Pinky Promises (The Promises #1)

by Ciara Shayee

  Marley giggled. “Si, Laker!”

  Five minutes later—on the dot, because Marley wouldn’t accept a minute longer delay than the promised five—Indie sighed and relaxed back into her seat, gently stroking dark blond curls back from her baby son’s head as he slept. Her eyes followed Laker as he carried Marley across the patio toward the lower slide. She bounced with delight on his hip and cheered as they slid down, splashing into the pool. Marley popped up to the surface quicker than him thanks to her life vest and was ready to splash him when he surfaced. Only, he didn’t.

  Indie muffled her laughter into Bodhi’s curls as Marley looked around in confusion, squealing when Laker popped up behind her, lifted her in the air, and carefully tossed her. When her head came back above the water a few feet away, she pointed a finger at him and huffed, a smile battling with her scowl as she scraped wet hair away from her face.

  “That was mean, Laker! I’m gonna get you!”

  “I’ll help, Mars! I’ll help!” Carl-Roman crowed, executing a perfect cannonball into the water.

  As Indie watched him tag team with Marley to splash Laker as much as possible, she felt the familiar prickle of tears. Happy ones, of course.

  Her children were happy, loved, and safe.

  If she leaned forward, she could see her dad just around the corner, laughing heartily at whatever Riley was saying on the phone.

  Peter was playing cards with Heidi and Pippa, their smiles matching and miles wide.

  Archie was building a sandcastle in the sandpit with Chase, just a few feet away. Close enough to see his relaxed, content smile as he loved on his boy.

  Ryan and Grace were sharing a lounger and watching a video on his phone. It was obviously funny, because they were both laughing and sharing smiles. As Indie watched, she couldn’t help but wonder if she and Laker were as obvious as they were with their affection for one another. She was positive that it wouldn’t be long before they declared themselves and stopped pretending they were content with friendship.

  Sarah had joined Andy on his lounger and was sitting between his legs with hers thrown over them. He wore a happy, relaxed smile and leaned forward to kiss the crown of her head every now and then, his hands resting lightly together over her belly. She was leaning back against his chest with a blissful smile on her face as she watched Laker in the water with Marley and Carl-Roman.

  Indie’s eyes skittered back to the pool, a single tear falling. Her heart was full, her smile broad, eyes aglow with the knowledge that life just couldn’t get any better than this.

  chapter thirty-six

  Two months later…

  June 3rd 2017

  “Mummy! Where are my white shoes?”

  Indie sighed, looking upward at the ceiling. “Wherever you took them off, baby girl!”

  Silence. Then…thud, thud, thud. “Found them!”

  Instead of yelling back to Marley, Indie turned to her baby brother. She was unable to stop herself from smiling when she set eyes on him. She’d given Bodhi a bowl of soft fruit to eat for breakfast—most of it was now mashed into the tray of his highchair as well as in his hair.

  “Oh, sweet boy,” she sighed, picking up the baby wipes on her way over to him. “Shall we get you all clean, huh?”

  Bodhi bounced in his chair and babbled nonsense as Indie wiped the strawberry-banana-blueberry mess from his chubby cheeks, then his hands and hair. His honey-blond curls would need proper washing, so she settled for cleaning as much of the fruit from his head as possible before removing him from his chair and wandering into the hall. A bath would have to wait. They were already running a few minutes behind schedule.

  Just as she reached the foot of the stairs, Marley appeared at the top.

  “I’m ready!” she sang, doing a little twirl. The pale blue fabric of her dress fanned out around her. Mother and daughter wore matching smiles. “Do I look pretty, Mamma?”

  Indie nodded and grinned, always happy to see her baby happy. “You do, baby girl. Very pretty.”

  Marley nodded and bounded noisily down the stairs. Her white leather pumps clicked on the hardwood floor of the hall as she headed for the living room, Indie and Bodhi on her tail. “Look, Zia Gracie!”

  Grace snorted, leaving the sofa to scoop Marley into her arms for a twirl. “You’re still learning Italian, then?”

  “Oh, yes! Laker is teaching me. Mummy is ‘Mamma,’ and you’re ‘Zia Grace,’ ‘stead of ‘auntie.’”

  Shaking her head, Grace met Indie’s amused gaze; she could only offer a shrug. “She wants to learn. I don’t want to stop her.”

  Marley’s thirst for knowledge was something Indie never wanted to stifle, especially when it was so adorable listening to her master the Italian accent. Ever since they got back from Italy, Marley was soaking up her lessons with Laker.

  Leaving Italy had been bittersweet.

  Sweet, because they were all looking forward to seeing friends and family back in England, and sleeping in their own beds once more.

  But it was also bitter, particularly for Indie, because she’d felt so at home there in Laker’s villa. And of course, she’d had revelations untold whilst there; Laker’s declaration under the stars and fairy lights a moment she’d never forget.

  It didn’t hurt that Marley was completely and utterly in love with Laker—even more so after a month of his uninhibited attention, which was beyond heart-warming to watch. She idolised him, and he, in turn, doted upon her.

  “Ooh, Zia Grace. Let me down, let me down. I need to show you…” She spun in circles around the living room, girlish giggles following her as she watched her skirt twirling around her feet as she moved, the sparkly hem catching the light streaming in through the windows. “Ta-da!”

  “Just like a princess, Mars,” Grace told her indulgently.

  “I know. Okay, so can we go now? Zio Archie is pro’lly waiting for us. And Carl-Roman’s gonna eat all the ice cream!”

  Indie left Grace to entertain Marley while she jogged upstairs with Bodhi. There was no way he could go out in his onesie; it was covered in fruit puree. She set him in his crib for a moment as she dug through the dresser, finally locating the outfit she wanted just as Bodhi began to get restless.

  “It’s all right, baby boy. Mamma’s coming.” Indie paused, lifting him from the crib with a shake of her head. “God, he’s even got me doing it now. Mummy is here, baby boy.”

  Bodhi grinned, all gums apart from the twin teeth at the front of his mouth. His big, beautiful, blue-green eyes were happy and content now that he was in her arms, and his chortles as she tickled his feet and dressed him on her bed were heaven to his mother’s ears. After wrangling chubby little arms and legs into his clothes, she sat back with a smile. Indie was unable to resist snapping a few photos on her phone. He looked adorable in his yellow and white striped polo with a blue collar and trim, and a pair of stone coloured cargo shorts. After a quick, mental run-through of the things she’d managed to organise earlier in the morning, Indie remembered that she’d left his blue leather sandals downstairs with Marley’s hair bows and her own accessories, so she scooped him up and back down the stairs they went.

  Unlike his big sister as a baby, Bodhi was rarely quiet and kept up a steady stream of chatter.

  Marley was bouncing impatiently on her feet by the front door, Grace watching with a smile on her face. “Are you ready, Mamma? Is baby Bodhi ready?”

  “One second, baby girl. Have you got your bows?”

  “Oh!” Marley dashed into the kitchen, skidding back into the hallway a few moments later with her hair bows, as well as Indie’s sunglasses and keys and Bodhi’s shoes.

  “C’mere, handsome boy,” Grace cooed, taking Bodhi so Indie could fix the blue bows at the end of each of Marley’s identical braids. Marley was all but vibrating with excitement and tore down the garden path as soon as Indie had slipped her feet into her own sandals, sliding Bodhi’s onto his feet as Grace carried him down the path towards the car idling outside th
e house.

  Marley squealed as soon as she realised who’d come to collect them. “Uncle Ry! You’re back!”

  Ryan’s laughter boomed around them as he left the car to lift Marley into the air and spin her. “Little Missy! I’ve missed you.”

  “I missed you, too, Uncle Ry.” Marley cupped his face in her small hands just as Indie, Bodhi, and Grace joined them, her expression serious. “You’re not allowed to go away again, alright?”

  He chuckled, gently tweaking her nose and setting her down on her feet. “All right. I promise.” Indie hid her giggles behind Bodhi’s head when she watched the odd greeting between Ryan and Grace. They did a sort of awkward nod with a side hug and bashful, rosy-cheeked smiles.

  He turned to her then, his grin spreading wider as he ruffled Bodhi’s curls and leaned in to kiss Indie’s cheek. “Hey, Indie. How’re you and the boy doing?”

  “We’re good, Ryan. It’s great to have you back. Did you do everything you wanted?”

  Ryan’s gaze was wistful, and a touch sad, as he nodded. “I guess so. I mean, it would’ve been nice to meet them, you know? But I’m okay.”

  Everyone had been sad for the gentle, giant man when they’d returned from their holiday in Italy and he’d been told about his parents. Both Rachel and Brett McCabe, Ryan’s mother and father, were dead. They’d passed away just over two years previous after Brett crashed his car into a wall. An autopsy had confirmed that he was well over the drink driving limit and they’d been killed on impact. Riley had sent Ryan to the cemetery in Gloucester where they were buried together, then to the foster home in which he’d been placed at just a week old. Thanks to Riley’s contacts, he was able to find out that he’d been adopted at six-weeks-old before being relocated to the USA—Texas, to be precise.

  The name of the man who’d adopted him was Garrett Smith.

  It was a mystery to him, seeing as he’d never met Garrett before he began working at the ranch at age eighteen.

  Riley promised to continue investigating, but in the meantime, Ryan decided that, with nothing else he could do in Gloucester, he wanted to head back to his real family. He’d arrived early this morning and had jumped at the chance to pick up Indie, Grace, Marley, and Bodhi. He’d missed them all.

  Grace in particular.

  As they loaded up into the car, Marley buckling herself into her car seat while Indie strapped Bodhi into his beside her, Ryan couldn’t help but soak in the sigh of the effortless waves of Grace’s hair and the sparkle in her eyes. He’d missed those beautiful baby-blues. More than once while he was away he’d wished to be able to see them, just once, because he’d known her face would comfort him. But he’d refrained from calling, opting to send short, succinct texts instead as he tried to absorb as much information about his biological parents as possible.

  But now, back in the small town he’d grown to love in the past few months, with the family who’d taken him in and made him one of their own, Ryan felt more at home than he ever had before.

  The drive to Archie’s didn’t take very long. Still, the excitement of the day was almost too much for Marley to bear. She squirmed and fidgeted in her unicorn car seat, being scolded by her mother more than once for kicking the back of Ryan’s seat. In her frustration, Marley snapped back at Indie and wound up with big, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as they parked on the driveway of Archie and Kristen’s house. As punishment, Indie informed her that as soon as they got inside she’d have to spend six minutes on the naughty step—one minute for every year of her life. Marley sulked her way into her uncle's house and sat dutifully on the bottom step of the stairs as her mother unclipped Bodhi from his car seat and carried him down the hall, reminding Marley to stay put until she came back.

  As the little group reached the kitchen, Indie and Bodhi were accosted by Jenna and Debbie, both wanting to see the bonny baby boy. They'd last seen him at Christmas, so he'd grown a fair bit in their absence, now nearing ten months old.

  Ryan wandered away with Grace. Indie glanced out of the window and saw them join Peter and the twins, smiles on everybody's faces.

  “My God, Indie! He's like a different child,” Jenna breathed, stroking Bodhi’s chubby cheek.

  She smiled with pride. “You'd never know that he was premature, would you? He's like a tank. At his last check the paediatrician said he's completely caught up with what he should weigh, despite being born weighing less than five pounds.”

  Debbie laughed, shaking her head in wonder as Bodhi reached up to curl the locks of his mother's hair in his hands. “He's probably almost as big as Isaac, you know? That boy just doesn't eat but he grows so fast—like a little weed, I swear! He's a nightmare. Neither me or Robbie are fussy, but Isaac…Jesus.”

  Jenna nodded exaggeratedly behind Debbie when she said ‘nightmare,’ Indie barely able to stifle her giggles. She'd heard all about Isaac and his wild temper. He'd definitely inherited the spirit associated with having red hair as well as his dad's Irish heritage.

  As they spoke, the little boy himself charged into the kitchen, Robbie in hot pursuit. Indie smiled, loving the way Bodhi’s face lit up when he spotted him; he loved other babies and children.

  After saying a quick ‘hello’ to her cousin's husband and son before Bodhi could fuss to get down, Indie headed back out to the hall to fetch Marley from her timeout.

  The step was empty.

  Her leather pumps were abandoned on the floor, but Marley was gone.

  Huffing, Indie looked at Bodhi, unable to stop herself from smiling when he gave her a wide, two-toothy grin. “Your sister is trouble, isn't she?”

  “Mar-mar!”

  “Yeah, baby boy, Marley,” she laughed, turning and aiming straight for the garden. How Marley had managed to slip by her, she wasn't sure, but if she had to guess she'd say a certain, dark-haired, blue-green eyed little nephew of hers might have had something to do with it.

  As soon as Indie reached the doorway to the garden, she spotted Marley. It would have been hard not to as she was squealing and shrieking and being tickled mercilessly.

  A soft sigh wormed its way from between Indie’s lips as she leaned against the timber doorframe, butterflies taking up residence in the pit of her stomach.

  Archie and Kristen’s garden was long and rectangular, with decking taking up the furthest end; it housed a large barbecue and a long, wooden table and chairs. On a usual day, the lawn making up the rest of the garden would be littered with Carl-Roman and Chase’s toys. Today it was filled with family.

  Theodore and his sons Mike and Eric—eighteen and thirteen, respectively—were in deep discussion with Mark and his son Clarke. Eric and Clarke seemed more interested in their phones, to be fair, but they were joining in with the occasional remark when the conversation was deemed interesting enough.

  Mark’s wife Josie, the twins, Peter, Grace, and Ryan stood nearby, drinks in their hands and beaming grins on their faces as Ryan told what was obviously a very funny story. He was always animated when he spoke—his hands often flailed around.

  Archie and Kristen looked to be having an intense discussion over by the barbecue, Chase playing contentedly in the sandpit with Alexis and Jada—Theodore and Jenna’s seventeen and twenty-one-year-old daughters.

  Indie felt her stomach flutter as her gaze returned to Laker. He'd dropped down to his knees on the grass now and was being bundled by Marley, Carl-Roman, and Mark and Josie’s youngest, Dave. They were using him as a jungle gym, their giggles and cheers accompanied by his warm chuckles and teasing growls.

  The children scrambled over his broad shoulders, their laughter filling the air and childish smiles brightening the day. The trio shot each other mischievous looks before launching themselves at Laker to wrap his neck in a headlock.

  Laker, the six-foot-three, human climbing frame, chuckled—a sound which drew smiles from everybody around—especially Indie. She watched from the sidelines with a grin, snuggling her baby boy close. Laker’s joy was loud, low, rich, and
laden with happiness.

  To look at him was to see strength and love emanating from every pore. His fitted, baby blue, short-sleeved shirt showed off the definition of his chest, the sleeves straining around his flexing biceps as he wrestled with the children and playfully threw them around. As she watched, Chase ran over to join the chaos, plonking himself down in the grass. Laker slid over on his belly and cried out in pretend pain when Chase leaned forward with a grin to grasp his nose with his chubby fist.

  The older kids took this as their invitation to launch themselves onto his back and pin him to the ground.

  It was almost impossible to match this playful, jovial side of Laker to the far more serious version of him that Sarah had described to her a few nights ago.

  “Did he go down okay?”

  Sarah smiled warmly, resting a hand on Indie’s shoulder as she sank into the seat beside the younger woman. “He was out like a light. Little love didn’t even stir when I tucked him in.”

  “Good,” Indie breathed, relaxing. Bodhi had been struggling with his teeth for the past few nights, and though she’d been grateful of Sarah’s offer of help with him this evening, Indie had worried Bodhi would be unable to settle without her. But she was so tired, and in desperate need of a hot soak in the bath, and Sarah had offered…

  “Oh…”

  She followed Sarah’s gaze, unable to stifle her smile when she spotted the reason for Sarah’s teary-eyed, sharp inhale of breath.

  “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

  Sarah nodded, reaching out to pick up the photo. She traced Laker’s crooked grin with her fingertip, then Marley’s wild curls and Bodhi’s gummy smile. “It’s beautiful! When was this?”

  “Um, Thursday? No, Friday. After his meeting.”

  Sarah nodded, her expression bearing a hint of seriousness. It piqued Indie’s curiosity.

  “Sarah?”