“What about you and Vaughn?” Jess asked Bailey. “Have you had the kid talk yet?”
“We know we don’t have a ton of years to put it off, but we’ve decided we’d like at least a year, maybe two, where it’s just us.”
“I get it,” Dahlia agreed. “Michael and I talked about having kids just after I got shot. I wanted to know it was an option. But now Michael is talking about it a lot, as if he wants it all and he wants it all as soon as possible. I just want him for a while. I didn’t have him for so long, and as selfish as it sounds, I don’t want to share him just yet.”
“Have you told him that?” Ivy asked.
“No, I don’t want him to think I’m selfish.”
“I don’t think he’ll think that’s selfish at all,” I assured her. “In fact, I think it’ll probably make him want to have sex with you.”
“Watching paint dry would make that man want to have sex with her,” Bailey teased.
Dahlia grinned, and it was smug. “You’re not wrong.”
“And what about Ivy and Jeff?” Bailey gave Ivy a mischievous smile.
“Oh hell, we are nowhere near that.”
“Well, the entire town is talking about the good sheriff mooning after our Academy Award-winning Ivy Green. They’re anxious that she’ll break his heart by returning to Hollywood.”
Ivy gaped at Bailey. “Are you kidding me? Are people really saying that?”
“Of course, they are. Between Emery and Jack hanging out all the time, and you and Jeff, the tongues are a-wagging.”
If they knew what Jack and I had been up to last night, the gossips would lose their minds.
“Jeff and I are very new. We’re just enjoying each other’s company.”
“But are you staying in Hartwell?” Bailey pressed. “Because the gossips want to know.”
“The gossips can go take a flying jump off the boardwalk.”
“I mean me, Ivy,” Bailey huffed. “Your best friend wants to know.”
Ivy’s expression softened. “I just sold a screenplay I wrote awhile back, and I’ve started working on a book.”
Melancholy moved through me at what this meant. Was Ivy leaving us?
Bailey’s face mirrored my feelings. “You’re going back.”
“Nope.” She shot us a dazzling grin. “I can still write scripts and not live in Hollywood. People still want to work with me. Plus I’ve always wanted to write a book, and my agent thinks it’s a superb idea. I can do that anywhere. So, I’m staying in Hartwell. I’m happy here.”
Bailey flew off her chair with a girlish squeal and threw her arms around Ivy. She laughed and held on to her friend, and my heart ached with the genuine joy I saw on Ivy’s face. After all she’d been through, it really seemed like she was going to be okay.
Dahlia and I took turns hugging Ivy.
“I’m so glad you’re staying,” I said with feeling.
Ivy cupped my face in her hands in a way that reminded me of Iris. She whispered, “You helped me so much, Em. I’m so glad we met.”
Tears filled my eyes, but the sweet moment was broken when Jess cursed. “Goddammit! I can’t even get out of the damn chair to hug a person!”
Sure enough, she was struggling to push herself up and out of the armchair. Ivy rushed to her feet to go to Jess instead.
“I swear to God,” Jess huffed after she was done hugging Ivy. “If he doesn’t go on to do a job that requires him to be physically huge, this kid will owe his mother!”
We all stared at her in shock.
“What?” She glared at us.
“He?” Bailey took an excited step toward her. “You’re having a boy?”
Jess’s face paled. Then her head flopped back on the chair. “Aw shit, Coop’s going to kill me.”
37
Emery
I was assaulted with nervousness.
The fact that Jack’s hand was on my ass as we walked up to the front porch of the huge Colonial-Georgian house was not helping. “Jack, your hand.”
He shifted so it was pressed to my lower back, but his long fingers still touched the top of my butt.
“Do you want your mother to think we’re together?” I turned to face him before we reached the door. “This is confusing enough. We do not need to mislead her.”
With a patient expression, Jack settled his hands on my hips and bent his head to mine. “Sunrise, I’ve explained the situation to my mom. She knows we’re not together.”
“You can’t call me sunrise.” I pushed his hands off my hips. “And you can’t touch me with sexual familiarity in front of her. Or anyone.” Or they might figure out we’ve been screwing each other’s brains out almost every night for four weeks.
“One, I’m pretty sure they can tell I’m sexually familiar with you.” He nodded to my bump. “Two, then you shouldn’t have worn that dress.”
With temperatures cooling, I’d worn a long-sleeved, ankle-length jersey dress I loved. It clung to my figure but the material was stretchy, so it gave over my little baby bump and my somewhat bigger-than-normal breasts. Despite the clinginess, with its tight sleeves and high scoop neck, I’d thought it was conservative. Until I opened my door to Jack and his eyes turned smoky and wanting.