. My books are always perfectly formatted, and this cover… I can’t say enough how much I love it and how stunning it is. Thank you.

  Nikki Busch Editing—Thank you for helping to make this story and for loving it. It was a pleasure to work with you.

  Victory Editing, Linda and Crystalle (and, as always, Anne)—Thank you for all your spit shining. You’re so damn good at that. I’ll always and forever be yours.

  To all the readers and bloggers out there—You guys rock my socks off (if I wore any). I still can’t believe most days that you guys are out there, reading my stories and even sending me messages. I’m the luckiest girl in the world, and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

  And last but never least, to my family—The initial thought behind this story came from my husband. I flipped it all around, but I fell in love with the idea while drinking wine with my love. Thank you. Twenty percent is yours. Also, when I finished this book, I promised to clean the house. I started, but it was a lot. So instead I started writing a new book. Thanks for understanding. I love you all more than life.