by Quinn, Taryn
“I hear that, girl.” Maggie held out her fist and Zoe bumped it.
Ian gave Zoe a saucy smile then turned to Rory. He said something to Ian and they started another song, this one more current. They both strummed their guitars faster, as if they were in some sort of race.
Kellan joined in and his rumbling voice growled out the words to “Animals” from Nickelback.
My mouth dropped open. He did not.
Rory’s mouth tipped up into a sly grin as the song got dirtier and grittier. Ian’s voice matched Kellan’s and they sang the gunfire-fast song in a weird tandem.
Maggie gave a delighted laugh beside me and Zoe whooped.
I was ready to strangle Rory.
The song was a little too close to our previous evening. I finished my lemonade and threw my cup at Rory. He tipped back his head with a laugh, then hopped to the floor and swung his guitar around his back as he headed right for me.
As Kellan got to the part about getting caught in the car, Rory pulled me up into a quick, hot kiss before letting me go as fast as he’d grabbed me. Then he threaded his way through the assembled crowd back to the stage.
“Whew.” Zoe fanned her face. “I didn’t know Rory had it in him. At least without a beer or seven first.”
My cheeks were flaming, but not because of the kiss. Somehow there was a lighthearted Rory hidden in there who felt the need to show me affection. Okay, so it was a very hot kind of affection, but still, so not him. I mean, when we were naked or alone, he was quite handsy, but in front of people? Yeah, no. He was almost reserved.
The three rockers were laughing like lunatics by the end of the song. Then they had their heads together, iPhones out.
“Oh, this will go on for awhile.” Zoe kicked out her feet.
Maggie nodded. “Someone got an idea.”
My gaze strayed to the stage. Ian was peering over Rory’s shoulder at his phone. He was bouncing lightly as they muttered and hummed, then stopped to tune their guitars.
“We’ve lost them.”
“What?” I turned to Zoe.
“That’s the oh-my-God-where’s-my-notes-app look.” She rubbed her belly absently.
“You okay?”
“Oh, sure. I just finally popped. Before it was more like, I don’t know, slightly inconvenient. You know, like when you indulged for Christmas way too much? Maybe ten pounds? That’s what it was like for the longest time. Now?” She patted her belly. “Now there’s this thing in the way all the time that everyone wants to keep touching.”
“Oh, it gets worse.” Maggie laughed. “Complete strangers will be coming at you with their hands out.”
“Someone’s going to get decked.”
Maggie laughed. “You get used to it. Around the eight and a half month mark you will probably need to stay out of public.”
“I could beat a murder rap. Probably.”
I grinned at that one. “Do you want to marry him?”
“Oh, I’ll be marrying him. I haven’t seen the ring yet, but I know he bought it with his brother while we were in St. John’s for the holidays.”
St. John’s. The Virgin Islands were a port in like half the cruises I’d looked at longingly on cold winter nights. Like traveling to a place like that was just a usual thing.
I tried to drag my chin off the floor, but the story Zoe was telling about Simon Kagan’s wife having a baby in the middle of a hurricane didn’t help my shock factor.
“I’m hoping to do things a little less dramatically.” Zoe stroked the side of her belly. “Then again, I’m having a Kagan. It’s probably out of the question. Not to mention my mother is on me to get married before the baby comes.”
“Do you want to?”
“I’d rather have a really cool ceremony after the baby is here so I can actually drink during my toast—hello, my family makes to die for moonshine—and I don’t know, maybe enjoy the party and not fall asleep in the corner. You know, little things like that.”
“Some cool venue in the city?”
Zoe laughed. “No, we’re doing it up here. The orchard is in my blood. My man may be from London and think he’s a rockstar, but some things you have to do at home.”
I glanced up at the stage at Ian’s effortless rocker vibe. “He is.”
“Yeah, he is, but he’s also the annoying love of my life.”
I had to smile. “I don’t think the saying goes like that.”
“Live with Ian for five minutes and it does.”
“Yeah, living with a rockstar is just like living with any other man who won’t put his freaking socks in the laundry.” Maggie lightly rocked the stroller with her foot. “I met Kel in the middle of a snowstorm.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. One wild night and my life was forever changed. I may want to strangle him with his damn socks some days, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”
“That’s how I met Rory.”
“Strangled socks?”
I laughed. “Snowstorm. That doozy we had last month.”
Maggie grinned. “Twinners.” She lifted her lemonade cup in a salute. “I keep forgetting you guys have only known each other a little while.”
You and me both. “All this is a little overwhelming. I had no idea who Rory was. I didn’t exactly ask, but I assumed he was some hotshot in Los Angeles.”
“He is.” Zoe refilled her drink and grabbed another cup for me. “Want this one leaded too?”
“No, I think one shot of your brother’s moonshine is enough.”
“Smart girl.”
“You know, if you want to get your mom off your back, looking at wedding dresses is a good first step.”
“You do see this belly going on?”
I laughed. “More like a place to find ideas. You don’t seem like a traditional girl.”
“What was the first clue?” Zoe flipped her braid over her shoulder.
Maggie grinned. “Maybe the rainbow streaks of paint in your hair?”
I laughed. “My bestie owns a shop in Crescent Cove called Kinleigh’s. She stocks vintage clothes. She’s always finding really cool wedding dresses for people. She kind of backed into it when she did her trunk parties for fun.”
“Trunk parties?” Maggie turned toward me. “What’s that?”
“Literally these huge steamer trunks. She used to pack them full of crazy clothes she picked up on her hunts. She found more than she could ever wear and started selling them by doing YouTube and Facebook live parties where she showed them off. Eventually, she did so well that she ended up opening her own shop.”
Maggie dug into the diaper bag next to her chair and tugged out her phone. “What’s her name again?”
Zoe pulled hers out of the pocket of her overalls and they both waited.
“You don’t have to really look her up. I know she’s—”
“Shut up.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “That sounds way cooler than going to some frou-frou place my mother wants to drag me to. You know, the ones that sell prom dresses by the truckload?”
I laughed. “Kinleigh’s is the name. Also her name—shocker.”
Zoe typed quickly, as did Maggie.
“Holy shit.” Maggie twisted her phone around to show off a sundress. “When can we go?”
Zoe leaned over to look then grinned at me. “Yeah, when can we go?”
I took Zoe’s phone and plugged in my info, then did the same when Maggie handed over her phone too. “Sounds like a date to me.”
“I have a gallery thing next week, but I’ll definitely be in touch after that.”
“You work at a gallery?”
“No, a showing. I’m pretty much ready to barf on a daily basis and only half the time it’s because of the spawn. It’s my second showing and I really don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.”
“Wow.”
Zoe shrugged. “It’s scary as hell, exhilarating, and insane. And I’m also unbearable before a show. Ian’s a fucking saint.”
I glanced back at the stage wher
e Ian was plucking strings on Rory’s guitar. “Are you sure he’s not a two-year-old?”
She followed my gaze. “Well, he’s that too, I swear.” She shook her head, but the smile on her face was definitely indulgent. “But he’s also amazing and so supportive. And he misses Rory. They became really good friends while writing his album. But then Rory was onto his next project.”
“What does he do?”
“I’m not sure how to describe it.” Zoe laughed. “Jack of all trades kind of dude.”
Maggie leaned forward. “He’s like a music doctor of sorts. Writes, produces, rips apart—and does some playing. It’s more that he knows the ins and outs of songs. Kel is soaking it all up and talking about him constantly. If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if he was in love with him.”
“About Rory?”
“Yeah, he’s a little standoffish sometimes, but then he gets like that.” Maggie nodded at the stage.
The three of them were sitting a circle, completely oblivious to us. Each of them was trying to play over the others to put their own spin on the song. Not in a one-upmanship kind of way, but more of an excited brainstorming style.
Like the way I got with an ice cream recipe. I recognized the signs.
Rory was passionate.
Intense.
Fascinating.
Just watching him in his element was intoxicating. This whole day had been so far. I felt as if I was discovering yet another intriguing side to him—and there were already so many.
So, how the hell was I going to get over him when he left?
Fourteen
Supper at Happy Acres was an experience. I still wasn’t sure if it was a good one or bad.
Much like the day itself.
I had to give Ivy a lot of credit. She’d rolled with the rockstar hits all day long and had scarcely blinked. For someone who hadn’t guessed what my career was, she’d adapted remarkably well. She’d barely squealed or fangirled at all. Except for her rightful indignation at my omissions, she’d been cool about everything. So much so that it was hard not to feel like a moron for thinking she couldn’t handle our differences.
And she hadn’t swooned at the sight of either Ian or Kellan, who, let’s face it, were easy on the eyes. Or so I’d been told. I couldn’t claim to fancy them myself.
We’d definitely worked up an appetite. Handy, since the folks at Happy Acres ate early. And they ate a lot. The huge farmhouse table was weighed down with enough plates and dishes to feed a small country. Which was saying plenty since Ian alone could clear half the bowls without help.
“I’m eating for three.”
“Three?” I nearly choked on my slab of apple-peach pie. It wasn’t a piece. I swore Laverne, the proprietress of Happy Acres, had served me roughly a quarter of it. “Zoe, you didn’t let him plant twins in you.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “No. There’s just one, although he’s roly-poly. But Ian likes to claim he’s eating for all three of us.”
Laverne patted Ian’s shoulder as he sprayed whipped cream on his second piece of pie. “He’s a growing boy. We love feeding him here.”
“Glad you do, since our grocery bill can barely handle him.” Zoe shook her head.
“The baby is a boy?” I don’t know why the question stuck in my throat. Or how I’d missed that information.
Ian rolled his eyes. “I already told you. Probably five times. He does not listen. Ivy, I hope you have patience with this one. He lives in his head and doesn’t invite guests.”
Ivy smiled weakly and poked at the crust of her pie. She’d barely eaten a thing. “I can play things close to the vest too, so I’m okay with it.”
That was what she said, but I was fairly certain she wasn’t truly okay with any of this. Despite her smiles and laughter, and how she’d enjoyed the music and spent time with my friends, I could tell she had a lot on her mind.
Maggie snorted and fed a spoonful of apple goo to Wolf in his high chair at her side. “You think he’s tight-lipped, Ivy? You didn’t know Kellan a couple of years ago. At least Rory is polite. Kellan just grunted and growled.”
He slid his arm around the back of her chair. “Is this where you tell them I was changed by the love of a good woman?”
“Or a bad one.” She fluttered her lashes and made the whole table laugh.
Even me.
It was hard not to relax around this group. If it wasn’t Ian’s antics or his impromptu jam sessions, or Kellan cutting up with his son, it was Laverne chasing the family dog, Lola, and trying to pry shoes out of her mouth. She’d welcomed all of us at some point in the day by snatching a sandal or sneaker and bounding off.
Every time Ivy laughed, something twisted inside me. That sound made everything better. And she wasn’t doing it enough.
Because of me. So, it was up to me to make this right.
Hurting her had never been part of the plan. If I’d had one beyond just wanting to get lost in her. Anything to forget that our lives were so different.
But now I was wondering if the miles between us were as many as I’d first believed.
“I can’t say Ian was ever grouchy. Well, minus that first night on stage. He insulted me in front of the world.” Zoe pointed with her fork. “That was his wooing technique.”
“You interrupted my show. And tried to steal my very large thunder.”
“You had no thunder then. Except in your own head.”
Ian shrugged and shoveled in more pie. He was already almost done with his second slice. “Positive thinking leads to positive results. That’s what Anthony Robbins says.”
“Anthony who?” Justin asked, scooping ice cream onto his pie until the thing nearly collapsed under its weight.
“He’s on a self-improvement kick.” Zoe leaned back in her chair and rubbed her truly mind-boggling belly. It had been a couple of months since I’d seen her, and in that time, her waistline had expanded to dangerous proportions.
Either she was carrying a giant human baby or a couple of aliens.
“I have a family now. I have to be all I can be.”
“Isn’t that the slogan for the Army?” Hayes wondered, retrieving some squeaky thing Lola dropped at his feet.
“Oh. Huh. Maybe.”
“I feel the same way, by the way,” Hayes said on the other side of Ivy. The way he smiled at her made me grip my fork that much tighter.
He was just being small-town friendly. That was what they did here. But Hayes was exactly the sort of man who’d stick around for the long haul. The kind of man Ivy deserved. Not one who’d come and go as he pleased.
A decent man wouldn’t begrudge her finding someone—someone who wasn’t me. But fuck if I didn’t want to dig Hayes’s eyes out with a rusty fork.
Christ, I should’ve been chivalrous and stayed away this time. I’d only thought of seeing her again, of spending time with her and burying myself inside her. I hadn’t considered what it would be like to draw her closer only to leave again.
Justin chuckled. “Since when?”
Zoe’s eldest brother Beckett leaned over the table and snatched the last slice of pie from the serving plate. “Right. So says the guy who woke up this morning with rug burn on his face.”
“That was Justin, not me,” Hayes protested.
Zoe sighed. “Some things never change. Males are like frat boys until they’re senior citizens.”
“Not me. I haven’t had a drink in…” Ian glanced at his watch. “At least an hour. More pie?” Ian grinned up at Laverne as she stopped beside the table.
She laughed and shook her head. “There’s another one in the oven. Good thing I planned ahead.” She glanced around the table at each of us. “Anyone else? The fresh one will be ready soon.”
I scraped up the last forkful on my plate. “Not for me, thanks, but it’s delicious.”
“What about you, Ivy?”
“No, thank you, I’m stuffed. It was all so good.” She smiled at Laverne and suddenly, I couldn’t wait any lo
nger to be alone with her.
“We’re going to go for a walk, if that’s okay.” I drew my chair back from the table. “Ivy mentioned wanting to see more of the grove.”
“I did?” When I raised my brows, she delicately wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Oh. Right. Yes. The grove.”
I moved behind her to pull out her chair. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Too much family time makes him itchy. Or else something else needs a scratch.” Ian stuck his tongue in his cheek, making everyone laugh.
I discreetly flipped him off out of Laverne’s line of sight. The bastard just grinned.
Ivy rose. “Let me just go freshen up first. Be right back.”
She’d no sooner disappeared that Ian shook his head at me. “She’s lovely. I hope you don’t fuck it up.”
Immediately, my hackles rose. “Excuse me?”
“You’re clearly out of your element here, but underneath, you’re an okay guy. I know that. My sweet Zoe probably knows that.” Zoe poked him, but Ian didn’t falter. “Ivy, however, may not realize under your porcupine shell, you’re actually made of marshmallows and pudding.”
“Says the man who consumes his weight in sweets on a daily basis.”
Ian patted his rock-hard abs. “I train as hard as I eat. Work as hard as I play. F—”
Zoe covered his mouth. “Stop while you’re ahead. Unless you want to get divorced before you’re even married.”
Everyone at the table chuckled while Ian nibbled the tips of her fingers and on up her arm. Zoe pretended to sigh, but her face was prettily flushed. She was enjoying every second with the loon.
“Ugh, not again. Can we not at the dinner table?” Hayes stood up with a stack of plates in his hands then walked away in disgust.
Ian shrugged. “Your brothers are sorely in need of female companionship, Magic.”
“I’d rather not think about that, thanks.” Zoe wrinkled her nose and drew her arm back, but I didn’t miss the smile she flashed him.
They were insanely in love—emphasis on insane. Didn’t they realize how much control a person had over you once you invested that much in them?
Pity that I never forgot.
I always told myself I’d never had a serious girlfriend, mainly since my first real relationship had ended so spectacularly. It hadn’t lasted long in any case. We’d been young and foolish. Me even more so since I’d figured I could travel back and forth from the States to our tiny village near Dublin.