“That’s really incredible,” I tell him. “Both you and Eden doing such amazing things. Helping people like that.”
He gives a little shrug. “I don’t know. Curing a deadly disease versus?—”
“Putting your life on the line to protect your country? I think that’s pretty important.”
He focuses on the napkin, his brow creasing in concentration. Then he looks back up at me. “What you do is important, Bea. Giving people hope again. Giving them their lives back.”
“Indy.”
With a final crease, he holds out the napkin, which is now folded to look like a flower. As he places it in my hand, he says, “It’s true, Bea. What you do… you change lives. And you changed mine.”
Oh.
Swallowing hard, I say, “My dad lost his leg while he was serving. I told you that, right?”
He nods. “He was a Marine.”
“He was. And he lost his leg when I was in high school. It was hard on him. Obviously. I wanted to do something that couldhelp, but I’m not like Yara. I couldn’t build him a new leg. But then I thought… what if I could help other people learn how to do the things they love again?”
I look down at the folded flower, my heart melting more and more with each passing second. It’s not perfect, but that Indy made it for me…
“My dad used to make them for my mom,” he explains. “Just to make her smile.”
And there’s my heart. In a puddle on the floor.
I hop off the stool and hurry around the island, flinging my arms around him. “Thank you for makingmesmile.”
“Bea.” His lips press to my hair. “I wish I could?—”
“Guys. I found something.”
We turn in unison to find Tyler standing in the kitchen doorway, watching us with an apologetic expression. “Sorry,” he adds quickly. “I didn’t think. I should have checked first. Or…”
I try to pull away from Indy, but he holds me firmly against him as he says, “It’s the kitchen, Ty. You don’t need to check before you come in. And we were just cooking. It’s no biggie.”
Tyler eyeballs the mixing bowl with suspicion. “When you saywe, do you mean Bea was cooking? Or you?”
“Me.” Indy lifts his chin. “I’m making Bea breakfast for a change. Since she cooks for us so much.”
“I’m not a bad cook, myself,” Tyler replies, more to me than to Indy. “I don’t mind taking over with meals. Kaia used to say—” His mouth clamps shut with an audible snap.
An unhappy look flickers across Indy’s face, but he quickly hides it. “Clearly, I’m not doing a great job at making breakfast, since Bea’s practically sitting on her hands to keep from jumping in.”
He and Tyler exchange a long look. Then Tyler turns to me and says quietly, “Kaia was my wife. She passed away three yearsago. It’s not a secret or anything. But I’m sure you’ve wondered, with some of the comments and all.”
Oh,Tyler.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I’m really, really sorry.”
“It’s alright.” On a heavy exhale, Tyler crosses the room to join us at the island. He sets the laptop I only just noticed on the end of it, far away from the mess Indy’s making. “Anyway.” He peers at the mixing bowl and grimaces. “I don’t want to interrupt the chef. But after breakfast, we need to talk.”
My stomach falls to my feet.
Somehow, I don’t think this is aneverything’s solved and things can go back to normalkind of talk. If that were the case, he would have said it right away. This sounds like anI have news and you’re probably not going to like itsort of thing.
Indy hugs me to his side and kisses my hair again. “It’s going to be fine,” he says. “No matter what, we’ll handle it.”
“Areyou guys good to get started?”
