Chapter 7 "You kissed?" Indie tugged the cell from her ear. Too loud...too freaking loud. Before responding, she glanced around the grocery store to make sure no one was within listening distance. This town was too small. "Yes. We kissed. Well, I kissed him. And it was a great kiss. But then, Colt's kisses were always amazing. We never lacked in that department." Which was strange. Often when couples struggled with infertility, intimacy became almost like a chore. It was scheduled in and something you had to do rather than wanted to do. But with Colt, it had never been like that. "Okay, so how did the kiss end?" Clara asked. "Or did you-" "No." Indie lifted a carton of milk and set it in her basket. "We didn't, and that was thanks to Colt's self-restraint. I was a second away from ripping off my panties and doing it right there and then." She scrunched her eyes closed in chagrin. Apparently, one year without sex and she'd become a desperate woman. Desperate for Colt, at least. "Did he say why he stopped it?" Clara asked. "Because he doesn't want to rush us. He wants me body and soul, and he wants to earn my trust back slowly." Clara sighed. "Oh, Colt..." She frowned at the price of eggs. When had they become so expensive? She mentally calculated the money in her bank, because yes, she was living paycheck to paycheck. She hadn't touched the money from the sale of her Subaru yet. It was meant for IVF, but based on how the Honda was doing, she might just need to buy it back. Or at least get something similar. "So what's the next move?" Clara asked, sounding far too excited. "Has he texted yet?" "No, he hasn't." And yes, she'd been pathetically checking every chance she got. Heck, she'd looked at her phone every hour, all day, expecting a text. Which was dumb. He was probably giving her space because it was she who'd left him. "But to be fair, I haven't messaged him either." "You should." She nibbled her bottom lip as she grabbed a loaf of bread. "Maybe. Things are different now. Colt's home. We're not doing IVF. And even though he's living with his mother, things might be different with her." Ha, and pigs could fly. "Exactly." Like the very mention of the woman had conjured her up, Sylvia Reed stepped into the aisle. Indie barely held in the groan as she met her mother-in-law's eyes. "What's wrong?" Clara asked. Okay. Maybe she hadn't held in the groan. "Sylvia's here. And she's walking straight toward me." This time, Clara groaned. "I'm sorry. But maybe this is your chance to see if she's changed at all." In the couple weeks since she'd last seen the woman? Doubtful. "Chat later, Clara." She hung up as Sylvia stopped in front of her. "Hi, Sylvia." "Indie. It's so nice to see you. How are you?" Even when Sylvia was nice, there was something...off about her. Like her question was almost condescending. "I'm good, thank you. How are you?" "Well, now that my boy's home, I'm happier than I've been in a long time." Yeah, Indie was sure she was. Sylvia had always had this strange dependence on Colt. Maybe because his father had left when he was eight, and then it was just the two of them. She'd once read that when boy moms didn't get what they needed from their partner, they sometimes sought emotional fulfillment from their sons, and Indie had always wondered if that was what was going on with Sylvia. "It's nice that he's home," Indie said politely. "If you'll excuse-" "Have you two spent any time together?" Wasn't Colt living with her? Wouldn't he have told her? "We've seen each other a couple of times." Sylvia's lips thinned, and something passed through her eyes. Fear maybe? Or annoyance? It was hard to tell. "I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on. Did you date while you were separated? Or was that just Colt?" Indie flinched, and she couldn't even hide it. "Colt dated?" No...he wouldn't do that. He was the one insisting that she was his. That they were still married. But she hadn't answered his calls over the last twelve months. And she'd sent him freaking divorce papers. "He did," Sylvia said easily, like the words weren't daggers in Indie's chest. "Only briefly, since he was based in California, but he actually came up a lot in the last year. You know Audrey? She makes those pretty bracelets, and stores sell them for her around town." Nausea crawled up her throat. Of course she knew Audrey. They'd gone to high school together, and she was beautiful. And kind. And probably wouldn't fall into a pit of depression after a few rounds of failed IVF. Sylvia frowned and looked at the ceiling as if she was thinking. "There was another girl, too...a woman in California who was staying with him when I visited. Savannah, maybe?" Two? No. That couldn't be true. Colt wouldn't have dated two different women while she'd been simultaneously in love with him and trying to work through the hardest battle of her life due to depression. Why did her heart race though? Because Colt was cute and if women found out he was available they'd be all over him? "I need to go, Sylvia." "Oh, dear, you've gone pale. I'm sorry. I thought since you separated from him that you wouldn't-" She stopped, her gaze catching on something behind Indie. Suddenly, it was the older woman's face that lost all color. Indie turned slightly and spotted a man. A familiar man. It was the guy she'd run into at The Tea House, when she'd caught up with Noah. The one with the black eyes and the scar. And he was looking straight at Sylvia. Indie turned back to Colt's mother, and if possible, she'd lost even more color. "Do you know him?" Sylvia's mouth opened and closed, something akin to fear crossing her features. "I...I need to go." She spun and rushed out of the aisle, walking faster than Indie had ever seen her move before. Frowning, Indie shot another glance over her shoulder to see the man still watching Sylvia. Then he shifted his focus to Indie, and a shudder coursed down her spine before he walked away. Who was he? If Sylvia knew him, did Colt? She hurried to the front of the store and paid for her groceries before heading to her car. She'd just slipped behind the wheel when her phone dinged with a text. Colt: Hey, Cricket. How are you today? And suddenly she remembered everything Sylvia had said before that guy had appeared, about Colt dating other women. It probably wasn't true. It wasn't true. Sylvia knew how to lie, and she was forever trying to put a wedge between Indie and Colt. Still, the insecure part of Indie, the part that had always wondered if Colt would have been happier with someone stronger than her, made doubt flicker in her mind. Colt used a crowbar to pull up another old wooden board from the deck. He'd been working on this log cabin all day, and he wasn't close to getting rid of the rotten wood. Fortunately, he wasn't in a rush. He and Noah wanted to do this right and that would take time. Cool evening air ran over his skin as he threw the board onto the pile beside the cabin. His phone lay a few yards away. Two texts. He'd sent Indie two texts this afternoon, and she hadn't responded to either one. He moved on to the next board. Why? After last night, he'd been so sure they were on the same page again. That she wanted to get their marriage back on track as much as he did. Had that not been the case? No. He'd felt it in her. She'd been right there with him the entire time. His phone rang, and his heart did one of those loud fucking thuds at the possibility that it was Indie. He lifted his cell, only to swallow the disappointment before hitting speaker. "Hey, Mom." "Colt, are you okay?" He frowned. His mother's voice was high and her words so fast they tumbled into one another. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm working at the park. Are you okay?" "I'm fine." Not true. She sounded as far from fine as you could get. "When will you be home?" He checked his watch. "I'm not sure. Probably late, based on the progress I'm making." Or lack thereof. "You need to eat, Colt." "I'll order food. Unless you need me home for some reason?" There was a small pause before his mother responded. "No. That's okay. But you'll let me know if anything's wrong, won't you?" "What would be wrong?" "Nothing." That came far too quickly. "Stay safe, honey." She hung up, and Colt frowned at his cell. What the hell was that? He was just shoving his phone into his pocket when footsteps sounded. He turned as Noah stepped out of the trees, closely followed by his cousins, Jesse and Becket. A smile spread across Colt's face as he stepped off the deck. "Hey. I didn't see you guys get here." "We came from the other side." Jesse pulled him into a hug. "It's good to see you, buddy." "You too." He turned to Becket and took his outstretched hand. "It's been a while." Becket chuckled. "You're not wrong. Finally got out, I see." "I did. Decided I needed a new challenge." Or a couple of new challenges, if he included his marriage. "I was just showing them around," Noah said. Becket whistled. "You got a lot of work on your hands." "Fortunately, I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty." Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets. "Heard you're staying with your mom?" "It's just short term. I heard you guys are partnered up now." Becket's smile widened. "Sky finally realized I'm not the neighbor from hell." Jesse scoffed. "Not sure about that. But yeah, I'm with Aspen. We're happy." "That's good." It really was. They were great guys who deserved to be happy. They spent the next twenty minutes catching up on things before Jesse and Becket headed back to their cars through the forest. Colt turned back to the deck, but he could feel Noah's eyes on him. "What's going on?" Noah finally asked. Was it that obvious? "What makes you think something's going on?" "You've got your I-hate-the-world expression on your face. You were trying to hide it while the guys were here, but I saw." He lifted the pry bar and started working on the next rotten board. "It involves your sister." "So you think you can't tell me." "I know I can't tell you." "Because you had sex?" The muscles in his back tightened. "No. We kissed." "Okay, that's good. Why the scowl?" "I thought it was good. Now she's not answering my texts, and I'm worried that..." "Worried that what?" He pulled the board up and threw it on the pile before looking back at Noah. "She had a folder from the IVF clinic in her kitchen." "Why would she-" "It had information on sperm donors." Noah's head reared back. "What the fuck?" His thoughts too. He scrubbed a hand over his face. "She said she wasn't going to go through with it. But it was there, and now she's not answering my texts, and the thought of her being pregnant with another man's baby... Fuck, I can't even think about it." "Of course you can't. She's your wife." "She is. And I love her so damn much. I want her to be happy. And if being happy means she needs to be permanently separated from me, then I'd accept it. It would kill me, but I'd let her go. But she loves me. I know she does. I feel it whenever we're together. And I know I can make her happy." "So don't stop fighting." "I-" A sound in the trees had his head whipping around. Like the crunch of leaves beneath feet. "You hear that?" Noah stepped forward. "Yeah." "Think it's a wild animal?" "Maybe. Or maybe that semi-homeless guy Randy was talking about." Colt stepped toward the tree line. There it was again-but this time, fast footsteps moving away from them. He jogged toward the forest, only to stop a few yards in when he spotted the slight imprint of footsteps in the dirt. He crouched. "Someone was definitely here." Noah came to stand beside him. "We could go after him. Together, we'd stand a good chance of catching him." Colt studied the trees around them. "I've got enough going on. Randy said this Milo guy is harmless, and those cabins will be done and locked soon enough. Hopefully, he moves on."