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“It must have been hard for you to leave her.”

“It was, but we stay in touch. She’s thirteen now, doing well in school and playing sports. I think she’s on the right track. She’s more mature now. She gets that just because her parents have to work doesn’t mean they love her any less.”

“Her parents must appreciate that you were able to help her understand that.” Lee was trying to cautiously draw parallels to her own situation without offending her.

“They’re good people, good parents.”

“Would you have described your parents that way before they refused to believe you about what happened?” Lee wished they weren’t having that conversation over the phone. He should be looking into her eyes, holding her, and rubbing her back while she talked about her family.

“I guess.”

“People make mistakes, Indie. Your parents made a huge one, but don’t you think they’ve suffered enough?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “They’ve missed out on the last seven years of your life. Their daughter is a stranger to them now. I can only imagine what that must be like for them.”

“I hear what you’re saying…”

“But you’re not ready to forgive and forget.” He didn’t condone or understand the choices Indie’s parents had made, but the separation was obviously hurting her. He wanted her to start her own healing by repairing the rift with her parents.

“I’ll never forget,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”

Lee cursed himself for not being there when she needed someone to hold her. “Of course you won’t, baby, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a relationship with them. It won’t be the same, but maybe it doesn’t have to be.”

“I don’t know.”

“Just remain open to the possibility.” Lee couldn’t explain why he needed Indie to acknowledge that forgiveness was possible. Maybe because he needed to know she was a woman capable of understanding people could change.

“I will.”

“Good… I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Lee.”

Those few simple words made his night… and made him realize he was falling for a woman who would undoubtedly cause a rift between him and Drake. “Call me when you get back?”

“Sure.”

“Any idea when that’ll be?”

“Um, early tomorrow evening is my guess.”

He wanted to ask her to dinner, but he knew she’d probably be emotionally exhausted by the time she made it back. “Promise you’ll call before your head hits that pillow? I want to know you got home safely.”

After a long pause, she said, “It’s been a long time since someone cared enough about me to want me to check in. Thanks. I forgot how much I missed that.”

Lee’s heart ached for her. He’d always had someone who cared about him, which was a lot more than he deserved during the height of his addiction. “Get used to it. Sleep tight, baby. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Indie showed up at her parents’ house the next morning feeling lighter and freer than she had in a long time. Lee’s words had made her realize that she was the one in control, the one who decided whether holding on to her anger was worth the price she’d been paying.

“You look well rested,” her mother said, smiling. “How was your dinner with Hal?”

“It was nice,” Indie admitted.

She crossed the threshold into the house that held some of her best and worst memories. Indie was shocked by how little had changed. Photos of her and her sister cluttered tables and lined walls, as though her parents were trying to hold on to their childhood with glossy framed photographs.

“Cameron’s taking a nap,” her mother said. “Come in. I made your favorite cinnamon pinwheels. They’re just out of the oven.”

Indie thought of how many Saturdays she’d spent standing on a small step stool at her mother’s kitchen counter, learning how to create her favorite confections.

As though she could read her mind, Giselle said, “We had some good times together, Indie. They weren’t all bad, were they?”

“No.” Indie touched the pantry door frame. It still held their height markers, a reminder that she had once been a happy, care-free child. “There were good times. A lot of good times.”

A relieved smile passed across her mother’s lips before her chin wobbled. “I’m glad you think so. I was afraid…” She sniffled, reaching into the pocket of her hand-made cardigan for a tissue. “I was afraid they’d all been wiped out when you left.”

Indie’s eyes drifted to the butcher block counter. Tucked away underneath was the little stool she remembered. Some of Indie’s best talks with her mother had happened while they were kneading dough, and Indie wouldn’t trade those times for anything.

“You remember,” Giselle said, following her gaze to the stool. “I tell your father I keep that there so I can reach the high shelves, but the truth is, every time I walk into this kitchen, I see you standing on it. I remember how happy we were back then. I miss those times together more than I can tell you.”

Indie swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked out into the backyard. The trees were larger than she remembered, but right beyond the new swing set was her parents’ vegetable garden. Some things changed while others seemed frozen in time, like the images on the walls. Indie closed her eyes and leaned into the counter, barely noticing when the hard edge pierced her mid-section. “We can’t go back, Mama.”

“No, we can’t go back.” Giselle stood beside her daughter and watched two young children play next door. “But maybe we could move forward?”

It took a while for Indie to find her voice. “If you’d asked me that a week ago, I would have said no. Now the best I can offer is a maybe.”

“I’ll take it,” Giselle said.

Indie turned to look at her mother. The years and miles between them had taken their toll on a woman Indie had once believed was invincible.

Giselle said tentatively, “Did something happen this past week to change your mind?”

“I guess you could say someone helped me see things differently.”

“Then we owe them a debt of gratitude.”

Indie expected her mother to press her for details. Had she done so, Indie would have said she wasn’t ready to talk about it. Since she didn’t, Indie volunteered, “He lost his parents in a plane crash when he was a kid. He reminded me that sometimes you run out of time to say the things you should have said.”

“Sounds like a smart man.” Giselle started taking pinwheels from the cookie sheet and placing them on a plate.

“He is. He’s a good man.” Indie couldn’t explain why she felt the urge to confide in her mother about Lee. Perhaps because it had been so long since she felt like she cared, or maybe it was being reminded of a time when she felt she could tell Giselle anything.

“You deserve a good man.” Giselle set the plate on the table before reaching for a tray of coffee mugs, cream, sugar, and a carafe of freshly brewed coffee.

“Lee’s not my man,” Indie said. “I mean, we’re not really dating, just getting to know each other. He’s my boss’s brother. We work together.”

“I see.” Giselle claimed a seat at the walnut table Indie’s grandfather had made. “How does your boss feel about you two seeing each other?”

“He doesn’t know about it yet.” Indie refused to feel guilty about her feelings for Lee. He was the first person she’d felt she could trust in a long time, and no matter what Drake thought of their relationship, she refused to apologize for her feelings.

“Would he object?” Giselle asked, filling two mugs with coffee.

“I guess he would.” Indie sat across from her mother. “Lee has a bit of a troubled past.”
That’s putting it mildly
. “His brother, Drake, doesn’t want to see him have a setback or hurt someone he cares about.”

“This Drake… he cares about you?”

“As a friend.” Indie picked up a pinwheel and took an absent-minded bite. Flavor exploded on her tongue, bringing to mind a bittersweet memory of how she used to beg her mama to make them for her. “He and his wife, Cassidy, have been good to me. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

“Like family?” Giselle asked, her voice catching.

“Yes.”

“I’m glad. I hated to think of you out there all alone with no support. Of course, now I know you had Penny.”

“Don’t blame her for not saying anything to you about me being in Nashville. I swore her to secrecy.”

“Of course I don’t blame her.” Giselle looked her in the eye. “You’d already been betrayed by your parents and sister. I’m grateful you could count on Penny to honor her promise to you.”

Indie bowed her head. She’d never expected talking to her mother to be so gut-wrenching. Holding a grudge was easy, but when love eclipsed the pain, it blurred the lines. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for coming here,” Giselle said, reaching out a shaky hand to cover her daughter’s. “I know how hard that must have been for you.”

“It was, but I’m glad I did.” Withdrawing her hand gently, she wrapped her fingers around her oversized mug, taking comfort from the warmth. “I needed to make sure that Amy was all right. I can’t wait to meet her little boy.”

Giselle’s eyes sparkled with pride. “He’s amazing, so smart and affectionate. You’d think after all he’s been through, he would be shy or wary of strangers, but he’s not. He laughs so freely, like he doesn’t have a care in the world.”

“That’s what I love about kids,” Indie said. “They’re so innocent. They live in the moment and know how to keep things in perspective.”

Giselle took a sip of her coffee. “Think you’ll ever have any of your own?”

“I’d like to. If I meet the right person.” Indie thought about Lee’s relationship with his daughter. He was the kind of man every woman wanted to help her raise their baby. Shaking her head at the notion, she said, “But I don’t waste a lot of time thinking about that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with fantasizing,” Giselle said. “I think it helps you get clear about what you want.”

“I guess.” Indie shrugged. Day-dreaming seemed like a waste of time to her.

“Did you keep baby-sitting when you left town?” Giselle asked, reaching for a pinwheel. “Is that how you supported yourself?”

“Yeah, I got a job as a live-in nanny. The couple was really nice, but they both traveled a lot for business, so they needed someone to look after their kid.”

“That’s a lot of responsibility for a young girl,” Giselle said, frowning. “You hadn’t even finished high school.”

“Things don’t always work out as planned,” Indie said, refusing to dwell on all the things she’d missed.

“Did you ever finish high school?”

“Yeah, I took classes online while I was living with the Kennedys. College wasn’t in the cards for me, but I wanted to at least get my high school diploma.”

“Your daddy and I never stopped putting money away for your education.” Pinching her lips together, Giselle said, “It was the only way we could think of to show you how sorry we were, and to make you believe we would do anything to make up for the mistakes we’d made.”

Indie found her anger dissipating as her heart softened toward her mother. “Save it for Cameron’s education, Mama. I’m doing just fine on my own.”

“There must be something we can do for you,” she said, wringing her hands. “We want you to know we’re sorry and that—”

“We were wrong,” Leo said, placing his firm hand on Indie’s shoulder.

She hadn’t even heard her father walk into the room, but he must have been standing there long enough to hear a good part of their conversation.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said, covering his hand with her own. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Not half as good as it is to see you, girl.” His blue eyes filled with tears. “I never thought we’d see you in this house again.”

“I’m glad I came back. It helped me to remember some of the good times.” Indie wasn’t naïve enough to believe things with her parents would ever be the same, but she believed they may be able to forge a new relationship.

“Oh, I hear Cameron,” Giselle said, standing. “We can’t wait for you to meet him.”

“I can’t wait either,” Indie said with a smile.

When her mother left the room, Leo sat down next to Indie. They didn’t exchange a single word, but his strong grip on her hand told her what he couldn’t say. He missed her and loved her.

“So you’re taking care of yourself now,” he said.

“I am. Got a job, an apartment—”

“A man? Someone to be there for you?”

“There’s someone special,” she said. “Someone I care about, but I’m not sure where it’s going. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.” Lee had clearly decided he intended to be there for her, but she had no idea how long that would last.

“Seems to me he’d be a fool not to snap you up while he has the chance.”

Indie grinned, her heart swelling with her father’s love. “You’re a little biased, Daddy.”

He grunted before running a shaky hand over his thinning hair. “Call it what you will—I speak the truth. So, we gonna get to meet this man of yours?”

Indie hadn’t even thought about coming back yet, much less asking Lee to join her. “Uh, I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”

“Here’s our little man,” Giselle said as she came in and set the wiggling baby in Indie’s arms.

Indie sucked in a breath. Cameron was positively angelic with rosy cheeks, bright green eyes, and sandy hair that curled over his ears. She stroked his soft cheek with her fingertip. “Hi there, I’m your Auntie Indie. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”

He grinned at her and wrapped his little hand around her finger. Indie wished she’d had the foresight to stop at the toy store before coming over. She’d been so distracted on the short taxi ride from the hotel, she hadn’t considered it. When she sat Cameron upright, he reached across the table, struggling to grab the plate of his grandmother’s cookies. Indie smiled and pushed the plate farther out of his reach. Resting her chin on top of his head, she inhaled his scent as she closed her eyes.

“His christening is next month,” Leo said. “Your sister will be out of the hospital by then. Maybe you could come back and help us celebrate his big day.”

Indie could tell her parents were holding their breath and waiting for her response. “Maybe.”