“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty miraculous,” Ivy sniped. “I spent the morning with my aunt and listened to her tell me that I was giving you a raw deal. Then she tried to conduct a séance to talk to Marcus Simmons’ ghost. Then I got shot at and wrecked my car on my way home. That’s miraculous for sure.”
Jack frowned as he dabbed peroxide on a cotton ball. “What do you mean when you say she tried to do a séance?”
“Oh, well, she lit candles and told Marcus he had some explaining to do and then … well … I left and came home because it was all so ridiculous.” There was no way Ivy was going to admit to brushing up against a ghost. She was already in a vulnerable position. There was no need to exacerbate it.
Jack gently touched the cotton ball to Ivy’s cheek, his eyes locking with hers. “What did you see when you were coming home?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
Ivy nodded. “I was kind of lost in my head,” she admitted. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It was the front driver’s side tire that was shot out,” Jack said. “That means the shot came from your left. Try to think. Did you see any movement … maybe something you brushed off as an animal or something … or did you see a person?”
“Yes, Jack. I saw a person and failed to mention it after I got shot at. Whoops.”
Jack sighed. Brian was right about her being angry. Now was not the time for petulance, though. “I’m just trying to … protect you. I’m trying to get answers so we can find out who is doing this. Then we can … .”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” Ivy warned, wagging a finger in Jack’s face. “You either want to be with me or you don’t. I’m pretty sure that leaving me in the hospital after I was shot means you don’t. It’s … okay.”
Jack pressed his eyes shut. “Ivy … .”
“I’m sorry I’ve been ragging on you,” Ivy offered. “I can’t explain it. It’s not fair. Technically we had one date. I’m being mean to you over one date. I have no idea what’s wrong with me.”
Jack knew what was wrong with her. It was the same thing eating away at him. “We’ve had more than one date,” he corrected. “We’ve had quite a few of them in our dreams. I already know you better than anyone else I’ve ever been with.”
“Yes, but that wasn’t real, was it?” Ivy asked, her voice cracking.
“It sure felt real,” Jack replied. “I … this is all my fault. If you think I’m not taking responsibility, then you’re wrong. I have no idea who is doing this. I’m so desperate to keep you safe that I’m putting you in danger. I … don’t know what to do.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Ivy said. “You made your decision. I’m the one who has to live with it. I kept telling myself that you would regret it, but … .”
“I do regret it,” Jack rasped out. “I regret leaving you at the hospital. I regret getting drunk and spending six straight hours watching your back in a dream. I regret fighting with you … and scaring you … and hurting you. I regret all of it.”
Ivy stilled. “When did you watch my back in a dream?”
“You were in your fairy ring the night of the shooting. I drank because I didn’t want you to find me in our dreams. I found you, though. I was too afraid to approach you because of what I did.”
“I felt you,” Ivy murmured, her blue eyes stormy. “I told myself I was imagining it because I was such a wreck when I finally fell asleep. I wouldn’t turn around because I was afraid you weren’t really there. I wanted to comfort myself with the delusion that you were watching over me.”
“It wasn’t a delusion,” Jack countered. “I did watch you. I was a coward, but I watched you.”
Ivy bit the inside of her cheek. “You realize that I’m still a target whether you’re with me or not, right?”
Jack nodded.
“I don’t want you to protect me out of a sense of obligation,” Ivy said. “I want you to want me.”
“Oh, honey, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything,” Jack said. “I’m so scared that I’m going to screw this up, though. I need to know you’re safe before we can move beyond this – and I desperately want to move beyond this. I need to know that my past isn’t going to kill our future. Do you understand that?”
“I guess I do,” Ivy conceded. “I need something from you, though.”
“Name it.”
“I need you to go,” Ivy said, causing Jack’s heart to flop. “I need you to leave. I don’t want you to come back here until you’re sure that I’m what you want.”
Jack opened his mouth to argue, but Ivy shushed him with a look.
“You can say you want me, but I don’t think it’s true,” Ivy said. “It hurts to feel like I’m the one doing all of the caring while you do all of the walking away. I don’t want to let you go, but I’m afraid it will kill me to try and hold onto you when you don’t want to stay.
“So, I want you to go,” she continued. “If you come back here, you have to be ready to be with me. Make sure that’s what you want. I can’t go through this again. I can’t be with someone I don’t trust, and if you keep walking away from me I’ll never be able to trust you.”
“Ivy … .”
“No,” Ivy said, cutting him off. “You have some thinking to do. You have a decision to make. I’ve already made mine. I want you, Jack, but I don’t want you walking in and out of my life whenever you feel like it.
“You’re either with me or you’re not,” Ivy said, her voice firm. “Make a
