Chapter 50
“Ivy, do you know if there’s a pet market anywhere downtown?” Ivy’s voice broke the silence in the car, her curiosity piqued out of nowhere.
Katrina shot her a puzzled look. “Pet market? What do you need from there?”
“Just want to pick something up,” Ivy answered vaguely.
Katrina had always been the type to help out her best friend, no questions asked. She immediately fired off a message in their alumni group, and within minutes, someone replied.
“Here, this is the biggest pet market in the city. They say you can find pretty much anything there. Closes at nine.”
“Let’s go check it out!” Ivy grinned.
Before Katrina could protest, Ivy grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the car.
They wandered through the pet market for a while, browsing the aisles packed with everything from puppies to reptiles. Finally, Ivy found exactly what she was looking for–a rather unusual “pet.”
Katrina, on the other hand, looked absolutely terrified.
“Ivy, are you seriously bringing that thing home? Aren’t you…scared?” Her voice trembled, the words nearly tumbling over each other.
Ivy gave a wry smile, a hint of self-mockery in her tone. “After three years living in that dump, I’ve seen way scarier things–some of them even shared my bed. This? At least it doesn’t bite.”
“Well…okay. If you’re sure. I support you,” Katrina stammered, visibly uncomfortable as she climbed into the car, brow furrowed in worry.
By the time Ivy got home, it was already ten o’clock.
The house was quiet. The Windsors had all retreated upstairs to their rooms to wind down for the night.
At last, Ivy had a moment of peace.
Just as she was about to cross the living room, Emma’s sharp voice echoed from upstairs. “Did you go see Micah again today?”
Ivy looked up and answered without hesitation, “Yup. He gave me money again.”
“What?” Emma exploded, her voice practically shaking the walls.
“He didn’t mention it to you?” Ivy blinked up, feigning innocent curiosity.
Emma gritted her teeth, said nothing, and immediately whipped out her phone to make a call.
Ivy just chuckled, lugging her bags upstairs to her room.
After carefully setting up her new treasure, she looked at it thoughtfully and said, almost gently, “Let’s call you Emma. How’s that? Do you like it?”
Of course, the animal couldn’t respond–just gave a little squirm inside its box.
Ivy remembered that Emma had always been a scaredy-cat, terrified of even the tiniest bugs or moths, let alone something this…massive.
She couldn’t help but look forward to Emma sneaking in and stumbling across this “little present.” That reaction would be priceless.
That night, Emma didn’t come downstairs to bother Ivy again.
But Ivy could hear the chaos erupting from upstairs–shouting, crying. At first, it was just Emma’s voice, shrill and hysterical, clearly yelling at Micah over the phone.
Then Rosetta chimed in, trying to calm her down, followed by Baillie’s gentle coaxing.
Ivy smiled coldly to herself. After installing the new hidden camera she’d bought, she washed up and got ready for bed.
Her “Stonks Only Go Up” WhatsApp group was buzzing all night. Coach Murphy was scheduled to arrive in Neo Haven on Wednesday, and Dale was asking about his plans.
Eventually, they settled on a Friday night dinner to catch up.
Bob and Jay reminded everyone–again–to take pictures and post them for the group.
Ivy scrolled through the chat, noticing that Dr. Handsome hadn’t made an appearance all night. He was probably working another late shift at the hospital.
For some reason, she found herself actually looking forward to Friday’s meetup.
She couldn’t help but wonder–what did this so-called Dr. Handsome really look like?
The next morning, Ivy woke up and headed out for her usual run.
When she returned, she found the entire Windsor family gathered in the driveway, inspecting her car with great interest.
She cleared her throat loudly. “Ahem!”
The Windsors straightened up immediately, turning to face her, looking more than a little awkward.
Rosetta shot her a sideways glance. “Ivy, is this your new car?”