"Yeah. I love this song."
"You know I don't like to dance."
"I know, but I need a partner." She gives him a smile.
He can't help but smile back. It's obvious he's in love with her. He can't even hide it.
"Come on," Jen says, tugging on his arm.
He looks at us. "Guess I'll see you guys later."
Jen drags Bryce to the dance floor.
"Those two act like they're dating," Ivy says.
"Now that Jen's single again, they could date if my idiot brother would just ask her out. But he better hurry. I have a feeling Jen'll move somewhere else for a job once she graduates, especially if she doesn't have a reason to stick around."
My dad appears, along with Ivy's dad. Steve is walking pretty well now, but he has to take frequent breaks to sit down.
"Seemed to turn out okay," my dad says.
"Don't be so modest, Mitch," Steve says. "You outdid yourself. I didn't expect this to be such a huge event."
"The bands tend to attract a crowd," he says. "But yes, I'm surprised as well at the turnout. Good thing I was able to get the warehouse. We needed the space."
The warehouse is owned by one of my dad's friends. It was sitting empty because the guy's getting ready to lease it out. My dad asked him if we could rent it for a night but his friend wouldn't charge him so we got it for free.
"How are you feeling, Dad?" Ivy asks.
He smiles at her. "I'm good. Stop asking." He looks at me. "You need to get her to stop worrying so much."
I chuckle. "I'll work on that."
"We've got quite a few bids on your artwork," my dad says to Ivy. She carved a picture out of wood. It's a scene of the Chicago skyline and looks freaking amazing. We're doing a silent auction for it.
"Really? I didn't think anyone would bid on it."
"Are you kidding?" I shake my head at her. "You need to start realizing how talented you are. That picture is a work of art. It's going to make a lot of money."
"Yeah, I don't think so," she says, smiling, like she thinks I'm joking.
"Someone already bid two thousand," my dad says.
"What?" Ivy stares at my dad, her jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"
"It's worth at least that," Steve says to her. "You did a beautiful job on that, honey."
"I...I just can't believe someone would pay that much."
"You should consider doing more of those," I say. "Set up a shop online and sell them. You could make good money, and it'd be something to do between construction jobs."
"That's a good idea," Steve says. "You should think about that, Ivy."
"Yeah, I guess I should," she says, looking like her mind is already pondering the possibility of it. She really needs to do this. It's what she likes to do and what makes her happy. She likes it a lot more than doing window trim or baseboards.
"I'm going to get some food," Steve says.
"You need some help?" Ivy asks.
"I'll be fine." Steve pats her shoulder. "Now stop worrying about me and go have some fun."
He walks away and Ivy says, "He drives me crazy the way he won't accept my help. I was just trying to—"
"Mitch." A loud voice interrupts Ivy. I turn and see Tom there, father of Nick, the asshole who nearly got Ivy killed. A grin spreads over his chubby face, his bald head glistening with sweat. The guy is always sweating.
"Tom." My dad only said one word, but I could hear the anger in his tone. His eyes narrow and he stands up straighter, towering over Tom, who's almost a foot shorter. "You shouldn't be here."
"I'm helping with the cause," he says, crossing his fat forearms over his protruding stomach.
"You only showed up here to see if I'd change my mind."
He shrugs. "I run a business. I have to look out for it."
"But you have no interest in looking out for your fellow carpenter. Or anyone, for that matter."
Tom glances at Ivy. "It was her decision to go there."
"Your son did more than set her up with that job."
"What are you—" Ivy stops when she feels me squeeze her hand.
I whisper in her ear, "Just let them talk."
Tom chuckles, but it's a nervous laugh. "You remember how it was when you were that age, Mitch. Talking that way about girls? It's just what guys that age do."
"And is that how you want your granddaughters to be treated? Do you want men talking about them that way?"
Nick's wife had the twins a few days ago. Two girls.
Tom's grin drops and he glares at my dad. "My granddaughters won't be stupid enough to go into construction. Everyone knows that's a man's job." He motions to Ivy. "She was asking for it, going into a job she shouldn't be in."
My anger flares and I let go of Ivy and step up to Tom. "Get the fuck out of here."
"Jake," my dad says, his tone telling me to stay out of it.
I step back next to Ivy and my dad says to Tom, "It's no use trying to change my mind. You won't be working for us again."
"There aren't that many restoration carpenters around here. If you want to keep restoring old buildings, you'll have no choice but to hire me."
"I'm sure we'll do just fine without you." He nods toward the exit. "Now do as my son said and get the fuck out of here."
Tom's breathing hard, his eyes on my dad. And then he turns and storms off. He stops and grabs his coat off one of the chairs, then heads to the exit.
"What just happened here?" Ivy asks, her eyes going between me and my dad. "Was that all because of me?"
"Nash told me what went on at the library," my dad says. "And Jake told me about that job Nick set you up with."
"How do you know about the library? When Nick was saying those things to me, no one else was around."
I look at Ivy. "What are you talking about? What'd that asshole say to you?"
"It was just stupid flirting. But a lot of the guys I work with do that since I'm usually the only girl around."
"You can't let them do that," my dad says. "You have to tell one of us if that happens."
"You need to tell me, because I'll beat the shit out of them."
"Jake." My dad uses his warning tone. He doesn't want me causing trouble for the business, and beating up one of our workers would definitely cause trouble.
"Yeah. I wouldn't actually do that," I say, "but I'd get their asses fired and never hire them again."
"Which is what we've done," my dad says. "Nick won't be working for us again, and neither will Tom."
"What did you mean when you said Nash told you what happened at the library?" Ivy asks. "I never told Nash anything."
"Last week, Nash met with some of the guys who worked on the library to see if they wanted to work on the museum project. Before they agreed to it, they wanted to know if Nick would be there. None of them want to work with him again. Nash asked the guys if Nick had ever said anything about you and they all said that he had."
"What did he say?"
"I'm not going to repeat it. The point is that it was inappropriate, and Tom was there when Nick said those things and did nothing to stop it. I won't put up with that. When our subcontractors sign on with us, they're all given the rules of our company. And the rules clearly state that we won't tolerate harassment of any kind or a hostile work environment. If they don't want to follow those rules, then they don't have to work for us. If they DO work for us and don't respect the rules, they're fired and we'll never hire them again."
I put my arm around her. "Let's just forgot about those assholes. I don't want them ruining our night."
"He's right," my dad says. "You two go have some fun. I think I'll get some food and join Steve."
Ivy glances over at her dad, who's talking to Nash by the food booth.
"Hey," I say, getting Ivy's attention. "You want to dance?"
"You said you wouldn't."
"Yeah, but you want to, so come on. Let's go."
"That's a sure sign he loves you," my dad says. "Jake never danc
es to this kind of music."
"She doesn't need a sign," I say, giving her a kiss as we walk away. "She knows I love her."
The evening continues, and at the end of the night, after everything's closed down, both my family and Ivy's family count up what we made. My dad took everyone's totals and added them up and wrote it on a piece of paper and gave it to me.
"Anyone want to guess?" I ask, holding up the slip of paper.
"Just tell us," Bryce says.
"Okay." I put my eyes on Ivy. "The grand total is just over thirty thousand dollars."
"No way." Ivy's smiling, and I already see the tears forming in her eyes.
"Thirty thousand?" Steve says, like he thinks he heard me wrong.
"Wow," Liza says, also tearing up.
"Holy shit," Nash mutters. "That's a lot of money."
"Hell yeah," Austin says. "I knew a concert was a good idea."
"It wasn't just the concert tickets," I say. "The raffle for Bryce's car raised $8000."
He smiles. "Fuck, are you serious?"
"We sold a lot of raffle tickets. Everyone wanted that car."
"That's awesome," Jen says to him. "I told you people would want it."
"And the other big money-maker for the night was Ivy's picture." I keep my eyes on her. "It sold for $10,000."
"Oh my God." She covers her mouth with her hand. "That can't be right."
"Already got the check," I say. "It sold to an attorney who works downtown. He's going to put it in his office."
"I talked to him earlier," my dad says. "He'd like to commission you to do another one for his house in Wisconsin. He has a photo he'd like you to recreate. He showed it to me on his phone. It's a photo of some woods and a lake. I'll send you his information."
"Ivy, you should totally do that," Callie says.
"I will," she says, looking completely shocked. "I definitely will."
I lean over and talk in her ear. "Now will you finally believe me when I tell you how talented you are?"
She smiles and I kiss her.
My dad stands up. "Everyone ready to eat?"
It's two in the morning, but we were all hungry so we ordered pizzas and Bryce went to the store and filled a cooler with beer and pop.
What a freaking awesome night. We raised a ton of money, everyone had a good time, and now I'm sitting back and relaxing with the girl I love and both our families.
Two days later, Ivy and I go to another Wheeler Sunday dinner, a tradition I hope we'll be doing together for a long time. Today it's not just family dinner. It's also Nash's birthday, so we got him a cake and he just opened his gifts. Callie didn't give him hers yet. She got him tickets for his favorite country band, but she'll give them to him later, when they get home.
"Feel any older?" Austin asks Nash. "Because you look older." He snickers.
"Better than looking like a kid," he says, throwing his wadded up napkin at Austin.
My dad leans back in his chair. "You boys ready to clean this up? Nash is excused this time since it's his birthday. I'll take his place."
"Before you start cleaning up," Nash says, "I've got something to say."
"You're the man of the day," my dad says, "so go ahead."
Nash pushes his chair back and stands up. "First of all, I want to thank everyone for the gifts. But I noticed that I didn't get one from Callie."
She almost chokes on the water she just gulped down. "What? No. I have a gift. It's at home. I'm giving it to you later." She swats at him. "Why are you making me look bad?"
He chuckles. "I'm not. I was just hoping you could give me another gift right now."
"But I...I don't have one." She sounds so sad. "I'm sorry, Nash. I should've got you another one to open here. I'll go to the store right now."
He takes her hand, pulling her up from her chair. "You don't need to. The gift I want from you isn't a gift you can buy in a store."
"Then what is it?" she asks, confused.
He takes a deep breath and looks in her eyes. "Last summer when I went to fix up the house I inherited, I had no idea what I'd find. I ended up finding a houseful of junk and enough old newspapers to cover the planet at least twice."
Callie laughs. "That's for sure."
"I also found something else. But it wasn't in the house. It was right next door. I found someone to talk to, a person who quickly became a friend. Someone who I grew to love. Someone who became my girlfriend. And now..." He gets down on one knee. "Someone who I hope will become my wife."
Callie's shaking, tears running down her face, and then she lets out a laugh. "You got Cat involved in this?"
"He's my good luck charm. And he's a good helper."
We all stand up and see Cat sitting next to Nash, wearing a red bow tie collar. Hanging off the collar is a black velvet ring box. Nash opens the box and takes out the diamond ring.
He holds Callie's hand. "I love you, Callie. And the gift I'm asking you to give me today is the gift of being my wife. Callie, will you marry me?"
"Yes." She's still crying and smiling as he slides the ring on her finger. "I love you, Nash."
"I love you too." He picks her up off the ground as he hugs her.
"Do we sing Happy Birthday now?" Austin asks.
We all laugh.
"Idiot," Bryce says.
"What? It's better than standing here staring at them."
My dad just shakes his head.
"Congratulations!" Jen and Ivy say as they run up to Callie and hug her.
"I'll go get the champagne," my dad says.
"You have champagne?" Nash asks. He sounds surprised because we usually only have beer in the house.
"I got it a few weeks ago," he says. "I knew this would be happening soon. I just wasn't sure when. But I thought I'd better keep a bottle on hand." He glances at me. "Looks like now I'll have to go get another one."
What the hell's he looking at me for? I'm not getting married, at least not anytime soon.
My panic must show in my expression because Austin's pointing at me, laughing. "Look at his face."
"You're such an idiot," I mutter, reinforcing Bryce's earlier statement. But Bryce is laughing too. "You're both idiots," I say.
Ivy comes back around the table, sliding her hand down my arm and giving me a kiss. "I'm going to go help your dad with the glasses."
"Okay." I kiss her back.
As she walks off, Austin says, "You are SO going to be next." And then he laughs.
I look over and see Nash smiling at me. "Might as well join the club."
"Yeah, I'm not quite ready for that."
But when I am ready to get married, I have no doubt it will be to Ivy. The hot, sexy, talented carpenter who captured my attention from the moment I saw her. The first and only girl to turn me down when I asked her out. The girl I couldn't help but fall in love with. And the only woman I can imagine myself being with both now and in the future.
"What are you thinking about?" Ivy asks, handing me a glass of champagne.
I kiss her. "I was thinking about joining a club."
"Oh, yeah? What club?"
"Just some club Nash was talking about. But I'm not joining right away. Maybe in a couple years."
"Do I get to join this club?"
"Yeah." I chuckle. "If you agree to join, then yeah, you'll be a member."
"What? I don't get it."
I kiss her. "Don't worry about it."
"To Nash and Callie," my dad says, holding his glass up.
We all clink glasses and say our congratulations and drink our champagne. Then Nash and Callie kiss, and Austin, Bryce, and my dad start taking the dishes to the kitchen.
"I'll be there in a minute," I tell them. I take Ivy into the living room, away from the newly-engaged, kissing couple. "So when we're done here, you want to go home?"
"Yeah, I should probably clean my apartment. It really needs it."
"By 'home' I was talking about my loft. What do you think about moving in with me?"
"Totally serious. So what do you think?"
"Doing this will strip you of your title of Chicago's most eligible bachelor. You sure you want to give that up?"
"I lost that title a long time ago, and I never want it back."
"Then yes." She hugs me. "I'll move in with you."
It's a big step, especially since we haven't dated that long. But I'm done worrying and second-guessing and being fearful of what may or may not happen. There are always two possible outcomes, a good and a bad. And when it comes to Ivy and me, I have no doubt the outcome will be good.
###
From the Author
Want to read more about the Wheeler boys? Bryce's story is coming soon! And if you liked Jake and Ivy's story, please tell a friend or leave a review.
For news about upcoming books, as well as sneak peeks and bonus scenes, go to allieeverhart.com, Facebook, or Twitter.
Books by Allie Everhart
The Jade Series
(New Adult Romance/Suspense)
Choosing You
Knowing You
Loving You
Promising You
Forever You
Finding Us
Becoming Us
Always Us
Garret: A Jade Series Companion Novel
The Kensingtons
(Romantic Suspense)
Needing Her
Keeping Her
Protecting Her
Only Her
Contemporary Romance
Next to Me
Give Us a Chance
Give Us a Chance (Wheeler Brothers #2) Page 28