CHAPTER TEN
Ivy’s feet barely touched the ground. She’d seen Nash for the past three days and couldn’t believe June was over. How could it be July—the second to be exact? The best part of today was she didn’t have to work. That meant more time with Nash. First, though, she needed to speak to Grams.
Ivy hit the call button on her phone.
The line connected.
“Hello, Ivy.” Affection coated her name. Not surprising since each one of them held a special place in her grandmother’s heart. “I heard about the hubbub at the pub on Friday night. How are you doing, sweetheart?”
Ivy’s mom had been calling asking the same thing. “I’m great, Grams.”
“You sound happier than usual.” No doubt, her grandmother was smiling. “Is that because of your new young man? That country singer fellow?”
“He’s not. We’re not.” Ivy wasn’t sure what she and Nash were. They saw each other every day. They texted when they weren’t together. And they kissed, not only when they said goodbye. “His name is Nash.”
“You like him.”
Ivy shrugged but then realized Grams couldn’t see her. “He’s…nice.” That seemed the safest word to keep Grams from going into matchmaker mode.
“I hope so.” Grams chuckled. “But do you like him?”
“If he wasn’t leaving Quinn Valley soon, I could like him a lot,” she admitted.
“My advice is to dive in and see what happens. He might not be staying for long, but nothing is holding you in Quinn Valley.”
Ivy gasped. “Nothing except my entire life. My mom. Sister and brothers. You and Grandpa and the rest of the family.”
“We’ll always be here when you want to visit,” Grams said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You thought about leaving once for your music.”
“That was different.” The words fell out of Ivy’s mouth. “I was younger. Naïve.”
“You’re only twenty-eight, dear. That’s still young.”
“Sometimes it feels old.”
“We can trade places for a day if you want to know what old feels like.” Grams laughed. “So did you call to chat or do you need something?”
Ivy tightened her grip on the phone. “Would you mind if I invite Nash to the Fourth of July picnic?”
“Oh, please do.” Grams sounded almost giddy. “We’d be delighted to have him. You know, there’s always space at the Quinn table for one more.”
Relief flooded Ivy. “Thanks. I’ll ask him. Though I don’t know if he’ll say yes.”
“He will unless he’s an idiot. And my granddaughters don’t date idiots,” Grams chided. “I take that back. Heather married and divorced one, but she finally found her true love. Oh, that reminds me. We now have an actor in the family. If you marry that singer—”
“We’re not…” Okay, Ivy relented. She and Nash were sort of dating. “We work on music together.”
“Sharing a passion is wonderful.”
Thinking about the song they’d worked on earlier today brought a sigh to her lips. “It is.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting your young man.”
“I can’t wait to introduce him to you.” Now all Ivy had to do was ask Nash. She hoped he said yes.
* * *
On the way to see Nash, Ivy stopped by Ciran’s taco truck, which was next door to the hotel. She ordered tacos and splurged on an order of sopapillas because Nash enjoyed them. She did, too.
