18. Indiana
T he air is starting to cool as I walk back to the guesthouse.
After spending an unexpectedly great day at Knox’s house for Hazel’s birthday party.
When I left this afternoon, I’d expected to be coming home alone.
Instead, there are four other women walking back with me.
I wasn’t even sure I would go today. My hike with Knox a couple of weeks ago left me feeling on edge, thinking it may be intruding, but ultimately, I couldn’t stomach the thought of disappointing Hazel in any way after she asked me to come.
“I’ve never seen Colt look so in his element before,” Winnie says, her arm linked with Ivy’s.
“You know, the tutu really is one of his better looks,” Marigold muses. “Definitely better than the iced tips in high school.”
My mouth pops open and laughter bubbles out. “He didn’t.”
“He did,” they both say together.
“So did you grow up around here too, Ivy? ”
“I did not. I just moved here from California after Thanksgiving last year.”
“California? That’s a big move. Can I ask what brought you here?”
“That’s kind of a long story, but the highlight reel is that my dad manipulated me, and I fell for it.
Hook, line, and sinker,” she says, then adds, “Joke’s on him though.
I now have a smokin’ hot, action hero boyfriend and am going to have a baby with him in three months.
” When I look back at her, I catch the look on her face.
It’s a perfect mix of love and devotion.
I smile in response. “Alder is a lucky man.”
“He really is,” she agrees, causing a few chuckles from us. I take the steps up to the house, opening my front door. I hadn’t bothered locking it since I was only down the road.
“I know you’ve all probably been here before, but welcome to my place. Make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll grab my laptop. I’m thinking I can cast it to the TV so we won’t have to crowd around it.”
“Thanks for having us over, Indiana,” Florence says.
“Of course. If you ladies hire me, I may be able to support my novelty shirt collection,” I call over my shoulder, walking into my bedroom to grab my computer.
“You have to see these pictures. I cannot wait to have a couple of them blown up and on the walls at home,” Winnie says, talking me up a little bit.
I only took a couple of photography classes.
My skills lie more in the website-design realm.
But I'll take it. Taking photos is something I’m finding I really enjoy.
“I’m not sure if they’re wall-worthy, but I am really happy with how they turned out.”
“She is absolutely being modest,” she tells the group .
“We’re gonna have to work on that,” Ivy says.
I grin. “Actually, that would be great. I’ve never been that good at taking a compliment.
That’s more my sister’s area of expertise.
” I regret the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth.
Bringing up Han means that I’ll get questions.
Questions I’m not ready to answer. I need to derail the line of questioning before it begins.
“Are y'all looking for more interior shots or landscapes? I did a mix for Thistle and Sage.” Opening my laptop, I tap a few buttons to connect the screens, and they all glance to the TV.
“Here are some of the town I chose, and I can even walk you through adding them to the site if you want.”
“Wait, wait. Go back,” Marigold shouts. I click the arrow, and the screen fills with a shirtless Knox. Oops. I forgot those were still in here.
“Holy fucking shit.”
“Sister present!” Florence yells, and I laugh at her horrified expression.
“It’s a torso. Nothing that scandalous,” I remind the room.
“ That is more than a torso. When did you take this, and can I have a copy?” Marigold asks.
“Mare!” Florence gasps while the rest of us laugh.
“We went on a hike a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t a big deal.” Can they all tell that I'm lying to myself? Playing it cool is not something I’m very good at. “Moving on…this is a few of the interior shots I got of the kitchen and Winnie baking.”
“Oh my gosh, stop. Winnie. You are so freaking adorable. If that’s on the website, Rhett is going to demand your ring be front and center.
You look hot,” Ivy tells her. I smile, happy that I have successfully steered the conversation back to familiar and comfortable territory.
Well, for me. Winnie is blushing at the compliments.
“I think Indie just got some good angles is all,” she deflects.
“That’s bullshit. I mean, I may have gotten some good angles, but you don’t have a bad one,” I tell her.
“Okay! Move on to the ones of the food and the bakery, please.” She laughs.
I finish showing them the rest of the photos and demonstrate how I’m planning to showcase them online. I’m met with admiration. It feels nice to be validated by women who all run their own businesses and are their own bosses.
For much of my life, I didn’t think I was capable of handling everything on my own.
Other people's problems? I’ve always been able to solve, but my own always feel bigger.
I start feeling out of control. Scared to let anyone down if they were counting on me.
Lately, though, I’ve been thinking that there’s a lot more I can do on my own than I’ve given myself credit for.
Florence gives me a hug, and I let myself sink into it for a moment. I miss Han. I miss my mom and dad. I didn’t realize until this moment that I needed a hug this badly. “Thank you again for having us over, Indie. Can I call you next week and work out some dates for the hotel?”
“Yes, that sounds great! Do you need my number?”
“Nope, I already have it.” I don’t ask how she has it; I just accept it.
“I’ll be calling you too! I’m thinking we could do something with the mountain biking and then maybe update with the snow once we open for the ski season,” Ivy tells me.
“Absolutely, I’d love to be involved.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work, Indie! ”
“And I’m hoping to see you out at AJ’s. Have we set that up yet?”
“What’s AJ’s?”
“That would be my uncle’s brewery in town,” Winnie says. “And it’s kind of the last step in a welcome to Silverthorne.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I’m thinking a night out is in order. I’ll talk to you more tomorrow about it.” Everyone gives me one more wave before walking back over to the big house.
I watch them laugh as they go. They’re all so close.
It’s nice to be welcomed into their group.
Smiling, I make my way back inside. My photos are still up on the TV, and I tap my laptop screen to pull up the picture of Knox I took on our hike.
I sigh. Yeah, this is frame-worthy. I allow myself a few more moments to appreciate the hard planes of his body before disconnecting the screen.
I pour myself a glass of wine and sit out back at the small, metal bistro set.
I’m enjoying the cool evening. It’s been a good day, and I’m really starting to feel like I have my footing here when my phone rings.
I flinch. Now that I’ve given more people my number, I’ll have to check who’s calling.
I blow out a breath and walk back into the house and into my bedroom to pick it up.
One look at the flashing name tells me it’s not a call I’m ready for.
I ignore it, dump the rest of my wine into the sink, and crawl under the blankets on the bed, like sinking into them could keep the thoughts and dreams away from me.