Chapter 12

INDIE

The corner of her apartment was a zoo, a cozy corner with every creature in its place.

The animal-shaped stuffed pillows represented every animal found at the zoo, starting from the first one her dad won at the county fair when she was eight.

This had become their ritual. He always ensured that her collection had new additions, the last of which was a kitten that he had left on her bed with a note.

It was the last contact she had had from her father.

She was settled on her bed with her sketchpad, trying to work on some new designs but was distracted with thoughts of the pie she had left on the counter for Seth with a note.

After the third page of drawing Seth staring back at her, she tossed the pencils on the bedside table and flipped through the channels on the TV.

While she watched a show, one of the characters said something that reminded Indie of the conversation she had had with Seth on their date.

~***~

~Seth’s eyes had been dark with emotion as he spoke. ~

~“I never had a relationship with my father. I could never respect him. The only thing I walked away with was what I didn’t want to be. ~

~“In my life, I modeled myself to be nothing like him. The only good thing he did was shape me into the man I am.” ~

~“Sarah told me that he left when you were kids,” Indie said softly. ~

~Seth nodded. “Just before our tenth birthday. Sarah’s first tattoo is a bird breaking free from a cage, a representation of our mother’s transformation after he left. ~

~“It was like she could be the woman she always wanted to be. The guys under her command thrived.” ~

~“Strangely, you could be describing my mom after Dad disappeared. It was as though she was cut free from some invisible rope.” ~

~Seth extended a tempting hand across the table, enticing her to let go and join him in his future. “Let’s forget about our pasts and make new memories. What do you say?” ~

~“I’m not going to argue with you.” ~

SETH

Seth stepped through the door with a soft sigh of relief that Indie’s door opened as promised. The kitchen glowed with a soft, warm light.

He picked up the turkey-shaped pillow leading a parade of other animal pillows, bringing a grin to his face.

This was such a typical Indie thing, and Elli would love spending time with her.

Seth’s mind went to another little girl, and he allowed himself a brief moment to wonder what his life would have been like had he met Indie at seventeen.

His arm burned as he brushed the fantasy aside, laying his jacket over the sofa’s arm. He rubbed the spot as he walked to the kitchen.

His eyes fell on the note with his name on it.

He chuckled softly as he studied the sketch of a pumpkin with a slice cut out of it, falling onto a plate shaped like a badge as a slice of pie.

Yep, Elli would love this woman as much as he was beginning to.

As the alluring scent of cinnamon and sugar filled his senses, it didn’t have the same appeal or anticipation of another kind of sweetness waiting for him.

He silently made his way down the hall and there she was.

Her dark hair was spilled over the soft yellow pillowcase, the matching comforter pulled around her waist, and her sketchpad open beside her as a movie reflected across her sleeping face.

If he didn’t need sleep, he would have watched her all night. He stripped to his black T-shirt and boxers before sliding under the covers with her.

***

Indie’s gentle stroking over the shooting star tattoo brought him to full consciousness. She lingered over the two dates, one above it and the other below the trailing tail.

He swallowed the emotions that threatened to spill over. It had been fifteen years, but the pain was still as fresh as it had been that day.

“Was it a girl?” Indie’s voice was soft in the darkness, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“She was still a baby.” No one else had figured out the significance of that tattoo, but Indie had without him saying a word.

“Ranya Alexa. She died two days before her second Christmas. I was supposed to fly home from deployment to celebrate it with her. Instead, I flew home to prepare for her funeral.”

Indie turned to him and slid her arms around his body, holding him tightly. “I’m so sorry you never had that Christmas with her.”

She placed a kiss on the tattoo, and then his bicep before kissing his shoulder. He cupped her head, his fingers disappearing into her silky tresses so that he could look at her.

“Indie, you’re the first person I’ve told about Ranya. Not even Felicity knows about—”

She put a finger over his lips to silence him.

“We don’t need to talk about her if you aren’t ready. All I’m going to say is that if she looked like Sarah at seventeen, you would have been scaring off boys with your shotgun.”

He chuckled, sliding his fingers through her hair. “True. I’ve been thinking that I would be running around to find a dress for her senior winter formal about now.”

She stroked his jaw with her thumb as she nodded. “I would have made her jewelry.”

He tilted his head as he looked at her. “I would have liked that. About as much as I like your sketches of a certain sheriff’s deputy.”

Indie blushed a superb shade of red. “You weren’t supposed to see those!”

Seth laughed as he pulled his T-shirt over his head and struck the pose she had drawn. “I’m not sure I quite fit the image of that heroic man,” he teased as he flexed his muscles.

Indie tried to hide her face in his shoulder, but he flipped her onto her back. She gasped, licking her lips as she looked at him.

Suddenly, all the playfulness was gone, and all Seth could do was taste those inviting lips.