Page 41 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
That thought took the wind out of my sails. Had I not thought this through carefully enough? Would Ivy come to resent this part of me? Of my life? The constant scrutiny? The cameras? The intrusions? Mr. Holiday?
“We’ll navigate this together.” I swallowed hard.
After all, we’d been navigating life together for the past seven years. I had to believe nothing would change that. Not Sienna or the press. Or even Ivy’s fear of what was on the other side of the friendship line. In fact, it would be better because we’d have each other to come home to every day.
“I hope so, for your sake. Ivy’s good for you.”
“She is,” I readily admitted.
“I’ll do what I can for you and her on my end. But please, don’t make any extra work for me or yourself. Play the game smart.” That was Tori’s favorite thing to say.
The thing was, this was anything but a game to me.
“Remember, control the narrative, no public slipups, no messy breakups if it comes to that, and play the long game,” Tori spouted off what she called the Bible According to Tori. “Sienna is playing the short game. Remember that and act appropriately.”
“I will,” I promised.
No way in hell was I going to let Sienna ruin what I had worked so hard to build. Or let her come between Ivy and me.
“Very good. Now, go have your family game night,” she laughed. “Please tell Ivy to take some pictures. This I have to see. Jack Holiday playing Pictionary.”
I wasn’t sure if that’s what we were playing. Regardless, it was giving me heartburn. All this holiday cheer and cozy family togetherness was a bit much to take, which was why I was hiding out in Ivy’s room.
My excuse was that I needed to talk to Tori and Xavier, my agent, to find out if he was the one who’d told Sienna where I would be. He’d adamantly denied it, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. I still considered firing him. But I would wait until after the holidays. I wasn’t heartless.
All those excuses for slipping away for a moment were true. But I’d also needed a few minutes to breathe.
“Goodbye, Tori.”
“Goodbye,” she sang.
I shoved my phone in my jeans and looked around Ivy’s room, hoping it would spark some idea of what to make her for Christmas. That task loomed, hanging over me. It felt like something I couldn’t get wrong. I wanted the gift to show Ivy that I fit into her world and that she was safe in mine. It seemed like an impossible endeavor.
A knock on the door interrupted my fruitless attempt to come up with the perfect gift for Ivy.
“Jack, can I come in?” Jaquelyn asked.
Curious, I walked over and opened the door, wondering what Ivy’s mom wanted. There was also some trepidation. Jaquelyn seemed determined to make me believe in the magic of Christmas. And maybe even the magic of mothers.
Jaquelyn, wearing her signature Santa hat, greeted me with a warm smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but I wanted to check on you.”
It caught me off guard a little. I wasn’t used to people who I didn’t pay, or who didn’t pay me, checking in on me—save Ivy.
“You did?” I questioned.
“I do.”
Jaquelyn walked right in without an invitation. She took a moment to look around the room, and her eyes landed on the neatly made bunk bed.
“I apologize again for the accommodations.”
“It’s no problem. Ivy and I fit well on the bottom together.”
I clenched my fists, frozen, unsure where to go from there. That was probably not the right thing to say. Ivy had told her sister we werewaiting, and judging by all the strangelooks her siblings and their spouses had given me throughout the day, Paige had spread that around. I had a feeling some of them didn’t buy Ivy’s story.
“What I mean is—”
“I know what you mean.” Jaquelyn smiled.
