Gary’s barrel-deep voice carries to the back offices where he is vaccinating the last of a new litter of puppies.
“Louisa, I’m heading out shortly.”
“I know. Colleen’s about to drive me damned insane with her moaning and groaning at this door. I’m tempted to just let her out.”
“You’ll do no such thing, woman. Back to what I was asking you, are you going to be leaving soon? I need to know if I should take my satchel with me or not.”
“You take it everywhere you go anyway. What would make you not take it right now?”
“You know, family sometimes makes for bigger pains in the backside than days of riding a newly tamed mare ever could.”
“Aw, you say such darling things, Cousin. I’ll be around. We have a few more appointments this evening.”
“Evening? I don’t recall making or approving evening hours.”
“You did for this customer and this customer alone. Mrs. Warren needs you to give Old Mister a once over for her. The German Shepherd hasn’t been acting like himself and she’s worried about him. He was apparently her long lost daughter’s dog. The husband wants to be here with her, just in case it’s bad news, but his plane doesn’t arrive until three. It’s a couple of hours drive from Lincoln.”
At the mention of the Warren name, Noah wishes like hell he wasn’t the only vet for the town. Hearing the name brings the questions he is trying his damndest to ignore back to the forefront.
“All right. I’ll be back then. Come on, girl. Let’s go get your owner. She won’t like it if we’re late.”
Noah knows he isn’t going to be able to continue to sweep the truth under the rug. It is going to come back to haunt him sooner or later, especially since he has a more than memorable encounter with Indigo/Sapphire not a day or so prior. The beast in his pants didn’t seem to care about the possible connection between Indigo and Hayden. It began to stir at the remembered encounter where they almost ended up naked again. Her hand stroking him as he stroked her would’ve led to so much more if that car hadn’t driven up at the moment it had.
This situation is a ticking time bomb waiting to implode. The problem is his fear that Hayden will be the main casualty. He can handle it, but he isn’t sure she will be able to. That reason alone calls for drastic measures to be taken.
8
Truths
Indigo
“Terri, you’re making more of this than what it is. We just had dinner.”
“The hell you say. When I pulled up, the two of you looked like you were about to head up to your bedroom and do the dirty.”
Truth be told, they had been. Hearing a car pull up had effectively put the kibosh on that plan. They’d been avoiding one another and had been doing well to keep a good distance from one another. His odd behavior the day he’d signed the permission slip had thrown her. Indigo had been busy fielding calls and inquiries from the numbskulls in the area—namely Ryan’s friends—that wanted to bring up past incidents from her youth.
It meant she still hadn’t laid eyes on the little girl who the teachers and Terri said looked just like her. Apparently, she’d been sick for the last few days. When she ran into Noah at the Come Again Bar, she’d asked how Hayden was feeling and when she would return to classes. He quickly answered the first, glossed over the second then pulled her onto the dance floor. They’d danced for a while before heading to her place for dinner. The heat level between them that had been at a slight simmer had reached the boiling over point before Terri drove up.
Thinking about how it all started had her questioning his motives since it was day three of Hayden being missing from classes. If she missed a full week, then she would be dropped and her spot would be filled by another girl on the waiting list. Indigo is still floored to know that there is a waiting list for all of the classes at her Aunt Dinah’s … her dance studio. She has the paperwork and a gift of money along with some of her aunt’s prized possessions to assure her of that. After she took care of Jojo today, then she would make a special trip over to the Burke house to check on Hayden.
With things going the way they were going, she had to change her plans. It meant that her little girl needed to be where she was. Indigo was grateful Lacey had been willing to keep her daughter for her while she got things started. Indigo’s initial plans had to be altered. Lacey said she didn’t mind at all. Evidently, Indigo’s Jodie Marie, her “Jojo Bean” had the time of her life with Lacey, Lacey’s husband and their child at Disney. Indigo was originally supposed to go as well. Her aunt’s sudden death changed those plans.
Lacey: We’re here. This place is gorgeous! :-)
Indigo snorts as she grabs her bag and locks the front doors.
Jojo bounds out of the car and runs to her awaiting arms.
“I missed you so much, Jojo Bean. My girl is here. I’m so glad to see you. I think you’ve grown, little girl.”
Jojo looks at her mother with a serious look in her four-year-old eyes. Her blue eyes twinkle as she pushes a lock of golden hair out of her face.
“I did. Mrs. Lacey measured me and took a picture.” Looking around, Jojo rubs her nose then scrunches it up. “Mommy, where are we?”
“Remember when Mommy told you she had to go to the place where she grew up?”
Jojo nods then speaks her answer. “Yes. I member.”
“This is it, Jojo Bean. Mommy grew up in Sapphire Falls. Now, I want you to tell me all about your trip to Disney.”
“Mommy, you missed so much. We had so much fun. We got to meet Mickey and …”
Jojo’s relaying of the details of her trip to Disney is interrupted by Indigo’s mother’s voice. She turns to see her mother, father, and brother all walking up. Had she been a little quicker, she and Jojo would be in the car guiding Lacey and her family to her new house. Too little, too late now.
Indigo’s mother’s words had her working overtime to catch their meaning.
“We have two grandchildren now?” Emily Warren asks with sadness and a hint of joy lacing her words.
“What are you talking about, Mom?”
Jojo bounces in place, instantly making the connection and runs to her grandmother. Introductions are quickly made and Indigo patiently waits for an explanation. After more probing, Indigo’s mother tells her about Hayden--the girl who her mother states is Indigo’s daughter. She speaks as if she knows this to be true, not as if she’s speculating.
“She’s gorgeous. She even has your lovely blue eyes, Saph. Those blues are rare and she has them. I cannot believe the uncanny resemblance between the two of you.”
It takes Emily Warren—her usually observant mother--a few minutes to see how Indigo is taking the information.
“I … I didn’t want …”
“We know, Saph. We respected your wishes. When we come into town, we stop in to see her. We don’t discuss our connection or anything. It’s just nice to be around her. She’s such an angel. You did a good thing …”
“I wanted my child, Mother. I thought … I’ve believed her to be dead all of these years and you’re telling me there is a child here who looks so much like me that she looks as if she could be my child?”
Indigo’s mother pulls out a picture from her wallet. One look at Hayden and the wall that she’d erected around her heart, the pain of losing that first child, all of those years of wondering what kind of little girl she would’ve grown up to be, the years of mourning her on the date of her little girl’s birth are released. Indigo breaks down. She just sinks to the ground. Lacey drops with her and wraps her in her arms. Her father notices and asks if it’s okay to take Jojo to get ice cream. All she can do is nod as tears streak down her face.
She doesn’t know how long she is crouched down on her knees sobbing into her friend’s lap. All she knows is when she stands her legs have gone a bit numb and she is pissed.
It doesn’t take her long to surmise what in the hell is going on with Noah and the reason behind Hayden’s sudden absence.
/> “Where are we going?”
Indigo relishes the fact that Lacey doesn’t say “you.” No her friend says, “we” and that means the world to her.
“I’ve never been one to hold my tongue and I’m not about to start now. That small town man won’t know what hit him.”
“Remember, you’re from that very same small town?”
“Lace, I don’t give two shits if we grew up in the same fucking house. That bastard is going to know my wrath.”
Her mother remains silent as Indigo makes her way to her car. Everyone climbs in and Indigo swipes hard at the moisture on her face.
She isn’t given her due because Noah isn’t where she expects him to be. For an hour, she drives around to his usual spots and finds he isn’t at any of them.
“I’m going to go back to the studio. If he isn’t there then I’m going to have to wait him out. When we do come face-to-face, he is going to be unrecognizable afterward.”
For Noah’s sake, he better hope it is sooner than later.
* * *
Indigo stands pacing the staff office that she’d put together in one of the old dance rooms. Every so often, she finds herself standing in front of the window, looking down over everything. As soon as she sees him climbing out of the cab of his truck, she is in motion. Hayden had been in class today. It is the day after her mother’s revelation and she is still fighting mad. Indigo saw her Aunt Lou that early afternoon and overheard the woman telling the teacher to be sure to remind Hayden that her father was going to be the one to pick her up after class.
Indigo had attempted to enter the classroom but was stopped by Lacey calling her to handle something with Jojo. She still doesn’t know the best way to handle the situation. All she knows is she is going to clear things up with Noah before the day is over. Lacey and Terri see her as she rounds the corner from the stairs.
“Are you sure you want to do this here?”
Lacey’s question falls on deaf ears as Noah makes his way through the back door. Before he is completely inside, she launches into her questions.
“Did you know?”
He takes a step back as if he is shocked to see her at her place of business.
“What are you talking about?”
“All I want to hear is the answer to my question. I don’t want to be questioned. I’m not in the mood and I’m not going to repeat myself.”
He glares daggers at her as if she were the one that had wronged him.
“I’m guessing you’re talking about …”
“Please don’t pretend like you don’t know full well what this is all about.”
Lifting the picture to his line of sight, she then moves it back to rest next to her face.
Looking dejected, he finally answers her question, “I just recently figured it out. I didn’t want to believe it. Hayden is my world. Keeping her out of this studio and in my home is what I believed was the best thing for her.”
“For what reason would you do something like that?”
“My daughter doesn’t deserve a woman in her life that was too selfish to keep her instead of running off to another state chasing some pipe dream.”
“You think I’m selfish? You who wouldn’t even acknowledge there was a slight chance that I could be that little girl’s mother in order for you to appease your unjust fear of losing her.”
He chortles but says nothing in response.
“Come on, Indy. Let’s go.” Lacey tries to pull her away, but she’s fired up and refusing to be deterred.
“No. I’m not done. Did you believe you could hide the uncanny resemblance between the two of us by removing her from one of the main things that connects the two of us? Other than our DNA!”
I can’t believe how much my voice carries with that last statement.
“She is my daughter. I’ve taken care of her all of her life. You haven’t been around. My sister adopted that child, the child you didn’t want.”
“I DID WANT HER!” Indigo yells and she doesn’t care who is looking, staring, or possibly watching. She needs them to hear this. “Check your records, Dr. Burke. There are no legal adoption papers. My child was stolen from me. I was planning on staying here and caring for my baby. My little girl was ripped away from me the night she was born. You have lost all parts of your cowhide-wearing mind if you believe I’m letting her go again. She is talented. She should be. She’s mine.”
The final words of her declaration are released on a snarl. Indigo takes notice of the way it makes her sound.
“It’s true?” They hear a little voice filled with confusion question their statement as her phone rings.
Noah pulls a paper from his back pocket and hands it to her.
“This alone should be convincing enough evidence to keep my daughter where she belongs. I don’t know what story you’ve made up in your mind, but you aren’t going to have anything to do with raising my child.”
“Daddy, is Ms. Indigo my real mommy?”
The look he gives Indigo sends chills down her spine. It isn’t one she would ever want directed at her again.
“I believe you’ve done quite enough damage, Sapphire.”
He snarls the words as he walks by her, heading toward Hayden. Indigo opens the paper to see an article she was assured would never see the news or any media outlet. She wants to crumple it upon sight of the headline. She doesn’t because her daughter darts around Noah and reaches for her. Indigo instinctively drops and lifts Hayden into her arms as the first tear drops from her eye.
“My name is Indigo. My child needs to have her mother in her life, especially when her mother wants to be there. Dr. Burke, there’s nothing you or any court could do to separate the bond between mother and daughter.”
Hayden begins shuddering in Indigo’s arms. Her little voice is repeatedly speaking thanks for “gifting her with the mommy” she always wanted. Indigo’s eyes fill with tears as he steps back like he’s been struck. His pain is written all over his face. She knows that pain and devastation. She’s felt that type of devastation in her past.
Damn her traitorous heart for wanting to comfort him. Noah nods and moves forward. Indigo take a step back. She’s willing to admit that she’s afraid he’s going to snatch Hayden from her hold. He surprises her by kissing Hayden’s upturned cheek and nodding as if resigned to his fate.
“You’re going to hang out with Ms. Indigo tonight. Daddy has some things he needs to look into.”
Noah doesn’t look at her as he turns to leave. Indigo watches him as he walks out the back door to the usual spot where he parks his truck. Holding tight to her baby girl, she squeezes her and treasures the moment that she has with her. Taking a steadying breath, she moves to grab her things. Ignoring the gawkers and onlookers, she leaves the studio to pick up her other girl so that the sisters can finally meet. Jojo is going to scream at being able to have an older sister. She’s been begging for one since the moment she learned what a sister or brother meant.
Here is her opportunity to finally have what it is she’d been dreaming of for so many years, something she didn’t think was even possible. Why is she trembling as she climbs into the driver seat of her car?
9
Uncovered
Noah
Twenty-four hours turned into forty-eight hours of Hayden being away from him and with that woman. Indigo or Sapphire, whatever she is calling herself. By day three, Noah just knows his head is going to implode if Hayden calls him and asks him to spend yet another night with her ‘real mommy’ and her baby sister. The woman having another child should make him feel better, but it doesn’t. It pisses him off even more.
There is a child that she cared for all of her life. He spends more time being confused than pissed. The calls from his mother hadn’t helped. She wanted to know where Hayden was and why she hadn’t been at their house. He’d had Louisa answer the phone so that he could deal with the patients. Colleen whimpers and pulls his attention from the papers that he has been sitting in f
ront of for longer than he should have been.
Louisa is standing in the doorway to his office.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long. Just long enough to know that Hayden doesn’t need to see you like this.”
Noah knows he has to look like shit. After seeing the final patient the day prior, he pretty much wallowed and drank the night away. Why is this so hard for him?
“Did you talk to my aunt yet?”
The hate he feels in that moment is probably not the best thing since he doesn’t know the truth of it all, but it’s there.
“I haven’t. Part of me doesn’t want to know. The other part of me is screaming stop being a dick and take myself over there to learn the truth.”
“Is the dick or the father winning out?”
“It was hard enough losing my sister. What was worse was the day we lost Lizzie was the same day we lost a portion of my parents. There was something they hadn’t shared with me. I still don’t know what they were hiding but I couldn’t dwell on it. There was this little girl that needed all of my attention.”
“Still doesn’t answer the question, Noah. Which one’s winning out?”
“Do you think I don’t know I’m being a selfish asshole prick by being like this? You think I didn’t see how she lit up when she saw her? You believe I don’t feel the connection that clearly tells me the one thing that scares me shitless?”
He stands and breezes by Louisa grabbing his keys as he goes.
“If you do, Noah, then where in the Sam hell are you going?”
“I am going to the one place I know is ours, mine, and that little girl’s. I, me, your cousin, Noah, need to have this before I turn our worlds completely topsy-turvy.” Noah takes a deep breath trying to calm himself and combat the surge of emotion that is riding just below the surface of his sanity. “She’s all I have left of Lizzie. Why? Why can’t you and every-damn-body else understand that?”
Sapphire Falls: Going After Indigo (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6
