by Sophia Henry
Chapter 22
Indie
Jason returned with Holden later that afternoon. When I opened the door, my son burst in with a cup in his hand. The swirl of colors circling his mouth was the telltale sign of a Slurpee stop.
“Wow!” Jason brushed a wet clump of hair out of his eyes and scanned me from top to bottom, then back up again. “You look beautiful.”
I dipped my head and tucked hair behind my ear, embarrassed that I’d gotten myself decked out after my spa day. As if applying makeup and shimmying into dark skinny jeans and a cozy, gray sweater that hung off one shoulder is considered getting decked out by anyone but me.
“I thought you were going to a movie?” I asked, stepping aside so Jason could come in.
“It raining! It pouring!” Holden sang as he stripped off his coat.
Instead of coming inside, he stayed on the porch dripping like a dog with no shelter from a rainstorm. “I’m all wet,” Jason said, stating the obvious.
“So, what happened?” I asked. When I heard the refrigerator open, I spun around. “Holden, what do you need? Mom will get it for you.”
“Milk.”
I stared at my son without moving a muscle.
“Milk pease.” He amended his request. I grabbed the milk out of the fridge and a freshly washed sippy cup off the counter.
“We went to a movie. Sort of. Does he usually sit for entire movies?” Jason asked from the doorway.
“I didn’t want to say anything because I never know how he’s going to act for other people,” I said as I poured milk into the sippy cup and twisted it shut. “You can come in, ya know.”
“I don’t want to drip all over your floor,” he explained.
“It’s okay,” I assured him. What did I care? It was Damien’s week to wash the floors.
Jason took a tentative step through the door. “He was good at the movie, for about thirty minutes. Then he wanted to get up and walk around. So we did. We ran around the lobby, played in the game section.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t warn you.” I glanced at Jason as I handed Holden his milk.
“It’s okay. Seriously. I should’ve realized he’s a little young for a movie,” Jason said. “We went to a park afterward. That’s how we got drenched.”
“I booty drop Jason.” Holden giggled.
I froze. “What?”
“Yeah, he squatted down while I was running after him. I tripped over the poor kid. Landed on my a—” Jason caught himself. “Booty. Is that why he calls it a booty drop? When someone falls on their booty?”
My hands flew up to cover my mouth. But I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “Ummm, not really. Sort of.”
“Well, that clears it up,” Jason said.
“Holden, do you want to show Jason what a booty drop is?”
“Yay!” Holden set his milk on the kitchen table and waited for me to run, as was part of the “booty drop” game.
I dashed away with Holden following close behind.
“Let me see yo’ booty drop!” I yelled. Then I stopped and squatted down. Holden, who never stopped running, bounced right off my butt and dropped to the floor in hysterics.
“Really?” Jason asked.
“He loves it!” I said, defensively. And he did. Holden thought it was the funniest thing in the world. And so did I, because there’s no better sound than a toddler’s laughter. “It’s a song from a workout class.”
Holden dashed out of the room.
“So what are you up to now?” I asked, trying to figure out if Jason’s night was free or if he had to work.
Though still listening for his response, I followed Holden to the doorway leading to the hall. What kind of trouble was brewing in my kid’s head? I knew him well enough to know he didn’t leave the room abruptly for no reason.
“Heading home to dry off,” Jason answered.
“Do you work tonight?”
Even after two months of dating, my confidence wavered enough for me to be timid when asking him to hang out for dinner.
“I have a midnight shift.” He tried to put his hands in his pockets, but his jeans were tight and must’ve molded to his body in the rain.
“Do you want to have dinner with us?” I asked. “And maybe play a game or something?”
Jason glanced down at his wet shirt and pants. And at that moment I knew he wouldn’t stay. He’d barely crossed the threshold.
Our eyes met and he smiled. “That would be awesome.”
“I get you clothes,” Holden yelled, running back into the room with his arms full. One leg from a pair of navy-blue sweatpants dragged behind him.
I bent down and took the garments from him. He’d brought a pair of navy-blue Bridgeland High School sweatpants and a black-and-orange-striped tank top.
“Did you get these from Uncle Damien’s room?” I asked. One of those “mom” questions I already knew the answer to, but I had to make sure. Mr. Kelso could’ve left them in Mom’s room, for all I knew.
Shudder.
Thankfully, Holden nodded to confirm he’d taken the clothes from Damien’s room.
“Smell these. Make sure they’re clean.” I held the pants out to Jason.
He dropped his outstretched arms and reared back. “Smell them? I’m not gonna smell them. You smell them!”
“I’m kidding, copper.” I took the shirt out of Holden’s hand. “Be right back.”
Chances are Holden opened a few drawers and took the first pair of pants and shirt he found, but there was a good possibility that he went straight to the bottom of Damien’s closet, or sifted through dirty clothes on the floor.
True to my expectations, two drawers had been pulled open and a third—the very bottom drawer—was on the floor. I walked in and closed the two open drawers, then knelt down and tried to fix the other one. I shoved it into the opening. Off the track. I tried again. Still off.
I growled as I tried to shove it in again, but it bounced back at me. Ugh! I’d let Damien deal with it later.
“Need help?” Jason asked.
Startled by his voice, the drawer slipped from my grasp. The corner caught my thigh, puncturing my jeans and scratching the skin underneath.
“Crap!” I jumped back.
Jason was at my side in an instant. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I skimmed my fingers across the hole as if I could rub the fabric back together. My first new pair of jeans in three years. Awesome.
“This sucks,” Jason mumbled.
“I know,” I agreed. I cast my eyes down and picked at the hole in my jeans. “First pair of post-pregnancy jeans I’ve bought myself.”
“I wanted—what?” Jason asked.
I looked up. “I’ve been wearing clothes from before I got pregnant. Had to spend money on Holden and clothes for work. Figured I could wear the old stuff until I had a reason to look nice in my spare time.”
“You haven’t bought a pair of jeans in three years?” Jason asked. He sounded dumbfounded.
“I haven’t bought a lot of things in three years. Kids are expensive.”
Jason was silent for a moment, but it looked like he wanted to say something, so I stayed quiet, too.
“I know how hard your life must have been over the last few years, Indie.” He touched the tiny hole in my jeans. “I wanted to do something nice for you. And I wanted to apologize for how I acted the other day.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” I shook my head.
“Stop. We’re not going to play games. You don’t deserve games and you shouldn’t accept games.” He tilted my chin up until I met his eyes. “I messed up when I freaked out about the future. I’m not opposed to it, Indie. I just wasn’t prepared, ya know? When I moved here I had a definite five-year career plan. Falling for you has messed with my head. But I like what we have.” Jason leaned closer to me. He slid his fingers across my face and held his palm against my cheek. “I like you.”
“Falling for me?” I asked. My heart pre
ssed against my ribcage, thumping to get out and jump into Jason’s pocket. He had me hook, line, and sinker.
“Like a fucking dog at your feet.”
I lifted my hand to his cheek. “That was so romantic,” I quipped.
Jason laughed. “I wanted to take Holden off your hands and give you a break today to prove that I want to be part of your life. Part of both of your lives. I wanted you to have a relaxing day where you didn’t have to worry. You should have more days like that.”
“I like the way you think.”
The memory of Tim’s anger from hours ago popped into my mind. What Jason thought I deserved didn’t matter. I’d dug my own ditch with Tim and now I was stuck scratching and clawing my way out.
“What do you say we eat, play a few games, and snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie together?” Jason asked.
“Sounds wonderful.” I smiled. “And Mom just brought home this awesome Pinot Noir. We should—”
“Indie,” Jason said, interrupting me. “You’re not old enough to drink wine.”
“Are you serious?”
“Are you gonna continue to break the law right in front of my face?”
“Like you never had a drink before you were twenty-one.”
“I never had a drink before I was twenty-one in front of a police officer.”
“Oh, don’t pull the authority card with me, copper.”
Jason pulled me into his arms. “I knew you were gonna be trouble from the minute I met you.”
“You seem like the kind of guy who likes trouble.” I licked my lips before I leaned in to kiss him.
Jason lifted a finger and pressed it against my mouth, stopping my advance. “I can’t do this here. This place is a shit hole. And it smells like rotten milk.”
His comment brought me back to the moment—sitting on the floor in my brother’s room. I took a breath in and noticed the weird spoiled-something smell Jason mentioned, and it made me want to hurl. Funny how I’d been immune before. I didn’t want to think about what secrets the stains in the carpet of Damien’s room held.
I shuddered at the thought as I jumped to my feet. “I’m a great date, eh?”
Jason stood up, took my hand, and led me into the hallway, closing the door with his free hand. He leaned over and gave me a quick, sweet kiss. “We should probably find our third wheel, shouldn’t we?”
“Third wheel?” I asked. Then it dawned on me. Holden. “Oh! Oh yeah!”
I don’t know how long we were gone. Couldn’t have been more than five minutes. But even thirty seconds is enough for a toddler to make a mess.
Take my word for it.
When Jason and I returned to the kitchen, we found Holden carrying two cups to the table. His shaky hands wobbled with each step, and water splashed out, leaving a trail that could be followed all the way to the fridge. He set the cups on the table and pushed them into place next to two of the three overflowing bowls of cereal.
“What’cha doing, buddy?” I asked.
He turned around. His face lit up with pride. “I make dinner!” he announced.
“Looks awesome,” Jason said, jumping right in. “I’ll get the milk.”
As Jason poured milk into the bowls and helped Holden onto his seat, I couldn’t stop the fluttering in my stomach, nor keep the smile off my face.
In the last three years, I’d barely let myself take a break or relax my guard. In the last three years, Mom, Damien, and I had gotten our routine down pat—a familial assembly line that would make Ransom Olds proud. In the last three years, we’d all sacrificed and scrimped to give Holden everything he needed, because Tim and his parents refused to help provide.
Maybe karma was real.
Damien would graduate in the spring and had academic scholarships to three schools, based on his test scores alone.
Mom had never been happier—working as a manager at the casino and having a blast with Dale Kelso.
Before I met Jason, I’d envisioned the future as an exhausting struggle, much like the last three years. And I knew there were still many years of struggle and exhaustion ahead, but it also felt like a huge weight had lifted. I finally had someone I could count on and trust.
Chapter 23
Jason
How long does it take for the honeymoon period of a relationship to wear off? Because Indie and I hit our four-month anniversary last week, and I still can’t keep from smiling every time her name and face light up my phone screen.
“Hey!” I answered.
“Hey!” Indie greeted me. “How’s your day going?
“Awesome, now.” What a fucking sap.
“Okay, I have a weird question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Do you want to go to the world’s largest pub crawl?”
“Excuse me?” Out of all the questions Indie could have asked, I certainly wasn’t expecting that one.
“I just got off the phone with KK and she’s going down to Charlotte in March to visit Auden. They’re going to this huge pub crawl on the Saturday before Saint Patrick’s Day. At first I thought it would be a cool girls’ weekend thing, but KK said her parents were going. So, then I thought I’d invite my mom and Dale.” Indie stopped.
I hoped she took a breath, because all of that came out in one long sentence. I opened my mouth to respond, but she continued before I could speak.
“And maybe you can invite your parents? I know I get along with your mom, and your dad is a big beer guy, and I thought it might be fun to go as a group. I mean, I don’t know.”
In my head, I pictured Indie blushing, with her eyes cast down at her feet, as if embarrassed to share the idea with me. But I loved that she wanted to go on a trip with my family. I loved how she remembered that my dad was a beer connoisseur. I loved how thoughtful she was.
“What about Holden?” I asked. Damien would be in school, and if her mom was going on the trip, where did that leave him?
“Oh, yeah! So that’s the other awesome part. My mom doesn’t really drink. I mean, she’ll have a beer once in a blue moon, but she said that she’d go down and hang out. But she looked up all this stuff for kids to do. And she’s going to walk around Charlotte and take him to this cool science museum and children’s library. She’s so excited to go on a family trip.”
“Do you think my mom could walk around with them, too? I know she’d like that.”
“Yes, definitely,” Indie agreed. “That would be awesome! I’m so excited. Can you ask for that weekend off? Is it too soon?”
“I’ll put in for it today. I usually find out within a week.”
“I’m excited to take a trip with you, copper,” Indie said.
“Me, too. Thanks for asking. It’s a really cool idea.”
“All right, I’ll let you go. Have a great day. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later.” I hung up.
I dropped my phone into the cup holder. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this happy. The last four months with Indie and Holden in my life had changed my entire world. The thought of taking a trip that merged our families didn’t freak me out. In fact, I wondered how it hadn’t happened sooner.
I grabbed my gym bag off the passenger seat and climbed out of my truck.
—
“Hey, Tone!” I called to the guy on one of the treadmills. “Long time no see.”
With my crazy schedule, we rarely worked out at the same time anymore. Usually, we were like ships passing in the night, one entering as the other was leaving.
“What are you so happy about?” Tone asked in response to my greeting, as if by entering the gym with a smile, I’d broken the law.
I jumped onto the treadmill next to his and set my water bottle in the cup holder. “Just hung up with Indie.”
“Indie Meadows?” Tone asked.
“Yeah.” I tapped the screen to start the running program on the treadmill.
“I thought I told you to stay away from her,” he snapped.
Wh
y did this jackweed think he had the right to say anything at all to me about Indie?
“Sorry to tell ya, Tone, but what you say to me has little effect on my personal life.” I chuckled and pressed the button to increase my speed until I hit my running pace.
“Your big mouth is gonna get you in trouble, Officer Taylor.”
“With who?”
“I told you her ex is a big dude with a temper.”
“Yeah, he’s also the biggest dickbag. Indie and her son are much better off without him in their lives.” I groaned. “I wish he never came back to Bridgeland.”
“People make mistakes, Taylor. As an officer of the law, you should know that.”
Tone increased his speed to a slightly faster pace than mine. Always a competition.
“I do know that. But I also know that he’s not right for her. And she knows that, too. She’s not dumb enough to go back to him.”
“What about the kid?”
My head whipped around to look at Tone. “What about him?”
“What if Indie getting back with her ex is better for the kid? Being a real family and all? Don’t you think the kid deserves that if it’s a possibility?” Tone asked.
My first thought was to reject that notion, but I stopped and thought before I spoke. “First off, Indie would never get back with her ex. And second, Indie’s ex is a shitty father.”
“You’re saying she should keep him from his dad?”
Why the fuck was this dude up in arms over me and Indie? If he was one of Indie’s good friends, I could understand his being defensive and standing up for her, but I’d never heard her mention Tone. Ever.
“No. I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that people break up for a reason. And from what I’ve seen, her ex is a piece of shit. Never picks Holden up when he’s supposed to. Makes him feel like he’s not worth his dad’s time. Shit like that doesn’t change in a few months. Selfish is selfish. Until he gets over that and starts acting like a real man, I don’t think that’s someone Indie or Holden need in their life.”
“What do you know about what they need in their life, you selfish prick?”