by KJ Swann
Jace grinned at Ivy. “Ah, I think I like where you’re going with your thoughts.” He wrapped his arms around Ivy’s waist and pulled her closer. “Do you know why I love you so much, Ivy?”
Ivy shrugged but kept her gaze on Jace.
“You’ve been there for me through everything. When I was away at my firefighter training and during Sawyer’s death, you were my rock. After losing Sawyer, I thought my life was over. You showed me it wasn’t. Ivy, you’ve helped me pick up the pieces when I didn’t think I could.”
Tears filled Ivy’s eyes. Jace wiped them away with his thumbs. He leaned into her and kissed her gently on the lips. Jace slipped his arm around behind Ivy, fumbling with her bra until he got it unhooked. Ivy removed it and flung it across the room, and Jace chuckled as he nuzzled her neck. Ivy grabbed the bottom of Jace’s shirt and lifted it over his head, to drop it behind them on the floor.
As Ivy was undoing Jace’s pants, there was a knock at the door.
“What the hell?” Jace growled.
“This better be important,” Ivy yelled.
“It's your dad, and Jace needs to gather up his stuff and move down to the den.”
Ivy quickly got a shirt on and rushed to open the door. “I don’t have any clue what you think you’re doing. Nevertheless, it’s not going to work. Jace’ll stay in my room. I’m an adult.”
Michael glared at his daughter. “I don’t like that you’re speaking to me that way.”
“I don’t like being treated like a child.”
Michael looked past Ivy toward Jace. “I don’t even know why you’re here. You’ve never come before, so I don’t see why this is different.”
“I’ve done a lot of soul-searching. I realized Ivy is the love of my life. I plan on making a lot of changes, and I’m going to include her in all of them.”
“That is, if I can’t get her to change her mind first.” Michael turned away, smirking. Ivy placed her hand on Jace’s chest, and he glanced down at her.
“Don’t worry about my dad. You know how he can be, and we don’t need to be on his bad side.”
Jace laughed. “I think I’m already on his bad side.”
“Well, I think we need to get Mom in on this. It seems she doesn’t like what Dad is doing. Maybe we can get some input what he’s up to.”
“Sounds like a plan, sexy thing. Unfortunately, after that confrontation, I’m not in the mood anymore. Sorry about that, babe.”
“No, I understand, Jace. I’m upset with him. He always butts into my life, and he thinks he can control me even though I don’t live at home anymore. It’s about time I stood up to him about everything. You’re the one I want, and I want to find out what he has against you besides your profession, because there has to be something more.”
Jace kissed the top of Ivy’s head. “I have a feeling this trip is going to be one we’ll all remember.”
“In more ways than one,” Ivy replied.
3
In the kitchen the following morning, Vivian was cooking up a storm. She had no clue what anyone would want for breakfast, so she made French toast, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and omelets. Vivian gazed out of the window while she cooked, not liking the look of the snow piling up on the cars and the ground. If past winters there were any indication, they were more than likely going to be snowed in. Vivian breathed a sigh of relief, knowing their caretaker had taken the precaution of filling the house with food and firewood for just this instance.
Vivian turned at footsteps behind her, and Tessa walked in, her multicolored hair all tousled. “Sleep well?”
Tessa pursed her lips. “If you call sleeping in a hard bed sleeping well…then okay. I did nothing but toss and turn like I always do when I’m here.”
“Well sit down and get yourself some breakfast if you want to eat.”
Tessa gazed around the table, then stared at her mom. “What did you do? Cook for an army?”
Vivian shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what everyone would want, so I just cooked everything I could think of.”
Tessa shook her head and sat on the bench before filling her plate. As Tessa shoveled food into her mouth, Derrick walked into the kitchen. Tessa glanced up, choking. Derrick was bare-chested and had on only a pair of blue plaid sleep pants.
Derrick looked alarmed. “Tessa, you okay?”
Tessa pounded on her chest. She picked up her glass of orange juice and took a drink before nodding. “You took me off guard. No one usually walks around here without a shirt of some sort.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
Tessa giggled and smiled shyly at Derrick. “No worries.”
Vivian wagged a finger at her daughter. “However, Derrick, my husband usually wears some type of shirt when he comes down. I figured he would’ve told you, but then again, it might have slipped his mind.”
“I understand. I’ll put one on and be back to enjoy this wonderful breakfast.”
After he left, Tessa caught her mother’s eye. “What?”
Vivian narrowed her eyes at her youngest daughter. “Did you have to make a fool of yourself?”
Tessa blushed a little. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I like the way he keeps himself. I mean, come on, Mom, he has a fine-ass body.”
“Tessa,” Vivian reprimanded.
Tessa laughed. “Oh, Mom, you can’t keep me young all my life. Plus, you can’t expect me not to make some comment about his good looks. Get real.”
Vivian shook her head, then finished fixing breakfast.
Ivy turned over in bed but couldn’t move as she met with resistance. She slowly opened her eyes to see hazel ones staring back at her.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Morning. It’s nice to wake up to you. When I woke up, I was worried I wasn’t sleeping with you. It sounds stupid, but I had a dream last night. In it, I went with what Dad wanted. I know deep down I won’t do that.”
“Babe. We’ve been through an awful lot here lately. You sure you aren’t second guessing yourself?” Jace rubbed Ivy’s arm gently.
“No, I’m worried my dad is going to force the whole issue.”
“Not sure what you mean?”
Ivy sighed. “I feel he’s going to force me to be with someone more like Derrick.”
Jace watched Ivy’s face, then pulled her closer. “We won’t let it happen. You know that.”
Ivy ran her fingers through his hair. “We need to get downstairs for breakfast since it's Christmas Eve morning.”
“Do we have any special plans today?”
“Hmm, not sure. Depends on if the roads got plowed out or not. Why?”
“Well, thought maybe we could go to town, do some light shopping. Then we could get lunch.”
“Sounds good. Now get up and get dressed. I’m starving.”
Making his way out of bed, Jace chuckled. Heading downstairs, they both sniffed, smelling the food cooking. As they entered the kitchen, Derrick bumped into Jace. Jace turned to see who’d bumped into him and narrowed his eyes when he saw it was Derrick, who had his head down reading the paper.
“Watch where you’re going, buddy.”
Derrick glanced up and over at Ivy before he responded, “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, we were here first.”
Ivy stepped between Jace and Derrick. “Now, just stop. Everyone has to eat. So, let’s just be civil and go in for breakfast.”
Ivy placed her hand on Jace’s arm, and he grudgingly backed out of the kitchen doorway. She pulled him aside and looked at him. “What is your problem?”
“He was rude.”
“I thought we discussed this? We weren’t going to let him get to us.”
Jace’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry. Just him being here is bugging me. I sure hope we can get out of the house and into town today.”
“Let’s just go in there, eat, and be civil. We’ll check the weather and go from there, okay?”
Jace nodded, pulling Ivy cl
oser. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. He placed his arm around her waist and wheeled her around toward the kitchen. Tessa was sitting in a kitchen chair, stuffing her face as well as making eyes at Derrick. Ivy shook her head at her.
“Good morning, Ivy and Jace. Feel free to help yourself to the food. I’m going to check on your dad and see what’s keeping him.” Vivian placed a kiss on Ivy’s cheek and walked out of the kitchen.
Jace walked over to the counter where all the plates were sitting. He went ahead and filled his plate, then sat beside Tessa, bumping shoulders with her.
“Hey, watch the food!” Tessa exclaimed, lifting her fork to her mouth.
Jace chuckled. “So, what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing much. Trying to figure out what that fine piece of ass is up to,” Tessa remarked, jerking her thumb toward the doorway, where Derrick leaned.
“Hey now, I’m just standing here,” Derrick replied.
“Then why aren’t you sitting over here with Tessa and eating?” Ivy asked.
Derrick looked down at his feet and sighed. “Your dad wants me to prove being with a person who is more like me, or I should say who has a job like I do, is what you need. But in reality, I’m a lot like Tessa. I like the same music. I like to do things spontaneously. He just doesn’t see it because we're at work. I don’t want to cause problems. Mr. Mercer invited me here and never told me what was going on. I love Tessa, and I don’t want to cause you and Jace any issues.”
Ivy turned to Jace. “I sure in the hell don’t want to be with anyone like Derrick. No offense.”
Derrick laughed. “None taken, I think.”
“What are you going to do then, Ivy?” asked Jace.
“The same thing I have always done. At some time, he’s got to get the point across. If he doesn’t, he’s only hurting the family, because it’ll drive us apart.”
“I for one feel this needs to come back and bite him in the ass,” Tessa interjected.
Ivy glanced at her sister in surprise. “You’re serious? You’re okay with my decision?”
“I like Jace. You two have been together for a long time, and, yeah, you two have issues, but he has never hurt you or anything. Plus, he has a good heart. I feel we need to work together against Dad.”
“What exactly do you mean by work together?” Jace arched an eyebrow at Tessa.
“There are tons of things we could do that would piss off dear ol’ Dad. Stuff he would never expect from Derrick and me,” Tessa said.
Derrick nodded. “I’m game for whatever you want to do, Tessa.”
Ivy placed her hand on Jace’s chest. “Look, I think she’s right. We do need to figure out a way for us to all get along. I think we’ve more in common than we think, if we sit down and talk about it instead of glaring at each other because my dad has some scheme up his sleeve and has put Derrick in the middle. It’s not right. But this is going to piss Dad off, especially you and Derrick talking, because he isn’t going to be expecting it, like Tessa said.”
Jace nodded. Picking up his fork, he speared his eggs.
“So any plans for today?” Tessa broke the silence in the kitchen.
“We’re going to go to town if it’s possible today. From the look the snow outside, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a good idea,” Jace replied.
“Even if you can’t go to town, we can still have some fun.”
Jace eyeballed Tessa as if she was crazy.
“Think of it this way, we can go outside and have a snowball fight. We can pick sides or later we can go skiing, depending on the weather. Plus, Ivy and I have to help Mom with Christmas Eve dinner.”
Ivy liked the idea, but if they went with skiing, she wasn’t sure they’d make it to the nearest ski mountain, which was twenty-five miles away. None of them would get any shopping done due to the weather, so they would have to wait for that until another day.
“Looks like we’ll probably be sticking around here. If Tessa and I aren’t here to help Mom with our little Christmas Eve dinner and prep work for tomorrow, she’ll have our hides. Let’s just finish breakfast and figure out plans from there.” She could tell Jace didn’t like that they were going to be hanging around Derrick, but she planned to talk to him once they got back to their room.
Ivy glanced up at the sound of footsteps to see her dad standing there, shooting glances at everyone sitting at the table. He glared at her and Jace. “Morning, Daddy,” Ivy said sweetly.
“Did you manage to leave me any food?” Michael grumbled as he walked past the table.
“Mom made plenty, so quit your bitching,” Tessa grumbled back at her dad.
Jace indicated his empty plate. “I’m going back upstairs to get ready for the day. I’ll see you when you get done.”
Ivy nodded as Jace got up and put his plate in the warm soapy water. Michael, plate filled, sat next to Ivy. Jace leaned over Ivy’s shoulder and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before heading upstairs. Ivy grinned at his retreating backside.
“What are you smiling about?” her dad asked.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Because Jace kissed my cheek before leaving. Is that a problem?”
“You don’t need to be doing that crap while I’m trying to eat my breakfast. It churns my stomach.”
“You know something, Dad? Everything about Jace churns your stomach. I’m so tired of hearing you don’t like him. I have been with him since high school, so you’ve had plenty of time to get used to him. I want to understand the real reason behind all this and I want it now.”
Michael eyed his daughter. “Explain why you think we’ve got to go through this conversation all over again. I’ve told you before why I don’t want you with Jace.”
“I think there’s more to it than you’ve told me.”
“You’re just so sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“You’re the only one in this family who has an issue with him, and I don’t think it’s just because he’s a firefighter or you’re worried he won’t be able to provide for me if something happens.” Ivy blinked away tears.
“I think we need to have this conversation in private.”
“Why? I think Jace needs to hear what you have to say.”
Michael tutted. “No, this is something I don’t think he’ll want to hear. In fact, it might be something he already knows, but I’m not sure. Get dressed and meet me in my den in about fifteen minutes. You don’t need to say anything to Jace about it.”
Ivy stood and placed her hand on her dad’s shoulder. “I don’t keep secrets from him, so whatever you have to tell me, I’ll end up telling him everything anyway.”
“You might think twice after you hear what I have to say.”
Ivy shrugged, then walked away. What’s this whole thing about? Dad would say or do anything to get me away from Jace. Shaking her head, she entered her room, where Jace was getting dressed. She knew one thing; she wasn’t going to let whatever her dad had to say get to her. Ivy had a feeling whatever he had to say dealt with Jace to some degree—she just didn’t know what.
“Ah, there’s my beautiful woman.”
Ivy placed her arms around his waist. “I’ve got to go down and talk with Dad after I get dressed.”
“What does he want?”
“I confronted him after you left about what his real issue was with you. He told me he wanted to have a ‘private’ conversation with me about you. He also said I might not like what he has to say, and you’d already know what he’d be talking about.”
Jace pulled back from Ivy with a frown creasing his forehead. “I’m not sure what the hell he’s talking about, babe. I’d never do anything to jeopardize our relationship. Of course there was a time after Sawyer’s death when things between us were really messed up, but those memories are sketchy at best, I don’t remember what I did or anything…”
“Stop. I remember what you were like after he died. It wasn’t easy for you; hell, we even broke up for a small period. I know yo
u saw someone else. I remember Tessa saying she saw you with someone else and how miserable you looked.”
Jace closed his eyes, but as he did, Ivy cupped his chin. “Hey, don’t go there. It’s in the past, and if my dad is trying to dig that up because you were in mourning and we were separated, then he needs to think again.”
Jace grabbed Ivy’s hands and pulled her closer. “You mean the world to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life.”
“You’d probably be lost and miserable.”
Jace leaned down and gently kissed Ivy. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and deepened the kiss as if to show her just how much she meant to him.
After a few minutes, Ivy broke off the kiss. “If I don’t get downstairs to meet my dad, he’ll come looking for me. Rain check?”
“You can count on it.”
Ivy quickly changed, then headed back down to meet her dad. She could hear her mom and dad arguing in the den, but not what they were saying. Ivy could tell her mom wasn’t happy with her dad at all. As she was getting ready to knock, the door swung wide and her mom came barreling out of the room and just about ran into Ivy.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Beware, your dad is up to his tricks. Don’t believe everything he says.”
“Vivian!” Michael bellowed.
Vivian turned back toward the den. “Be quiet, Michael. I’m telling her the truth and protecting her from the heartbreak you’ll try to cause her. I can’t believe you’d do this to your own daughter! Enough is enough, Michael.”
“I’m trying to protect our daughter, Vivian!”
“But you’re going about it the wrong way! You’ve already pushed her away from us—what do you think this will do? Did you think about that, Michael?” Vivian snapped. “Remember one thing when you go in there, Ivy. Jace loves you, and you love him. Don’t let what your dad says come between what you two are building. Remember that.” Vivian walked away, leaving Ivy standing at the den doorway.
“Don’t stand there. Come in and close the door,” her dad sniped.
Ivy slowly closed the door. “Mom pushed some of your buttons, huh.”