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Indie considered that. Was she ready to make amends? Would she ever be ready to forgive and forget? “I don’t know where things stand right now. We’re talking, so I guess that’s a step in the right direction.”

“I know how much they’ve missed you. They looked everywhere for you, even reported you as a missing person. How come they couldn’t find you?”

Indie smoothed the crisp white napkin in her lap. She wasn’t accustomed to talking about the days after she left home, especially with someone she barely knew anymore. “I got a job as a live-in nanny, gave them a fake name and age, and changed my appearance quite a bit. They paid me cash. By the time I went to work for Drake, I guess my parents had just stopped looking for me. Besides, I was an adult by then. It’s not like they could have forced me to come home.”

“They should have nailed that bastard for what he did to you,” Hal said. “Then he wouldn’t have been able to hurt Amy.”

Hal’s fierce protectiveness sounded as though it had more to do with her sister than Indie. “You and Amy are close?”

“Yeah, sure.” He shrugged. “She’s a nice girl. She’s been through a lot, trying to break free of that jerk. I’ve been, you know, trying to be a good friend and all.”

“Are you hoping it will evolve into more than that?” she asked, smiling. She didn’t want Hal to think she would object just because of their history. Her sister deserved a good man, someone like Hal, who she could count on, especially since she had a son to consider.

“Come on, Indie,” he said, lowering his head. “I didn’t take you out tonight to talk about your sister.”

“Are you sure? You can tell me the truth, you know.”

“I know I can.” He smiled. “You were always so easy to talk to.”

“So talk to me now,” she said, leaning in. “Tell me about you and Amy.”

“She’s a great girl. Like I said, she came to work for my father about four years ago. My parents think the world of her.”

Indie wasn’t surprised. Amy had always been the popular girl. All of the teachers, coaches, and parents adored her. “And so do you.”

Hal shrugged, trying to dismiss Indie’s claim. “I won’t deny I’ve wondered whether we might have a shot when she finally wised up and left that dirtbag.”

“Have you asked her out?”

“I’ve mentioned it a few times, but she thinks I’m too young for her.”

Indie rolled her eyes. “You’re three years younger. That hardly qualifies as a May-December romance.”

“I know, but she claims that my life experience, not my age, is the problem. I haven’t had many serious relationships and I’ve played the field some…” He smirked when Indie raised an eyebrow. “Okay, a lot. Amy thinks I’m not serious about wanting to settle down.”

“How do you feel about the fact she has a kid?”

“Why should that bother me? Cameron’s great.”

Indie covered Hal’s hand with her own. “Don’t give up on her, okay? My sister needs someone like you, especially now.”

“Thanks, Indie.” He smiled. “I hope you don’t think I asked you out tonight because—”

“Tonight was just about two old friends catching up. And for the record, I’m glad we did. It was great to see you again.”

“You too,” he said, squeezing her hand. “So will we be seeing more of you?”

“I don’t know.” The idea of returning home for the occasional visit didn’t seem so implausible anymore. “I’ll definitely think about it.”

***

Lee was going crazy waiting for Indie to call, so when Donato invited him to Jimmy’s for a burger, Lee decided it beat sitting around staring at his cell phone.

“Nice to finally be legal,” Donato said, looking around the crowded bar.

Lee recognized the look in Donato’s eyes; he used to see it in his mirror. He’d agreed to sponsor Donato because he reminded Lee so much of himself. “You know drinking would be a mistake. Don’t even think about it.”

“Relax,” Donato said, shaking his head as he reached for the plastic menu. “I didn’t say I was gonna order a drink. It just means I can apply for some bartending jobs now. The pay’s a lot better than waiting tables.”

Lee glanced at the young guy behind the bar. He was good-looking and flirting outrageously with all the girls. No doubt he would go home with a pocket full of cash. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Lee slid his arm over the back of the bench seat. “Being around all that booze might be too much of a temptation.”

Lee would feel differently if Donato had years of sobriety under his belt, but the kid was still walking a tight-rope. Lee didn’t want to see him fall. He was beginning to think of Donato as the kid brother he’d never had and he wanted to see him build a great life for himself.

“Relax, man.” Donato grinned. “I’ve got too many good things goin’ on right now to risk blowing it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“You have a chance to talk to Indie about me?”

“Uh, no.” Lee had tried to avoid the subject of Indie whenever Donato brought it up, but the kid seemed to ask about her every time they spoke. “She’s out of town visiting family right now.”

“I know you said she wasn’t interested in dating, but I thought you could put in a good word for me.”

“Now why would I do that? You know I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to date anyone right now.”

“Come on, man,” Donato said, laughing. “You can’t be serious. I got needs that—”

“Enough.” Lee held up his hand. “I don’t need to hear about it.”

“You know where I’m coming from. I can’t just flip the switch and say I’m not interested anymore.”

Lee knew that was asking too much. He remembered what he had been like at Donato’s age, chasing anyone in a skirt. “I’m just suggesting you keep it casual and stick to girls your own age. You’re out of your league with someone like Indie.” Lee groaned inwardly when he saw the flicker of annoyance on Donato’s face. “I don’t mean she’s too good for you. I just don’t think you have anything in common.”

“Maybe we should be the ones to decide that.”

Obviously Lee wasn’t going to get through to him. Since Indie would never consider going out with Donato, he decided to change the subject. “Has your boss eased up on you?”

“Some, I guess.” Donato reached for a handful of pretzels from the bowl in the middle of the table. “But the old man’s always gonna have it in for me. He’s just waiting for me to screw up so he’ll have a reason to fire my ass.”

“So don’t give him a reason. When the time is right and you’ve got a better job lined up, you can leave on your terms. Trust me, it always feels better when you’re the one calling the shots.”

“Speaking of work, how do you like working for your brother?”

“It’s okay, I guess.”

“You don’t sound very excited,” Donato said.

“I’m grateful that he trusts me enough to give me an opportunity like this…”

“But?”

“I can’t help thinking about J.T.’s offer.”

“You’re always telling me I should take advantage of opportunities when they come my way. No regrets and all that. Why aren’t you following your own advice?” Donato asked.

Lee couldn’t deny Donato’s words rang true. “I’m still thinking about it. This thing with Drake is a trial run. We’ll see how it’s going in a month or two.” If he lasted that long. Drake’s rule about dating co-workers, especially his Indie, was proving more difficult to follow than Lee had thought it would be.

“Did you hear a word I said?” Donato chuckled. “You really zoned out on me there.”

“Sorry, kid. I was just thinking about work.”
Sort of.
“What did you ask me?”

“Remember you said if I ever needed to hang at your place between school and work, you were cool with that?”

“Yeah, sure. Why? You need to?”

“I’ve got this new class that runs late, and there’s not enough time for me to catch a bus home and be back—”

“Say no more,” Lee said, reaching into his pocket for his key ring. He slipped a spare key off and passed it across the table. “Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks a lot, man,” Donato said, clenching the key in his fist. “Seriously, it means a lot that you’d trust me with a key to your place.”

“No problem.”

“So your ex is marrying your best friend,” Donato said, changing the subject and shaking his head. “How weird is that?”

“It’s not weird. I’m okay with it.” Lee made eye contact with a waitress.

She held up a finger to let him know she would be over in a minute. The bar was packed, just like every other time Lee had been there during peak hours. He hadn’t asked to see the books, but he had a feeling he could make a lot more as the proprietor of Jimmy’s than as a sound engineer for his brother. Work wasn’t all about the money, but he wanted to give his daughter the best. A higher paying job would help him do that.

“Seriously?” Donato asked. “I don’t think I would be, if I were in your place.”

“I love Chris like a brother, and Katie will always be a friend. If they’re happy together, more power to ‘em.”

“You’re a bigger man than I am.”

Lee’s phone rang. When he saw Indie’s name, he felt like half the man Donato was for not coming clean about his feelings for her. But Lee saw no sense in stirring up trouble until he figured out whether it was going anywhere. For all he knew, the guy she’d been out with could have convinced her to return home to be with him. The thought of another man luring Indie away made Lee lose his appetite.

“I have to get this,” he said, standing. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“No problem.”

“Hey, can you hold on just a minute?” Lee asked Indie.

“Sure,” she said.

“You want me to order you anything?” Donato asked Lee.

“Yeah, a mushroom burger with sweet potato fries would be great.” Even if his conversation with Indie didn’t go well, he couldn’t give Donato the impression there was a problem. The first rule of being a good sponsor was supporting, not looking for a shoulder to lean on.

“You got it,” Donato said.

Lee walked out to his truck to take the call in private. “Sorry about that.” When she didn’t respond right away, he was afraid he’d taken too long and she’d lost interest in waiting. Literally. “Indie? You still there?”

“I’m still here,” she said. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, I’m at Jimmy’s grabbing a burger with Donato.” He unlocked his truck, jumped in, and started the engine to ward off the cold. “How was your dinner with your… friend?”

“That’s all he is—a friend. In fact, he’s interested in my sister.”

Lee smiled, mentally acknowledging that he was a loser for feeling so relieved. Indie wasn’t his girlfriend, and he had no right to feel jealous when she went out for dinner with an old friend. “I’m sorry if I snapped at you earlier. I didn’t mean to.”

He heard the smile in her voice when she said, “I think it’s kind of cute that you were jealous of Hal.”

“Hal? That’s the guy’s name? Why do I get a picture of a short, fat, balding guy who wears plaid shirts and chinos? Kind of a George Costanza type?”

Indie laughed, and the sound made him smile.

At least she wasn’t annoyed with him anymore. His night went from bad to better. “What’s so funny? Did I nail it?”

“No, Hal’s nothing like that.”

“Really?” Lee curled his hand around the steering wheel. “What’s he like?”

“Handsome, sexy, smart—”

“Enough!”

She laughed again. “You’re way too easy, Lee. Seriously, he’s just an old friend. We dated when we were kids, before I left town.”

“And he wasn’t hoping to pick up where you left off?”

“At first I thought he was. I think maybe he did too, but it didn’t take us long to realize we had nothing in common anymore. He has a thing for my sister.”

“So you went out with him to see if the spark was still there?” Lee heard the hard edge to his voice.

“No, I went out with him so I wouldn’t have to fake my way through dinner with my parents.”

“How’d that go, seeing your parents again?” Lee got a little angry with himself for getting so caught up imagining Indie with someone else. He should have asked about Indie’s sister and then her parents, not her date with an old friend.

“It was… weird.” She sighed. “I guess that’s to be expected, right? I mean, they’re my parents, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen or spoken to them that they feel like strangers now.”

Lee thought about what he would give for just one more day with his parents. “They’re still your parents. I’m sure they love you, and they’ve no doubt gone crazy wondering where you were all these years.”

“I guess.”

“Speaking as a parent,” he said hesitantly, hoping she wouldn’t get the impression he was siding with them, “I’d go crazy if I couldn’t see or speak to my little girl.”

“That’s different,” Indie said quietly. “I’ve seen you with Hannah. You would never question whether she was telling you the truth about something as important as someone hurting her. If she said they did, you would believe her.”

That was true. Lee would destroy anyone who did to his baby what that bastard had done to Indie, but based on what she’d told him, her parents had loved and supported her up to that point. He had to believe being separated from their youngest daughter was heart-wrenching for them. “So where did you leave things with them?”

“I’m seeing them in the morning before I leave town. They’re taking care of my nephew while my sister’s in the hospital, and I’m dying to meet him.”

Hearing the enthusiasm in her voice lifted Lee’s spirits. “You really love kids, don’t you?”

“Are you kidding? That’s why I waited so long to accept Drake’s job offer. Anyone else would have jumped at the opportunity. More money, shorter hours, generous vacations, benefits—”

“But you didn’t?”

“No, I was torn about leaving the family I worked for. The little girl was troubled, to say the least. Her parents traveled a lot, and she was resentful of all the nannies who’d passed through, so she gave them a really hard time, hoping they would quit.”

“Did she try to run you off too?” Lee reclined his seat a little to stretch out his legs. He shouldn’t keep Donato waiting, but he was hungry for more details about Indie’s past.

“She sure did.” Indie chuckled. “But I had her number. I was a lot like her at that age. Stubborn, headstrong, defiant. She thought she could beat me, but I proved her wrong. In the end, I earned her love and respect.”