Page 85 of Mistletoe & Magic
She looks up from the counter and waves. “Morning. You’re here early.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” I admit, moving toward the shelf of new releases. “Figured I’d get out before I started reorganizing Mom’s kitchen cabinets.”
Willa gives me a sympathetic smile but doesn’t pry, which I love her for. We chat about the new books she just got in, and I leave with one tucked under my arm, feeling just a little lighter.
I’m halfway down Main Street when I hear a familiar voice.
“Ivy!”
Junie barrels toward me from the direction of the hardware store, pigtails flying. Finn follows at a slower pace, looking amused and a little winded.
I drop to my knees, and she flies into me like a little rocket. “Hey, bug,” I whisper, hugging her tight. “I missed you so much.” She smells like apples and winter, and her hat is a little crooked. I fix it with careful fingers and kiss her forehead. “Are you having a big adventure today?” I ask, smiling. “What are you and Finn doing in town?”
“Helping Daddy!” she says proudly. “We’re buying more paint for your?—”
“Junie.” Finn’s voice is sharp enough to cut her off. He swoops in, scooping her up like she weighs nothing, and presses a big hand gently over her mouth.
“Paint for what?” I ask, my heart thudding.
Finn’s grin is all teeth. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
Junie wriggles in his arms, trying to pull his hand away, her little giggles muffled.
“Finn,” I say, crossing my arms.
He starts backing away, still grinning like a man who knows better than to get involved. “Come on, Junie, we’ve got to get back before your dad realizes we took too long.”
Junie yells something against his palm, and my stomach does a funny little flip. What is Remy up to? And he’s got Junie and Finn in on it, too.
“I’ll tell Lola you said hi!” Finn calls over his shoulder as he heads for his truck, still carrying a squirming Junie. “You two can catch up later!”
I stand on the sidewalk, my pulse racing.
Paint. What in the world is Remy doing?
The thought warms me and terrifies me all at once.
Maybe he really is fighting for me, and now I’m curious.
Chapter 26
Remy
Boston hits me like a punch to the gut the second I step out of the truck. Finn is finishing up the library today, and I have something to take care of. Unfinished business that needs taken care of.
The air is damp, smelling like wet pavement, exhaust, and old coffee. Horns honk down the street, a siren wails somewhere blocks away, and a man in a suit rushes past me, almost knocking into me with his phone glued to his hand, not looking where he’s going. It is loud, frantic, nothing like home.
I stand there for a second, just breathing it in, letting the weight of it settle over me. The last time I was here, I was still wearing a tie every day. I was still trying to convince myself that this city, this life, was what I wanted.
Turns out, I never really wanted it.
I think about Junie back home, sitting at Mom or Lilith’s table and probably eating cake for lunch. I think about Ivy, about the way her laugh sounds, about how her hands felt on my chest the night I kissed her like I’d been starving for years. I miss the way she looks at me like she really sees me. All of me. Even the broken pieces, and she still doesn’t care. She just loves mefor me. She trusted me, and I broke that trust. Because I let Sloane get in my head again. I let her mess up our world, and I’m going to put a stop to that. I know what I need to do, and I know what Sloane needs to do. We all need this.
I am not here for me. I am here for them.
I pull open the glass door and step inside Sloane’s office building. The lobby smells of disinfectant and printer toner, and the buzz of fluorescent lights hums faintly overhead. My boots click against the marble floor. People look at me sideways, men in pressed suits, women with sleek hair and expensive shoes like they can tell I don’t belong here anymore.
I wait for the elevator, my reflection in the stainless-steel doors staring back at me. My shoulders look tight, my jaw locked. I roll it out, force myself to breathe, but my pulse is still pounding when a voice cuts through the air behind me.
