Page 79 of When Ivy Met Mr. Holiday
Under the photo Jack had written:
The night Jack realized Ivy was the coolest girl around and that he was undeniably in love with her.
I had no words. But I had feelings. A flood of them, crashing through me like the tide had finally turned.
Jack must’ve known he’d stunned me, because he turned the page himself, obviously anxious for me to keep reading.
The next photo and caption nearly undid me.
It was me holding baby Emma for the first time. I’d sent the picture to Jack while I was in California helping Paige after her birth.
Ivy didn’t know it, but Jack would stare at this picture for days after she sent it to him. He was in awe of how beautiful Ivy looked holding a baby. Jack never thought he wanted a family of his own until he met Ivy. She made him believe in families. Made him believe in love.
Jack had rendered me completely mute. There were no words that could convey the beauty of the emotions stirring inside me. So, with tears slipping down my cheeks, I turned to the next page of our story and then the next and the next.
It was picture after picture of me or the two of us, tangled in moments I treasured. Some I hadn’t even known Jack hadcaptured with his phone. Each caption was more beautiful than the last. Each one revealed just how long Jack had loved me.
I finally paused on a photo that made my heart beat wildly. Somehow, the moment hit me differently now after reading through Jack’s book.
There we were surrounded by boxes, slumped against a wall in his new house. The house I’d fallen in love with. My head rested on his shoulder, both of us exhausted but smiling. Beneath it, he’d written:
Jack wants to know how Ivy didn’t see that he bought this house for her.
I looked up at him, stunned. “You bought your house for me?”
Jack smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why do you think I let you choose everything? The paint. The fixtures. The flooring. Even my bed.”
“I don’t know . . . I thought maybe you were just too busy, and you needed the help.”
He leaned in, close enough that our noses brushed. “I could’ve hired a decorator, Ivy.”
“This is true.”
“When I bought that house, all I could think of wasus.”
Us.Such a small word, but wow, did it pack a punch.
“Jack, why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“I wanted to, but you’re so damn stubborn. You seemed hellbent on us staying friends.”
“Guilty.” I laughed.
“Ivy, I know what being with me means. Fame isn’t easy. And I know you’re afraid that being more than friends makes us not safe anymore. But look at our history.”
He reached for my hands, and our fingers interlaced.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt safer with anyone than I do with you.”
Those words pierced my heart . . . and maybe my stubbornness. Obviously, I had more-than-friendly feelings for him. It would be stupid for me to deny it now.
He was my person.
My ride-or-die.
My let’s-stay-in-pj’s-all-day-and-binge-our-favorite-90s-movies person.
And let’s be honest—no one was ever going to kiss me the way Jack kissed me.
