Page 80 of Mistletoe & Magic
Willa smiles softly. “Give him a chance to fix it, Ivy. For you and for Junie. Last night I wasn’t so sure that this was going to work out. But I did some thinking and talked to Tate. For what it’s worth, Tate says Remy’s a wreck right now.”
That night, after the house is quiet, I sit at the window with a blanket around my shoulders and watch the snow fall. It doesn’t look like the tree farm and how it’s become home.
And I realize that, for the first time in my life, Iwantto go home.
Not to my mom’s house, but to the tree farm where Remy and Junie are. Wherever Remy and Junie are, that’s where I want to be. Where my place at the table is waiting, whether I believe I deserve it or not.
I press my face into the blanket and cry quietly until there are no tears left, homesick for a place that I’m not sure is really home.
Chapter 24
Remy
The barn feels damp and cold, like it’s holding a grudge against me, too. As it should, I deserve it. I took out everything I’ve been holding in for years on the people around me that I love, and I hate myself for doing that. I was so terrified when Junie went missing. Then Sloane showing up in the middle of it made me just lose it.
The air smells like hay and sawdust and bad decisions, a reminder of just how badly I screwed things up. My chest feels tight, like I haven’t taken a full breath since Ivy left.
Finn leans against a post with his arms crossed like a damn judge. Tate sits on a stool, dragging his pocketknife over a whetstone, slow and steady, like he’s preparing for war. Lola lies at my feet, staring at me like she wants to put me in the woodchipper. Even her damn dog hates me right now. She has no idea what to do with herself when Junie gets on the bus every day. The bus driver has to get her off the bus and bring her back to me because she wants to go with Junie so badly every morning.
I don’t know how I’m going to make it right for Junie with Ivy and Lola. If Ivy can’t forgive me and leaves us for good,taking her dog, we are going to be devastated even more than we already are right now.
“You better fix this, man,” Tate says, pointing the knife at me before sharpening it again. “You messed up bad. Like, historically bad. People in town are gonna be talking about this until the end of time. You messed with a beloved Maren.”
“I know.” My voice is low, rough. I drag my hand through my hair and stare at the ground, because looking at either of them feels like standing in front of a firing squad.
“No, you don’t know,” Tate says, standing now. His chair scrapes against the concrete, and the sound grates down my spine. “You can’t treat her like that. Ivy’s good. She’s sunshine, and somehow, she makes your grumpy ass look tolerable.”
A few customers walk by and side-eye me. One couple openly glares, then goes to their truck empty-handed. I am sure word has spread around town, and people are mad. They seemed to love seeing Ivy and I together, and now I’ve let everyone down by my stupid freak-out.
He’s right, and every word is a punch to the ribs. I have to fix this. I need to make it right, and I need to make it big. Ivy deserves nothing but the best.
Finn nods once, cool and steady. “She is good. And you hurt her. You better figure out how to make it right, or no telling what will happen to you around here.”
That makes me look up, my temper flashing hot even though I’ve got no right to be angry. “You think I don’t hate myself right now?” My voice comes out sharper than I meant. “I haven’t slept since she left. I keep seeing her face when she realized what I said and—” My throat feels tight. I shake my head. “I’m trying to figure out how to win her back before she decides I’m not worth the trouble.”
That is the truth. I was scared. But that does not excuse what I did. Fear is not a reason to raise my voice at her or pushher away. I know better. I watched Derek treat her like she didn’t matter and swore I would never put that look on her face. Then I did. I told her this was her home. I told her she belonged with me and Junie.
Ivy has the same fears I do. She knows what it is to be left and made small. I did not protect her from that. She walked out trying to hold on to her dignity while I hid behind my past hurt.
I need to own it. No explanations. No justifying. I need to say I was wrong, that I hurt her, that I won’t do it again. I need to show her I can be the man who steadies, not the man who makes her brace. And if she needs space, I will give it, but I will not hide behind my past. I will meet her where I should have been standing in the first place.
Finn opens his mouth to respond, but the sound of squealing brakes cuts him off. We all turn toward the open barn doors.
Rowan’s old truck pulls in and parks abruptly, like she’s pissed. Royally pissed.
The three of us go still. The door slams hard enough to echo, and the sound goes straight through my chest. Fuck.
She climbs out, a baseball bat slung over her shoulder, and stalks toward the barn.
Tate whistles low. “I’m legit worried for you right now.”
Finn smirks like he’s been waiting for this all morning. He rubs his hands together and steps back.
Shit.
I square my shoulders and brace for impact. My stomach twists — I’ve never been on the receiving end of Rowan Maren’s temper before, but I’ve heard stories, and it is not a fun place to stand. Sure, that was back when she was a teenager, and she and Finn got into it. They were always getting into it back then. And she’s definitely angry right now as she stalks toward me.
She steps inside, boots crunching on the straw. “Remington Bennett, you broke my little sister’s heart.”
