Free Discovering You by Brenda Novak Page B

understood what it was like to be judged on the basis of the past. There was no getting rid of the stigma attached to certain mistakes.
    Maybe he and India weren’t so different, after all.
    Setting his computer aside, he pulled his cell out of his pocket. He had her number from when she’d called last night, trying to find his phone. He’d nearly added her to his contacts list several times today, but he’d stopped himself. Now he went ahead. She was innocent of her husband’s death. She truly loved Charlie. Rod could see that last night. She’d told him as much.
    She’d also said she could use a friend, and he’d blown her off.
    He felt bad about that now.
    He felt even worse once he found her cookies.
    * * *
    India was concentrating so hard on her work that it took several seconds to realize someone was watching her. When it finally occurred to her that she had company, she jumped. She was so afraid Sebastian would appear out of nowhere, like he had before. But this time she knew who it would be. She’d heard Rod come home less than an hour earlier.
    â€œHey.” He had a toothpick in his mouth and a cast on his right hand. He hooked his left on the wood overhang as he gazed through the screen.
    When she’d jerked, she’d messed up the pot she’d been throwing, which was unfortunate. She’d already started over several times. After what she’d heard from Detective Flores, she was too upset to have steady hands—and yet she’d needed something to do. She couldn’t sit there and worry indefinitely.
    She wouldn’t start over again now, however. Having Rod so close made it virtually impossible to focus, especially since she wasn’t prepared to see him. She didn’t have any makeup on, or shoes—or even a bra. In deference to the heat, she’d stripped down to a pair of high-waisted cutoffs and an old button-down shirt of Charlie’s that she’d tied under her breasts.
    â€œHey,” she echoed and, after pushing the clay into a big lump, turned off her wheel.
    He gave her a sheepish look. “ I didn’t cause that, did I?” he asked, indicating her ruined vase.
    â€œNo,” she lied. Then she bolstered her response with the truth. “Mistakes and do-overs happen all the time. This was actually my fourth try today.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œReally,” she said. “Don’t worry about it.”
    He lowered his good arm to move the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “You ever seen the movie Ghost ?”
    She had. That steamy scene with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze was one of her all-time favorites, but after last night, she was surprised he’d bring it up. “Yes.”
    â€œThat’s what finding you covered in clay and not much else reminds me of.”
    Ignoring that comment, she got off her stool and walked over to him. “You broke your hand, huh?”
    â€œYeah.” He frowned at it. “In two places.”
    â€œI’m sorry about that. But I’m glad you saw a doctor.”
    â€œYeah, it’s a good thing. It would’ve had to be rebroken if I’d let it heal on its own, so...better to go this route from the beginning.”
    â€œIs this your first cast?”
    He chuckled without mirth. “’Fraid not.”
    â€œThey’re no fun.”
    â€œYou’ve had one?”
    â€œBroke my arm once.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œMotorcycle accident.”
    â€œWho was driving?”
    Sebastian had been driving. He’d been angry with a friend and going too fast, and he’d pulled out in front of a semi that clipped their back tire. It was a miracle they’d lived through it. Because of that, he had a scar going halfway around his back, and she had two pins in her arm, but it could’ve been so much worse.
    â€œA friend,” she said to avoid mentioning Sebastian’s name.
    Rod studied her until she felt too