“That’s because he’s hoping someone will kidnap you,” Jack teased, earning a punch in the arm as Max shot him a challenging look. “That’s assaulting a police officer.”
“You’ll live,” Max muttered.
“I see I’m just in time for the shenanigans,” Michael announced, letting himself in through the front door. He flashed warm smiles at Denise and Margaret – both of whom loitered near the edge of the room, almost as if they felt out of place – before moving through the living room. “What is that marvelous smell?”
“It’s certainly not tofurkey,” Max replied.
“Let the tofurkey go,” Luna chided, waving a spatula in Max’s face. “You’re eating it and you’re going to like it.”
“Yeah, I’d rather be locked in the basement again,” Max muttered, shifting his eye to the hallway as Ivy made her first appearance. “There’s the layabout. I heard you slept in while Jack did all of the work.”
Ivy balked. “I … didn’t mean to.”
“You were tired,” Jack interjected. “Don’t listen to your brother. You needed the sleep. That’s why I left you in there and volunteered to help. Besides, I enjoy spending time with your mother and aunt. They think I walk on water so it’s always a fun afternoon for me when they’re around.”
“Ha, ha,” Ivy intoned, rolling her eyes. She pulled up short when she neared her father, uncertain. “Are you still mad at me?”
Michael didn’t hesitate to respond. “Yes.”
“You still love me, though, right?”
Michael’s expression softened. “Yes.” He grudgingly leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I will always love you, even when you do things I don’t like.”
“That’s what makes you a good father.”
“That’s what keeps me sane even though my children are crazy,” Michael shot back, turning to his wife with expectant eyes. “There. We made up. When can we eat?”
Luna’s smile was indulgent. “Five minutes and we’ll be ready. Everyone get seated at the table. I think this is going to be the best Thanksgiving dinner yet.”
“THIS LOOKS amazing.” Denise offered Ivy a smile as she sat, making sure her mother was comfortable before settling herself between Luna and Margaret. She seemed friendlier since their talk, Ivy noted. They were never going to be best friends, but Denise seemed open to friendlier contact.
Margaret, of course, was a different story.
“This does look nice,” Margaret agreed. “If we have to be away from home, I can’t think of a nicer way to spend the holiday.”
A nerve in Jack’s jaw ticked as he reached for the mashed potatoes. “This is actually my idea of a perfect holiday,” he said. “Of course, this is my home now so that might have something to do with it.”
Ivy recognized the statement for what it was: a line in the sand. Jack had officially reached his limit and he was either going to yell and scream at his mother or idly sit back and watch her storm out. For her part, Ivy had no idea what to do about the situation so she merely sat back and watched it play out.
“This is a nice temporary home, of course.” Margaret was a master at skirting the tough issues. Ivy had to give her that. “It’s not your forever home, though.”
“Oh, it’s my forever home,” Jack countered, narrowing his eyes. “I believe I’ve told you that multiple times now.”
“Maybe we should take our plates into the other room,” Max suggested, glancing at his father. “We can grab the turkey and leave the Harkers the tofurkey. You know, just to make things fair.”
“Shut up,” Luna ordered, cuffing her son. “I want to see this.”
“Luna, this is none of our business.” Michael kept his voice low, but the conversation around the table had basically ceased to exist so everyone heard.
“I don’t care if it’s our business or not,” Luna shot back. “I want to hear so … shut up.” She grabbed a spoonful of tofurkey and shoved it in Michael’s mouth to silence him.
“Oh, now you’re wishing you would’ve listened to me, aren’t you?” Max lamented, shaking his head at his father. “I should’ve just taken the turkey and ran. This isn’t going to end well.”
“It never does when women are involved, son,” Michael said, shaking his head. “Protect the turkey and pies, though. If nothing else, we can sustain ourselves off them for the foreseeable future.”
“Since when do you eat turkey?” Ivy challenged. “You usually eat vegetarian with us.”
“Since my wife made me eat tofurkey last year and I had indigestion for days.”
“Good point,” Ivy mused, pressing her lips together as she turned her attention back to Jack. He hadn’t so much as twitched despite the silly conversation happening around him.
“I don’t think now is the time to have this discussion, Jack,” Margaret said, primly folding her hands in her lap. “This is a discussion for the family.”
“And these people are my family,” Jack gritted out. “Ivy is my family. Max is my family. Luna, Michael, and Felicity are my family. Heck, that freaking cat who keeps trying to smother me in my sleep is my family.”
“No, they’re new friends,” Margaret clarified. “I’m your family. Denise is your family. We share blood.”
“Blood doesn’t make a family.”
“Did you hear that from her?” Margaret jerked her thumb in Luna’s direction, her expression disdainful. “She spouted the same nonsense last night.”
“It’s not nonsense,” Jack challenged. “I’ve never felt more … welcome … in a family than I do when I’m with the Morgans. They’ve been nothing but wonderful to me since I hit town. Heck, Michael treats me as if I’m his son rather than the man dating his daughter.”
“Yeah, I’m a little uncomfortable with that distinction,” Michael mused. “I enjoy your company very much, Jack. You’re not my son, though. That would make what you’re doing with my daughter illegal.”
“Don’t go there,” Max warned, grabbing a huge slice of turkey. “You’re going to give me nightmares.”
“You know what I mean,” Jack prodded.
“I do know what you mean,” Michael confirmed. “I love you just like I love these two idiots. You’re definitely a member of my family.” He shifted his eyes to Margaret. “I can’t help but notice you haven’t welcomed my daughter the same way I’ve opened my heart for your son, though.”
“I don’t know her,” Margaret sputtered. “All I know about her is that she has pink hair and she’s the person keeping my son from me. She’s making him stay in this godforsaken hole when he should be in the city with me.”
“That did it!” Jack slammed his hands on the table, causing Ivy to jolt. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” His expression instantly softened as he stroked the back of her head. His eyes were hard as granite when he shifted them in his mother’s direction. “You and I need to have a talk outside.”
“I hardly think now is the time for that,” Margaret sniffed, averting her gaze. “It’s Thanksgiving.”
“Fine. We’ll do it in front of everyone.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I don’t care what you meant.” Jack heaved out a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m tired, Mother. You’ve been in town less than a week and I already feel like an old man. That’s not the job. That’s not the Morgans. That’s not Ivy. That’s you.”
“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Margaret warned.
Jack ignored the admonishment. “I love Ivy and she’s my home, but even if Ivy wasn’t here, I would never return to the city. I’m done there. I don’t want to be there. You don’t want to hear it, but I’ve been done with the city ever since I was shot. Those bullets took a certain amount of life out of me. I thought it was gone forever. I was wrong. I had a lot more life left to live. I want to live it here, though.”
“Jack, I know what happened to you was traumatic.” Margaret chose her words carefully. “I think you’re purpo
sely confusing yourself, though. You can’t stay here. I’m not here.”
“My life doesn’t revolve around you, Mother.”
Even though she was a strong woman, the words hit Margaret square in the chest and she had to force herself to keep her shoulders square as she stared down her son. “I want you to come home. No, I’m begging you to come home. I need you. It’s your duty to do what your mother says.
“You heard Michael last night,” she continued. “It’s Ivy’s duty to do what he says and it’s your duty to do what I say. You’re my son. You have to do what’s best for our family.”
“Now, wait just a second,” Michael said, his eyes flashing. “What I said to Ivy was wrong. I was angry and worried. She was kidnapped a few weeks ago and almost died. I’ve been irrational ever since.”
“I don’t believe you,” Margaret sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “You believe what you said last night. You’re merely trying to keep Jack in town for your daughter.”
“I would never try to keep Jack against his will,” Michael countered. “If he doesn’t want to stay then I don’t want him to stay. On the flip side, if he doesn’t want to go, you can’t make him go. This is his life. He has the right to live it however he wants.”
“And I have a right to live my life however I want,” Margaret supplied. “I want my son to come home. It’s time.”
Instead of reacting with anger, Jack merely shook his head. “I am home. I’m not leaving. You have no power over me. You’re fighting a losing battle, Mother. You’re the only one who can’t see it.”
Margaret expected anger and furious gestures. Jack’s matter-of-fact response threw her for a loop. “You’re coming home.”
“I’ve been home for months now, Mother. I’m not leaving the life I’ve built here. You can’t seem to get it through your head, but there it is. I can easily live without the city. I cannot live without the peace and love I’ve found here.”
“I think you should go,” Ivy said, taking everyone by surprise when she stood. Her eyes locked with Margaret’s as she squared her shoulders and reclaimed the courage that had been hiding for days. “I think it would be best for everyone so you don’t ruin the rest of the holiday.”
“I’m not done here.” Margaret obstinately crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m nowhere near done.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong,” Ivy intoned. “You were done before you even started. You just can’t seem to see that.”
Eighteen
“I think that’s everything.”
Ivy wiped her hands on a dishtowel later that night, casting a worried look in Jack’s direction as he hit the button on the dishwasher to start the load. He’d been mostly quiet since his mother and Denise departed in the middle of dinner and Ivy couldn’t help but worry that she’d overstepped her bounds. She refrained from pushing him until everyone else left, though. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable in front of her family.
“I’m so stuffed I think I might burst,” Jack announced, shuffling into the living room.
Ivy watched as he took a blanket from the couch and spread it out on the floor before unbuttoning his jeans and shedding them next to the blanket. He made a groaning sound as he did, as if he could finally breathe again, and lowered himself to the spot in front of the fire. He patted the floor next to him in an effort to cajole Ivy closer and she automatically moved in his direction.
“You should change into something comfortable,” Jack noted, studying her skirt. “You can’t be comfortable in that.”
Ivy pursed her lips as she considered the suggestion and then took Jack by surprise when she stripped out of the skirt before grabbing a second blanket and joining him on the floor. She tucked the blanket over both of them, ignoring Jack’s wide eyes as he reclined against the base of the couch.
“I hear your mind working,” Ivy said. “What are you thinking?”
“That you’re incredibly hot and I can’t believe you just did that.”
Ivy smirked. “Took off my skirt and got comfortable? You’re the one who suggested I do it.”
“Yes, but I thought you would put on those fuzzy sleep pants you like so much. This is much better.” Jack slipped an arm around Ivy’s waist and exhaled heavily. “I ate way too much food. I think I’m going to sleep for twelve hours tonight.”
“We all ate a lot. I slept in this morning, though, so I think I’m more rested than you.”
“You needed the sleep.”
“So did you.”
“I’m fine.” Jack touched his lips to Ivy’s temple as he rested his eyes, the warmth from the fire washing over him as the silence of the house welcomed him to a level of comfort he didn’t know existed before moving to Shadow Lake. “I enjoyed spending time with your mother and aunt. They always make me feel like a king.”
Ivy furrowed her brow. “Didn’t they make you peel potatoes?”
“They were kingly potatoes.”
Ivy snorted, genuinely amused. She traced her finger over the lines next to Jack’s eyes as the worry returned. “Do you want to talk about what I did?”
“I thought we already did. I’m a big fan of the way you got out of your skirt.”
“Not that.” Ivy elbowed Jack’s stomach in a playful manner as she shook her head. “You haven’t mentioned the fact that I kicked your mother out of the house. I think we should talk about that.”
“I don’t see why. It’s not as if she didn’t have it coming.”
“Yes, but … .”
Jack finally opened his eyes, momentarily getting lost in the wild blue that greeted him from Ivy’s heavy-lidded orbs. “But what, honey? What’s bugging you? I thought you would be in a good mood. Once my mother and sister left we had a wonderful meal.”
“It was a nice afternoon,” Ivy conceded. “I still kicked your mother out of the house.”
“I was going to do it if you didn’t.”
“Really?” Ivy couldn’t help but be dubious. “You must be upset. You can yell if you want.”
“I don’t want to yell. It’s Thanksgiving. Can’t we just enjoy a quiet night together?”
Ivy bobbed her head. “Yes.”
“Great.”
“After you tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, geez.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand as he slung his free arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “You’re so much work, honey. It’s a good thing I enjoy what I do for a living, huh?”
“Jack … .”
He cut her off with a firm head shake. “Ivy, I’m fine with what you did. My mother needs to come to grips with the new reality. I’m not going to kowtow to her whims. I know what life I want to live. It’s here. With you.”
“Still … is there ever a part of you that wonders how things would be different if you returned to the city like she wanted?”
Jack lifted his eyebrows, the question catching him off guard. “I don’t know. I guess maybe, but probably not in the way you think. It’s more that I wonder how unhappy I would be if I stayed in the city to make her happy rather than following my heart and getting out of there.”
“She seems adamant that your life was better when you lived closer to her.”
“That’s because she doesn’t want to see the truth. She never wants to see the truth.”
“And what’s the truth?”
“The truth is I was never happy there,” Jack replied. “I enjoyed being a cop. I liked the work, for the most part, but it made my heart and soul feel heavy. I saw some deplorable things down there.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been a walk in the park up here,” he continued. “You are a handful, missy, but you’re also warm and loving. I’ve never felt this content. I know I’ll never feel this content anywhere else.
“Somehow this place managed to erase a lot of the weight I was carrying around with me,” he said. “I don’t want your head to get too big, but you’re responsible for a great deal of that. You’re n
ot responsible for all of it, though.”
“I don’t know if I should feel relieved or offended,” Ivy admitted.
Jack snorted, a chuckle escaping. “You definitely shouldn’t be offended. As much as I love you, no one person can be everything to someone else. I think my relationships with Brian and Max have helped quite a bit. Even though you’re the driving force behind my happiness, I like to think I’ve done a bit of the heavy lifting myself.”
“You’ve definitely done a lot of the heavy lifting from my perspective,” Ivy offered. “You’ve made me happy. You’ve made me feel safe. You’ve made me feel loved.”
“Then I guess my work here is done,” Jack teased, tugging her closer. “I need you to know that you have nothing to worry about. This is my home. It’s my home because of you, but it’s also my home because I love the town and the freedom associated with living here.”
“So I guess you’re saying I don’t have to worry about you returning to the city, huh?”
“Nope.”
“That’s good.” Ivy rested her head against Jack’s chest. “I would hate to have to hunt you down and kill you if you moved.”
“That makes two of us.”
The couple lapsed into amiable silence for a moment, Ivy rubbing her bare feet against Jack’s warm legs. She was the first to interrupt the quiet moment. “Do you think your mother will leave town? I mean, do you think she’ll pack up and take off because of what I said?”
“I think a normal person would do that. My mother is definitely not normal, though.”
“If she stays, what will her next move be?”
Jack shrugged. “I’m hoping it’s that she thinks over what’s she’s said and how she’s acted since getting to town. She needs to give both of us an apology and promise to do better. She needs to accept you and this place because otherwise there is no moving forward.”
“Do you think she’s capable of that?”
“Funnily enough, I think my mother is capable of almost anything,” Jack replied. “She’s extremely strong. She always has been. That’s one of the things I respect most about her. If anyone is capable of doing the right thing, it’s her.
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