Page 38

H olden scanned the street outside The Tea House window, his untouched coffee held tightly between his fingers.

Where was she?

It had been a month since everything had happened with Briar and Helen. Briar was dead and Helen was locked up, but that day hadn’t left him. It probably never would.

Deb was alive, thank God, and even Malcolm had pulled through. But Holden had almost lost Clara. If she wasn’t as strong and smart as she was, he would have lost her.

“Where’s Clara?” Becket asked, as he and Sky took seats across the table.

“She wanted to go for a walk with Indie to buy some flowers from Mildred.” She’d been going to the florist daily since the place had reopened. His house was starting to look like a competing florist.

“And you weren’t invited?” Jesse asked, as he and Aspen took their seats at the table.

“No. Apparently, I’ve been hovering .” What the fuck even was hovering? He’d been staying close to her because she’d just experienced something really damn traumatic. And yeah, maybe he was a bit traumatized too, and the staying-close part was as much for him as it was for her.

Aspen looked up at Jesse, eyes sparkling with humor. “We’ve been there.”

“Absolutely,” Sky agreed, bumping Becket’s shoulder. “But we know you guys mean well.”

“Hell yes, we do.” Becket nodded.

Jesse chuckled before turning back to Holden. “How’s it going with Clara moving into your place?”

“Good. Her client room at the front of the house is almost done. I’m hoping it’s starting to feel like home for her.”

“And you’re still on track to sell Clara’s place by the end of the month?” Aspen asked.

“We’ve already had a couple of offers.” When they’d been deciding whose house to live in, Clara said she wanted it to be his. She’d decided that she needed a fresh start somewhere new.

He didn’t care where the hell they lived as long as it was together.

The group around him started to talk about what they were ordering, but his gaze went back to the window.

What was taking her so long?

He’d told himself he wasn’t going to message her, but right now, he didn’t care. He wanted to hear from her, even if it was just through a text.

He lifted his cell.

Holden: Are you close?

The three dots immediately appeared.

Clara: Just leaving the florist now, lilies in hand.

Holden: I bought you lilies yesterday.

Clara: I know, but you bought me red lilies. These are pink.

Holden: Pink and red are basically the same color.

Clara: They absolutely are not. I’ll see you in ten.

Holden: Straight here.

Clara: Yes, Mr. Protective.

He was, and he wasn’t even sorry about it.

“Is she on her way?” Jesse asked, as Holden set his phone down.

“Ten minutes.”

“Good.” A crease formed between Jesse’s eyes. “How are you doing?”

“Probably as well as you. What happened to her was hard on all of us.”

“Yeah, I’m not good either.” Jesse scrubbed a hand over his face. “This better be the last damn thing like this in our town for a while. When I took this job, I was told my days would be filled with traffic violations and domestic disputes.”

Holden’s lips twitched. “You’d get bored if that was the case.”

“Maybe. But my life would be a lot less stressful.”

Jesse’s phone vibrated from the table, and his frown deepened.

“What is it?” Holden asked.

“My cousin Noah.”

“Indie’s brother?” He was a Marine who didn’t tend to make it back to Amber Ridge very often.

“Yeah.”

“Everything okay?”

“He’s coming home.”

Holden straightened. “He’s leaving the Marines?”

“His contract’s up and he’s done. Says he’ll be here in a month.”

“Wow.”

“My thought too.” Jesse looked up. “I wonder if Indie knows.”

“I’m starting to think I should have gone with lilies.”

Clara looked at Indie’s bouquet as they walked down the street. “What are you talking about? Your roses are beautiful.”

“Yeah, but they’re starting to remind me of the flowers Colt gave me at prom.”

Well, that was an easy fix. She took the roses from her cousin and traded her the lilies.

Indie shook her head. “No, you wanted the lilies. You spotted the pink the second we stepped in the door.”

“No, I wanted flowers that both smelled and looked nice, and I also wanted to support Mildred. It’s the least I can do after I broke in and caused her to have a broken window and the huge mess I left in my wake.”

Indie cocked her head. “ You didn’t leave a mess.”

“A person died in her shop because of me.”

“ Not because of you.”

“If I hadn’t run in there—”

“You were running for your life, and Mildred understands that. If we’re going to blame anyone, it’s Briar and Helen.”

“Yeah, well, Briar’s paid for her crime, and Helen will spend the rest of her life paying for hers.” She ran her finger over a petal, hating even thinking about everything that took place last month.

Indie bumped her hip. “Hey. Are you still doing okay with it all?”

“Better than I should be. I’ve been resting. Eating lots of almond croissants and drinking all the sweet teas. Holden’s been amazing and I’m acupuncturing the crap out of myself.”

Indie laughed. “Well, you’re the one who says acupuncture heals all.”

“It’s definitely helping.”

“And you feel okay about your house being up for sale?”

“I feel fine about it. It’s a new start with Holden, and his place is great. Plus, no one’s been attacked there.”

Indie’s features softened. “And how’s Holden been?”

“He’s been…a lot. But in a good way. I prefer the Holden who doesn’t want to leave my side over the one who runs in the other direction.”

“I knew you two would find a way to make it work.”

“You did not.”

“I did. Even after everything happened with Colt and my view on love became a lot more pessimistic, I still thought you two would come together.”

Clara swallowed at the mention of Colt. She’d been meaning to ask her cousin about him for a couple of weeks now. “Have you called or texted Colt about the divorce papers?”

“I did. He didn’t answer, and then a day later he called me back, but that time I didn’t answer.” She wrinkled her nose. “I should have. I watched the phone ring. I just couldn’t bring myself to pick it up. Even listening to him on voice mail hit me so hard I couldn’t breathe.”

“I’m sorry.” If she could take this pain away for her cousin, she would.

Indie picked at the lilies. “I’ve actually been thinking about doing something.”

“Oh my gosh…is this the crazy thing you were texting about over a month ago? With everything going on, I completely forgot to ask about it.”

“I didn’t want to bring it up while you had so much to deal with.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing going on now. Tell me.”

Indie peeked at her. “Well, I’m getting old.”

Clara scoffed. “You’re thirty-four.”

“Exactly. One more year and a pregnancy would be considered geriatric. My biological clock is ticking. Colt and I tried for so many years but nothing worked, not natural conception or the rounds of IVF. But I want to be a mother. I crave it every day . When I see a baby, my heart physically hurts.”

“Oh, Indie…” She knew her cousin wanted to be a mom, but the pain in her voice had never been this bad.

“So…” Indie continued. “I think I’m going to give IVF just one more go.”

“But you and Colt aren’t together anymore.”

“With a sperm donor.”

Clara stopped. “You’re going to have a baby with a sperm donor?”

“I’ve made an initial appointment just to get information about the process.”

She wanted to be happy for her friend. Indie would make an amazing mother, and she’d wanted this for so long. But the idea of her doing it without Colt just felt wrong.

“You think it’s crazy,” Indie said.

“No. Absolutely not. I just…I always thought you and Colt would enter the parenting world together.”

Grief cut through Indie’s eyes.

Crap . Wrong thing to say.

“But,” she rushed to add, “you’ll be an amazing mother, and I’ll support you on any path you take. You want me to help pick a baby daddy from a printed bio? I’m there. You want help with IVF injections? I’m great with needles.”

Tears shone in Indie’s eyes, but she blinked them back. “Thank you. You’re the first person I’ve told.”

“I’m on your side, always, crazy ideas and all.”

“Thank you.” Indie wiped her eyes and started walking again.

“Maybe you can choose a guy with super-sperm.”

“Super-sperm?”

“Yeah. Fast swimmers. Aggressive little guys who really attack the egg.”

Indie laughed. “I’m not sure that will be in the bios.”

“It should be.”

When they reached The Tea House, they were just stepping inside when Indie’s phone rang. She looked down at the screen. “It’s Noah.”

“Talk to him. I’ll order you a chai spiced latte.”

“Thanks.”

Indie walked over to a quiet corner while Clara found Holden at a table with her brothers and their partners.

The second her gaze met Holden’s, she was hit by the same things she was always hit with. Love. Protection. And a bit of disbelief that they’d actually made it.

God, she was grateful to have him.

He rose from his seat and she stepped into his arms. “Hey, you.”

He watched her expression. “Hey. You took too long.”

“Miss me?”

“Always.” He frowned at the flowers in her hand. “I thought you got lilies?”

“I swapped with Indie. Do you like the roses?”

“I do. But I like you more.”

She grinned. “You sweet talker.”

“For you, I’ll be any kind of talker you like.” He lowered his head and kissed her. “You know I love you, right?”

“I know. But you can say it again.”

“I love you.”

Her smile softened. “I love you too, Holden Forbes.” She lifted to her toes. “So…damn…much.”

Then she kissed him again, letting his lips soften hers, loving the way his body warmed every inch of her.

“Hey. I’m trying to enjoy my coffee. I don’t need to watch my sister get pawed over by a guy I consider a brother.”

Clara laughed as she dropped her heels and looked at Becket. “You can still enjoy your coffee while I kiss Holden.”

“I absolutely cannot.”

Jesse sighed. “He’s right, Clara. To us, you’ll always be our ten-year-old little sister.”

She rolled her eyes and lowered to a seat, and Holden sat beside her, but his hand immediately went to her knee beneath the table.

A second later, Indie returned, her face paler than it had been seconds earlier.

Clara stood. “Indie, what is it?”

“It was Noah. He, uh, he’s coming home.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s great. So why don’t you look happy?”

Indie liked her brother. They had a good relationship, even though he was away ninety percent of the time. It was her sister she didn’t get along with.

“Colt’s coming home too,” Indie said quietly.

Clara frowned. They were both Marines but assigned to different units. Maybe their discharge dates had lined up.

“And Noah asked me how I’d feel about them reopening the old Wilderness Adventure Park together.”

“You’re joking.” She hadn’t even known the two men had remained in contact.

Indie shook her head. “I am not. He said he’d kill the idea if I don’t like it.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing for the first ten seconds…then I said it was fine.”

“But it’s not fine.” In what universe would her brother and her ex starting a business together be fine?

“I was in shock. But even if I wasn’t, I shouldn’t be the one to stop them. If they both want to do it, then they want to do it. It has nothing to do with me.”

That wasn’t true, and they all knew it.

“It’ll be fine,” Indie repeated, as if trying to convince herself. Then she breathed out three words, the disbelief ringing through her voice. “Colt’s coming home.”