Chapter 23

INDIE

She had gone to the one place she felt safe, and they had taken her in and comforted her with no questions asked.

Even Grace was subdued as she sat on the floor in front of the sofa where Indie was curled into a ball, the sobs wracking her body till her ribs hurt.

Faith gently loosened her braids and stroked her hair until her breathing evened out and she calmed down, with only an occasional sniff still escaping.

All three of them had frozen when they heard the knock on the door, knowing exactly who it was.

Faith got up and went to answer it, but Grace had pulled her hand.

Faith had shaken her arm free and walked with determination to face Seth.

Indie shivered at the pain she heard in his voice, but she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tighter around the throw pillow as she listened to them talk at the door.

He had been horrified at the other woman’s—~Tereza’s~—appearance.

Indie wasn’t sure if his reaction was because he had been caught in a lie or because he was genuinely averse to having that woman near him.

She was mad at herself for the way her body responded to his husky voice.

~“Why would I walk away from the woman who stole my heart…”~

When Faith closed the door with a definitive click, Indie felt the last bits of her heart crumble and disintegrate.

***

Indie sipped the coffee she had just poured when she heard the bell chime. She held her breath, hoping it was a customer that Grace could handle.

As she was about to slip back into her workshop, she recognized Sarah’s voice. Indie held her breath as she tiptoed to the door of the kitchen.

“I’m worried about them, Grace. Seth has just gone silent. He barely says a word even to Amelia, who is almost glued to his side.” Sarah sounded really worried.

“Indie’s the same. She slept over last night, but by the time I got here, she had already been working for hours.”

“I was so hoping we could have Christmas together like we did Thanksgiving. The two of them brought us all together, and now they’re no longer the two of them…”

“Who is Tereza?” Grace asked after a short pause.

“Tereza?” Sarah sounded shocked as her voice rose at the name. “What has ~she~ got to do with this?”

“He told Maamaa last night that she made it seem as if they were still married to chase Indie away.”

“She’s ~here~?! She did ~WHAT~?!”

“He mentioned her, so I suppose—”

The bell gave a loud chime as the door banged shut and the store went silent.

Indie released a soft breath as she processed their conversation.

Sarah had sounded truly shocked that Tereza was in the picture. With a heavy heart, she made her way back to her workshop. Amelia’s Christmas was waiting to be polished.

Indie had made her a bracelet with butterflies set with different colored gems. The extra links and butterflies were set on a velvet board so that they could be added as she grew older.

Her heart broke all over again when she looked at the stock that had been delivered earlier that morning.

It was the supplies she would need to prepare the Valentine’s Day jewelry, the time of the year she sold more engagement rings than any other time.

Usually, it was exciting for her to bring her love-themed designs to life. But this year, it was harder because she had thought that she would be as lucky in love as her customers.

SETH

“~Sethford Andrew Marshall~! ~Get your ass out here~!”

Seth groaned as he woke up to hear Sarah slamming into the apartment. She seldom lost her cool, and she had only done it once with him…because of Tereza.

And by the sounds of it, Tereza would be the reason why Sarah was pissed again.

With a heavy sigh, he rolled out of bed and stretched his shoulders. He was crazy tired.

Besides learning his ex-wife was out of prison, he had been called in to assist with an accident while he was still at the mayor’s ball, and they only got that cleared after two in the morning.

At that point, Seth had signed in for his graveyard shift as he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Work was the best use of his time.

He returned to the apartment in time to have breakfast with Amelia before she went to her holiday camp. And then he went to bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The clock blurred as he tried to look at the time and cursed softly. Three hours…couldn’t she have found out later in the day so that he could have just a few more hours of sleep?

“~Sethford~!” He hated it when she used his full name like that, but he also knew that she would call him one more time before going all ~older sister~ on his backside.

Seth pulled on his crumpled uniform pants and black T-shirt just as Sarah flung his door open.

“I’m coming,” he muttered as he passed her in the doorway, her green eyes shooting angry flames. He was in for one hell of a ride.

She slammed a cup of coffee onto the counter for him, and Seth was glad there was still some liquid left in his cup to drink as the rest spilled over the top.

Sarah emptied the dishwasher, her movements jerky, and Seth winced as she dropped her whisk into the holder, taking out her anger on the poor tool.

He opened his mouth to speak but she glared at him.

“I’d give you something to eat, but I didn’t waste my time preparing something that you weren’t going to touch.”

Sarah was beyond pissed. As a chef, her passion was feeding people, using food to make people feel good about life. The fact that she refused to give him something to eat spoke volumes.

“Sar, I—”

She turned her full attention to him.

“~Don’t you ‘Sar’ me~,” she growled as she leaned over the counter. “When you became involved with her, I ~warned~ you to stay away from her. I ~knew~ her.

“~She was my best friend for fuck’s sake, Seth~! I ~told ~you ~not to marry~ her! ~I ~would look after Ranya! I would take care of her while you were away! But you ~had to ~do the ~right thing~!”

Seth could barely breathe at the anger and pain coming from Sarah.

She had not spoken to him in the run-up to the wedding, and she had not answered any of his calls or letters afterward, until the accident.

“I’m so sorry, Sarah.”

“~You’re sorry~! How do you think ~I~ feel, Seth? I should have fought harder for you not to marry Tereza! I should have fought harder for Ranya! I should have…”

Sarah hiccupped with a sob. “I should have been a better aunt. It’s because of me Ranya died!”

Seth stared at his sister as he realized what she was saying. How had he not known that she blamed herself? In ~fifteen years~? His ~twin~ sister?

He rounded the counter and took her in his arms and was surprised at the open slap to his cheek.

“Sarah…” He held onto her arms as she lashed out at him with her hands.

“I couldn’t hold my ~own ~daughter for ~three ~days because I felt responsible for Ranya’s death!”

Seth caught her wrists in one of his hands and used the grip to pull her closer to his body, folding her arms beneath his own to hold her tightly.

“It’s not your fault, Sarah. We cannot take the blame for Tereza’s choices. We cannot allow—”

His voice broke into a sob, and he held onto her tighter as she sobbed into his shoulder.

“I thought I had lost you too, Seth,” Sarah said when she had calmed down and Seth was relieved when she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“You were so withdrawn, not saying a word during the funeral. And then you left, and I didn’t hear from you for ~months~…

“I thought you blamed me and that’s why you didn’t contact me. Five years, Seth. ~Five years~…”

Seth leaned against the counter as he took Sarah’s weight against his body, her desolation tearing him apart. “I’m so sorry, Sar…”