Page 98 of Writing On The Wall

Colton finds Ember and wraps his arms around her, placing a kiss on her head, and the rest of the closet attendees shuffle out, surrounding us.

“Did you mean it?” I ask, bringing my palm to her waist and ignoring everyone else in the room. I’ll implode if I have towait for a private moment to find out if the words that slipped out earlier were true.

I watch as the slightest crease flickers on her brow before she speaks. “What if I did?”

“Then I’d tell you that I’m sorry,” I reply, and her brows pull together behind her glasses. She lifts a hand to nudge the corner of the frame up.

“What?”

“I’d tell you I’m sorry for breaking rule number four,” I say quietly, but the gathering of people around us are standing so close, there’s no doubt they’re still hearing every word.

Ivy’s eyes ping between mine as the curve of her mouth slowly grows into a face-splitting grin, and then she leaps on me. I wrap my arms around her, lifting her feet higher off the ground and burying my own cheesy smile in the crook of her neck.

In my peripheral, I catch whom I presume to be Ivy’s grandmother elbowing Toby. “You okay with another manliterallysweeping your woman off her feet?” She scowls at him with a narrowed side-eye.

“Agnes, for Pete’s sake, Ivy was never dating Toby,” Opal groans.

“Well, why not? Look at her! She’s the whole package!”

“What’s rule number four?” Gail asks.

“Rule number four was that I couldn’t fall in love with her. But I’m a rule breaker,” I turn back to the woman of my dreams. “I love you, Ivy June” I whisper into her ear while the group releases a collective “Awe,”. I hear her inhale and let out a little groan, like she’s disappointed we aren’t alone right now. I lower her to the ground, keeping my arm curled around her waist as I lean forward, holding out my hand to her grandmother. “Mrs. Marsh, I’m Ethan, Ivy’s real boyfriend.”

Agnes shakes my hand, narrowing her eyes at Ivy. “You’vegot some explaining to do, young lady.” Then her face softens and she cups Ivy’s face, smushing a kiss to her cheek. “But I’m still so happy for you.”

I didn’t know how badly I wanted to be able to love Ivy freely, but making this declaration in front of all these people who mean so much to her, it feels redemptive. A little awkward—yeah—but worth the chance to finally let her and everyone else know that she means the world to me.

“So…why’s everyone in here again?” I ask, nodding my chin toward the closet.

“Oh my gosh! I nearly forgot!” Ivy turns to me, wrinkling her brow. “The music box is gone,” she adds, her shoulders sinking with a pained, watery gaze.

Agnes shakes her head, crossing her arms with a deep sigh. “I knew that brother of yours was up to no good.”

“Ross didn’t take it,” I say, gently laying my hand on Ivy’s back. “I did.”

Opal gasps while everyone else remains silent. “Saboteur,” she accuses me, stretching the word in a low voice.

“What?” Ivy squeaks.

“Don’t worry, I was only having the bird’s wing repaired,” I explain with a chuckle, thoroughly enjoying being a presumed thief. “It’s at Colton’s office. I had someone come there to work on it. It felt like a safe, neutral location.”

“He’s got musclesandhe’s noble.” Gail sighs wistfully before turning to Ivy. “I get it now. I mean…look at the man. No offense, Toby.”

Toby scrunches his face, his chin tilting to the side. “Some taken?”

“Who’s the big guy?” I lean over and whisper to Ivy.

“Oh, that’s Carl. He’s Gran’s accomplice and the security guard where she lives. He’s also Gail and Opal’s informant, with a weakness for cake. And he helped me move all my stuff.”

“Carl,” I say, leaning forward again from within our circle to shake his hand. “Thank you for helping…I think. What exactly led to this little gathering?”

Carl clears his throat and puffs out his chest, hiking his pants a bit higher. “My grandson is a computer science major,” he begins. “He helped pinpoint the location of the music box when Agnes approached me. Gail and Opal tried to get it back, too. This Ross character was after it as well, and that’s how we all ended up here.”.

“Ross was here?” I ask, turning to Ivy. She releases a long heavy sigh, then lifts regretful eyes to her Gran.

“Yeah, up until a few minutes ago, but he bolted. I’m assuming he thought he had a buyer for the music box.”

“That would be me,” Carl interjects. “All fake, of course. It was just a ruse to locate the box. I may have embellished the threats a little too much, but I was only trying to put pressure on him and confirm he had the box in his possession. I guess he got antsy.”

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