Mom’s eyes popped with alarm.“Wait!There was more than one of them?”
“We could have taken just one of them,” I said without thinking.
“Ivy!”Mom cried.
“Campbell wasn’t that smart,” I muttered.
“It’s no reason to kill him.”
“From what Boyd said, Campbell liked to… sexually assault women… so I got the impression she would have been in much more trouble if I hadn’t been there.”
Mom sighed and stayed focused on Ryan.“Why hasn’t she been staying at her place?”
“You could ask me that,” I said into my wine glass.
After a fake smile, Mom said, “I want to hear his side of it.”
“I thought they’d be able to find her because I expected her to own her home.Since she doesn’t, in theory it makes it a little bit harder for them to find her address.But only a little.”
“First time renting has helped you,” Mom said.
“But Rusty posed as a client at her office – so he knows how to get to her,” Ryan said.
“For what it’s worth, we’re staying at my place tonight,” I said.
Mom arched a brow at Ryan.“She has a gun, you could let her stay alone.”
Ryan tipped his head to the side.“I could, but I got her into this mess, I’m getting her out of it.”
“Um-hmm.Sounds like there’s a little bit of pride here after all.”
Ryan set his beer on the counter.“Perhaps, but like it or not, Ivy and I have a bond now.Everything I learn about her I like enough that I know I’d be a fool not to see what might develop between us.”
Mom stared at him long and hard.“That almost sounds rehearsed.”
I gasped.
Ryan laughed out loud.“It isn’t.The timing is awful, but life never runs according to our own timing.”
Mom dipped her head and her expression softened.“I know that’s the truth.”
“I would imagine so,” Ryan murmured.
The oven timer went off.
“You want me to get those?”I asked.
“No, sweetie.You can get some plates down instead.”
Chapter 23
Savoring
Ryan
Meetingawoman’sparentsalways felt like a grind, but with Ivy’s mom I enjoyed it.She cared deeply about her daughter, and I couldn’t fault her for grilling me about all the shit swirling around us.By the time we finished dinner, I thought I’d won her over.
Maybe.
