Ten days after the uncomfortable interview at Stone River Outdoors headquarters in Portland, Ivy found herself in an expensive luxury sedan being driven north by Katie Stone, herself.
Ivy had been shocked when the big boss contacted her. In a terse, four-minute conversation, Farrell Stone had offered her the job and a salary that made her eyes bug out. Katie called soon afterward to outline the specifics. As Farrell’s admin, Katie knew what would be required of Ivy. She also knew that Ivy had no car, no furniture and no money.
Katie had a solution for every problem. She insisted she needed to check on her husband’s house, now hers also, and thus it would be no trouble at all to take Ivy and Dolly to their new home.
The trip had been pleasant so far. Dolly babbled and played in the back. When she became fussy, Katie found a rest area and pulled off so Ivy could prepare a bottle for the baby, get Dolly out of her car seat and feed her comfortably.
They rolled down the windows and enjoyed the pleasant breeze. Katie’s gaze was wistful. “I want to have kids,” she said softly. “I don’t know if my husband is ready, though.”
Ivy cradled Dolly’s cheek. “You haven’t been married long. There’s plenty of time.”
“I know,” Katie said. “But that biological clock you hear about is ticking loudly.” She flicked at a mosquito that tried to enter the car. “How did you know you wanted kids?”
Ivy stiffened, keeping her eyes locked on her daughter. “I didn’t,” she said. “It just happened.”
“Ah, well, I guess you were one of the lucky ones.”
“I suppose.” Ivy’s throat was tight. She let the silence build, knowing she had to keep it together. Crying over the past at this stage in the game might cost her this precious job. “She’s had enough,” she said, gently loosening the baby’s lock on the nipple. Dolly’s mouth and tiny tongue still made little sucking motions, but her head lolled back. “We can get on the road.”
Katie grinned. “Ah, to be that young and innocent again.”
While Ivy tucked Dolly back into her car seat, Katie visited the restroom and then Ivy took her turn. Soon, they were driving north again. For so long, Ivy had kept her emotions in lockdown mode. But today, of all days, she had reason to smile. She was headed to a job and a place to live and a salary that would support her tiny family. On this warm autumn day with the sunshine beaming down and the skies a brilliant blue, a tiny sprout of hope unfurled.
Birches, oaks and maples put on a fantastic display of color. Vibrant reds and orangey golds...deep yellows and every shade of brown. Mother Nature had outdone herself this season.
Maybe by next year Ivy would have the opportunity and the financial means to explore this area with her daughter. The prospect seemed like a really wonderful fantasy.
She shook herself inwardly. Grief had stolen her hopes and dreams, but that was in the past. She was rebuilding her life, reinventing who she was. Nothing was beyond her reach if she believed in Ivy Danby.
The fact that Farrell Stone was the author of her good fortune gave her pause. She liked him. A lot. He was honorable and handsome and sexy in a gruff, understated kind of way.
She honestly thought her life experiences had erased her ability to feel like a woman. But when she sat across the desk from Farrell, she found herself wanting more than a job. Maybe a smile. A shared laugh.
She would have to be very careful not to make a fool of herself.
Ivy had plenty to think about as Katie concentrated on the traffic. In Bangor, they merged south and east onto the narrower 1A toward Bar Harbor. At Ellsworth, just before the crowded tourist playground that included Acadia National Park, they turned onto a less traveled road for the last leg to Stone River.
Here, nobody but locals traversed the winding rural highway. Nothing much to see but acres of forest and fields and peaceful ponds and lakes. The pastoral scenery soothed some of Ivy’s apprehensions.
Katie glanced at the clock on the dash. “Not much longer now. Can you tell we’re near the ocean?”
“Actually, yes. Living in Charleston for so long taught me the smell and feel of the air at the coast. It’s not as warm or humid here, but I remember the northern sea from my childhood.”
“It’s just beyond those trees. In the other direction, north and west of us, is the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. And of course, north and east, if you keep going, is the Canadian border.”
Ivy had never been this far up in Maine, but in Farrell’s office she had seen aerial photographs of three spectacular homes on rocky promontories overlooking the sea, each one bearing the stamp of its owner.
Almost two centuries before, a Stone ancestor had acquired an enormous tract of pristine wilderness. He named the small river meandering through his property after himself. Subsequent generations sold off the bulk of the land, but the current Stone brothers still owned several hundred square miles. They liked their privacy. The company that had made them all wildly wealthy was born in this forested paradise.
The isolation and seclusion weren’t daunting to Ivy at all. They represented safety and security. A chance to finally be herself.
When Katie turned off onto the road that accessed Stone family property, she entered a code at the gate and kept right on going. A perfectly paved road meandered for the next seven miles.
Dolly was beginning to stir when they reached Farrell’s house. On the way, they had passed turnoffs leading to homes Zachary and Quin had built. “I’ll show you our place another day,” Katie said. “I know you probably want to get settled in. Shall we go to the big house first and see Farrell, or head straight for the cabin?”
“Cabin, please.”
As they wound around the side of
