“Well now,” the older man mused thoughtfully, “call me Mike. I got respect for a man who can admit he’s done wrong.” He held out his right hand and waited to see if Tanner would take it.
He did. The old man had a hard, firm grip that spoke of years of physical labor as he squeezed Tanner’s hand briefly. And the look in his eyes clearly said he was short of patience and damn curious about just what had been going on before he showed up.
Thinking about that rekindled fires inside Tanner that would be better off left to smolder at the moment. There’d be time enough later to pick up where he and Ivy had left off.
“Anyway,” Tanner said abruptly, shattering the strained silence, “I wanted to thank you for letting Ivy show me around. I wouldn’t want her to get into trouble for taking time from her work.”
“Is that right?” Mike murmured, shifting his gaze to Ivy.
She squirmed a little, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. She and Mike stared at each other for a long minute before the older man looked back to Tanner.
“It’s no trouble,” he said. “Glad she took you around. But now, it’s time we both got back to work.”
“Of course.” Tanner nodded and said, “I should get back myself. Ivy, thanks for the tour. Mike, good to meet you.”
“You, too. Now, you have any other problems with the farm, you let us know.”
“I will,” he assured him. “And I appreciate your turning the music down.”
“That was Ivy’s idea,” he said.
Tanner’s gaze shifted to her. She’d gone out of her way to try to make things better for him and hadn’t said anything about it. Ivy was, he told himself, an intriguing woman. As he stared into her eyes, he let her know, without a word spoken, that he was leaving now, but would be waiting for her later. He wanted her now more than he had before and if he had to wait much longer, it was going to drive him over the edge.
Her eyes flashed in acceptance of his silent message and he knew they were at least on the same page about some things.
“Then I guess I owe you my thanks for making things quieter around here,” he finally told her.
“Guess you do,” she said, her eyes gleaming with the knowledge of what they’d shared and what was to come.
“I’ll have to find a way to show you my appreciation, then won’t I?”
“I look forward to it,” she said softly.
Tanner left it at that. Giving Mike a brisk nod, he walked off toward the front of the farm and the road that would take him to his place.
He hadn’t gone far when Mike grabbed his granddaughter’s arm and tugged her further off. “What in the hell are you up to, Ivy?”
“Oh, Pop,” she said with a sigh, “this is getting more confusing every day.”
“You’re playing with fire, Ivy.”
“What?” She whipped her head up to look at him. “What do you mean?”
He laughed. “You know damn well what I mean. You’re getting in over your head with that man and you know it.”
Her grandfather always had been able to see into her heart and mind. It had always made keeping secrets from him nearly impossible and apparently, nothing had changed.
“I didn’t start out to,” she said.
“Yeah, well you remember what the road to hell is paved with…”
“…good intentions, yes, I know,” she said, walking beside her grandfather as he headed off toward the seedling rows. “I was going to tell him who I am, Pop. Really. At least, I’ve been thinking about telling him. But now, it’s complicated.”
“Always is when you start lying. By the time you get around to the truth, the lies are so big you can’t see a way around them.”
“You’re not exactly being comforting, you know.”
He laughed again and threw one arm over her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be. You don’t need comfort, Ivy. You need to straighten this mess out, that’s all.”
“That’s all.” She sighed again and let her gaze slide across the familiar scenes around her. “When he finds out the truth, he’ll be furious. And he’s warming up to the tree farm, but he’s not exactly a fan yet, so there’s still the chance that he’ll sic his lawyer on us and we’ll still be up the proverbial creek.”
“Seems to not be as angry as he once was,” Mike said softly as he slid her a sidelong look. “You wouldn’t know the reason for that, would you?”
Ivy groaned. “Just how much did you see?”
“Not much, thank you God for not striking me blind.” Mike held up one hand when she opened her mouth to talk. “It’s none of my business anyway, honey. You’re all grown up. You can make your own decisions. I just want to know that you know what you’re doing. That you’ve got your eyes open wide.”
“I’d like to know that, too,” she admitted.
The trouble was, she told herself as she tipped her head back and stared up at the white clouds scuttling across a bright blue sky, she just wasn’t sure. When she’d started all of this, it had been with the idea of getting to know Tanner, easing him into small town life and hoping that once she’d accomplished the task, he’d stop giving the tree farm so much grief.
But it had stopped being solely about that days ago. She hadn’t admitted it to herself, but that was the honest truth. Sunlight speared out from behind a cloud and looked like golden fingers reaching down from the sky. She sighed and the wind carried the sound away.
“I don’t have to leave tomorrow,” Mike said softly, as if sensing the turmoil within her. “I can stay awhile yet.”
She smiled and lowered her gaze to meet his. God, that was tempting. Keep her grandfather here as moral support while she stumbled head first into an affair that probably shouldn’t happen. Because she knew that even if Pop stayed, it wouldn’t make a difference. She would still go to Tanner. She would still share his bed because her body wouldn’t allow it any other way. She wanted him so much that her skin was practically humming with anticipation of his touch.
So there was no reason to have her grandfather remain, just so he could watch her make a fool of herself. Besides, she wouldn’t let him put his life on hold.
“No thanks, Pop,” she said, threading her arm through his and giving it a squeeze. “I appreciate the offer, but there’s a brand-new nursery waiting for you in Florida. Mom needs your help.”