The date crept up quietly every year, the way grief often does, arriving before Ivy fully braced herself for it despite always knowing it was coming. Eleven years, almost twelve now, since her father's heart had given out under the weight of everything Voss Global had taken from him.
"I want to visit his grave this year," Ivy told Ronan one evening, the anniversary only a few days away, her voice quieter than usual. "I haven't been in a while. Work, everything happening these past months, it's been easy to let time slip by without making the trip."
"I'd like to come with you, if you'll let me." Ronan's voice was careful, uncertain in a way that touched her deeply. "I understand if you'd rather go alone, or just with your mother. I don't want to intrude on something this personal."
Ivy c
