Page 36 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls (Ivy Falls #3)

PIPER

Tiniest Bit Of Access

Ford’s leg bounced nervously the entire forty-five-minute drive to Harpeth Manor, which kept me from telling him about the nauseous churn in my own stomach.

It’d been two years since I’d been to a party with alcohol.

I knew I was steady. Prepared to take this next step, but that regular cramp in my chest warned that I’d need to rely on what I’d learned in therapy to get through the night.

We passed the time talking about the weather. If I was nervous about the show premiering next Friday. If I thought the kids were ready.

‘I think most of them will do all right. The only one I’m worried about is Dex.’

‘Why? That kid’s got some pipes. I watched him during rehearsal the other day. He knows the moves too.’

‘It’s his dad,’ I said, playing with the lace edge of the little black dress Tessa had loaned me. ‘He’s promised to come to the show, but Dex’s mom pulled me aside yesterday. Told me she’s worried he might flake. Apparently, he’s got a new girlfriend in Knoxville that takes up a lot of his time.’

Ford white-knuckled the wheel. He’d gotten close to Dex since the gummy bear incident.

When he’d been at the theater to help, Dex made it a point to seek him out.

I may have eavesdropped on a few of their conversations, which usually covered Dex’s love of all things skateboarding and basketball, and his often absent dad.

‘That kid,’ he said with a heavy breath. ‘I see a lot of myself in him. He’s driven. Ambitious. But he’s also desperate for his father’s attention. More than once, he’s asked me how he can do better in school. Like if he gets straight As his father will recognize his existence.’

‘My heart aches for him,’ I confessed. ‘And his mom, she’s doing her best, but she looks tired all the time, which is not lost on Dex.’

‘The best we can do for him is let him know he’s not alone. That we’re here to talk if he needs us.’

I crossed my arms over my chest. ‘It shouldn’t have to be that way. Dex should be his dad’s first priority.’

‘There are a lot of people who can’t get out of their own way to be good parents.’ There was a scratch to his voice that said he spoke from experience, which made me cautious about meeting his parents tonight.

I reached over and placed my hand over his.

In the early twilight, his hair was a rich chocolate color.

His pale blue eyes the perfect match to the button-down shirt he wore.

When he’d knocked on my door tonight it had been hard not to grip onto his bright yellow tie, drag him in the door and tear the clothing off his body.

Press my mouth to every inch of his skin that I found myself craving every single day.

I must not have hidden that desire well, because when he saw me he gave me a kiss so hot it made me think about all the things I wanted to do with him once this night was over.

We continued to hold hands while quiet music floated out of the old car’s speakers.

At the end of a long, narrow road, we turned and made our way through the wrought-iron gates leading into the Harpeth Manor Country Club.

Trimmed topiary lined the white gravel road.

A wide swath of green led to a pristinely manicured golf course.

Cars that cost more than most houses in Ivy Falls lined the circular driveway.

Once we stopped, a red-vested valet was at my door helping me out.

Ford was quickly by my side, a hand around my waist, as we walked up a brick-lined path, past a massive two-tier concrete fountain and into a foyer that was covered in wall-to-wall white marble. Ford wasn’t kidding when he said this place was ridiculously over the top.

A tuxedo-clad man stopped us on our way into the main lobby.

Flutes of sparkling wine sat on his polished silver tray.

The waiter offered me a drink. In the past, a zing would have raced down my back as I eagerly grabbed one, but that instinct was gone.

I declined but told Ford he could enjoy a glass if he wanted.

He slid his hand into mine and said, ‘I’m a club-soda-and-lime kind of guy. ’

More couples walked past us. The heady scent of flowers and expensive perfume clung to the air.

‘Ready for the lion’s den?’

I gave him a convincing smile. ‘I’m sure we can find a weapon and a chair somewhere if we need to fight them off.’

He pressed a kiss to my cheek. ‘I’m so glad you’re here, Bird.’

Once he tucked my hand around his arm like a proper escort, we walked toward the sounds of the party. We weren’t five steps into the ballroom when a dark-haired guy who shared the same eyes as Ford buzzed in our direction.

When he reached us he gave Ford a perturbed look. ‘You’re late.’

‘Hi. Good to see you too, Gray. This is my…’ He took an uncomfortable gulp. We’d never put a label on what we were, and ‘summer fling’ probably wasn’t appropriate for this scene. ‘This is Piper Townsend,’ he said.

His brother shot out his hand to shake. As soon as he caught my wrist, he flipped it over and kissed the back of my hand all while dragging his gaze up my body.

Okay, yeah, Ford has his brother pegged. This guy is a total fuckboy.

Another waiter passed us and Gray pulled two crystal flutes off the tray and pushed one in my direction. Ford started to object until I shook my head. ‘No, thank you. I don’t drink.’

‘More for me then.’ In two gulps his brother had one glass drained.

I waited for that itch in my throat again, the pull in my stomach.

How my brain would run through all the scenarios about how I could have one glass and be fine.

But in this moment I felt nothing except for the warmth of Ford’s hand against my back.

The need to be grounded and one hundred percent present for him tonight.

Once Gray finished the second glass he said, ‘Mom and Dad got in a fight before they got here. I guess Dad planned a golfing trip to Scotland with his friends and didn’t tell her.

The weekend he’s gone is the annual Botanical Gardens Ball.

Not exactly a great start to an evening that is supposed to be about their “enduring love”,’ he said with a sarcastic edge.

Ford grimaced. ‘Let’s get through the night in one piece. That’s all we need to do. Okay?’

‘Agreed, and once the toast is over, I’m going to make the fastest exit possible.’ Gray tried to hide the slur in his voice but Ford gripped his shoulder.

‘Cool it with the drinking. I have no intention of propping you up during the toast.’

‘Fine,’ Gray huffed. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to hunt down George Bryce. He lost a thousand bucks to me in a poker game last weekend and hasn’t paid up.’ He turned and gave me a formal bow. ‘Nice to meet you, Piper, and a word of warning about our mother…’

‘Gray.’ Ford gave him a look of warning.

‘I’m only offering her a bit of advice.’

‘Make it quick,’ Ford grumbled.

‘I love the matriarch of our family, but she can be a viper. Ignore anything and everything she says tonight, because she can be a tad bit protective when it comes to my little brother.’

‘Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll try to stay away from her fangs.’

An apologetic smile slid over his lips like his advice still wouldn’t be enough to protect me from his mother’s vicious bite.

It was okay. In all the chaos I’d had to deal with in my life, one overbearing mother didn’t feel like too much of a threat.

Ford grabbed me around the waist. Pressed a gentle kiss to my temple. ‘Let’s enter the fray. The sooner we make our appearance, endure a bunch of worthless small talk, the quicker we can get out of this place.’

For the next half-hour I shook hands, swapped conversations about the stock market and whatever fast and slow greens were.

Ford’s charm was ratcheted up to a ten. He was good at remembering people’s names.

What they did for a living. How many children and grandchildren they had.

If I didn’t know him, I’d have thought he was a regular member of this crowd.

We were finishing a conversation with a banker and his third wife, when an older woman with pale blonde hair, bright red lips and the most stunning diamond choker I’d ever seen placed her hand on his shoulder. Ford spun and gave her a forced smile.

‘Hello, Mother.’

‘Sweetheart.’ She pressed her lips together as she took him in. ‘A yellow tie? For evening? Really, Crawford?’

His hand flew to his neck and I hated the way her caustic tone made him flinch. ‘It was all I had that was clean.’

Her steely gaze left her son and focused on me. ‘Who is this?’

‘Mother, this is Piper Townsend. She’s from Ivy Falls where I’m working right now.’

In her white silk gown with a regal tilt to her head, Ford’s mother reminded me of the Narnia witch. If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed she had ice water in her veins.

‘Piper.’ Her cool stare moved over the way I had my hair pinned up. How my dress cut across my shoulders. Her slow and torturous survey of me stopped at the tattoo on my wrist. Her lips thinned as she added, ‘Pleasure to meet you.’

‘You too, Mrs Foster.’

‘What is it that you do in Ivy Falls? How did you meet my Crawford?’

‘I have several jobs. One of them is directing a musical for our children’s theater. A young actor had a minor accident and Ford took care of him.’

‘Local theater?’ she sniffed. ‘That is an interesting profession.’

‘I love it. The kids are wonderful. It is very fulfilling,’ I said with a little too much force.

‘Can’t imagine that pays much.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ford interrupted. ‘She’s damn good at what she does.’ He reached out and laced his fingers through mine. ‘She sings and plays the piano too.’

His mother continued to level me with a stare that fell somewhere between malevolent and appalled.

‘Where’s Dad?’ Ford said.

‘At the bar as usual. He’ll come over and say hello in due time.’

‘Why don’t we go that way now.’