Page 35 of The SEAL's Duchess
Ryder’s stomach sank. Was everyone in town keeping tabs on her?
Sarah glanced at Grace then back to Ryder with her sheriff stare. “Anyway. Figured I’d do the civic thing. I invited her and her brother George to dinner at my place Saturday night. Everyone’s welcome.” She wiped her hands on a napkin, one brow lifting. “Should be enlightening.”
Ryder’s grip hardened on his knife until the wooden handle creaked. “You did what?”
Every face swung his way—surprise and curiosity he didn’t want to see. The silence stretched until even Ellie looked up from her lasagna, sensing the shift.
Wyatt’s face was unreadable, cataloging intel, but Caleb chuckled. “About time you noticed someone other than Ellie and engine parts.”
Ryder hissed a breath through clenched teeth. “It’s not—” He broke off, glaring at his plate. “You’re reading too much into it.” His voice was level, but his pulse was feral.
I’m not going.
But refusing would only raise more questions and make Ivy more significant. Better to pretend she was nothing. Better to keep his mouth shut and go to the damned dinner.
He made himself look up. His parents exchanged one of those looks—the kind that said his mom was filing thisinformation away for future reference and probably planning to call Sarah later forallthe details.
“It’s not—” He caught himself. Across the table, Grace was trying not to smile, and his mom was practically glowing. “I just think it’s too soon to be inviting people we barely know.”
“I’m the sheriff,” Sarah said mildly. “It’s my job to vet newcomers. It’s dinner, not a shotgun wedding.” Her shoulders lifted. “And for what it’s worth? I liked her. She’s grounded. Not like most outsiders who think Alaska’s a photo op.”
“Besides,” his mother chipped in, “it’ll be nice to have some new faces around the table. Ivy sounds lovely.”
Ryder wanted to argue, to find some excuse that would get him out of Saturday night’s dinner without revealing how thoroughly Ivy Lambourne had gotten under his skin. But Ellie was watching him with curious eyes, and he couldn’t explain why the thought of her being around Ivy again made his chest feel like it was caving in.
It’s about protecting her. Nothing else.
The conversation moved on, but Ryder pushed lasagna into neat lines, ignoring the sidelong glances pricking his skin.
Ellie, oblivious to the undercurrents, chattered about Josie’s burps and Ben eating her paint. Her innocent happiness eventually pulled him back from the edge, a reminder that some things still made sense.
By the time dessert was finished and the dishes cleared, Ellie was flagging, rubbing at her eyes. He gathered her into his arms, breathing in the scent of her apple shampoo.
At the front door, his mom stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm. “You okay, sweetheart?”
He shifted Ellie’s weight, her head heavy against his shoulder. “Just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Because his mind had been on Ivy all night.
“Ryder.” Her voice carried the particular note that meant she wasn’t buying his deflection. “I just want you to be happy. What happened with Miranda doesn’t have to define your whole life.”
He gave a soft grunt. “It already does, Mom. Ellie is my life.”
“I know.” Her expression was understanding, and somehow that made it worse. “But duty isn’t the same as joy, honey. You deserve more than just holding things together. You deserve someone who holds you.”
He couldn’t meet her eyes. The hope in them felt like pressure against a crack—one wrong word and he’d break open.
“We should go. It’s past Ellie’s bedtime.”
“Ryder—”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
The drive home passed in blessed quiet, Ellie asleep in her car seat, her breathing soft and even in the darkness. At a red light, he glanced in the rearview mirror at her peaceful face—flushed cheeks, dark lashes against her skin, one small hand curled around her stuffed bear.
He sighed.
Saturday night, he’d have to sit across a dinner table from Ivy Lambourne and pretend his world hadn’t shifted on its axis in the space of one kiss. He’d have to watch her charm his family the way she’d charmed him, all while knowing she’d be gone in a matter of days.
