Pinky Promises (The Promises #1)

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Pinky Promises (The Promises #1) Page 74

by Ciara Shayee


  “Little Sweet, come here,” he called softly. She leaped neatly into his arms, content to be held on his hip on this occasion even though she ‘wasn’t a baby anymore, Daddy.’ He’d lost count of the amount of times she’d informed him not to baby her because she was seven now and a big girl.

  Even now, dressed for her first day of school with her backpack on and her classroom just feet away, Laker wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to see her as anything other than his baby girl; that tiny, precious little girl he’d fallen in love with back in Montana.

  She was a million miles from that tiny, terrified child.

  He’d watched her flourish and thrive and had no doubt that she’d continue to do so.

  “Little Sweet…Mamma, Bodhi, and I love you very much. We’re so very proud of you.”

  “Aww, Daddy,” Marley whined, her cheeks flushing pink as she wriggled free from his arms. “I love you too, but…”

  “‘But,’ what, Little Sweet?”

  She toed the carpet, batting her lashes at him coyly. “You’re acting all mushy and embarrassing!”

  Laker didn’t get a chance to respond before a dark-haired blur shot between Archie and Peter’s legs, skidding to a stop in front of Marley.

  “Marley, hi!”

  Mouth gaping like a fish, Laker felt Indie slide her fingers between his as the boy grinned a toothy smile at his baby girl, showing off the gap at the top of his mouth where two new teeth were growing in.

  “Hello,” Marley mumbled, uncharacteristically shy. She ducked her head and smiled at the boy from beneath her lashes.

  Laker felt his stomach twist unpleasantly as he watched the interaction. “Uh, Little—”

  “Leave them!” Indie hissed, amusement colouring her tone. “This must be the boy she was talking about. You know, from the induction day? She sat next to him and shared her snack.”

  Laker frowned.

  Marley was standing against the wall between a dark-haired boy and a girl with white-blonde hair when Laker and Indie walked toward her, Bodhi swinging between them. When she spotted her parents and brother, she beamed with delight and ran toward them, flying straight into Laker’s arms as Indie scooped Bodhi up onto her hip.

  “Little Sweet, did you have a good time?”

  “Oh, Daddy, it was awesome! I made a star out of my hand and some paint, and I got to make loads of new friends!”

  He chuckled, peppering kisses over her excitement-reddened cheeks. “I’m glad, Little Sweet.”

  “The other kids were nice, then?” Indie asked softly, a relieved smile on her face.

  Marley nodded quickly. “Really nice, Mamma. On my table, there’s Asher, Matty, Dave, and Christina. Oh! And Jacob, but he likes ‘Jake’ better.” Her cheeks tinted pink. “Jake’s really nice. We shared our apple and grapes so we could have some of each.”

  Until Indie just brought it up, Laker had forgotten all about this, ‘Jake, Sharer of Snacks.’ He was smiling at Laker’s baby girl like she hung the moon, gawping when she gave him a wide smile.

  “My peg is next to yours. You wanna go hang our bags and find our seats? Miss Bailey says there’s a present for all of us in our spot!”

  “Sure!” Marley darted away with her friend, leaving her family laughing behind her.

  Laker felt like he was going to puke or punch something—he wasn’t sure which. “That boy’s got the hots for our baby!” He cried.

  “Oh, Laker. They’re seven! They’re just friends. It’s nice Marley has a friend to go to class with.”

  Laker and Indie watched as Jake offered to put Marley’s bag on the hook below the name tag she’d coloured last week. They snorted when she stubbornly refused his help and insisted she do it herself.

  “She’s just like you,” Laker told Indie, nudging her side with his elbow before blowing a raspberry on Bodhi’s neck to hear his comforting chuckles. Bodhi reached for Laker with grabby hands; he greedily snatched up his son, happier when he reminded himself that they had three years before Bodhi needed to be starting school.

  “You still need me, right, Tesoro?”

  “Wight, Daddy!” Bodhi planted a loud, slightly slobbery kiss right on Laker’s lips, putting a grin firmly back on his daddy’s face.

  Marley heard the sound of her brother’s smacking kiss and shot Jake a look before tearing back down the hallway, crashing into her dad’s legs to mumble, “Love you, Daddy.”

  Six-foot-three, broad, and muscular with a neatly trimmed beard, Laker was the last person expected to be spotted tearing up on his daughter’s first day of school.

  But he did.

  His minty eyes filled with tears as he reached down to stroke Marley’s hair, holding her small body to him until she tugged away with a wide smile. Through his tears, he was surprised to see the reassuring tint to her expression. She was trying to reassure him; the irony was not lost on him.

  “I love you, too, Little Sweet. Go get ‘em, baby girl.”

  Marley paused to give her mother a hug and a kiss before running off to join Jake in the doorway of her classroom, Miss Bailey waving to Marley’s family and calling that she’d see them later.

  That was it.

  Just like that, Marley had grown up, right in front of her adoring family’s eyes.

  ~ oOo ~

  Indie was lost.

  It wasn’t like Marley had never been out for the day before. Grace occasionally took her out for a girly pampering day, or just to run errands. Bodhi, being a total mamma’s boy, usually stayed home with Indie, so the sound of him playing with his trucks on the floor in the kitchen was nothing unusual.

  However, Indie’s intense need to clock-watch was new.

  10:45a.m.

  Marley had been at school for an hour. Just one hour, and her mother was going stir crazy.

  Laker had gone off to work with Reagan, Ryan, and Peter. He’d texted shortly after leaving, reminding her to try and stay distracted and that he loved her, but she knew they were busy on a project they were desperately trying to finish before winter so she’d refrained from peppering him with texts.

  As she fidgeted with her bracelet and shot a glance toward Bodhi, content to play by himself as long as she was nearby, Indie wondered how she’d fill her time. Marley would be at school five days a week for six and a half hours. What on Earth was she going to do for all that time?

  “Coo-ee! Anybody home?”

  “Mimi!” Bodhi dumped his digger and jumped to his feet to run out into the hall. Indie sighed with relief; Sarah was here. She’d help distract her.

  “Are you playing with your trucks, sweet boy?” she asked as she carried him into the kitchen a few moments later.

  “Y-yep! Pway wiff me, Mimi?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, hon. Mimi’s got to go to work. I just popped in to drop off your sister’s car seat.”

  Indie’s burgeoning hope deflated. Marley had ridden to school with her beloved Andy and Mimi, so of course, Sarah needed to return her seat. Indie and Laker would need it to collect her later.

  “Thank you, Sarah. I’d totally forgotten, if I’m honest.”

  Sarah gave Indie a warm, sympathetic smile. “Are you struggling?”

  “A little.” Suddenly, she felt ashamed. “It’s stupid to be so…lost. Isn’t it? I mean, she’s only been gone an hour, and I’m just…I have no idea what to do with myself.”

  A thoughtful look crossed Sarah’s face. “I tell you what…do you fancy a little trip out with me? Just for the morning—we’ll probably be back by lunchtime for this boy’s nap.”

  Bodhi giggled as Sarah tickled his belly. “No, Mimi! No naps for Beesy!”

  “Um, where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.” Sarah winked at Bodhi. “You just grab a jumper and some shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, and I’ll meet you out in the driveway.”

  Without another word, Sarah and Bodhi disappeared outside, leaving Indie to follow. She grabbed a grey, zip-up hoodie from the stool at the counter, h
er keys from the side, and Bodhi’s bottle from the floor beside his trucks, then trotted out to the hallway where her wellie boots sat neatly on the shoe rack.

  “They’ll do,” she mumbled to herself, sliding her feet into the daisy-print boots before heading outside. Sarah loaded Bodhi into his seat once Indie unlocked the car, then walked round to take the driver’s seat while Indie climbed into the passenger side.

  “Have you thought any more about driving, sweetheart?”

  Indie frowned. “I have…I’m just a bit nervous about the lessons, you know? I’ve gotten better with strangers, but the thought of being in a car with someone I don’t know...”

  “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Sarah twisted to look behind her as she reversed out of the driveway. “I just wondered, is all. You’d have a lot more options for going places while Marley’s at school if you could drive yourself around.”

  She had a good point; it was something Indie had considered more than once, especially in the past hour. She’d be able to take Bodhi out to the park or the beach or visit the supermarket without having to wait for Laker, Reagan, or Sarah to go with her. The idea of being more self-sufficient was one Indie loved. It was the same when she thought about her living situation.

  Living with her dad was great. She loved spending time with him, seeing his face light up when he returned home to a cooked meal and the kids’ excited squeals. But every now and then she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a home of her own. Somewhere she lived with Laker, Marley, and Bodhi, like a normal family. That elusive ‘normal’ she’d once told Grace they didn’t need, she now craved. As a young woman in a relationship with a man she adored, and a mother of two young children, Indie couldn’t deny that the idea of being self-sufficient and having a home of her own did carry a certain appeal.

  But Reagan…how could she tell him she wanted to leave—that she wanted to take the children and leave him in an empty home once again?

  “Penny for them?” Sarah asked teasingly, pulling her from her morose thoughts.

  She peered out of the window, frowning when she couldn’t recognise the road they were on. Trees and fields spread for miles, the road they were on muddy and thin.

  “I was just thinking about Dad. He’s so happy having us live with him.”

  “And you’re worried he’ll never want you to leave?” Sarah surmised when she didn’t add anything else.

  Indie flushed, tipping her head back against the headrest. “Yes. I don’t ever want to upset him like that, but Laker and me…and the kids…we can’t live with him forever, can we?”

  “No, sweetheart. Well, you could, I suppose. But it would be quite cramped, and eventually, Bodhi and Marley will need separate rooms. To be honest, Marley could probably do with her own room now.”

  “I know. I think we’ll end up having to re-decorate Carl-Roman and Chase’s room—”

  “Ah, my baba! Mamma, I dwopped my baba!”

  Reaching around, Indie managed to grab Bodhi’s bottle and pass it back to him.

  “Gwazie, Mamma.”

  She shot her boy a wink; nothing was cuter than her sweet boy speaking in his baby Italian. “You’re welcome, baby boy.” Turning back to Sarah, Indie sighed. “Yeah, I think we’re going to have to re-decorate the boys’ room for Marley and Bodhi. They have sleepovers in there sometimes, and they seem to like sharing for now. I guess we’ll have to work something out soon, though.”

  “Mimi?” Bodhi called quietly.

  “Yes, sweet boy?”

  “Where we goin’?”

  Indie face Sarah, wondering the very same thing.

  The older woman smirked. At that moment, she looked impossibly like her nephew. They weren’t related biologically in any way, yet he had her smirk perfected. “We’re going to Mimi’s work, hon. Do you want to help Mimi with some animals?”

  “Oooh, yes, pwease, Mimi!” Bodhi bounced in his seat, dropping his bottle on the floor to stretch up and look out the window. They turned off onto a gravel track, Indie just barely managing to read a sign as they rolled past.

  A New Dawn Second Chance Rescue.

  “What is this, Sarah?” Indie abruptly realised she didn’t know a lot about Sarah’s volunteering. She worked as an interior designer most of the time, but she often mentioned her volunteer work in passing.

  “A client of mine runs this place. It’s a second chance rescue centre for animals of all shapes and sizes. Dogs, cats, horses, rabbits…you name it, they probably have it or have had it here at some point. I did some decorating in the main house a few years back and just fell in love with the farm, the animals, and the wonderful volunteers. I started helping a few weeks later, and I come here as often as I can between jobs.”

  Indie marvelled at Sarah as they rolled to a stop before clambering out onto the dirt track. For a woman who loved her designer clothes and already had such a busy schedule with work and her family, she surprisingly didn’t look at all out of place in a pair of worn jeans, a red and grey check shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, and a padded, grey gilet. Her hair had been twisted back into a bun on top of her head, and as Indie sighed, hoping to one day be as put together as Sarah, she donned a pair of fingerless gloves with a bright smile.

  “Right! Shall we have a little tour?”

  “Let’s go, Mimi!” Bodhi cried, happily taking Sarah’s hand and following as she led him toward the closest building, Indie trailing behind as she tried to take it all in.

  The house looked like a typical, English farmhouse. It had a gabled, thatched roof, white outer walls lined with dark wood beams, and a cute, yellow front door framed by luscious green vines. As the trio climbed the three wooden steps up to the door, Indie smiled to herself; it felt homey before they’d even stepped inside.

  Sarah let herself in with just a quick rat-a-tat with the brass, chicken-shaped knocker, ushering Bodhi and Indie in with her. The inside of the house wasn’t what Indie expected, at all.

  “Oh, hi, Sez!” a boy of around fifteen called.

  Indie’s head turned toward his voice, and she was stunned to see a quartet of desks arranged in a square formation where the living room should be. The boy was sitting at the desk nearest the door. He had a mop of fire-red hair and piercing grey eyes, and when he got up to join them in the hall, he offered them all a wide, toothy grin.

  “You brought friends?”

  “I did. Tyler, this is Indie, and this young man here is Bodhi.”

  “Nice to meet you, Miss,” Tyler chimed, then kneeled in front of Bodhi, who’d tucked himself behind Sarah’s legs and was peering out at the older boy with shy, wide azure eyes. “D’you like animals, little dude?”

  Bodhi glanced up at his mamma—he turned back to Tyler with a hesitant, tiny smile when she offered him an encouraging wink. “Yes,” Bodhi mumbled.

  “What’s your favourite?”

  “Um…dogs. I wove Aunt Josie’s and Uncle Mark’s dog, Bonnie.”

  Tyler’s grin widened. “Oh, yeah? We’ve got tons of dogs here you can play with.” Tyler looked up at Sarah. “Did you have plans, or…?”

  She was grinning, as if she’d expected this to happen. “No, none. I just thought I’d bring them out to see the place.”

  “Well, whaddaya say we go and meet some cute puppies, little dude?”

  Shyness forgotten, Bodhi eagerly abandoned Sarah for Tyler and trailed after him down a corridor. Sarah looped an arm through Indie’s and led her in the boys’ wake.

  “This house is…a bit weird?” Indie laughed.

  “It sure is. The whole downstairs is dedicated to the rescue. The owner and founder—Pam—lives upstairs. You’ll meet her at some point today, I’m sure.”

  Indie took in her surroundings with a sense of wonder. Instead of a regular kitchen and dining area, the cupboard doors had been removed and the shelves were lined with tins of animal food and bowls. A metal veterinarian table stood in place of a dining table, sev
eral trollies of paraphernalia Indie couldn’t hope to recognise standing nearby along with a tall lamp on wheels.

  Sarah pointed to a door after the kitchen, which apparently led to a washroom and toilet, and then a sitting room where the volunteers took breaks and stored their lunches.

  Then they stepped out through a screen door onto a porch that ran the length of the back of the house; Indie couldn’t stifle her gasp.

  “That building is the medical building. It’s a little run-down at the moment, so we’re holding a fundraiser sometime in November to raise money for the renovations.”

  Until Sarah mentioned it, Indie hadn’t even noticed the tired looking building to the left. Her eyes were trained on the barn to the right, and the lower, stable-shaped structure branching away from it. Tyler paused with Bodhi right outside the barn doors to let the women catch up. Before they stepped inside, Indie froze; she could hear the quiet sounds of horses in their stalls and smell hay in the air. She was sent back to a different time…

  To a different barn thousands of miles away.

  Sarah, obviously noticing that Indie’s mind had wandered astray, squeezed her arm gently and led her forward once she had smiled and nodded, mouthing, ‘I’m okay.’

  As she followed Sarah into the barn, Indie sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to look around to remind herself that she wasn’t there. She was in England, safe with Sarah and her baby boy nearby. It helped that it looked completely different from the barn in Montana. This barn did house horses, but it also housed several cows, a pig, some goats, and she could hear a donkey braying as she smiled. Watching Bodhi charge around with Tyler, a look of wonder on his face, she relaxed.

  Tyler and Sarah showed Bodhi and Indie around the barn, introducing her to some friendly residents. When they left through the same doors they’d entered, Bodhi declared that his favourite was Bessie the Jersey cow because she had pretty eyes.

  As the quartet neared the next building, Indie spotting a dog out of the corner of her eye; she suspected Bodhi’s favourite was going to change very shortly. Just like his sister, Bodhi was dog obsessed. If Indie managed to drag Bodhi away from an entire building of dogs today, it would be a miracle.

 

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