“Dance party!” Addie skipped over and immediately began spinning.
Ivy leaned forward and grabbed her menu. Adam dropped off the set of silverware we needed and quickly took drink orders. Ivy asked for a plate of cut-up fruit for Addie to eat until we could get our entrées while I ordered some mac and cheese bites. We placed our entrée orders and sat back with our drinks.
I glanced over at Addie, who had now moved on to coloring. She had a sketchbook on the low table and was kneeling as she worked, many crayons in reach in a small zippered bag.
“So, how did today go?” I asked Ivy.
She groaned. “I mean, good?”
“Not sure?”
Ivy’s head dropped back on the couch as her body seemed to relax into it. “Good, I suppose. It was harder than I anticipated, but it also felt very much like it was time.”
“I hate that you worked through that stuff by yourself.”
She rolled her head toward me, meeting my eyes. “That’s sweet, Jake. But Emma and Maggie came for a bit to keep me company. After they left, I really got through a lot. And while it was sad, in some ways like another goodbye, it also reminded me that Nana wouldn’t have wanted that place to go unused. She’s not there, she’s with me.” Her eyes were a bit wet.
I slid my hand to her thigh and squeezed.
Ivy’s gaze met mine as she brought her beer up and took a sip. Watching me, she darted her tongue out to lick her lips, and I held back my own groan.
She smirked.
Adam came over with the appetizers, much to Addie’s delight. She snacked on some apple slices as Ivy put a few bites on a small plate and scooted back in the couch again, folding her legs up under her. “So, should we talk about whatever this is that Lou has roped me into?”
I grabbed some bites for myself and nodded. “Reds of Christmas.” I said, popping a bite into my mouth. Damn, the hit of cheese was unreal. I needed to commend Pete on this one. I held one up to Ivy. “Think Addie would like this?”
“It might be too hot.”
“Got it,” I said, breaking one open to let the steam escape. “Here, Ads. Let this cool, but I think you’ll like it.”
“Thanks, Jakey,” she said, before resuming her coloring.
Looking back to Ivy, I saw her watching me with an odd expression on her face. “You okay?” I asked.
She nodded.
No idea what that was about, so I continued. “So, Reds of Christmas. We’re honestly mostly done. We need to go over how many reservations we have, make sure the tickets have been sent out, and confirm with local businesses that had indicated they wanted to be involved that they are set for the night. We also give them the number of folks attending so they can have enough of the food or drink they’re serving.”
“Okay, that isn’t too bad,” Ivy said. “The bookstore is serving red velvet mini cupcakes.”
“Perfect. We used to have only red wine served, but people prefer variety. Now each stop has something, but it isn’t even only red. Hell, we’ll have a beer here, but it’s a West Coast IPA. We’d thought of a Christmas Ale.”
Ivy wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, I hate those.”
I laughed. “So does Sully. Thus the switch to the IPA.”
Ivy pulled up her phone, appearing to look over her calendar app. “Want to do dinner this week? Maybe we could go over anything we need to get knocked off for the event.”
I pulled up my calendar, looking it over. “How about Monday? Too late?”
“Perfect,” she said, tapping her phone and putting in the info. “How about—”
“Ivy?” a voice from my right interrupted her. I glanced over to see a guy about our age standing there. His clothes were a bit rumpled, and he looked beyond tired. His dark hair was disheveled, but his blue eyes were locked on Ivy.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Who the hell was this guy, and why did I want to deck him on sight? Jesus, I was a mess.
Turning to Ivy, my heart sank when I saw her expression, which was blinding happiness.
