Page 98 of The Pumpkin Spice Spell
“I’m really happy,” I say with a grin. “I want all of this. The traditions. Christmas pancakes and morning cuddles and coffee on the porch. I want to wake up with him and fall asleep knowing that we’re together and have our own home.”
“You said all of that with the dreamiest look on your face,” Ivy murmurs. “I never thought you’d actually settle down. You said yourself over the years that you were going to be a cat lady above the bookstore. Hey…nothing wrong with that, but you really have done a one-eighty. It was amazing to watch.”
“Because it feels like the chapter I’ve been waiting to write or read.” I sip my tea and glance out the window, where the harbor glints just beyond the rooftops. “Rowan’s going to move into the loft while she gets the shop ready to open, and I’ll still run the bookstore, obviously. But now there’s a rhythm to everything. There’s balance.”
Ivy stares into her mug for a moment. “I’m so happy for you. Really, I am. I mean… it’s like watching someone step right into the life they were meant for.”
There’s something wistful in her tone, a flicker of longing that tugs at me. She hasn’t talked about what happened with Derek. The latest is that they got in a big fight, and I didn’t get all of the details, but I gathered it was bad. I’m pretty sure Roan is ready to hex him big time.
“I want that, too,” she says softly, not meeting my eyes. “Not your exact life. I mean, I’d totally steal your man if I thought I had a chance?—”
“Ha,” I snort and see her laughing.
“I’m totally kidding. I love Tate like a brother. But I’m not blind. He’s hot.”
I snort and sip my tea and tease. “Okay, so you’re into brothers. Got it.”
She rolls her eyes. “I want something that’s mine. A plan and a dream. To finally have a place to land. I’m tired of hopping jobs and not having a place to belong.”
“You’re not floating, Ivy. You’re going to find your happily ever after.”
She laughs. “Thanks. I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure things are over with Derek. I just want to matter to someone, you know? I want someone to love me and show up for me like I show up for them.”
I reach across the counter and wrap my fingers around hers. “You matter more than you’ll ever know. This town would fall apart without you. And something good’s coming. I can feel it.”
“I hope so,” she says, her voice thickening a little. “I’m trying so hard to believe that.”
“You’re magic, Ivy. And you deserve to feel it, too.”
Just then, the bell over the door jingles. Tate steps inside, cheeks pink from the wind, a garland of pine boughs looped over one arm and a box of lights in the other. He catches my eye and grins with that easy, heart-wrecking grin that undoes me every time straight to my core.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says, setting the box down. “Had to wrestle with Old Pete and Donna about which bulbs were too ‘damn tacky’ to go on the harbor poles.”
“He’s particular about his harbor poles,” I say.
“Don’t I know it.” Tate glances between Ivy and me. “Should I come back later?”
“No,” Ivy says, hopping down from the stool. “You’re the muscle we need. You can help us string those up before we get distracted again.”
He salutes, all warm flannel and muscular forearms, then starts unspooling the lights. I catch Ivy watching him for a second before she whispers, “Yeah. I see the appeal.”
“Brother fucker,” I whisper-tease back.
“Yeah, that one’s all yours. I might just become the cat lady who ends up living above the bookstore,” she says with a wink, then heads toward the back to check on the new shipment of books that just arrived.
I step over to Tate and wrap my arms around his waist from behind. He stills for a second, then turns and pulls me into him like he’s been waiting all day.
“Hey,” he murmurs into my hair. “You excited to decorate at the cabin later?”
“Only if you promise to do it shirtless while drinking cocoa.”
“Maybe,” he smirks as he pulls back and brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “You okay?”
“I’m perfect. How are you doing?”
“I’m great now,” he says as he pulls me tighter, planting a kiss on my head.
And for the first time in my life, I mean that with no hesitation, any fear. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
