“Gil’s agreed to move in,” she says, breaking through the noise and inner angst.“You were right.Getting away together loosened him up, and he spilled the beans about his anxiety, prompting me to pop the question.He said he’d take me over Seagrove any day.”
A weak smile emerges.“Excellent.That’s a very positive outcome.”
Movement from the hall’s end catches my attention, but it’s only staff shifting through the corridor.
“What Henry’s mom said isn’t his fault, you know,” Ivy says.
“I know.Henry hasn’t done anything wrong.He’s done everything right, actually.”
“Then, why not talk to him?”she asks, her voice soft and sweet.
I take a breath.“We’ve talked already.What more is there to say?”
Ivy groans again.“That you love him, and New Zealand isn’t what you want.You’re a sad sack in hiking boots—a ten on the pain chart.You thought you’d turned a corner into their family, and now, you’re scared and bullying yourself into believing you don’t belong.But it’s not true, Venus.”
“I don’t intentionally hurt anyone, but it happens around me,” I retort.“The facts are indisputable.”
“Forget these so-called facts.They’re circumstantial.You could argue that people are hurt around me, too,” she says, smirking.
“You work at a hospital.”
“Right,circumstantial.Henry says you should trust your feelings.I agree with him.”
“I know you’re keeping your promise to Henry, but I don’t want to talk.I’m not upset or emotional.I’m controlling my impulses.I’m handling this perfectly well.I’m fine.Absolutely fine… and when I leave again, I’ll be absolutely fine then, too.It’s what’s best.For everyone.”
Ivy appears like she might argue, but the heavy double doors swing open, and the area floods with people, distracting us both.Dad emerges through the crowd, beelining around families and couples toward us.From his wrinkled khakis, plain collared shirt, and tousled blonde and gray hair, he looks the same as always.
But my heart rate upticks anyway, and I find myself bobbing on my boots, back and forth, in anticipation.
Ivy reaches him first, meeting him halfway.She latches her arms around his shoulders for her excessive show of affection—she’s always been a self-proclaimed hugger.He pats her back, and they share friendly greetings.
When his grayish-green eyes land on me, his gentle smile unlocks the pent-up tension of the last twenty-four hours.All at once, my feelings converge.I recall the fear I felt when I saw Olly hurt, the relief I felt with every question he answered, and the pride I took in how well he handled his emergency room visit.I remember Henry calling mefamily,and the blissful comfort of sharing the tent with them.The agony returns, too.Maggie’s disappointment and the raw, aching truth in her words.The all-encompassing beauty and devastation with Henry in the greenhouse.I am helplessly saturated with feelings.Utterly soaked.Lost in a storm.
“What brings you home early, Dad?”Ivy asks.
He answers with a simple, “Venus,” smiling gently as he says it.
Hearing my name unlocks the drawbridge, freeing everything inside.I crumble into his arms.That he would cut his trip short forme, like he knew instinctively that I needed him, makes it true.Ineedhim.And Ivy.And all the love and support they’re willing to give me.Ineedmy family.
He holds me there in silence as the world shuffles, rolls, and patters around us, and I do the unthinkable.I cry into my father’s shoulder.
“Oh, you guys,” Ivy coos, latching her arms around us both and crying, too.
“My amazing daughters,” Dad says, with one of us occupying each of his shoulders.“It’s good to be home.”
CHAPTER49
Henry
The loud buzzof the museum’s antique doorbell has me racing down the stairs two at a time.The last forty-eight hours have been hectic and exhausting.Between taking care of Olly, finishing the museum for the launch party on Friday night, and turning in the final papers for my two classes, I’ve been overwhelmed.
But most of all, I’ve been worried about Venus.
Texting with Ivy has brought some comfort—Dr.Blake has returned, Ivy’s been staying at the fairy house for extra support, and despite what she said, Venus hasn’t accepted the New Zealand position yet.
Last night, Venus finally texted to ask how Olly was doing.She didn’t communicate long, but she texted that she loved us both before saying goodnight.
So, I hoped it might be her at the door, overrun with big feelings and desperate to see us.
