Page 55 of What About Us

“She’s gained four pounds since she was born,” Harper says.

“Still a little thing,” I agree.

The front door opens, and Easton walks in, followed by a nervous-looking Indigo.

“I found someone outside,” Easton says with a grin and gestures for the young woman to follow him. “Come on in, Indie. We’re pretty casual around here.”

“Thanks,” she says and loops her dark hair behind her ear. She’s wearing a red T-shirt and jeans and has a bag draped across her body that she’s clinging to with white knuckles, and every line in her body screams nerves.

She’s damn fucking nervous.

“We have muffins and coffee,” Ava tells her. “Can I make you a cup?”

“Oh, um, no thank you. I’m okay for now.” Indie nibbles her bottom lip as she skims her eyes over all of us. “I forget that there are so many of you.”

“Hey, we’re all your friends here,” Tucker says. “Why don’t we sit at the kitchen table?”

Indie nods, and we circle the table, find our seats, and I brace Belle against my shoulder, lightly rubbing my hand over her little back. She sighs and nuzzles into my neck, and I’m in love.

Easton’s eating a muffin, and Tucker sets a whole platter of them in the middle of the table. Harper takes the chair next to me, and she places a mug of fresh coffee in front of me.

“Hey, thanks.”

“I’m your favorite.”

Ava glares at us from across the table, and I smile smugly as I take a sip.

“What’s going on with you, Indie?” Easton asks as he peels the wrapper off his fourth muffin.

The man can pack the food away.

Indie clears her throat and rummages around in her bag, then pulls out a piece of paper and lays it on the table in front of her, folds her hands on top of it, and clears her throat again.

“I’m—I just—” She takes a deep breath and looks like she’s on the verge of tears.

“Okay, deep breath,” I tell her. I’ve been telling women to breathe a lot lately. “You’re safe here, sweetheart.”

Indie nods and takes another breath and looks down at the paper in front of her.

“A couple of weeks ago, I decided that it’s time that I take a vacation. I’ve been running the store for a long time, even before Gran and Gramps passed away, and I never take time away. I could use a week to recharge my batteries, you know?”

We all nod at her, everything sounding perfectly normal so far.

“And I thought, I’ve always wanted to see Paris, so I should aim for that. But to go there, I need a passport. So, I had to go through all of the papers in the office at home, and that wasn’t an easy feat because my Gran was an awesome ice cream maker, but horrible with paperwork.”

She swallows hard.

“Anyway, I finally found my birth certificate, and, well.”

Her shoulders fall.

My back goes up.

Tucker and I share a look.

“I didn’t know,” she says softly, and the rest of us stay absolutely quiet. “I promise, I didn’t know.”

Ava reaches over and takes Indie’s hand. “Okay. What didn’t you know, Indie?”