Page 33 of Clint & Ivy

Ivy’s mood improved as I spoke about my childhood. Despite being her anchor to this new life, I was a stranger.

Once she settled down, Ivy started looking out the window and absorbed the details of her new home.

Little Memphis had expanded a lot over my lifetime. Former farmland was now housing subdivisions and strip malls. A decade ago, my parents embraced the building frenzy by designing their dream home in the lakeside community of Sleepy Eye.

Ivy sat up straight once I pulled my truck in front of my parents’ three-car garage. Turning off the engine, I admired her until she noticed. A smile warmed her pretty pale face. I couldn’t believe we met twenty-four hours ago. I already couldn’t breathe right when I considered losing her.

My family exited the house as a group. I grinned at how Elle hurried to the passenger window and stared in at Ivy.

“Hurry over, Sutter,” Elle said, waving for her seven-year-old son to join her at the window. “Come look at your uncle’s girlfriend.”

Elle waved wildly at Ivy while a frowning Sutter stood on his tiptoes to see through the truck window.

On the porch, my parents gossiped with each other. Ford remained in decent shape for a middle-aged man. The tips of his silver hair brushed against his wide shoulders. His bushy white beard and tanned skin gave him a wild man appearance, but he claimed my mom turned him soft long before I was born.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and faded jeans like Ford, Shay was a beautiful woman. Her gray eyes were the most comforting things from my childhood. When she turned fifty, she decided to stop coloring her hair and let the gray take over.

Shay and Ford referred to each other as “silver foxes.” That talk often led to them spending time naked in their room. Based on their touchy-feely behavior on the porch, I’d arrived just in time to keep them fully dressed.

Before I climbed out of the truck, my cousin Sabrina appeared out of the house and walked past my parents. With her athletic build, shiny brown hair, and bright brown eyes, my cousin had a ‘girl next door’ look that hid a snarly beast inside.

“Oh, she’s hot,” Sabrina said, pressing her nose against the window and staring in at a startled Ivy. My cousin’s dark eyes found me as she grinned. “Clint and Ivy sitting in a tree.”

“Knock it off,” I grumbled.

Offering me a dismissive smirk, Sabrina shook her head, causing her thick dark bangs to bounce around her eyes. “We’re not at work, boss, so suck it.” She turned toward the porch where her girlfriends, siblings, and parents joined Ford and Shay. “Xandy, Moe, come gawk at our president’s soulmate.”

I climbed out of the truck while my cousin’s girlfriends joined her at the window. Elle ran interference by bouncing in front of me as I moved to the passenger door.

“Let it happen,” Elle said and stroked my face. “Don’t fight it. The process will be less painful that way.”

“It’s only Ivy’s second day in Little Memphis.”

“Yes, but she’s going to be family, so she best learn how we behave in our natural environment.”

“What’s the problem?” Uncle Pax asked from the porch. His hair was also silver and shoulder-length since he always copied his older brother. Right now, his blue eyes flashed to Ford. “Is this girl goofy or something?”

“Of course not. She’s lovely,” Shay announced, wearing a big smile before she looked at me and asked, “Right? Don’t make me a liar, Clint.”

“Ivy is a gem,” Elle declared and shoved her way between Sabrina and Xandy who blocked the door. “Let me free her from the truck.”

Blonde Moe batted her big, brown eyes and offered me a toothy grin. Unlike most club members, she hadn’t grown up with our group. Instead, she entered the Crimson Guard world through Sabrina.

Rowdy joined the party at the passenger side door. Throwing me an assist, he filled his mouth with water and spit it at the troublemakers.

“Jackass,” Sabrina muttered and went to kick him in the dick.

Rowdy took off running down the road while Sabrina, Elle, and Moe gave chase.

Xandy shoved her wavy red hair from her face and said in her rough voice, “It’s too early to run.”

I smiled because she once told me the same thing at eight in the evening. Unlike her girlfriend Sabrina, Xandy found sports and exercise to be torture.

“Your fox looks good,” Xandy said before returning to the house.

Up the street, Rowdy ran circles around the women who stopped long enough to coordinate their attack. I took that moment to free Ivy from the truck. Grabbing the dog carrier, I left the food for someone else to bring inside.

I walked up to the porch where my parents smiled at me like they’d been practicing all day for this moment.

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