by R. E. Butler
Ivy smiled and hugged Holly. “Thank you.”
Ivy headed out to the bar and found Jack and Vaughn talking quietly.
Vaughn nodded at her. “You did good tonight.”
“Thanks.” She took her coat from Jack and slipped it on. “Holly’s still working in the back.”
Vaughn hummed, his gaze flitting to the hallway. Even without him saying anything, Ivy knew he’d stay until Holly was finished so she wouldn’t be alone.
“See you later,” Jack said as he ushered Ivy out of the bar.
The frigid wind took her breath away and she hunched her shoulders. “Geez.”
“Don’t like the cold, sweetheart?” Jack teased.
“I don’t mind it, but I was really warm in the bar.”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she ignored it as she walked with Jack up to the apartment. She unlocked the door as her phone buzzed a second time. When it buzzed a third time while she was shutting the door, she pulled the phone from her pocket and saw Holly was calling.
“Should you get that?” Jack asked.
She frowned. “I guess.” Sliding her thumb over the screen to answer, she said, “What’s up?”
“Holy crap, Ivy! You have to check your social media pages.”
“Why?”
“A bunch of people are posting awful things about your performances tonight.”
Her mouth went dry. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Maybe Jack can close the pages down or something. It’s awful, and I wish I didn’t have to be the bearer of bad news.”
“It’s… it’s okay. Thanks.”
“Ivy? Are you okay?”
She swallowed hard and looked at Jack, who was on his phone and making a strange growling sound in his throat. “I’ll be fine. Bye.”
Ending the call, she moved close to Jack and looked at his phone. He’d opened the website where he’d uploaded videos of her performances earlier that evening. Over the past week, her videos had earned a few hundred responses, nearly all positive, but now the comments were rolling in and they were bad. Spine-ripping, soul-shredding attacks on her lyrics, voice, instruments, and even her clothes. Her stomach fell to her feet, nausea punching her in the gut like a freight train.
“Where’s your computer?”
She blinked stinging eyes at Jack. “What?”
“Your computer, sweetheart. Where is it?”
“Holly’s room.”
He hurried down the hall and she followed him slowly, her feet like lead and a headache blooming.
Jack was typing furiously on the computer when she joined him. She looked over his shoulder and saw he was deleting the comments and blocking the people who were making them, as well as turning the commenting ability off on all her videos. He worked fast, changing the settings on all of the social media pages for her and the bar. The nasty comments came from multiple names she didn’t recognize, but the sinking feeling inside her was all she needed to have a very good guess that it was all being perpetrated by her ex-bandmates.
Jack let out a sharp snarl, and a shiver wove down her spine. He spun in the chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m so fucking sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, it is. I knew those assholes were up to no good. It never occurred to me to turn off the comments on the videos.”
She tried to blink the tears away, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of making her cry, but they spilled over her cheeks anyway.
Jack stood swiftly and drew her close, folding her into his warm embrace. She twisted her hands in his shirt.
“Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t stand to see you doing well. Maybe their regret at walking away from you made them lash out. Or maybe it’s because deep down in the center of their beings, they’re awful, terrible people who tried to ruin your reputation the only way they could.”
It was just what they’d tried to do to her when they left originally. It hadn’t been enough that they’d walked away; they’d felt compelled to try to ruin her professionally. Thankfully her main gigs came from Holly, and there was no amount of nasty comments on music websites that would make her turn Ivy away from performing. But it had still cut her deeply then, and it hurt just as much now, maybe even more because Jack had worked so hard to help her.
He held her at arm’s length, his eyes soft with concern, his brow furrowed in worry. “You’ll get through this.”
“I know. It’s just… it sucks.”
“It more than sucks, Ivy. It’s despicable. I’m still open to going to kill them, by the way. I’ll just toss that out there.”
“Thanks.” She brushed the tears from her cheeks and sniffled. “I hate that they made me cry.”
“It’s okay to be emotional about this. They attacked you in every way in the comments, hiding behind anonymous usernames. At least Holly noticed it so the comments weren’t on there long, and now they can’t leave any more.”
“Yeah, but neither can anyone else. It’s not fair.” He let out a growling sigh, rubbing her arms with his big, warm hands.
“We need to get out of here.”
“What do you mean?”
“A friend of mine has a cabin a few hours from here that he said I could borrow anytime. It’s nice and secluded. Let’s go away for a few days. No social media. No bar. Just you and me and the perfect peace of being tucked away in the woods.”
“I don’t know if I should leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Holly needs help.”
“I’m positive she can manage for a few days without us, and she has Vaughn. He can keep an eye on the door and help with everything else.”
“It feels like running away.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I think you could use a break anyway. When’s the last time you took time for yourself?”
“I can’t even remember.”
“Then it’s settled. Pack a bag for a few days. We’ll stop at the bar to say goodbye, then hit my place so I can pack. By dawn we’ll be in the mountains, and you’ll have time to relax and decompress.”
She stared up at him, wondering how she got so lucky to have a sexy, caring guy looking out for her.
“Come on, Ivy,” he whispered. “Let me take care of you.”
“Okay.”
He grinned and brushed his lips over hers. “Excellent. I’ll call Vaughn while you pack.”
“What should I bring?”
“Don’t bother with bras and panties on my account,” he said, waggling his brows.
“Pervert.” She swatted his shoulder as she chuckled.
He laughed as he pulled his phone from his pocket and walked out of Holly’s room. She hurried to her bedroom and grabbed a backpack, stuffing in undergarments and clothes. In the bathroom she found a zippered bag and put makeup and toiletries in it before looking at herself in the mirror. Her smoky eye makeup, which had looked so dark and sexy before, was now smeared on her cheeks.
Clearly she was not wearing waterproof mascara.
She scrubbed her face clean and then reapplied her usual makeup of undereye concealer, mascara, and a little blush. Her eyes were bright with emotion still, and she knew if she spent too long thinking about the awful comments she’d seen that she’d start crying again. Her mind was spinning with them, even though she knew she wasn’t as terrible as they’d made her out to be.
She could too carry a tune.
She was talented.
Her songs weren’t the worst thing to happen to music.
Pushing the thoughts away, she focused on Jack, who was planning to take her to a remote cabin for a few days to relax and recharge. Her stomach flipped as she thought about a few excellent ways to do just that, namely in bed with a certain sexy guy.
Back in her bedroom, she changed into black leggings, a maroon sweater, and boots, then joined Jack in the family room
“You look
great, sweetheart,” he said as he put his phone back in his pocket.
“Thanks.”
“Let’s stop at the bar for a few minutes. Vaughn is talking to Holly right now, so we won’t be springing our plans on her.”
“Okay.”
He helped her with her coat and swung her backpack over his shoulder. “Ready?”
“Yeah. Thank you.” She went onto her toes and kissed him.
“For what?”
“Being here for me.”
“Ivy, I’ll always be here for you.” His voice was low and serious, and everything within her cheered at how amazing he was.
“I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Good.” He smiled and winked. “I wouldn’t want any competition.”
* * *
After speaking to Holly about the need for a break, Ivy and Jack headed to his apartment so he could pack a bag. Holly had been understanding and encouraged Ivy to take as much time as she needed. Ivy had expected her sister to be upset that they were leaving, but Holly had simply smiled at Vaughn and said the two of them would handle things until she and Jack got back.
Jack quickly packed a bag, and within thirty minutes they were on their way.
“What’s your friend’s name, and why does he have a cabin?” Ivy asked.
“His name is Tom, and he and his wife, Neve, used to live in the cabin but decided to move closer to his work. He told me and Vaughn that we could use it whenever we wanted, and I thought it would be perfect for us. It has a generator for the water heater and some electric items.”
“Sounds rustic.”
“It is, but it’s got some modern features like indoor plumbing, so we can be thankful for that. I’m not interested in taking an ice-cold shower anytime soon.”
She laughed. “Me either.”
“How are you doing?” he asked, lifting her hand and kissing her knuckles.
She sighed. “Okay, I guess. I’m trying not to focus on what happened because it makes me want to cry, and I hate that they got to me.”
“They’re just petty. They couldn’t stand to see you doing well. I’d hazard a guess that they hoped you’d be miserable without them.”
“I don’t get why they’d even care about me, though. They’re the ones who walked away from me, not the other way around.”
“Who knows? Even if you could get an answer from them, I doubt it would make you feel any better. It doesn’t matter why they came to the bar, or what they hoped to accomplish with their online attacks. It only matters what you do going forward.”
“Currently, I’m running away with you.”
“Don’t think of it as running away.”
“What should I think of it as?”
He glanced at her, his eyes dark with promise. “A way for us to get to know each other in the peace and quiet of a secluded cabin, without all the noise of the bar. You can think of it as a way to keep me from hunting your ex-bandmates down and ensuring they never do anything so underhanded again.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I like how protective you are.”
“You’re worth protecting, Ivy. I don’t ever want to see you cry like that again. It hurt my soul.”
Leaning over, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want to cry like that again either. They don’t deserve my tears.”
“Damn straight.”
Chapter 10
Jack stopped the truck in front of a gas station in town. He’d messaged Tom and Neve about heading to the cabin, and Tom had said to stop for groceries and gas before going up, recommending the mini-mart attached to the gas station, both of which were open twenty-four hours a day.
The drive to the cabin had afforded him an opportunity to get to know Ivy. He’d asked her every question he could think of, curious about her upbringing and family life, and the reason she got into music. He told her what he could about his own life, careful to leave out the magical details. Someday he wouldn’t have to edit his life and could tell her everything, but for now, he had to keep some things secret.
Jack turned off the engine and got out of the truck. Ivy yawned and climbed out from the passenger side, stretching onto her tiptoes with a squeak.
“Fill-up?” the old fellow asked as he opened the mini-mart door.
“Yes, please,” Jack said. “We need to buy a container of gas to fill up the generator in the cabin, too.”
“We rent ’em,” he said. “Just one container?”
Tom had explained that if they used the generator only for the basics, they could get two days out of the twenty-gallon tank. “Two, please, and we’ll need some groceries, too.”
“Go on in, my wife’s in there,” he said with a smile, holding the door for Ivy and Jack.
“Early morning greetings,” the woman behind the counter said.
“Morning,” Ivy replied.
Jack picked up a basket, and he and Ivy walked around the small store, picking up what they’d need for a few days’ worth of meals and snacks. He didn’t cook much, but Tom had explained that he and Neve often used the fireplace for cooking when the weather was bad and had given Jack recipes to try. For Jack, he just wanted to take care of Ivy, and cooking for her seemed like a great place to start.
“You know how to cook all this stuff?” she asked as he placed the overfilled basket on the counter.
“Hopefully,” he said with a wink.
“You’ll let me help, right?”
“Nope. You’re just going to sit back and relax and let me take care of you.”
“Aw.”
The woman behind the counter smiled. “You two newlyweds?”
Jack looked at Ivy, whose cheeks had pinked. “Not yet.”
“Well, it’s my experience that a man who can cook is worth his weight in gold, so you best hold on to him, young lady.”
“I plan to,” Ivy said. She smiled at Jack, one he cherished the most, where her eyes danced and a dimple formed in her cheek.
“Where you headed to?” the old man asked as he walked into the store.
“Up the mountain,” Jack said.
He nodded. “Have fun.”
“Thanks.” Jack carried the box of groceries out to the truck and set it in the back seat. The man had tied up two gas cans in the truck bed. He shut Ivy in the passenger seat and climbed in behind the wheel.
She looked down at her phone as they began the ascent to the cabin. “No bars.”
“Anyone you wanted to call?”
“Nope. I texted Holly when we got to the gas station that we were here, and that I probably wouldn’t have service at the cabin. It was a lucky guess.”
“If we need to make a call, we can always walk down to town to use our phones.”
She turned hers off and put it in her purse. “It’ll be nice to be unplugged for a while.”
“I think so, too.”
They reached the quaint two-bedroom cabin and he found the key where Tom had left it under a terra-cotta planter. He unlocked the door and propped it open, then returned to the truck and opened the passenger door, lifting Ivy and carrying her inside.
“I can walk,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder as he stepped over the threshold.
“I know, sweetheart, but the snow is deep, and you don’t have on the right kind of boots. Know how to light a fire?”
“Not even a little.”
He set her down with a chuckle. Finding a flashlight that Tom had mentioned would be hanging from the wall, he turned it on and handed it to Ivy. “I’m going to grab our things and check the generator. There are oil lamps and matches in the kitchen.”
“I’ll find them,” she promised.
By the time Jack had brought in the groceries, filled the generator and turned it on, and gathered a few armloads of firewood, Ivy had lit the oil lamps and set them around the family room and kitchen, illuminating the spacious rooms. He knelt in front of the fireplace and built the fire, smiling when the kindling blazed to life.
&nbs
p; “You’re pretty good at that,” Ivy said.
He stood and closed the screen. “My parents use a fireplace often. I grew up knowing how to light one and keep it going.”
“That’s pretty neat. I’ve never had to light a fire before. My dad would occasionally light the grill on summer nights so we could roast marshmallows, but that was about as rustic as we ever got.” She looked around the cabin. “It’s very rustic here.”
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all, actually. I’m so used to modern conveniences and being constantly plugged into everything. It’ll be nice to shut off for a while.”
He was thankful she had a good attitude about it. In NPC, there wasn’t much in the way of modern conveniences in the personal cabins. People used fireplaces for heat, and lamps and candles for light. There was electricity in some buildings like security, but most everyone lived a very rustic life. There were things he liked about being in Ivy’s world, like television and fast food, but he missed the simple life in NPC.
He heated milk in a cast-iron pot on the fire and made hot chocolate for them, then settled on the couch with his sweetheart, excited for what the next few days would bring.
* * *
“Want to go for a walk while dinner cooks?” Jack asked as he stirred the beef stew in the hanging pot over the fire. It was the simplest of recipes, but needed the most time, so he’d started it in the afternoon. The aroma of cooking meat and vegetables had quickly filled the cabin.
“Sure.”
They bundled up, both wearing heavy coats and snow boots, and headed outside.
“It’s so pretty here,” she said as they walked down the porch. The woods around the cabin were covered with a layer of snow, icicles glistening from the branches.
“It really is.”
“It’s quiet here, too.” She turned in a slow circle, her eyes closed and her head tilted. “I think our town is quiet, but not like it is here.”
“Tom and Neve liked their privacy, in case you couldn’t tell.”
She chuckled. “I figured as much. Were they sad to have to move?”
He thought back to the reason they’d had to leave. Tom had unintentionally shifted from his polar bear form to his human form in front of Neve’s cousin Ellie. He’d called the security office in NPC, and Declan, Jack, and Sullivan had come down to help. They’d expected to need to wipe Ellie’s memories with magic powder, but Declan had recognized Ellie as his fated mate, and she’d moved to NPC to be with him. Tom and Neve had stayed in the human world because of Ellie, so although they were upset at having broken a cardinal rule of not shifting in front of humans, they’d been planning to return to NPC to live eventually anyway.