She pushed thoughts of Tanner to the back of her mind to torture herself with later. For now, she had the final payment for the wedding in hand, and she wanted to pay off a big chunk of the loan she’d taken out to make all of this possible.
Ivy nearly groaned aloud when she spotted Eugenia Sparks in line. The woman was the biggest gossip in town and never had a kind word to say about anyone. The fact that Eugenia was even now talking to Rose Doherty in a voice that carried clear across the bank only irritated Ivy more because of the subject of Eugenia’s venom.
“That Tanner King is a snob, if you ask me,” Eugenia was saying, her voice carrying through the room to bounce off the high ceiling. “Too rich by half. Thinks he’s too good for us is what,” she continued with a sharp jerk of her head. “Imagine, the man’s lived here in Cabot Valley for months and he never so much as shows his face at one town gathering. Thinks he’s too good for us small-town folks. Not natural, if you ask me, a man staying to himself that way. Who knows what he’s up to in that big fancy house of his.”
Rose’s eyes were glazed and Ivy thought she looked like a rabbit hypnotized by a snake, unable to look away.
Ivy, though, wasn’t.
Spurred on by the emotions swirling inside her, Ivy forgot all about making her loan payment. Instead, she walked right up to Eugenia and looked her dead in the beady little eyes.
“Don’t you talk about Tanner King that way,” she said and had the pleasure of seeing the older woman’s eyes widen and her mouth drop open in shock. But Ivy wasn’t through. In her peripheral vision, she caught Rose’s smile and encouraging nod, but Ivy would have continued anyway. “He’s not a snob, either. Did you ever think that maybe he’s lonely? That he doesn’t know anyone in town?”
“Well…” Eugenia puffed up her chest and tried to speak, but Ivy was on a roll and not to be denied.
“You say he’s never been to one town function in the months he’s lived here? Did anyone invite him? No.” Furious and hurt on Tanner’s behalf, Ivy defended him hotly and didn’t have to ask herself why. She just kept talking. “Maybe it’s not easy for someone to just show up unannounced when he doesn’t know a soul. Maybe if someone had gone out of their way to invite him, he might have attended.”
Eugenia huffed an outraged breath and narrowed her eyes as if for battle. Ivy met the woman glare for glare and refused to back down until her opponent did. Finally, Eugenia marched off to the teller when it was her turn and Ivy was left standing in line, practically vibrating with insult.
In the stunned silence of the bank, Ivy suddenly realized that she might as well have painted a sign over her head that read Foolish Woman in Love. Now, the town wouldn’t be talking about Tanner, they’d be talking about her.
Fine, she thought as she turned and stalked out of the building. Better her than a man who couldn’t defend himself against small town cats.
“I’m, er, sorry you had to hear that,” the bank manager said in a low undertone. “But you shouldn’t pay attention to what Eugenia Sparks has to say. No one does.”
The man needn’t have worried. Tanner hadn’t given a good goddamn what the old woman with the sharp tongue had had to say. He’d been too busy watching Ivy and listening to her outraged voice as she defended him to her friends and neighbors.
He stood in the glass-walled office and looked out at the lobby without really seeing it. Ivy’s words echoed over and over in his mind. He saw her eyes, glistening with tears she refused to let fall and he heard her voice, furious and hurt. And as he relived every moment of that little scene, the hard, icy shell around his heart cracked painfully.
He drew a deep breath and let it out again as his mind raced and his heart began to heal. He’d spent years hiding himself away, cutting himself off from anything that might connect him to another living soul. He’d been determined to protect himself from betrayal and yet, that was the biggest lie of all.
Living an insular existence wasn’t really living. So what was the point?
The only question was, was it too late for him to change his life?
“Mr. King,” the manager said softly, “is everything all right?”
He turned to look at the man in the crisp business suit. “Not yet. But if I have anything to say about it, it will be.”
Ivy was still furious the following morning when she sneaked across Tanner’s yard to collect Hairy for their walk. She never had gone back to the bank to make her loan payment, so she’d have to do that as soon as she was finished here. But she couldn’t ignore Hairy. She knew darn well that Tanner would get involved in his work and forget all about the little dog that needed some exercise.
She walked up the porch steps and turned the knob. The man never remembered to lock his doors, so it was no problem to let herself in. She quietly stepped inside and shrieked when she saw Tanner standing in the kitchen, clearly waiting for her.
She slapped one hand to the doorjamb to brace herself and took a deep breath to ease the pounding of her heart. Hairy barked a greeting and she leaned down to pet him even as she glared up at Tanner. “Why do you keep scaring me? Is it personal?”
He smiled. A gorgeous, make-his-eyes-sparkle grin that made her knees wobble and did some truly amazing things to the pit of her stomach.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.
“Yeah, I can see that,” she told him and realized that he’d known all along that she was coming here every morning to walk Hairy. “Why?”
“I have something for you.” He pulled an envelope from the back pocket of his jeans and handed it over.
It was thick and white and had the logo of the local bank in the upper left hand corner. “What is this?”
“Open it and see.”
She did and when she unfolded the sheaf of papers inside, her heart nearly stopped. It was the deed. To Angel Christmas Tree Farm. And across the top, in bright red ink was stamped Paid In Full.
Ivy swayed in place and instinctively shot out one hand to the jamb again, to help her maintain her balance. Stunned beyond words, she only stared up at Tanner in complete shock.
He was still smiling.
“Surprise,” he said with a shrug. “The tree farm is yours, free and clear.”
He looked so pleased with himself. Ivy shook her head, staring wide-eyed at him. It was the diamond watch all over again, she thought. He was still trying to buy her. To use his money to make an impact. And now he bought her home?