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Ethan:You made a fan today. One of my kids asked if the girl I was eating lunch with was my girlfriend, because if not, he wanted to marry her.
Indy:What did you tell him?
Ethan:To get in line.
ChapterEight
Two days ago, Indy had gifted her books to Ethan for his sister. And now, bizarrely, she was sitting in a park, sipping on a caramel milkshake, while Summer peppered her with questions.
“Just one clue about the next book. I promise I won’t say anything.”
“It’s too soon to say much of anything.”
Indy had known it would be a good day when she woke up. The sun was shining, her breaths came easy, and she’d blitzed through a few writing sprints before the urge to move had propelled her out the door.
Mammoth Park was an adorable misnomer, named more for the fossils that had been discovered there than the size of it. In celebration of the findings, the city had installed a handful of plaques clustered with facts about the unearthing and the history along the walking path. The bones had been restored and were now displayed in the state museum.
It was here that Indy had come up with her first Riley Jones book.
The park was close and quiet, and she’d planned a quick stroll. What Indy hadn’t expected was for an unfamiliar woman to call out her name and pull her into a hug.
Summer was everything she’d expected. Tall and athletic like her brother. Her dark hair was tied up into a ponytail in a way that enhanced her large eyes and a smile that projected itself. As a thank-you for the books, Summer had offered to buy her a drink.
That had been an hour ago.
“I had to try. That cliff-hanger in the last book was so good. I don’t know how you come up with this stuff, but it’s amazing.”
Oh god.Compliments were hard enough online, but in person? It was pretty much torture.
“Thanks.”
“Did you always want to write?”
“Yeah, in some way,” Indy said. “My parents are that couple everyone wishes they could be, the ones still head over heels for each other after forty years, and they’ve been working together flipping houses since before I was born. It meant a lot of time by myself as a kid, so I read a lot, and eventually, that led to writing, so…” She shrugged.
Indy lived in her head. It was her whole business, and as such, “I have a habit of”— she took a deep sigh— “overdoing things. Worrying too much, feeling too much too soon. It’s pushed people away. I’m working on taking things slower.”
“Is that why my brother keeps insisting you’re not dating?”
Indy nearly choked on her milkshake.
Summer continued as Indy wiped at her chin. “I’m not complaining. It’s nice to hear him talk about something other than work. Amber really messed with his confidence. I was starting to think he’d never date again.”
“We’re not… we’re just friends.”
Summer cocked her head knowingly. “Do you want to be more?”
There was no easy answer. Not with Nick left as a giant plot hole in her mind.
So Indy settled on “Ethan is a great guy.”
“He is.”
“I like him.”
“Good.”
Summer wasn’t going to make this easy for her, was she?
