Page 21 of Moonlight & Matrimony
That gets her attention as she tosses the napkin on top of our plates and pins me with a glare. “Wait, what?”
“If we’re going to be a two-parent household, we probably need to live in the same house.”
Her shoulders relax as she contemplates my words. “Right. Didn’t consider that.”
I laugh. It seems obvious to me, but Ivy has a lot more to work through than I do. I’m a bachelor living in the first house I could find in Oak Ridge. Frankly, it has way too much space for one person.
“There’s plenty of room and we can just rent out your house until we divorce.” The words taste sour as they leave my mouth, but I don’t have time to unpack that.
“It’s a rental. My lease is up soon. Iwasgoing to renew, but I can just give my notice.”
“Ok. Perfect. I guess it’s settled.”
“I want to at least pay rent. It’s a lot for you to take on two more people.”
“No. I can’t let you do that. You should save the money for you and Rylin. If you insist on contributing, you can buy some groceries here and there and we’ll call it good. I have enoughmoney saved up from when I worked for my dad, and I invested a good amount with decent returns. I have more than enough to take care of you and Bug.”
“You’re already doing so much for me. I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t asking and even if you try to pay rent, I won’t take it.”
“Stubborn man,” she grumbles.
“Brat,” I bite back. She smiles and I know I’ve won this round.
After lunch, Ivy headed off to the ranch to pick up Rylin, and I came home to make arrangements for a quickie wedding. I’m now sitting in my living room, tossing my phone back and forth, debating how I’m going to break the news to Paige and Nana, when my phone rings. My sister’s name lights up and my stomach sinks.It’s now or never, Luca.
“Hello?”
“Luca Everett Roberts! What did you do?”
The way I see it, I have two options: face it head on and admit to everything, or feign ignorance and see what she knows. I choose option two. “Slow down, Pip. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“So why did I get an earful at Rosie’s diner about how you and my best fucking friend have announced your ENGAGEMENT?!” She screams the last word into the phone, and I have to pull it away from my ear to protect my hearing.
“Right. That. Did you talk to Ivy?”
“I called, but she was driving and had to let me go. You better start explaining right now or so help me…”
“How about you come over tonight so Ivy and I can explain everything together? I’ll make dinner. Bring Nana and Cade, too.” Nana’s been helping Paige out around the cabin today. She’s getting closer to her due date, and the nesting phase is in full swing. Maggie helped out for a few days before she reluctantly flew back to Toronto.
“Fine. But don’t think I’m not onto you, Luca. There’s something weird going on, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
“Stop worrying, Sis. You’ll go into early labor, and I won’t have Cade on my ass for that.”
“Well, it would be entirely your fault!”
“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever you say. I’ll see you tonight.”
As soon as I hang up, I catch sight of Ivy pulling into her driveway, and not a second too soon. I quickly jog down my porch steps as she’s lifting Rylin out of her car seat.
“Ivy. Wait up.”
She drops her keys and purse onto the pavement, her body jolting at the sound of my voice. “Oh shit, Luca. You scared me.”
“Sorry. We…uh… we have a bit of a situation. Can you come over tonight?”
“Yeah. I gathered that by the eight unhinged text messages from Paige.” Ivy bites her lower lip, and I have to resist the urge to pull it free. “Look, we don’t have to do this...”
