A sinking feeling began to churn in Indie’s belly at where this conversation was going. She set the tongs on the counter and gave the woman her full attention. “What are you trying to say, Sylvia?”
Still, the other woman didn’t look at her. “I know my son. I know what he needs. What hedeserves. I know what will make him happy.”
“And you don’t think I’ll make him happy?”
“You were so young when you started dating. I never thought it would last. Then you moved to California when he was stationed there, you got married, and I thought…maybe I was wrong. Maybe youwilllast, and you’ll make him happy.”
Indie’s heart started to beat faster. Colt’s mother had only been nice to her at the start because she’d assumed they’d break up?
Why did that hurt so much?
“Then you started trying for a baby.” Sylvia shook her head. “I remember this one time when I visited you both. Colt was tryingso hardto make you happy. He only had a few days of leave, and he was giving you everything you wanted. But you still weren’t happy. You never smiled. You weren’t coping.”
“We were dealing with infertility. I was lonely. Colt was never home.”
“Colt was going through the struggle to have a child too! And when he wasn’t home with you, he was risking his life for his country. He neededyouto be okay so thathecould be okay. But instead of doing that, you left him alone in California to come back here.”
“I needed to be with my family. Clara was sick, and I wasn’t doing well out there.”
“Did you ever consider that maybehewasn’t doing well, either? Did you ever think about trying to be stronger for him?”
“It wasn’t about strength, Sylvia. I was inpain. I did IVF for years, basically alone. My body hurt. My heart hurt. I was drowning—”
“Then you should have learned how to swim!”
Pain…it cut through Indie’s chest. Because those words spoke to every whisper of insecurity inside her.
A part of her always wondered if a stronger personwouldhave been better for Colt. If maybe someone else would’ve been able to give him a baby. Or let go of the idea of carrying her own child. A stronger woman might not have run home.
Sylvia stepped closer. “I don’t have a problem withyou, Indie. I have a problem with the impact that you’ve had on my boy’s life. You’re not right for him. He needs someone whoplants their feet when the storm starts, not someone who runs. He needs someone withstrength. But you left him, forcing him to choose between the Marines and you. He left his home. His job. Why? Because you couldn’t handle the fact that he was a soldier. You couldn’t handle the journey to having a child. That’s the definition of selfish!”
“Enough!”
Sylvia jumped at Colt’s voice. Neither of them had heard him step inside.
Indie could barely move. So much of what his mother had said was true. Not everyone fell into a pit of depression after a few rounds of IVF. Some women had it so much worse than infertility with a husband who had significant work commitments.
Sylvia’s eyes widened. “Colt, honey, I—”
“Howdareyou speak to my wife like that!” He took a couple steps toward his mother, but suddenly Ben was in front of him.
The older man pressed a hand to Colt’s chest. “You should both leave. Come back and have this conversation another day, when you’ve cooled off.”
Tears pressed at Indie’s eyes, but she blinked them back.
True. It was all true. Sylvia’s words weren’t anything that hadn’t whispered inside her when the world got quiet. Some days, they replayed over and over again.
Weak. Broken. Not for Colt.
More words were spoken around her, but they were unclear. A haze of voices and movement. She was too deep in her head. Until Colt slipped an arm around her waist and led her toward the door. But even then, her brain wouldn’t stop. All she could think was that every word Sylvia had spoken had already been spoken in her own head.
Colt wasn’t angry—hewas fucking furious. At his mother. Someone he’d rarely been mad at before. He could barely focus on the damn road in front of him.
Her words echoed in his head.
You’re not right for him.
His fingers tightened around the wheel. What else had she said before he walked in? Was this the first time such awful words had come out of her mouth?
