Chapter 38 Violet
Violet
Ismoothed my hands over my shirt for the fifteenth time.
“Chill, Vi. You’re so nervous it’s giving me the jitters.”
I rolled my eyes. Beau was sitting on the couch in the living room, scrolling on his phone.
“What’s so entertaining over there?”
“Just tracking Birdie’s flight. She was nervous…”
“I didn’t realize she was heading out of town.” His nerves now made sense. I swear, I hadn’t seen him without Birdie by his side since I came back.
“She’s going to some midwifery conference in Colorado. Won’t be back for a week.”
“That’s gotta be tough.”
“For her, yeah. She doesn’t like being away from her sister. Lainey can be a real piece of work. I’m sure Birdie is worried about her.”
“I meant for you,” I admitted.
“Why would it be tough for me?” he asked, a look of true confusion settling across his face.
“No reason,” I laughed. “Sorry you got stuck on babysitting duty. I told Colt I'd be fine, but—”
“No. I'm happy I'm here. Colt’s right. Keeping you and Connor safe is what matters.” His hand ran along the backside of his neck. “Look, I know I said it to you at the hospital after Connor was born, but I am really sorry for how I treated you when you came back.”
“And like I said, I appreciated the apology, but it wasn't necessary. You were protecting Colt. Something I thought I was doing too all those years ago. Family stumbles sometimes, Beau. Doesn't mean I don't love ya like the pain in my ass little brother that you are.”
“I love you, too. Like a much older, not-much-wiser sister.” He winked at me. “And I'm happy everything's worked out for you both.”
I was just about to deliver a zinger of a comeback when I saw a flash of black pull into the driveway, and the conversation with Beau died on the tip of my tongue.
“Ryan.” I smiled as I opened the door, my business manager standing on the other side in a crisp suit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man in a t-shirt and jeans, and that was just the type of guy he was. Type-A to a T.
“Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite romance author. Gone off to a sleepy little town and fallen back in love with her ex-husband. Instead of art imitating life, I see we’re letting our life imitate our art now.”
I wrapped my fingers around his outstretched hand and smiled as he gently squeezed me back.
“Come in. I’m sorry you had to drive out all this way. I know it was a trek, but with the baby, I just can’t really go anywhere yet.”
“An hour drive from the airport is nothing. I hit worse traffic at LaGuardia all the time. The weather’s getting a little tricky out, though.
” He chuckled as I held out my hand to take his jacket.
“And I swear it’s already dropped fifteen degrees out there.
I miss New York. This is for you.” He set a brown paper bag in my hand.
“Thank you?” I had no idea what could be inside, but it was sweet of him to bring something for me.
“It's that tea you were always drinking from your favorite little place around the corner from your apartment. Oh, this must be the infamous once-an-ex-but-an-ex-no-more husband?”
Beau laughed as he stepped forward, holding out his hand.
“I’m definitely not the husband.”
“He’s my ex-husband’s brother,” I explained. “Colt’s taking care of a family matter, but I know he’s going to try to get back here before you leave so he can meet you. Beau is here just to make sure Connor and I are…”
Ryan nodded. “Protected. I get it. It’s crazy to me that they haven’t caught the creep yet.”
“Yeah.” I shivered. I hadn’t had a single night yet where I hadn’t woken up breathless, convinced he was there, ready to snatch me away from my family.
“And this little goober must be Connor?” Ryan’s question pulled me back. I could feel Beau’s questioning gaze on me, but I didn’t have the energy to reassure him that I was fine.
“That’s him. The sweetest little blessing there ever was. Why don’t we go sit at the table? If you want to hold him, just wash up in the sink first.”
“Of course. You’re such a natural mom. I love it.” I knew he was teasing, but a warmth spread through my chest. “When is your dad coming to meet him?”
“In a couple of weeks. He’ll most likely stay over the holidays.”
“Oh, so he isn’t out here yet?”
“Nope, not yet. I wanted to have time with just the three of us. It was important to me.”
“And that’s why I’m here now, ready to talk over your breach of contract.
” He winked, but suddenly my stomach clenched.
“Lucy said if we had any questions to give her a call and she could hop on a video with us, but I told her this was all pretty standard stuff that I’d been through with another client of mine recently.
So if you felt comfortable with me walking you through the matter, then we would only reach out if we absolutely had to. ”
My agent was the best, but I couldn’t stand to see the disappointment in her face. And I knew she’d try to hide it, but I really did feel like I was letting everyone on my team down. Probably because I was.
I fiddled for a bit in the kitchen, getting two cups down from the cupboard. I filled Ryan's with coffee and excitedly poured hot water into mine, grabbing one of the teabags he gifted me.
“You know I don’t want to be insensitive, but we promised the publisher the manuscript would be ready last week. That was a firm deadline.”
“They liked the manuscript I sent.”
Ryan nodded. “They liked the direction the manuscript you sent was going in, but without your completed manuscript or any edits, they can’t move forward, and you know how slow this industry moves sometimes.
It’s the author’s job to hit their deadlines.
The publishers can change whatever they’d like to on their end, but you can’t. ”
“That seems predatory,” Beau mumbled from behind his phone.
“That’s just how this business works.” Ryan shrugged his shoulders, his eyes momentarily dropping to his watch before returning to me.
“Listen,” I said, “I don’t blame them at all. I already was granted the extension and I blew it on this one. I might bow out and take a break for a while. Just while Connor is young, until I get my feet back under me.”
“They want their advance back, Callie. And I think that’s a fair trade. The rights to the book would revert to you, so if in the future you want to publish it yourself, then you could.”
I nodded. It was fair.
“What did he just call you?” Beau choked out as his eyes went wide.
He’d seen Hayes make the mistake of calling me that the first time I visited the ranch.
God, we were all just babies back then. But that didn’t matter.
Because I’d kicked him in the shin and Colt had howled with laughter while Hayes took off limping back to the barn.
“It’s my pen name—Callie Ford. I don’t use Violet Murphy for my writing.”
“He doesn’t know that?” Beau asked.
“Of course Ryan knows my real name, but we just keep it all the same so he doesn't give out my legal name to anyone by accident.”
“Mm.” Beau went back to his phone.
“I get that this puts you in a tough spot, but I just had Connor a few weeks ago. It was traumatic, and I’m still getting my footing—”
Ryan held up his hand, making me choke on my excuses.
“I know, and I understand. Really, I do. I get it. And that’s why I’m going to tell you I want you to do what’s right for you. I’ve already told Lucy I was pretty sure this was the way you’d feel. That we wouldn’t be looking to try and negotiate.”
My head swam as I took another sip of the rose hip tea. Swirling the liquid in the cup, I realized it didn’t look quite the same as all those cups I had at the small cafe by my apartment.
“You said you picked this up at Kathy’s?”
“Yep. Right on the corner of Jefferson. That’s the one you like, right? The girl behind the counter mentioned missing you the last few weeks.”
“That’s the one. This just…I don’t know. Doesn’t taste the same.”
“Probably the change in atmosphere. Like having lobster ravioli out on the range.”
I laughed. “No one says ‘out on the range’ here. It’s not the eighteen hundreds.”
He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I passed a chuck wagon advertising passage on the Oregon Trail.”
There was no way I could hold back the colossal eye roll I had after hearing that. “I love Texas. I’m happy this is going to be home.”
Ryan coughed. “What do you mean? Aren’t you coming back to New York?”
“No. Colt and I have talked about coming up to clear out my apartment, but I want to be here. This is where my family is. This is where I want to raise my son.”
“Callie…just don’t…don’t make any crazy decisions now. I know it might feel like you need to because of the baby and this contract dissolving, but we’ll find another home for your book if that's why you don't want to go back. It’ll sell, and you’ll be able to keep things going in New York.”
“Hey, Ryan?” Beau called from the couch.
Ryan turned his head towards Beau as I stood up and checked on Connor who was still fast asleep in the bassinet.
Gosh, I was feeling so exhausted, I might need to take a nap before Colt got back.
After the meeting. Once Ryan was safely back on his way to the airport, I’d take the baby and head to our room.
“What flight did you say you came in on?” Beau asked.
“Avalon 216, out of Newark. Don’t tell me they’re canceling flights. I swear I never book through them, but they were the only ones with a red eye I could snag back to New York on short notice.”
“No. They haven’t started canceling flights yet, but the storms coming in aren’t going to be a joke.”
“Colt said they wouldn’t hit until later. Why are you asking him about his flight?” I asked.
Beau was acting weird. He tucked his phone back in his pocket, standing before taking two steps towards me.
“Because, there wasn’t a flight in from Newark through Avalon today.”
My eyebrows pulled together.
“What?” There had to be. How else had Ryan made it into Dallas before driving here?