Page 2 of Click of Fate

Luckily for her, Luke wasn’t afraid to hold on.

And me?

Well, I’m just here hoping my sweet Stella isn't afraid to take a leap of faith into love.

Chapter 1

DON’T DO ROOTS

STELLA

If you had askedme six months ago if I needed aWeird Things to Spot in Downtown Indybingo card, I would have laughed in your face. Today? I’m honestly thinking about going home and making one. It’s not every day that you see a horse-drawn carriage next to a parked Lamborghini. Old-school and new-school flexing in the same street.

I shake my head as I pass the scene. I didn’t think the carriage rides ran this early in the day, or even this far from Monument Circle, but I won’t hurt my brain trying to figure out why there’s a horse on Mass Ave at two in the afternoon. As far as Indianapolis goes, it’s a pretty tame city. I’ve been all over the world, and I’ve shot some amazing scenes in bigger cities—like NYC, London, and even Barcelona. You don’t really expect much excitement from a farm state in the middle of the country. But I stand corrected.

Indy, it seems, is just the right mix of excitement and low-key that I needed after nearly a decade of traveling around the world, chasing the next amazing assignment a photo journalist. Not that Indy is the place for me, of course. I’m not ready to settledown. Indy is just a pit stop. A place for me to help my sister, Harper, get to a place she can rock the single-mom-hood on her own. A time for me to reconnect with my best friends, Layla and Cassie. And if I’m being completely honest, a place for me to rest. The last thing I want to do is burn myself out on my one passion in life—capturing the most wonderful scenes around the world.

But I don’t do roots.

I stay on the move. Always.

This is why it’s crazy to think I’ve been here for nearly six months and I haven’t crawled out of my skin from being in one place. I just recently felt the itch to get back behind my lens. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t have my Nikon in my hands, but I need an assignment. Globe trotter Stella gets twitchy when she goes more than a week without a new assignment. Aunty Stella, on the other hand, the one who has perfected the bedtime story and packing a lunch for a kindergartner, hasn’t felt the twitch.

Until now.

I’ve taken on a couple simple jobs for some local organizations, only because Ruth, my bestie’s grandma, asked. And when that woman asks you to jump, you ask how high? But thanks to my extremely well-paying work with several big publications over the years—and never having a mortgage payment or even a car payment—I’ve padded my saving’s account enough to allow myself a six-to-nine month reset.

Harper and Lilly have been living with me for nearly five months now, and while things are going well, I’m not ready to leave Harper to single parent on her own yet. Honestly, I’m a little overly cautious when it comes to her since she had been struggling for more than a year before she finally told me she needed help.

I suppose I can’t blame her for being prideful and not wanting to ask her big sister for help. Harper’s excuse for not asking was bullshit for sure, if not justslightlytrue.

“Stella, you don’t stay in one place more than a month at a time. You’re so busy and in such high demand; you have your next three assignments lined up. I wasn’t about to ask you to come help me get my life together while making you press pause on yours.”

Pifft.

She and Lilly would be my number one priority if I knew they needed me. But at the same time, I felt dizzy from the thought of taking enough time off that I’d have to put in a request for my mail to be forwarded to a new address. Having all my mail sent to my mother’s house was no longer necessary.

I mentally shake myself out of getting stuck on thinking about my mom. I need to give her a call soon, but damn…I’m not looking forward to that.

An older gentlemen pushes open the big glass door to the building and holds it for me; I smile and thank him. I wonder if he was here for a cuppa joe or a match made upstairs. I guess I’ll never know.

Sweet Wave, the cafe to the left, is buzzing with folks getting their midafternoon caffeine fixes. I’m going to have to grab something myself when I’m done meeting with Layla and Cassie. I’m going to need it after hearing them sing the praises of wedding photography and how amazing it would be if I started snapping the occasion.

Nope. Not happening.

I make my way up to the second floor, stepping out of the elevator to a waiting Cassie. My best friend is literally sunshine in every way. Her gorgeous blonde waves shine in the sun that’s pouring through the windows, and her smile is a big as they come.

I can’t help smile back; she’s always had the ability to make me smile, even on my grumpiest days.

“Stells, you look gorge today!” she gushes as she moves to join me in the elevator, causing me to step back in.

“Ditto, Cassie.” I grin. Our fashion taste is very different. I’m jeans and fitted tee’s, and Cassie, ever the casual girly, is more boho chic—and it fits her so perfectly.

“Are those the new platform Converse I’ve been hearing about?” She looks down at my purple Converse as she swipes her key fob over the button panel. The light flashes green as she presses the button for the third floor.

“Sure! Are you gonna want to borrow them?” I chuckle. We may have different styles, but we both love a good pair of shoes.

“Is the sky blue? I’m trying to come up with an event to wear them to as we speak.” She chews on her lip in thought. That’s Cassie for you. She’ll plan an event so she has a reason to wear a single pair of shoes.

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