Indy hadn’t had any time to figure out who she was.
I was standing in the way of that.
“But we just found our way to each other. I don’t want to lose that. Lose her.” I wasn’t ashamed to admit that my voice croaked. Because it hurt. It hurt so damned much.
“You ever heard that saying about letting the one you love go? And that if it’s meant to be, they’ll come back to you?”
I turned to look at Indy again. She laughed at something one of the girls said and tossed her hair back. She was so fucking gorgeous. She’d finally lost the shadows in her eyes. She was opening up. Becoming the confident woman I knew she would be.
And now I was losing her.
“Fuck.” I dipped my head and scrubbed at my burning eyes. I hated this. Hated that Aunt Wendy was right.
Hated that I had to let her go.
“I can’t just kick her out. She won’t have anywhere to go. Her dad’s in county awaiting state charges on trafficking. So far it doesn’t look like the feds are interested in him, but that could change. And the lawyer I’ve hired for him said he’s going to have to do time—at least a year.”
Aunt Wendy hunched down and leaned toward me to whisper, “Trafficking? So he’s…”
“A West Coast King. Yes.”
“Dylan.” She sucked in a breath like she’d absorbed a punch. “Does she know about you and…”
“Yeah.” I gave a soft chuckled. “It’s why we met. She’s the one who painted the new mural on the side of the shop.”
“The one with the cat peeing…?” Her eyes widened.
I laughed harder. “Yeah. That one.”
“Damn.” A note of respect tinted the word. Aunt Wendy always had a soft spot for rebels and troublemakers.
Which was why Indy fit in with us. We were all kinda insane here.
Only now she was leaving.
Aunt Wendy shook her head. “Sabrina still has her apartment. Or Logan has his. They haven’t officially moved in together yet, but that wouldn’t take much of a nudge. I think Sabby’s place is closer to Indy’s college. And between all of us, we can figure out her car situation. Austin has some connections there I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping us out with.”
“And her job?” My heart felt heavier the more the plan slowly took shape. “She’s pulling in two paychecks right now—one from us and one from the network.”
“But Austin mentioned that could be ending soon—the network part I mean.”
“Hopefully, but either way, any job I can line her up with will be tied to me. After all the shit with my sperm donor, I’ve burned too many bridges in the industry to find her a position anywhere else.”
“How much interaction do the two of you have at work? I thought you were usually in the paint shed, and she’s at the front desk.”
“That’s true. But I usually take her out for lunch and then find one or twelve reasons to stop by her desk throughout the day.”
Aunt Wendy grinned. “Christ, you’re cute. I remember those days—all twitterpated and completely enveloped in someone.”
I snickered. “You say that like you and Brian aren’t like that now. I heard Sabrina walked in on the two of you—”
“Whoa. Okay. Time out.” Wendy’s face flamed red and she waved her hand in front of her face to cool herself. “She told you that? That brat. She promised me.”
“Sabrina and I don’t have any secrets.”
Aunt Wendy sent me a look, and I shrank a little in my chair.
“We don’t have any secrets anymore,” I muttered.
