Walk On By (Passing Through Series Book 3)

by Sarah Hegger

  Huge glass windows brought light and the incredible view into the main living area. More wood beams and rock kept it rustic, with dark hardwoods on the floor.

  Over by the fireplace, India sat on a blanket with Jacob and Sean as they played with blocks. Sean and Jacob seemed to be steadfastly ignoring each other. India looked more relaxed than Kelly had seen her since the night she’d arrived.

  “Hi.” Kelly bent and kissed her cheek. “Are you on baby duty?”

  “I am.” India looked up with a sunny smile.

  “India! Hey, India!” Ryan barreled over, and India caught him before he smashed headlong into her shoulder. “I saw a deer outside.”

  “Did you, now?” India made big eyes at him. “Do you know what type?”

  Ryan screwed his face up and shook his head. “Deer type?”

  “Ask Gabe.” Dot joined them. “He spent his life wandering around those hills with his father.” Pausing, Dot kissed Kelly’s cheek. “Hello there. Thanks for bringing the food. The troops are getting restless.”

  “Gabe’s dad is dead too, isn’t he?” Ryan stared up at Dot. “Like mine.”

  “Yes, he is.” A trace of sadness still lingered in Dot’s voice and face, but it was an old sadness grown poignant and wistful. “In a few days, it will be ten years since his death.”

  Ryan screwed his face up. “I don’t remember my dad that well. Sean never even met him.” He shrugged. “But we have Ben now.”

  Dot cupped his cheek. “You have all of us now.”

  “Ah ha!” Claire strolled in from the back door to the big open-plan kitchen. “I heard a rumor you were here and that you’d brought food.” She came over and looped her arm around Kelly. “I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving.” Kelly kind of hated how Claire could eat like a lumberjack and stay so slim.

  “Yup.” Claire patted her flat belly. “But I have a tapeworm today.”

  Finn strolled in after Claire and hugged Kelly. “Hey, gorgeous. Looking particularly tasty today.”

  “Mind yourself, hot stuff, or I might get all carried away.” Flirting with Finn was one of the best parts of him settling in Twin Elks.

  Finn grinned at her. “I’m not man enough for that.”

  “You bet your life you’re not.” Over Finn’s shoulder, Gabe winked at her.

  “Ugh!” Dot slapped his arm. “Stop it and come and help me get lunch for everyone.”

  Gabe trailed his mother into the kitchen. “I should be out there doing manly things with hammers and drills.”

  “No!” Finn, Claire, Dot and Poppy all yelled at once.

  The rest of the party filtered in, consisting of Ben, Claire’s father Horace, Doc Cooper and Peg.

  Peg strode into the kitchen. “We should organize lunch stations.”

  “Woman.” Horace looked at her from beneath his unruly gray eyebrows. “You’re not organizing anything, and I better not see that bullhorn or that whistle.”

  Peg’s gray permed curls twitched with her desire to take him on, but to Kelly’s huge surprise, she settled down again. “I have made lists for the painting crew of who should tackle what.”

  “That sounds fine.” Horace handed her a bottle of water. “After lunch, you can give everyone their assignments.”

  Doc Cooper made himself a sandwich and then made one for Dot as well. They settled near India and the little ones to eat.

  “Did you know about that?” Kelly jerked her head at the couple as she sidled close enough to whisper to Gabe.

  He grimaced. “I try not to think too much about it.”

  “Ma deserves to be happy.” Ben sounded annoyed.

  Gabe stiffened. “I wasn’t saying she doesn’t. It takes some time getting used to Ma dating again.”

  “You had trouble with it in the beginning.” Poppy shoved a piece of baguette packed with meat, cheese and lettuce at Ben. “Gabe is new to all this.”

  “I’m still not used to it.” Claire watched Peg and Horace as they took their lunch and drinks outside and settled in a patch of sun. “But at least Dad refuses to have her whistle in the house.”

  Kelly took her lunch and a plate over to India.

  “Thanks.” India took the plate from her. “I was starting to get really hungry.”

  Poppy’s twins, Brinn and Ciara, had also joined the group of children around India. Her sister had always been good with children. They naturally flocked to her. Whereas with adults, India was shy and cautious, she came into her own around children.

  “So, I was thinking.” Kelly didn’t want to push her, but India looked so much happier now that she wasn’t sitting around Dot’s house. “I need someone for the coffee shop. Would you be interested?”

  India looked stricken and almost dropped her sandwich. “Me?”

  “Only if you’re ready.” Kelly felt compelled to provide the exit clause. “And you’re welcome to bring Jacob.”

  “Or you could leave him with me,” Dot said. “I already watch Sean in the mornings.”

  Putting her sandwich down, India carefully and methodically wiped her hands. “That would be…great.”

  “India?” Great was not the way Kelly would have described the expression on India’s face. “It’s only an idea. If you don’t want to do it, I can find someone else.”

  “No, I do want to do it.” India’s miserable expression told another story altogether. “I really, really do.”

  India had always been the quieter sister, and the more easygoing one, but this timidity was another rock in the wall Kelly wanted to push over on Piers. “I tell you what.” She glanced at Dot. “Why don’t you think about it? I did kind of spring this on you.”

  Dot was watching India with concern. “India, honey.” She leaned closer to India. “You need to say if this is really what you want. Kelly won’t be mad at you or anything.”

  Nodding, India kept her gaze on her plate. She mumbled something.

  “What?” Kelly had to lean closer to hear her.

  “I said, I don’t think I’m any good in the coffee shop.” Cheeks flushed, India finally met her gaze. “I get so nervous with all those people, and you were really nice about it, but you can’t afford to have me breaking all your cups.”

  India would have been a neat solution for her, but not if it didn’t suit both of them. “You’re right, I can’t. So let’s leave things as they are, and I’ll get some other help.”

  “Help where?” Peg strode over to them. “In your store?”

  “Yes, I’ve been getting busier and busier.” Kelly had lost some of her appetite. India was like a shell of the sister she’d grown up with. “I need someone for the rush times and also for extended hours.”

  “Hmm.” Peg tapped her cheek. “I’ll have to give that some thought.”

  “Thanks, Peg.” Kelly kept it upbeat. “It’s important to get the right person.”

  Kelly waited until India was once more engrossed in the children before she stood up. She needed space. Outside, the wind swept up the valley in an enthusiastic gust that found her on the porch and whipped her hair around her head.

  “You okay?” Gabe joined her. He shrugged out of his jacket and put it over her shoulders.

  “Yeah.” Kelly kept her gaze on the view. “It’s not that she doesn’t want to work in the coffee shop. It’s that she felt like she couldn’t tell me.”

  “I get it.” Gabe shoved his hands in his pockets. “She needs time to learn who to trust again. She married a man she loved, and he turned into a douchebag. On some level, she’s got to be questioning her own judgment.”

  He’d surprised her, and she stared at him.

  “What?” He glowered.

  “That was really insightful.”

  “I have my moments.” He hunched his shoulders. “Although, right now, I’m freezing
my balls off. So can we go inside?”

  Laughing, Kelly followed him.

  “Ah, Kelly!” Peg had her clipboard out. “I have your painting assignment.”

  Halfway through painting the twins’ bedroom blush, Vince called her.

  Gabe was working alongside her, and she stood and walked out of earshot. It was a stupid thing to do because she and Gabe weren’t even a thing. Not anymore, and not really ever, but she did it anyway.

  “Kelly?” Vince always asked as if he hadn’t just dialed her number.

  “That’s my name.”

  Vince chuckled. “I had a thought for this weekend.”

  “What was that?” The idea of another date like their awkward dinner sat like curdled milk in her stomach. Her history with Vince was as teens, and they needed to make the transition to adults.

  “I have the kids this weekend, and I know they’d like to meet you,” Vince said.

  Talk about your ball-crunching instant panic attacks! “What?”

  “I said, the kids are with me this weekend, and I thought it would be nice if we could all get to know each other.”

  Kelly didn’t think that at all. In fact, Kelly could think of few things she wanted to do less than get familiar with Chelsea’s offspring.

  And Vince’s! She needed to remember that. Fifty percent of those children’s DNA came from her old high school sweetheart, now new date. “Great!”

  “Awesome.” Vince sounded relieved. “This is going to be great. They’re going to love you.” She wanted to kick herself. She’d oversold this by about, oh say, one hundred thousand percent.

  She had to say something that sounded positive. “And you can be sure, I’m going to love them.”

  “You are?” He sounded delighted.

  She had no choice but to double down. “They’re your kids, aren’t they?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kelly ripped off her fourth outfit. She had absolutely no idea what to wear, and with each passing moment, she wanted to get ready less.

  “They’re only children.” India lay on her bed playing with Jacob.

  “You say this because children love you.” Kelly found her powder blue sweater with buttons up the front. It dipped low enough to show the shadow between her breasts. They were going to think she was a total ho.

  “Children like you.” But even India couldn’t make it sound that convincing. Kelly had no idea what to say to children. Generally, she and children kept a respectful distance. India perked up. “And the oldest is fourteen, so almost an adult.”

  “She’s a teen.” Kelly pulled her black jeans back on. They were tight and combined with the sweater’s neckline, she might as well be offering twenty bucks for a hand job. What was the going rate anyway? “A person who is almost an adult is a teen, and they are the worst of all.”

  “Leave the black jeans on. They look great on your butt.” India gave her a laughing look. “And even if she’s a teen, she’s mainly still a child.”

  “But she’s going to think I’m lame. I don’t even have Snapchat.” The sweater had to go, so she whipped it off. But the jeans really did give her a good butt. “The only reason I’m on Instagram is because of the store.”

  “Why don’t you start with hello?” India chuckled.

  The sound stopped Kelly in her tracks. It was the first time India had laughed since she’d arrived in Twin Elks. The last week had been great for India; she had come further and further out of her shell. “Yes, obviously, but then what. I don’t even know what music is popular now. Are One Direction still a thing?”

  “Ah, no.” India shook her head and played with Jacob’s feet. Another improvement; India engaging with her son. Before this, she had taken care of the basics but not really done much more. Thank God for Dot. “And don’t try to be someone you’re not. Be yourself and try to get them to talk about their interests.”

  “I should have Googled, maybe bought a book. Someone, somewhere must have dealt with meeting a date’s kids at some time. ” She tugged on a lilac sweater with a V-neck. “Is this trashy? Can you see too much boob?”

  “You can definitely see boob, because you got the family allotment of those.” India glanced at her own smaller chest. “But you can’t see any cleavage, and it’s not trashy at all.”

  Kelly sat down and got on with her makeup. “I’m going to buy a book about dealing with somebody else’s kids.”

  “Is it that serious with you and Vince?” India’s face appeared over her shoulder in the mirror. “I thought this was only like a third date or something.”

  “I’m not sure what this is. None of this is following the normal rules.” Vince didn’t come out and say stuff. He hinted around it. “All I know is that this is me meeting his children.”

  India frowned. “That seems like a big step.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?” Kelly turned to talk to her. “That’s been on my mind as well. I would have liked a few more getting reacquainted dates before this.” She shrugged. “But you know Vince.”

  “Not really.” India blew on Jacob’s hands and made him giggle. “I mean, I remember him from when you guys dated. You dated for years.”

  “Three.”

  “There you go.” India nodded. “But I didn’t really know him. I was your kid sister.”

  Kelly finished her makeup and chose a simple ponytail for her hair. The plan was to go over, have lunch with his kids and maybe watch a movie or something. It definitely didn’t call for heels, so she grabbed her Converses. The nice pair that weren’t covered in coffee splashes. She held her arms out. “How do I look?”

  “Like somebody I’d be glad to have dating my dad.” Then India pulled a face. “That sounded better in my head, but you know what I mean.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  The doorbell rang, sending Kelly’s nerves into overdrive. She made a face at India. “Wish me luck.”

  “You’ll be awesome.” India gathered up Jacob and her things.

  Kelly answered the door to Vince. “Hi.”

  “Hi, you.” He kissed her cheek. “You get prettier every time I see you.”

  He used to say that to her way back when and it made her laugh. “I get older every time you see me.”

  “Hi, Vince.” India came up behind her with Jacob in her arms. Her cheeks flushed charmingly pink.

  Vince blushed and cleared his throat. “Hey, India. You staying here?”

  “No.” India smiled back. “We’re mooching off Dot at the moment. Jacob and I popped in to visit Auntie Kelly this morning.”

  “And hello to you.” Vince tickled Jacob’s tummy with his forefinger. He looked at India with his hands held out. “May I?”

  “Sure.” India handed him over.

  Vince beamed at them over Jacob’s head. “I love babies. I could have a football team of them.”

  “Really?” Kelly had never spoken to Vince about children. She’d assumed he hadn’t been delighted to be a young father, and she hadn’t been around in those early days of his marriage to Chelsea. He really did look good with Jacob, a natural. Unlike someone else who was still on the edge of a free-fall panic attack. “Shall we?”

  Vince kept hold of Jacob as they walked to the parking lot. He turned to India. “Can we drop you?”

  “I have my car.” India slid past him, careful not to let one part of herself come into contact with Vince. “But thanks anyway.”

  “No bother.” He buckled Jacob into his car seat and stood back and watched as India drove away. “She’s incredible.”

  “Huh?” He caught Kelly in the act of checking out the cleavage situation. India had said there wasn’t too much showing, but how much was too much? “India?”

  “Yeah.” Vince shook his head. “I can’t even get my head around what she’s been through. What that asshole put her t
hrough.”

  Vince was right. She’d been spending all this time worrying about India not being who she was before instead of seeing her as the strong survivor she was. “That asshole showed up here the other day.”

  “What?” Vince’s face tightened with anger. “Did he try to get to her?”

  “No.” Kelly walked with Vince to his car. “He’s still holding to his story that she is depressed and not acting like herself.”

  Vince yanked the car door open for her, putting a tad too much heft in it. “Asshole.”

  “He’s very convincing, but I’m going to give India the benefit of the doubt.”

  Vince stared at her. “Why would you not?”

  Again, he was absolutely right. Piers had every reason to lie and India none.

  “Has Ben arrested him yet?” Vince checked the traffic before joining the main road outside her condo.

  “Not when I spoke to him yesterday,” Kelly said. “It seems Piers has not been to work and hasn’t been seen at his house either.”

  Vince’s jaw tightened. “There’s the proof of his guilt. Right there.”

  Vince drove them to a new subdivision on the outskirts of town. When she’d last been there, half the houses had been paused, waiting for new buyers. Now they were all full and families were out and about. “When did this happen?”

  “It’s been steadily growing.” Vince pointed to a house on their right. “That was the last one, and the Cranstons moved in about three months ago.”

  Being friendly with your neighbors was one of those things that still happened in Twin Elks.

  As Vince pulled into the driveway of a neat two-story detached home with a small lawn out front, nerves almost got the better of Kelly. She fought the urge to ask Vince if she could stay in the car until he had time to take her home again.

  “Come on.” He grinned at her. “They’re waiting for you.”

  Like the grim reaper, really. Kelly managed a pathetic smile and climbed out the car.

  Vince let her into the house, a neat family home with warm wooden floors and off-white walls. A small pile of books and shoes lay on the bottom stairs waiting for someone to take them up, and backpacks sat under coats in the entrance hall.