The Entangled Engagement of Indigo

Chapter 1

"Two weeks," Indigo answered the question, everyone, at the housewarming mostly asked her upon seeing the five-carat pear-shaped platinum engagement ring shining on her finger. Why her cousin Tracy was asking though was unknown to her since she was certain she sent the woman, that was closer to her mama's age than hers, an invitation.

Tracy had to be one of the twenty-eight people that had yet to RSVP. Not surprised. Cousin Tracy was rarely on time and only showed up to free family events, and since the wedding was in Vermont, Indigo was sure her elder cousin was going to be a no-show. Oh, well. She had an entry her mama asked her to put on the list. More like insisted.

Indigo needed to change the conversation because she was tired of reciting the same statements for an hour straight. She was having an autumn wedding. October twenty-first was the day. It will be in Vermont; yes, it's where her fiancé proposed. The bachelorette party already happened; it was a low-key girl's trip to Napa Valley with her bridesmaids. And no, you can't be a bridesmaid. Emery and Hazel were enough.

"Have you had the pleasure of getting a grand tour?" Indigo hoisted Frost back around the dip of her waist. The almost toddler fidgeted in her grasp, trying frantically to get on the floor and terrorize Hazel's poodle, Truffle. "Have you given her the tour?" She directed the question to Hazel, claiming the spot next to her.

Hazel swirled the champagne around in the flute with little enthusiasm. "You can walk around. Do I really need to be Dora the Explorer?"

"Uh..." Tracy blinked. Indigo wasn't sure if the woman knew who that was. "Where's your mama?"

"In the backyard." Indigo pointed to the hallway behind a cluster of people that had to be Harrison's invites since their faces were like the ones she remembered from their neighborhood, just more mature. "Everything's out there."

"The food, too."

"Everything," she reiterated with a nod. Her smile returned as the woman went on to her new destination. She turned to Hazel. "So, what happened?"

"Tell her." Emery nudged Hazel.

Hazel let out a deep breath. "Your mama asked me when Harris and I planned to get married."

Not this again. Indigo braced herself for what was next. "And what did you say?"

"I was honest."

"Which means."

"She said maybe never," Emery said, shaking her head at her cousin.

"Marriage isn't for everyone," Hazel said. "We are fine the way we are." She glanced over at Harrison on the other side of the room, having an animated conversation with her parents. "We just bought a house together. Damn, that's a thirty-year commitment. She should be happy her son found someone that loves him and all of his goofiness."

Indigo laughed at her; she really didn't know her mama well. "Use kid gloves when dealing with Stella Clark."

"She hates me," Hazel groaned, holding her side dolefully.

"No, she doesn't," Indigo and Emery uttered in unison.

Indigo stroked Hazel's arm. "She's by the book, and in her head, there's a way that she's used to things going. People date. They get engaged, married, and then they buy a house. It has nothing to do with you. She likes you. Trust me."

Hazel narrowed her eyes at her in disbelief.

"She does," Indigo nudged the fidgety baby up her waist. "You're resourceful, honest as hell, and you don't take any bullshit. She just wants to make sure you'll stick around."

"Aww," Emery cooed, drawing Frost's big brown eyes to her. "You're getting married in a couple of days and your fiancè's mom is rooting for y'all to skip down the aisle while I can't keep a guy."

"You didn't want to keep Hiran," Indigo said.

"Or Victor," Hazel added, and Indigo made a face which made them all laugh. "But look on the bright side. You're having the best sex of your life; unbothered, hot sex. Win. Win." Hazel made two checks in the air.

"Should we really be talking about sex in front of the innocent?" Emery gestured to Frost lying on Indigo's chest.

"He doesn't know what we're saying?" Hazel asked, caressing the baby's puffy cheek.

Indigo started rocking him, her arm growing tired. "Well, if his first word is s-e-x..." She spelled out. "We'll know who to blame it on."

"Aunt Hazel would never let that happen." She tickled the bottom of the little one's foot. The baby's laughter brought smiles to their faces.

"Stop," Indigo swatted her hand away. She was getting him all worked up. "I'm going to go put him down. The crib's in your studio, right?"

"Yeah." Hazel pointed towards a hall behind them. "It's down there. Uh, Indie..."

The utterance of her nickname halted her footsteps, "Yeah."

"Um..." Hazel toyed with the dainty gold necklace dipping past her collarbone. "I forgot to ask earlier and Harris and I were curious but are you going to Tate's Welcome Home party tomorrow?"

"Oh! He's back?" Indigo's eyebrows snapped together as she held Frost closer to her body, feigning surprise

"She deserves an Oscar." Emery quipped to Hazel who nodded in response.

"Fine." Indigo clarified with a quick eye roll. "I know he's already back."

She knew the exact moment Tate Larsen sailed back into town. A day ago, and two minutes after ten p.m. The headlights burned through her living room window, prying her eyes open after she fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV.

She tried to ignore the incandescence, gripping her eyelids tight and burying her head in the pillow. But with the quietness of the night, the voices carried, and Gambit sprung up. His barking fit destroyed any of her hopes to fall back to sleep. During her attempts to hush and pull him away from the window, she saw the man.

The man that lived across the street. The man that was her best friend. He stood by the opened back door of the black SUV talking to someone as the driver transported luxurious suitcases to the front door. His head tipped back, his hearty, smooth laughter hugged the humid air.

At that moment, her mind fought a war. The corners of her mouth ticked up as she held her chest. Should she be happy he was home or livid that he was back? She couldn't decide. A year was a long time to go without talking to someone that you used to talk to every day. Every night.

Hazel tipped the champagne flute towards her, "So, are you going?"

"I—" Indigo stopped. She was still unsure of her plans. "I just don't want to see him. Breathe the same air as him. Fuck, Tate Larsen."

"I'm sensing a lot of hostility fuming from your aura," Emery said, holding up her hands as if they were chakra detectors.

Hazel and Indigo both held her sharply in their gaze, but only Hazel spoke, "You read one book. You're not a damn guru."

"Didn't say I was." Emery set her hand against her chest, "But maybe this is a good thing. Close that old chapter for good before you and Diego start yawl's future."

"I have nothing to say to Tate," Indigo plainly said. "He's the one that ghosted me. Chapter closed."

Her cell rang, and she handed Frost over to Hazel, regardless of the brisk shake of her head. The voice that greeted her on the other end doused that fiery frustration and smoke of pain that started fume in her stomach. She spun on her heels in search of a quieter place to talk to the man that claimed her heart and was soon to be her husband.

Why do you think Tate ghosted her?

Is Hazel right, is buying a house together with a bigger commitment than getting married?