Chapter 10 Violet
Violet
This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. Even as I made my way up the long stretch of road on the main drive on the Silver Ridge Ranch property to the house my ex-husband and I used to share, I could feel the pinpricks of sweat popping up on the back of my neck.
My own body knew this was a terrible idea, and was throwing symptoms at me left and right to try and get me to turn around between a churning stomach, shaking hands, and a baby boy who was wiggling so much I might actually pee myself before being able to ask to use the bathroom.
I just wanted to turn around and run—okay, waddle—my way back to bed. Even if the mattress my parents had in the house was a decade old and so hard I might as well be sleeping on the floor.
But seeing Jessie in town earlier, I just couldn’t say no to the chance at finally meeting her husband and son.
I pulled up in front of the two story cabin, and a sharp pain began to throb behind my eyes. It was so silly to be emotional over seeing the place we’d built…but I’d spent my whole life thinking about bringing a baby home to this very house, and now I was pregnant, and Colt didn’t know—
A knock on my window had a scream bubbling up in my throat before my brain could even place the hulking shadow at my door.
Speaking of Colt.
I shoved open the car door and swung my leg around, trying my hardest to kick him in the shin and make it look like an accident.
“Jesus Christ, Colt! Are you trying to scare me into labor?”
His eyes went wide as his hands landed on my arms, cautiously holding on as I grunted my way out of my seat. “Can that happen?”
“I’m sure it can! Any sort of stress can set off contractions!”
His hand flew to the back of his neck and he rubbed the skin there while giving me his biggest, most sincere apologetic eyes.
“Fuck, Vi. I’m sorry. I just wanted to open your door and make sure you got up the steps alright.”
“The same steps I have at my parents’ house and can navigate perfectly fine on my own?”
“Yeah, well, this is my house. My rules apply here. And I always get your door.”
“Even if it used to be our house?”
I expected him to turn and run, but I should have known better. Instead of bolting like I would have, Colt reached down and took my hand. He helped me stand before leaning so close I could feel the heat radiating off his skin as he lowered his face towards mine.
“You should remember the punishment for not letting me get your door. Always did love the way you sounded panting my name when I bent you over my knee and turned that pretty peach ass of yours beet red.”
I gasped, trying to remind myself I was in no shape to get worked up over a man I hadn’t been near in almost a decade.
A man who was so close I could smell him, the rich amber and smokey, charred maple washing over me in nostalgic waves.
A man whose arms I desperately wanted wrapped around me, tattoos rippling as his hand tightened its hold.
Our son rolled in my belly, as if he, too, wanted to punctuate our closeness.
No.
Not our son. My son.
My body flushed hot and then cold.
“You okay? I was only trying to tease. I didn’t mean…I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No.” I forced myself to smile as I shut the car door that had been left wide open during our exchange. “I’m fine. Just a lot of memories there I hadn’t really thought about in a while.”
Lies, Violet. You thought about Colt in the shower just before you came over here.
His eyes narrowed on my face, and for a second I thought that maybe Colt had gained the ability to read minds in the time since our divorce. But he just shook his head and gave a little chuckle as his hand landed on the small of my back, guiding me up towards the house.
“Jessie mentioned seeing you at Montgomery Defense. Did you talk to one of the guys about a security system?”
I nodded. “A very nice guy, actually. Stone?”
He smiled. “Good. I can come by when they’re going to install it. Make sure they do it right.”
I stopped, my hands resting on my hips. “You don’t think they’ll do a good job? Isn’t Jessie’s husband a part of that team? You trust him to keep her safe, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I trust all of them. It’s just…”
“Just what? That you think you could do a better job?”
“That you’re too precious,” he whispered. The wind picked up, a strand of my hair flying free in front of my face. Colt reached out, tucking it back behind my ear. “I know you don’t want me overstepping. But this situation is serious. I’m scared for you, and I really think you should reconsider—”
I held up my hand.
“I’m not here to discuss that tonight, Colt. I just wanted to meet my nephew.” My eyes drifted over my ex-husband’s shoulder to where my former sister-in-law was busy stirring something together in a big green bowl.
“He’s not—”
My cheeks burned. “You really seem hellbent on pissing me off today. Your sister has been my sister since the minute she came into this world, even if the divorce strained things between us. Maybe you’re forgetting the promises we whispered to her together when I came over to meet her after she was born? ”
That we both would always watch over her. That we both would always love and protect her.
His features grew tight. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“Good. So please put this discussion on the back burner until I’ve had a chance to fawn over the two of them.”
Colt stepped out of the way, his hand sweeping out in front of me like he was letting me into the most exclusive club in the world.
And to be fair, that’s what it felt like for me, too.
The divorce was devastating for so many reasons, but right at the top of the list was the loss of the brothers and sister I’d grown up with.
In the blink of an eye, I was back to being an only child.
Something I hadn’t had to contend with since I was twelve-years-old.
“Vi!” Jessie’s smile grew the closer she got to me. “Oh my God, I still can’t get over how cute you look. This belly! I am so excited to be an aunt again! But on the Ford side of the family this time.”
I wrapped my arms around the pipsqueak, grateful to get to soak in time with her twice in one day. She might be a wife and a mom, but she would always be the little girl who followed me around endlessly with hearts in her eyes. The one who made me want to be a mom myself.
“It’s wild to me that you’re not officially a Ford anymore.”
Jessie scrunched up her nose. “It feels so weird. I mean, I love writing ‘Mrs. Morgan’, but I’m just not used to it yet.”
“Speaking of Morgans…” A tall—okay, very tall and very handsome—man stepped into the house through the back door, bringing with him a wiggly little boy and a plate full of steaks that made my mouth water as he set them down on the table.
“Oh,” Jessie laughed, “Vi, this is my husband, Hawk. Hawk, this is, well, for all purposes other than legally—which honestly is the least important—my sister, Violet.”
I laughed at the description as I offered my hand to Hawk, who was balancing their son on his left arm. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Violet.”
“And this,” Jessie reached and scooped her son from Hawk’s arm, “chunky boy is Beckett. Beck, say hi to Uncle Coco’s friend, Violet.”
“Hi Lielet!”
“Well, hello there, Beckett. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” My heart was about to burst out of my chest. “Jessie, he is the cutest! I’m just so overwhelmed thinking about our boys playing together one day soon.”
Colt flinched next to me. I turned to look at him, wondering why the hell he was standing ramrod straight and staring at me. But then my words played over again in my mind.
He didn’t know the baby was a boy. I’d just accidentally blurted out something I should have saved to tell him when it was just the two of us. When I was going to explain everything.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Don’t be.” His fingers twitched, but he didn’t move.
“Dinner’s almost ready, everyone can find a spot to sit. Just don’t sit next to Beckett unless you want to share your food with him.” Jessie’s joke broke the lingering tension.
“I talked to Stone today about the house. He’s going to come and do a walk through so he knows he’s ordering the right parts, I guess.
” I brought the glass of water that was sitting in front of me up to my mouth.
Colt and I sat next to each other, him on my right and Jessie to my left.
Beckett was currently pushing mashed potatoes all over his plate while Hawk and Jessie wrangled his hands to try and get them clean.
“Did he say when? I can be there,” Colt offered.
I shook my head. “He didn’t. But he did mention telling you, so you’d know.”
“Good.”
I pushed another bite of meat onto my fork. “This steak is delicious, Hawk. But I won’t lie, I’m already eyeing those brownies.”
Jessie laughed. “I’ve definitely upped my skills since you got me that toy oven for Christmas, and I made you two eat half-baked cookie dough.”
“I don’t know how I forgot about that,” Colt chuckled. “I remember how many tears there were when you pulled the cookie tray out after thirty minutes and everything was still raw.”
“Hey, you don’t mess with a woman and her sweet treats.” I crossed my arms and winked at Jess. “I’m not sure why toy manufacturers think it’s smart to try and have kids cook with light bulbs.”
“It was special, but I just enjoyed getting to spend time with you both.”
The conversation continued like that through the rest of dinner.
Light. Fun. Reminiscing through the memories we shared together.
No one brought up my pregnancy again, and I was grateful for that.
Because even with as lovely as the night turned out to be, I was still standing under the giant shadow of a secret I needed to share sooner rather than later.
“I’m sorry I was so on edge when I got here,” I said to Colt as I walked out the front door. “I know I need to face the fact that what happened in New York was scary and dangerous. I just…I’m trying to hold it all together on my own. Anyway, thank you for having me over.”
“I want you to stay.” Colt leaned against the doorway and reached for my hand.
“I don’t have a change of clothes,” I teased. “I wore this to look nice, not to sleep in.”
His eyes traveled down my body, then back up to my face. “You do look nice, Vi. I haven’t said it before now, but this pregnancy really suits you.”
I could feel the heat hit my cheeks before my heartbeat thundered in my chest.
“Thank you.” I looked over my shoulder at my car. Yeah, it was time to get out into the cool night air. Otherwise, I was going to cave.
“Look, I don’t like what you told me this morning. I can’t get those messages out of my mind.”
I looked down at the place where our hands connected, truly surprised I couldn’t find the energy to pull away. “They didn’t follow me here. And worst case, you’re just five minutes away if I need you.”
“A lot can happen in five minutes, Violet. Please.”
I pulled my hand away from his. “I need to go. Thank you for dinner.”
“Wait.” His command had me frozen in place. “Give me your phone.”
“What?”
“Your phone. Let me see it so I can give you my number. In case you need to call me.”
I grabbed my phone from my pocket, making sure to unlock the screen before I handed it over.
He held it out at arm’s length. which made me smile. Until his eyes went wide and he handed the phone back.
“Everything okay?” I asked, confused by the shock I saw written on his face.
“You still have my number in there.”
“Oh. I thought maybe you would have changed it.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Still the same as it always was.”
“Good. Mine’s still the same, too.” I had no idea why I offered that information to him.
“Is that an invitation to call you?” The smallest hint of a smile tipped the corner of his mouth. I needed to look somewhere else, but my eyes were glued right on his lips.
“If you ever need to, sure.”
He took a step closer to me. I closed my eyes, waiting for what he’d say next.
“What if I want to…maybe just to check on you? To say good night, or good morning?”
I shook my head, the smile back in place. “We can say goodnight right now.”
“Mm.” He leaned back against the door frame and sighed. “Goodnight, Violet.”
“Goodnight, Colt.”