Chapter 10 Indiana #2
Kalli is nice enough to drive, and we pile into her SUV. While Noah seems ecstatic in the backseat, sitting in the booster seat she borrowed from me earlier today, I’ve got butterflies multiplying by the second as I sit in the passenger seat.
There’s no guarantee Tyler will be on shift, but there’s still a chance we’ll bump into him.
My guard’s up and I really have no idea how I’ll feel seeing him today.
I saw him for a short amount of time the other day and I haven’t been the same since then.
My entire week has felt off-kilter since and this time I’ll be on his turf.
By the time Kalli pulls into the driveway, I’m close to wanting to hurl my lunch. The things I’ll do for my son are remarkable because I’m close to begging for my best friend to turn this car around, but I hold myself together for him.
I get out the passenger side and help Noah out of his booster.
The moment he’s out of the car, he grabs the drawings he made for the crew.
Apparently, he used some of the extra time he had while Viv was napping to draw firetrucks and pictures of himself with those members that helped save his life that day at school.
“Don’t run too far ahead, please,” I tell Noah. His excitement is palpable.
“Try to take a deep breath. It’ll be okay.” Kalli walks up beside me.
“It just feels like a lot. I haven’t seen him in so long and now I’ll be seeing him twice in the span of a week, possibly,” I tell her.
“Maybe luck will be on your side today. He might not be here.” She brings her arm around my shoulders and pulls me into a half hug.
“Have you noticed my luck? I doubt it.” I give her a side eye and laugh. There’s no humor behind it, but she laughs with me.
“Come on. I won’t let you go through this alone.” We catch up to Noah and walk through to the equipment bay. We find two firemen standing near the garage doors, which are open.
“Well, good afternoon, young man,” a tall, red-haired fireman says. He kneels down to greet Noah, giving him a fist bump.
“Hi, I’m Noah,” my son says with a big smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Noah. I’m Tucker. But the guys like to call me Malloy. What can I help you with?” Malloy asks, moving his hand through his beard.
“You came to my school. I was stung by a bee right here,” Noah explains, pointing to the spot where the bee stung him.
“Oh, yes, I remember. You were pretty allergic, if I remember correctly,” Malloy looks up at me for confirmation.
“Yes, he is.” I nod my head. “I’m Indiana, his mother. Thank you so much for everything you did for him that day. Noah and I wanted to come by and say thank you.”
Malloy looks at me a moment, then down at Noah, quickly bringing his attention back to me, his smile widening. “Of course. Indiana, you said?” He brings his hand out for me to shake.
“Yes, Indiana Ranton. And this is my friend Kalli. Kallista Francis.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Malloy is smiling wide, a little too happy with this encounter. He seems almost giddy at the fact we’re here. I don’t understand it, but soon his attention is back on Noah.
“Noah, you want to come check out the fire engine? We just got it all cleaned up.” He juts his chin in the direction of the truck behind him.
“Mom, can I?” Noah looks over his shoulder at me.
“Sure, but please be careful,” I tell him. “Listen to Mr. Malloy.”
“Yes, Mom,” Noah says as he’s already looking in amazement at the truck.
“Well, hello. Good to see you again,” I recognize the firefighter greeting me. Shit, what was his name? It started with the letter R.
“Hi. Rover, is it?”
“Close. It’s River. Hi, nice to meet you.” He shakes Kalli’s hand.
“Hi, I’m her friend Kalli. I’m so sorry, do you have a restroom nearby?”
“Yes, down there and to the left.” He points her in the right direction.
She scurries off and I’m left behind and hoping there are no surprises while she’s gone.
“Sorry about your name. That day was a lot for me,” I say apologetically.
“It’s fine. Luckily you didn’t say it around my brother or I wouldn’t live it down.” He winks. “He seems to be doing better.” He juts his chin toward Noah.
“Much better. Took a while for the swelling to go down, but he made a full recovery, thank goodness. He wanted to come by and see everyone that saved him that day.” I smile up at River. “Thank you, by the way.”
“It’s no problem. Just doing our job.” River looks at Noah again, then back at the double-doors.
A few of the other guys start making their way out to the bay to greet us.
They’re showing Noah all the features of the truck and his face is glowing.
River leaves me behind to watch them show off the truck to my son and meets up with the rest of the guys.
They even let Noah put a helmet on and I snap some pictures.
All of a sudden, I feel a presence next to me. At first I think it’s Kalli returning, but the way my body reacts to the presence, his presence, I know exactly who is near me.
I turn around to see Tyler standing and staring at me.
“Hey, Indy,” he greets me.
“Tyler. How are you?”
“Oh, just peachy. That’s quite a kid you got there.”
Peachy? Well, he’s certainly not the Ty from high school.
There was a time when our roles were reversed. I was the light and airy one, and he was the dark and stormy presence. Now, it feels as if we’ve switched. My guard is up and he has let go of the darkness that once surrounded him.
I can feel my spine straighten and my veins fill with ice as I stare back at him. My heart quickens as I look at the man I thought I could give my whole heart to—the man I did give my whole heart to. Only for him to destroy it. Now I fight not to give into temptation.
“It’s good to see you again,” Tyler breaks the trance my mind has fallen into.
“Don’t do that,” I tell him.
“Do what?” He looks at me quizzically.
“Be nice. Don’t be nice to me.” I can hear the disdain dripping off me.
“You want me to be an asshole?” he asks as if it’s hard for him.
“Yes, you seemed to be good at it when you wrote me that final letter. Just project that each time you see me. It’s better that way, Ty,” I tell him then turn around, looking back at Noah, reminding myself why I’m here.
Tyler needs to walk away. Instead, he inches closer to me. “I would love to grab a coffee, Indy.”
“That’s not you being an asshole,” I tell him, keeping my eyes forward, watching Noah interact with the firefighters.
“The person I was in that letter wasn’t who I wanted to be,” he says.
“Yet, it was the version of you I remember most,” I bite back.
That’s the version that stuck and the person that broke my heart. I fell in love with him before that. I know that’s what I felt for him and in one single correspondence, he torched my feelings for him.
He takes a deep inhale. “Indy, come on. What do you want from me?”
“I wanted everything. Today, I want nothing. I just want Noah to be happy, and I want to leave. We came here to thank your crew for what you did for Noah.” I look over at him. “That’s all. I honestly hoped you wouldn’t be here.”
My words are harsh and from the way he’s looking at me, I can see I’ve hurt him.
This isn’t who I used to be. But I’ve built a barrier, especially when it comes to Tyler Hunter.
He broke me, so I picked up my pieces and glued them back together the best way I knew how.
The way they pieced back together, with the cracks and all, is just how I am now.
“Listen, we should just—”
“Hey, what did I miss?” Kalli comes strolling up, not a care in the world.
“Hey,” I say, lacking her enthusiasm.
“Hi, I’m Tyler—”
“Oh. My. Fucking. God!” Kalli says. Luckily, she isn’t loud enough to draw attention from the group at the truck. “You’re @huntsamillion, aren’t you?” She covers her mouth, but I can tell she’d scream if she could.
What am I missing?
I look from my best friend to Tyler. He has a smirk on his face and Kalli looks like she might wet her pants. Is she hopping in place like my kindergartner?
“You look like a fool. What are you doing, Kalli?” I say through gritted teeth.
“This is why you should have social media, Indy!” She smacks my arm. Then she looks at Tyler. “Can you believe she doesn’t have any accounts? I mean, who doesn’t have an online presence these days?” She rolls her eyes and huffs.
Tyler looks at me, then brings his attention back to my best friend. “I appreciate meeting my fans. Thanks for following.”
“Are you kidding? I love your content. That last one where you did that run, then immediately followed with a workout. Oh my gosh, then there’s that time where you did a half-marathon and raised money for a little girl battling leukemia? I cried.” Kalli looks at Tyler completely enamored.
Seriously, what is happening right now? I’m standing in front of the two of them, mouth agape.
“Look at her; she’s lost.” Kalli points at me.
“I have a social media page. It’s garnered some attention.” Tyler shrugs.
“Some attention? No. It’s more than that. He has a shit-ton of followers. Don’t let him fool you,” Kalli says. “I’m a Prowler, you know.”
“What the hell is a Prowler?” I can’t help the look of disgust on my face.
“It’s a SpaceBook group. You wouldn’t get it.” She waves me off and smiles at Tyler.
Am I in another dimension?
“I really appreciate that. It’s definitely gained a lot of traction.” Tyler gives her a small smile.
Who is this guy? He’s acting all shy, and nothing like the bad boy from high school.
Am I living in the upside-down? And is he winning over my best friend when she was all pissed off after I told her what Ty did to me in that letter?
“We should really get going, right Kalli?” I give her a look.
“Huh?” She looks over at me. “Oh, yes, we should,” she nods. “It was so great meeting you Hunter.” She winks. She fucking winks at my husband.
No, Indy. DO NOT REFER TO HIM AS YOUR HUSBAND. That’s how we start going down a dangerous path.
“Noah, sweetie, we should go.” I wave for him to come down.
Noah starts to make his way over. I hear him thanking everyone for showing him the truck. Luckily, he’s not making a fuss about leaving, which is a win in my book.
The guys thank him for the drawings and the pride on Noah’s face is priceless. Although we ran into Tyler, seeing the happiness on my son’s face has made this trip worth it in the grand scheme of things.
Noah recognizes the person beside me as he approaches and starts running, “Hunter!”
“Hey, buddy! Good to see you’re doing so much better,” Tyler greets him.
“Yes. My mom said I was super brave.”
“I agree. The bravest actually,” Tyler tells him.
“I made you a special picture,” Noah tells him. I watch as Noah pulls a picture from his pocket. I wasn’t aware he had another. It’s then I see he has a folded one in his back pocket.
Tyler kneels to look at it.
“I made this one for you. My aunt Kalli helped write your name,” Noah says.
“You did a good job. Let me guess—this is me.” He looks over to Noah for confirmation and receives a nod. “And this is you and your mom?” Another nod of approval. “And is this a cat?”
“Yes, that’s my cat. His name is—”
“Oh, can I guess?” Tyler jumps in.
“Yes!” Noah laughs.
“Snowflake?” Tyler guesses and quickly looks up at me. I suppress a gasp.
“No!” Noah laughs harder. “His name is Darth.”
“Darth? That’s an interesting name. Like Darth Vader?” Tyler laughs.
“Yeah! You like Star Wars too?” Noah asks, his smile wide.
“I do, actually. Why did you name the cat Darth? You like the dark side?” Tyler glances at me real quick, but his gaze returns to Noah without missing a beat.
“Star Wars is my favorite movie, and Darth is a funny name,” Noah says as if it’s the most normal explanation.
“Noah is obsessed with anything Darth Vader. He fell in love with this kitten, even though he possesses no Darth qualities. He’s very sweet and doesn’t belong on the dark side. Isn’t that right, Noah?” I add.
“Well, Uncle Julian says he’s on the dark side.” Noah laughs and Kalli snickers.
“You’re right. He’s not a fan of Uncle Julian.” I smile.
Tyler smiles at our interaction and I remember I’m in his company and my smile fades. Ty turns to Noah, “I love this picture. Thank you. I’ll keep it with me all the time.”
“You will?” Noah asks.
“Of course. It’s the first one someone has ever made me,” he tells my son.
“Really?”
“Yep. Thank you,” Tyler says, extending his hand out for a fist bump that Noah returns.
Kalli and Noah begin the walk to the car and I fall in step behind them. I nod and wave goodbye to the crew, thanking them for showing Noah around.
I think Tyler is going to stay back, but I realize he’s walking out with us. He’s walking at my pace, however, I don’t initiate conversation.
“Indy, honestly, I’d really like to grab a coffee with you. Please.”
“Why?” I finally ask.
“I think we have a lot to discuss,” he answers.
“Really?” I abruptly stop walking and look at him.
“Well, yes,” he says.
“Okay, fine. We can meet up.” I pull out my phone and hand it over for him to input his number. Once he’s done so, I pocket it and look up at him. “But I only have one thing I want to discuss.” I tell him, arms crossed.
“Okay, great. What do you want to discuss?” he asks.
“Our divorce.”