Page 71 of The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
“Yes!” she says, and now she feels like laughing instead of crying. “I forgot that I actually don’t want to take thingsslow. I’ve been waiting forever for you. I was with the wrong person—but that has nothing to do with us. I want to be withyou, Aiden. I don’t need to think it over, or take my time, or take things slow. I know what I want. And it’s you. Somehow, it’s always been you. And I don’t want to waste another moment.”
The smile on his face lights her up from the inside, causes joy and love to flow through every part of her body. She’s made the right decision, knows it with every fiber of her being. Aiden picks her up by the waist, swings her around, and kisses her like it could be the last time—but she’s certain it won’t be.
21
Ivy
December 26
LaGuardia Airport, New York City
Ivy is so fatigued she can hardly see straight when she lands at LaGuardia, after flying out of Lihue Airport the night before, stopping over in Denver, and continuing on to New York City. When she turns her phone from airplane mode, she notices with a pang that Oliver has not sent her any texts, and she doesn’t have any voicemails, either. She can’t imagine how he must have felt to come back from his camping trip and find her gone. She left him the drawing of the beach, of him and Larry going surfing in the early morning, and, while she waited for her airport taxi, drew a card with a sketch of them at the waterfall in Na Pali, the two of them tiny figures, kissing in the water. She wrote him a letter, too, telling him how she felt.
Dear Oliver,
I can’t believe I have to leave, but I hope you understand. I told Holly to call if she needed me and promised her I’d be there day or night—and she needs me. I have to go.
This time with you has been some of the most memorable of my life. The first moment I saw you, I was feeling terrible—and you made it all right, just by being you. I tried to resist my feelings, but I thought of almost nothing but you from that moment on. You know that. Every time I sat down to draw, even while surrounded by the most staggeringly beautiful scenery I’ve ever witnessed—I just wanted to draw you. Get your hair just right. Your beautiful sea green eyes.
I don’t know what the future holds for us. Maybe we’ll never see each other again. I know things weren’t great when we saw each other last, and I hate that. But I swear, I won’t forget you.
Merry Christmas.
Ivy
With every mile away from Oliver, her heart has increased its ache, and she almost can’t stand it. She thinks about texting Larry, to see if he got back from his camping trip safely—but she knows she needs to wait, to give Oliver the chance to contact her when he feels ready.Ifhe feels ready. He might not.
Maybe he won’t call. Ever.
The ache intensifies.
But what if it’s for the best? Ivy asks herself. Maybe it was a fantasy, it was just for fun, it was some of the best sex of her life, and she won’t forget it. But she and Oliver didn’t have a future—so maybe the abrupt ending is what’s best.
She glances at her phone and notices with a pang that Oliver did not send her any texts while she was in-flight, and she doesn’t have any voicemails either. A few texts come in from Holly, sent the night before, when she was on the plane.Have you already left Hawaii? Call me.But Ivy doesn’t have time to call her now. It’s the holiday season, and she knows rental cars will be at a premium. She texts back,I’m here. Just landed at LaGuardia. I’ll be in Krimbo within two hours.Then she slides her phone back in her bag and takes off, fast, toward the car-rental line.
A small SUV rental secured, Ivy leaves the airport behind and stops at a Starbucks for a venti with an extra shot of espresso—then turns her phone on “do not disturb” for the snowy drive upstate. She hasn’t slept in almost a full day, her heart is achy, and her body is still longing for a man she might never see again. She knows any sort of distraction while driving could be risky. She and Holly will have plenty of time to talk when she arrives at the cabin—and if Oliver is trying to reach her, she thinks with a pang, that will just have to wait.
Despite the extra-strong coffee, Ivy still feels bleary-eyed as she drives north. She opens the windows, blasts the music,and finally, she sees the signs leading her toward Krimbo and the tiny, snowy cabin where her poor, brokenhearted friend is waiting for her. This lightens her heart, at least, knowing that she’ll be here with Holly when she needs her, just like she promised she would. In their entire relationship, Ivy has never heard Holly cry like that. As if her heart had been cracked right in two. Ivy feels relief as she sees the North Service Road and then, finally, turns onto the driveway leading her to the little cabin. It looks just as it did in the photos she saw online: cozy, small, and very remote.
Ivy sees Holly’s car but is also surprised to see a white pickup truck parked beside her friend’s vintage baby blue BMW. She pulls up beside the BMW, takes out her bags, and carries them up the path toward the cabin. She taps at the door, and Holly answers—and she does not look at all sad. In fact, her hair is bed-mussed, her skin is glowing, and she looks downright happy.
“Ivy! You came!” Holly throws her arms around Ivy and gives her a big hug, whispers in her ear, “You’re the best friend in the world.” Then she pulls away and glances behind her. “But…”
It dawns on Ivy. The pickup truck. The bed-mussed hair. The happy, glowing expression on her best friend’s face. In fact, she’s never seen her look so happy. “You made up,” she says in a low voice. Holly nods. “You made up, and you’ve spent all of today having makeup sex.” Holly nods again,and Ivy is happy for her friend—but she also feels a tug at her heart. Oliver. She left Oliver to come be with Holly—and Holly is perfectly fine. She almost cries then and there, but forces herself to smile. She did what she had to do. She thought Holly needed her. Of course she came.
Holly pulls her into the cabin. “He’s sleeping upstairs, but I’m going to kick him out as soon as he wakes up.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay…”
“He’ll understand. We have a lot of catching up to do. Ivy, honestly, you are the absolute best person for jumping on a plane and flying back to be with me. I’m sorry I was so dramatic. I tried to call you, but I guess you were on airplane mode. I texted, but I didn’t hear back.”
“It’s fine,” Ivy says, dropping her exhausted body down on the couch. “Really. I’m so glad you’re okay. You deserve so much happiness, Holly.”
There’s a sound from the loft above, and a very handsome man pokes his head over the railing. “You must be the famous Ivy.”
Ivy grins up at him. “And you must be the famous Eco Superman. Oops, I mean, Aiden Coleman.”
He climbs down the ladder, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt—with hair just as messy as Holly’s—and shakes her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you,” he says, and Ivy notes that what Holly said was true: He smellsgreat. And he does look a lot like Henry Cavill. When his beautiful blue eyeswander across the room to land on Holly, which happens about every three seconds, Ivy can tell he’s completely besotted. Whatever went wrong between them, it didn’t last long.
