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Going after Indigo
Sapphire Falls
Kindle Worlds Novella
Rose Silverstone
~ Sometimes the most treasured jewels are found in the most unlikely of places. ~
Big dreams are all she’s ever had. Is she willing to give up one in order to accept one that she’d let go of long ago? Sometimes the most treasured jewels are found in the most unlikely of places.
Scandal. Scarlet Letter. Scarred.
Those are words that Sapphire Indigo Warren is all too familiar with. Those words seemed to follow her from her small hometown of Sapphire Falls all the way to New York and back again. A call regarding her favorite aunt has Sapphire traveling a road far more treacherous than the fatal drive that led to her greatest loss.
Noah Burke has always done what’s necessary to keep his sister’s secrets. He took on the responsibility of a child he wasn’t made aware existed until his sister’s shocking death. Hayden became his and he never questioned it until his path crosses that of the infamous “Indigo Crystalline.” His little girl’s new dance teacher may just have more in common with his Hayden than he may be ready to handle.
The problem isn’t whether or not he cares enough to want the famous dancer turned dance instructor in his life. It’s in wondering if either of them can face the truth of the past and have their budding relationship survive.
Prologue
Sapphire
Push!” Come on, Girl! Push now! Your baby needs you to dig deep and push.”
The doctor remained in position as the first nurse adjusts her position holding one of the sixteen-year-old girl’s legs. The second nurse—the one the girl knew and trusted—smiles down at the exhausted female as she takes a similar position on the girl’s other side before speaking.
“Come on, Crystal …” It isn’t the girl’s name, but a name given to her by the woman to protect her anonymity and because of the crystal blue color of her eyes. It is one that she willingly accepts. “You’ve got this. A tough girl like you has to have a reserve of energy on hand. Let’s do this.”
The girl’s head flops back on the pillow.
“I can’t. I just can’t, Twyla. I’m so tired.”
The first nurse, Marlie, offers up a snarky response and the girl wants nothing more than to rip her throat out.
“Probably should’ve been something you said to him the night he worked on putting this bun in your oven. Now, let’s get this baby born, shall we?”
A noise from the mostly silent doctor has all of them looking to the lower portion of the bed.
“I don’t think this little one wants to wait for anyone. They’re ready to join us and attempting to prove they need no one’s help to get here.” A feeling of crazy pressure and a deep breath later the doctor speaks again. “Hup. Yeah, we have a head. If we were going to move her, it’s too late now because this baby is practically walking out of her.”
The thought of a child walking out of a woman causes the girl to begin to laugh uncontrollably. The two nurses give her a look that clearly lets her know they think she’s lost her mind. Tears form in her eyes as pain and pressure radiate through her lower region. Still, she continues to laugh.
The doctor announces the baby is out and there is a flurry of activity before an announcement that a little girl has been born.
“Okay. Mom, are you ready to see your precious girl?” she hears Twyla ask in a singsong voice.
“Wait. No. She’s putting the baby up for adop …”
“No. I want to see her. I want … I need my baby girl. Please. Bring her here.”
The girl’s voice is full of pain and exhaustion, but also something else. There is a determination there that causes the nurse to tuck the child’s head into the blanket and make her way to the bed.
“We have to be sure,” Marlie’s words cut in causing Twyla to stop for only a moment.
“Crystal, are you certain? Have you changed your mind, honey?”
The girl’s response is immediate. She doesn’t pause, hesitate, or take a moment to think over the ramifications of what’s getting ready to happen if she’s changed her mind.
“Yes. I’m sure. I want my baby. I want my little, Belle. Please let me see her and will you take our picture? I don’t care how I look. I just know I’ll need it.”
Marlie’s face softens from the hard look she’d been wearing the entire time that the girl had been preparing to become what she officially is. She is a mother. This little angel is going to be her responsibility. She isn’t ready for her, but she is going to do this. Even if Russell Gunner is a jerk-face and a colossal jackass, she is going to do right by their daughter. She is theirs … no, she is hers.
The Lanes would understand. They’d have to. This is a promise she isn’t going to be able to keep. On countless occasions, she’d been told this is the toughest decision she’d ever make. She hated breaking Lizzie’s heart, but she couldn’t part with the beautiful angel that quietly lay sleeping so peacefully in her arms.
“Smile, honey,” Marlie calls and she turns her face to look away from her bundle of joy.
Another few flashes and the girl feels as if she has had enough. The hours of bringing life into the world are rapidly catching up with her.
“I’ll take her and have all of her testing complete while you rest. She’ll be waiting for you when you wake.” Twyla reaches for her and she doesn’t want to let her daughter go. The thought makes her uneasy. “You need to sleep and so does she, Crystal. Lay those golden tinged locks to rest for a bit so that you are rested enough to care for her. You’re going to have plenty of time to see her, spend time with her, love on her. She’s your daughter. You’re a mom. Rest easy knowing that’s who you are and she’s healthy. That little beauty is going to sleep and be waiting for you to give her what she needs after you rest a bit.”
She finally closes her eyes with that assurance in her thoughts.
It is something she would regret doing for years to come. She can’t believe she’d been naïve enough to trust those words. She should’ve known that her track record, even a sixteen-year long one, didn’t allow for good things to remain in her life.
Her life had been filled with painful losses and major league drama. Why shouldn’t the happiest day of her life be followed up with one that tore her apart?
She’d awakens the next morning to the worst news a mother could ever be given. Her little girl … her Belle is gone. They don’t know what happened. They don’t have much to offer other than “sincerest apologies” and condolences for her loss. She doesn’t hear much of anything after the panicked and tear-filled announcement Twyla made.
That settled things for her. No longer was she going to live the life that promised nothing but drama and heartache. She’d made a decision to do something for someone else and couldn’t even do that right. She has always dreamed of being a prima ballerina and was planning on heading to New York after the Lanes took custody of her child. Now, she could do it. No strings attached. She’d sobbed uncontrollably as she moved to gather her things. There was some slight pain, but nothing like the pain in her heart.
She had nothing and no one tying her to Sapphire Falls. This loss gave her a clea
n slate.
Her family hadn’t wanted to be around for any of this. She’d been sent away, dismissed. There was no need to inform any of them of her plans. Her sister hated her because she was living the life Ryan had wanted, but didn’t have the talent for. Her brother, Colt, didn’t appreciate anyone else getting the attention he believed he was supposed to always have. Her recent actions caused her to be an embarrassment to them all.
With a determined mind, broken heart, and tear stained face, she slips out of the room where her most recent heartbreak happened.
Her dance bag had already been packed with everything she needed. Without a backward glance and ignoring the calls of the wrong name, she leaves the hospital, hitches a ride with a regular patron of Dottie’s, and heads for the bus station.
Goodbye Sapphire Falls, the town she’d been named after. Goodbye Warren family, the people who’d abandoned her for deigning to get pregnant by a boy from the one family they now despised in town. Goodbye Sapphire Indigo Warren, a name she would consider synonymous with destruction, disappointment, and defeat from that day forward.
Hello soon to New York. Hello soon to her dreams coming true. Hello soon to Indigo Crystalline. A new life warrants a new name and she definitely wanted a new name.
1
Scandal
Eight Years Later
Indigo
Applause. The crowd is going crazy and her fellow dancers lament on how outstanding her performance was. Indigo takes it all in stride while giving sheepish smiles and nodding along with the praises.
Roger Finnegan’s—her agent and trusted friend’s—cool green eyes are fixed on her and she knows he’s learned what is going on or some portion of it. It isn’t what the papers and social media blogs are making it out to be. Not one soul would believe it if it didn’t come from one of the most infamous faces in the dance community. His wife—soon-to-be ex-wife—had conveniently whisked him away early that morning. It wouldn’t surprise her if Katherine hadn’t personally called the papers just to hurt her because of whatever she believed was going on between her and Mitchell. The woman normally has an entourage of bootlickers more than willing to do her dirt for her.
Thankfully, Indigo has close friends that are just as willing to see her safe and happy. Her fiery, refuse-to-bite-her-tongue friend, Julie, was on the phone telling her what was set to be printed and posted on all of the news blogs the following morning as soon as she learned about it early this morning. She’d called Lacey as soon as she ended the call with Julie. Lacey had been the one to talk her out of paying Katherine a personal visit and possibly giving the news whores more of a story than they had.
Indigo knows there is no truth in the allegations. Mitchell knows there is no truth to them. The bitchy kitty, Katherine, knows there is no truth to the rumors that she’d probably started herself. Sleeping her way to her place in the limelight went against everything that Indigo believes in. Another life and another version of herself and that may have been the case. The problem—one of the only ones she utterly hated—with being ensconced in the world of their dance life and company is the fact that it could be a lot like high school. Divinity Dance Studios is one of the most sought after dance companies in the New York area.
The performances that they put on are the talk of the town.
The first time Indigo heard of the company she’d been passing by a popular performance area in a nearby park where they’d been doing a dress rehearsal and fell in love. She couldn’t believe that was four years ago. The grace of the dancers was one thing. Seeing how they interacted with one another afterwards was what sold her. They appeared to genuinely care about one another.
She’d been honing her skills as a dancer while waitressing and sharing a two-bedroom loft with four other dancers all struggling to make a name for themselves or be added to the roster of a company. The five of them hung out regularly and converted a section of the loft they lived in into a makeshift dance studio. All of them lived, breathed, and slept dance so it was fitting that a portion of their living space was set aside to allow them to practice their moves.
That year, two of the group had been picked up to take the stage as cast members on Broadway and one decided to move back home to Nevada. It was down to Indigo and Lacey. Both had high hopes for their futures and dance careers even though both had been working hard to make their big splash for two solid years.
Indigo arrived every day at the same time and watched. She overheard one dancer state open calls would happen the next day and they weren’t planning on missing the show.
“Those poor things never know what they are getting themselves into when they walk into the studio.”
The woman that had been speaking was a pretty blonde with a petite frame that screamed dancer and nothing more. Her thin frame was toned in a way that spoke to her commitment to the career path she’d chosen. She was envied by all including Indigo.
Indigo’s frame had extra hips and slightly larger breasts brought on by … she never lost that. No matter how hard she’d tried.
“You don’t make their first week any easier.”
“It’s the nature of the beast and this beast doesn’t ease up just because the meat is fresher than the norm. I savor the tenderizing. Most of them don’t understand how grueling the pace is working with a company.”
The redhead that walked alongside the blonde rolled her neck before slipping into a pair of stylish boots.
“Which means you have to make it your point to show them just how horrifying this world is, Katherine?”
Lifting a slim shoulder and fixing her bone straight ponytail, the blonde simply replied, “Of course.”
The next day Indigo understood what the two had been speaking of. Her body ached in places she hadn’t known she had muscles. The wretched thing about the audition was it was day one of three. Who in the hell holds three-day auditions?
The redhead from the previous day came up and introduced herself at the end of the second day.
“Hey, I’m Juliette Masterson and you’re pretty damn awesome en point. Your lines are freaking gorgeous. I think Katherine might finally have someone who is going to give her a run for her money.”
“Thanks. I think. I’m …”
“Indigo Crystalline. With a name like that, you’ll find it difficult to go unnoticed, Miss Thing. You share a loft with Lacey Townsend, don’t you?”
“I do. How did you know that?”
“It’s pretty much my job to know all, honey. I dance for fun. My career has everything to do with journalism. I do believe I’ve just met my next big story.”
“That’s sweet, but I’m just here to dance.”
“Aren’t we all? I’m damn good at sniffing out talent though. Plus, the head choreographers and owner of the company haven’t stopped talking about you since your first arabesque. I’m starving. Let’s grab Lacey and get something to eat.”
Indigo had laughed that day, but Juliette had been correct in her assessment. Katherine was booted out of the limelight when the owner learned that she and Mitch were a thing. They didn’t like the fact none of the other dancers were receiving solos and felt it had everything to do with the connection to Mitchell. The man is a major donor as well as one of the former principal dancers. His word holds a lot of weight with the company.
Mitchell Samuels’ name is synonymous with Divinity Dance Studios. She can’t help if he recognized her talents and took her under his wing. Indigo wasn’t stupid. Every time he wanted to meet with her, she had at least one of her friends with her and he never once gave her a ride home. Fool her once and it was a lesson learned. Pull it off a second time and she is the damn fool.
Even with all of the careful measures and added steps, she was still being burned. Where was the proverbial bus that she was set to be thrown under? The Samuels’ names and faces had to be plastered all over the damn thing. Roger gives her a ride home and tells her that she needs to stay out of sight for a while. He wouldn’t allow her to read
the posts because he said he was working to have them killed. His curly blonde hair kept falling into his eyes as the driver returns her to her place.
“I’ll make some arrangements for you and … damn. Go around back, Davis. Lacey is waiting for you inside and I’m told Juliette is working things from her side of all of this. Your goal is not to engage.”
“I’ll do that. I don’t know what to say right now anyway. Crap. Let me take this or she’ll continue to call all night. Just keep me posted, Rog.”
“Of course. Enjoy Disney and the time off from the stage despite all of the crazy going on right now.”
“This vacation couldn’t have come at a better time.” Indigo climbs out of the backseat and walks through the back gate of her little townhouse. “Hello Mom. To what do I owe this off schedule call?”
Hearing her mother’s sniffles, she knows. Only one person could elicit that kind of reaction from her mother.
“It’s your aunt, my sister, Dinah, Sapphire.”
There is a name she hasn’t heard in a long time. It is connected to a life that she’d left behind. The only time she heard it was during the holiday calls to her family. Her mother called her on her birthday, but Indigo would be the one making the calls any other time. Her father is always so busy so she finds herself sending messages of love to him via text and email. He has sent gifts and little trinkets to let her know that he is thinking of her over the years. The siblings—the gruesome twosome—hadn’t spoken to her in years.
Indigo doesn’t know how but she is seated on the back porch and wrapped in Lacey’s arms. Her phone is no longer in her hands and tears are streaming down her face. Her Aunt Dinah—the only person to keep up with her and support her in her dream to be a dancer—had passed away and apparently left her some things. She would have to return to the place of her greatest pain to handle the paperwork. None of that mattered. She didn’t want to have anything to do with it if the one person who was always her buffer was no longer around.
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