Sylvia’s lips thinned, and something passed through her eyes. Fear maybe? Or annoyance? It was hard to tell. “I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on. Did you date while you were separated? Or was that just Colt?”
Indie flinched, and she couldn’t even hide it. “Colt dated?”
No…he wouldn’t do that. He was the one insisting that she was his. That they were still married.
But she hadn’t answered his calls over the last twelve months. And she’d sent him freaking divorce papers.
“He did,” Sylvia said easily, like the words weren’t daggers in Indie’s chest. “Only briefly, since he was based in California, buthe actually came up a lot in the last year. You know Audrey? She makes those pretty bracelets, and stores sell them for her around town.”
Nausea crawled up her throat. Of course she knew Audrey. They’d gone to high school together, and she was beautiful. And kind. And probably wouldn’t fall into a pit of depression after a few rounds of failed IVF.
Sylvia frowned and looked at the ceiling as if she was thinking. “There was another girl, too…a woman in California who was staying with him when I visited. Savannah, maybe?”
Two? No. That couldn’t be true. Colt wouldn’t have dated two different women while she’d been simultaneously in love with him and trying to work through the hardest battle of her life due to depression.
Why did her heart race though? Because Colt was cute and if women found out he was available they’d be all over him? “I need to go, Sylvia.”
“Oh, dear, you’ve gone pale. I’m sorry. I thought since you separated from him that you wouldn’t—” She stopped, her gaze catching on something behind Indie. Suddenly, it was the older woman’s face that lost all color.
Indie turned slightly and spotted a man. A familiar man. It was the guy she’d run into at The Tea House, when she’d caught up with Noah. The one with the black eyes and the scar.
And he was looking straight at Sylvia.
Indie turned back to Colt’s mother, and if possible, she’d lost even more color. “Do you know him?”
Sylvia’s mouth opened and closed, something akin to fear crossing her features. “I…I need to go.” She spun and rushed out of the aisle, walking faster than Indie had ever seen her move before.
Frowning, Indie shot another glance over her shoulder to see the man still watching Sylvia. Then he shifted his focus to Indie, and a shudder coursed down her spine before he walked away.
Who was he? If Sylvia knew him, did Colt?
She hurried to the front of the store and paid for her groceries before heading to her car. She’d just slipped behind the wheel when her phone dinged with a text.
Colt: Hey, Cricket. How are you today?
And suddenly she remembered everything Sylvia had said before that guy had appeared, about Colt dating other women. It probably wasn’t true. Itwasn’ttrue. Sylvia knew how to lie, and she was forever trying to put a wedge between Indie and Colt.
Still, the insecure part of Indie, the part that had always wondered if Colt would have been happier with someone stronger than her, made doubt flicker in her mind.
Colt useda crowbar to pull up another old wooden board from the deck. He’d been working on this log cabin all day, and he wasn’t close to getting rid of the rotten wood.
Fortunately, he wasn’t in a rush. He and Noah wanted to do this right and that would take time.
Cool evening air ran over his skin as he threw the board onto the pile beside the cabin. His phone lay a few yards away.
Two texts. He’d sent Indie two texts this afternoon, and she hadn’t responded to either one.
He moved on to the next board.
Why? After last night, he’d been so sure they were on the same page again. That she wanted to get their marriage back on track as much as he did.
Had that not been the case?
No. He’d felt it in her. She’d been right there with him the entire time.
His phone rang, and his heart did one of those loud fucking thuds at the possibility that it was Indie.
He lifted his cell, only to swallow the disappointment before hitting speaker. “Hey, Mom.”
