Chapter 27 Violet
Violet
The smell of the supper I was cooking filled the entire house and felt like a warm hug in my chest. I was working hard to distract myself from Colt’s words playing over and over in my head.
The last thing I needed was Hayes asking me why I was so damn flushed again.
I was pretty sure he wouldn’t keep accepting my excuse that the extra weight from the baby was making me hot.
Thankfully, the girls were also helping keep my mind occupied.
Jessie:
It doesn’t have to be anything big. Think of it more like a coming home party than a baby shower!
Birdie:
I mean, there will be baby presents. Lots of baby presents. I got some really cute fabric at Thread and Needle this week, and I’ve got the cutest pattern for baby overalls!!
Jessie:
We just want to celebrate you and Colt and the baby.
I bit the inside of my cheek. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to celebrate the baby. Or the fact that I was back in Silver Springs. Or the fact that Colt and I seemed to have found our way back to each other. I just…
Sizzling interrupted my thoughts as I pushed away from the counter I was resting my hip against, grabbing the wooden spoon to stir the potatoes.
The girls had kept me giggling all damn afternoon with their texts, mostly about trying to get me to cave about a baby shower.
It would be wonderful to celebrate the baby, but part of my heart still felt like I was tempting fate.
Right as I plunged the spoon down into the pot for another frivolous stir, the timer for the oven went off. My eyes lifted to look at the clock on the stove. Thirty minutes later than the last few days. Colt must be having a rough shift turnover meeting.
“I don’t know what I did to get Violet babysitting duty on meatloaf night, but I’m just going to quietly count my blessings.” Hayes got down off the stool at the breakfast bar and walked over to the stove. “I’ll grab it out of the oven.”
“You don’t have to—”
He just looked at me, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he slipped on the oven mitt.
“Fine, fine. Have at it.”
I laughed as I walked to the fridge and grabbed everything I would need to make the mashed potatoes. On the counter, I heard one of our phones buzzing.
“Is that—”
“It’s mine,” Hayes replied. He grabbed the phone, answering it with a smile on his face. “Hey, Beau. What’s up?”
I brought the ingredients over to the counter and started opening Colt’s cabinets. I’d seen the electric beaters a few days ago, but for some reason they were hiding on me now.
“Yeah, one sec.” Hayes pulled the phone away from his ear and looked over at me. “I’m gonna step outside for one minute. You need anything, holler.”
“The alarm is set. Just reset it before you go.”
“Right. Thanks.”
I flipped the switch for the hot burner to off, drained the water from the potatoes, and went to work adding the milk, butter, and chives to the pan. Just as I snapped the second beater into place, Hayes knocked on the door.
My eyes dropped to the handle. Of course he locked it on his way out. I opened the door, the alarm chirping until he was back inside. The cold air that had come in with him hit me, and my body shivered.
“God, it’s really getting cold out.”
“Vi.”
I hadn’t thought to look at his face when he came in—but I should have. One look at him, and I didn’t need to ask what the phone call was about.
“No.” Pain lanced through my chest as concern filled Hayes’ face.
Colt had told me years ago if anything ever happened, it would be one of his brothers who told me.
That’s what was happening. Hayes was standing in front of me, reaching out like he was going to catch me if I fell.
Because what he had to tell me was going to rip me apart. “No. Don’t you dare!”
“Maybe you should sit down.” He took a step towards me as his eyes dropped to my belly. I hadn’t even realized I was wincing as I clutched at the place where my baby was sleeping.
Colt’s baby.
“Don’t you come in here, and hold on to me, only to tell me he’s gone, Hayes. Don’t you dare. He’s coming home with cupcakes. We’re supposed to have cupcakes in bed.”
Hayes didn’t listen, his hand locking on my elbow as he walked us back towards the table.
“Christ, Violet. That’s not what…He’s okay. But he’ll literally kill me if you go into labor over this, so please…please just take a breath. Colt’s had a shitty day, and I think missing the birth of his son would send him over the edge.”
My hand covered my heart, and I leaned back until my head clunked against the wall. “You scared me.” I waited a second until I felt my heartbeat slow, then popped open one of my eyes to scowl at him. “What happened?”
“In the grand scheme of things, it could have been so much worse.”
“Oh, God. That’s what you came up with to calm me down?”
He shrugged, grabbing my tea from the counter and setting it in front of me. “Don’t get upset, okay?”
The baby chose that moment to start wiggling, his bum pressing out against my side. I watched as the bump that had grown to a size I didn’t even know was possible stretched and morphed into a pyramid.
“Holy shit.” Hayes stood next to me, white as a sheet. “It’s like there’s an alien in there.”
“It feels like it, too,” I grunted as I pushed against his little body. “You better sit and tell me what the hell happened. Fast.”
Hayes nodded, pulling a chair away from the table. “Beau didn’t have a lot of details to share, but I guess another deputy found Colt down behind his patrol car in some bushes with a laceration on his head. They’re finishing up at the hospital now, and he’s going to be okay.”
I pushed up off the seat, trying to remember where I’d put my keys. Were they in my purse? Or were they in my laptop bag? “Let’s go.”
“Vi.” Hayes jumped up, his hand resting on my shoulder. “Beau was bringing the truck up to the hospital doors to get him when he called. They should be here soon, okay. So, you’re just going to relax. I’ll finish up supper.”
“I’m not hungry.” Honestly, the thought of eating made my stomach flip. Even the smell of the meatloaf, now resting on the counter, was making me nauseous.
“I bet my nephew is, though,” he pushed. “Got to fatten him up still. Beckett will bowl right over him if you don’t.”
“Probably should wait until after he’s exited my body to fatten him up.”
Hayes cringed. “Damn. Yeah. Fair enough. But you still have to eat.”
I nodded, not really meaning to agree with him as my mind wandered to Colt.
I wasn’t his emergency contact. Of course I wasn’t.
He was a first responder. He needed someone who was here to be it.
But that realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
He had rushed right down to the hospital to be by my side, but he had Beau call Hayes to tell me.
He didn’t want me there when he was hurt?
I know that it was a practical thing. He wouldn’t want me trying to drive myself anywhere right now.
But he was hurt. And I wouldn’t have known if—
Lights flashed into the house, and I was out of my chair before Hayes could stop me. I moved through the house with a speed I didn’t know I was capable of, but I still wasn’t quite at the door before them. I could hear Beau or Colt knock for a second before giving up.
Wrenching the door open, I expected to see Colt, but the doorway was empty.
“Jesus, Vi.” Hayes wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me back. I watch a delivery guy get back in his car and back down the driveway. My eyes dropped to the porch where a thin envelope sat. I should have known it would be too soon for them to get here all the way from Bell Ridge.
“It was just a delivery guy.”
“That’s weird. Usually all our stuff gets delivered up to Mom and Dad’s house.”
The alarm panel started beeping more rapidly.
“Crap. Would you grab it for me? I’m afraid we’re about to set off the alarm.” I gestured to the panel behind me.
“Oh shit. Yeah.”
Hayes brought the envelope inside, setting it on the table Colt tossed his keys on every night. My eyes dropped to the address line.
It was for me.
“You want to wait for Colt?” Hayes asked, clearly picking up on my apprehension.
“No, of course not. I was expecting something from my business manager. He said I’d probably be getting some legal documents to look over in the next day or two. That has to be what it is.”
I grabbed the envelope, tearing the sealed paper open. Reaching inside, I felt one single sheet of thick card stock material between my fingers. That was weird. If it was my contract coming through from Ryan, it would have been an entire document.
“Violet?” Hayes sounded like he was a mile away, under water, as I pulled what I could see was a picture out. The envelope fell to the floor almost as quickly as my knees gave out.
Because there, printed on the paper in front of me, was Colt’s body. Sprawled out in the grass with blood surrounding his head. He looked…God, he looked dead.
I hadn’t stopped staring at the paper, but somehow I was moving. Not falling. Not anymore. Cushions hit the back of my legs as I could still hear Hayes trying to talk to me, but none of the words he’s saying were getting through to me.
I inhaled sharply as dark dots started closing in on my vision.
“Vi? Let me have that. Please. I need to take it. Colt will need to see it.”
I swallowed, trying to force the ache from my throat. My fingers didn’t want to move, even as I was screaming at them to let go. The picture was burned into my mind. I didn’t need to look at it to know it would haunt me forever.
“This is my fault.”
Lights flashed in front of the house again, and I yelped. My nerves were officially fried.
Hayes walked over to the window, and I watched his whole body relax as he turned back to me.
“It’s Beau and Colt.”
I nodded, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth and biting down, trying desperately to stop myself from losing it before I even had the chance to see with my own eyes that he was okay.
Hayes opened the door, Colt walking in before Beau. I pushed up off the sofa with a groan.
“Are you okay?” I asked, hesitating to reach out and touch him. His head was bandaged, and I could see where blood had matted his hair down.
His arms opened and I slid against his chest. “I’m fine. You know I have a hard head. Just a couple of stitches and I’m good as new.”
“A couple of stitches and instructions for how to care for a concussion,” Beau mumbled.
He held out a packet of papers to me. “That’s his discharge paperwork.
It’s just a mild one, but he was out for a few minutes they guess.
Better to be safe than sorry. Wouldn’t let the nurses fuss over him too much, kept saying he had a wife at home who was going to nurse him back to health. ”
“Well.” I smiled as I lifted my head off his heart.
The steady rhythm had calmed me down more than I should probably admit.
“That’s very true. You just sit right over there on the sofa and I’ll fix you all a plate for supper.
Are you feeling hungry? Or do you just want some ice for your head?
Is your stomach feeling off? I’m figuring they gave you pain medicine, and I know it can make some people nauseous. ”
The three brothers just stared at me.
“I’ll get everyone a plate for supper, including you,” Hayes volunteered.
“No, that’s not necessary. I don’t mind.”
“Violet. I just caught you when you nearly passed out—”
Colt’s face snapped from his brother to me.
“What is he talking about? Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m fine. I was worried about you, and then this package came.”
His eyes narrowed, and he winced. I needed to get his stubborn ass over to the couch. “What package?’
“Can I get you something to eat first? At least let me get your brothers something.”
“Violet.”
“Vi.”
“Goddamn it.”
All three brothers growled some version of opposition at the same time. Beau’s was a little more unbecoming than the other two. But he still wasn’t my biggest fan.
Colt’s hand grasped my elbow as he walked me over to the couch.
“Let me see it.” He held his hand out to Hayes.
“I’m so sorry, Colt. This is all my fault. You were hurt because this person is trying to hurt me,” I blurted out as Hayes brought the picture to Colt.
“Fuck.”