Chapter Twenty-One Violet
Chapter Twenty-One
Violet
“Okay, ladies. Last round,” Delilah said. She owned the Brown Bear Diner, and she was one of my favorite people in town.
“How does a boozy brunch of bottomless mimosas have a last round?” I asked before falling back in the booth in an eruption of giggles.
“That’s a brilliant question,” Montana said, her words slurring.
“And why are we the last people in the place?” Blakely hiccuped.
“Because dinner is starting in an hour. You ladies managed to drink more mimosas than the entire restaurant put together.” The older woman smirked.
“But aren’t you glad you listened to me about offering boozy brunch once a month? And then we moved it from boozy brunch to liquor lunch. It’s an all-day affair.” I tipped the last of my champagne and orange juice back.
“I am. Even if just to see you three in here acting like fools, it’s worth it.” She winked. “I need to get back in the kitchen to help with the transition to dinner, so take your time finishing up, but the mimosas are done.”
“I’m texting Myles to come get me. Do you two need a ride?” Montana asked as she typed out a text on her phone.
“I’d love a ride,” Blakely said.
I chewed on my fingernail. “Charlie said he’d come pick me up. Do you think I should text him?”
“Well, you did have sex with the man three times last night, I’d say you should let him pick you up.” My best friend fell forward in laughter, and I rolled my eyes.
“Thank you for announcing it for the whole restaurant to hear.” I sent a text to Charlie that I was done, but happy to walk home.
“No one is here but the three of us.” Blakely hiccuped once again. “And I love that he doesn’t want a one and done with you. Our little Vi is growing up.”
I flicked a piece of pancake at her. “We’re just taking it one day at a time. It’ll probably be over by tomorrow.”
“Why are you so doom and gloom about it? You know you like him,” Blakely said, her brows arched.
Montana sighed dramatically. “She doesn’t want to like him. Because if she likes him, he could hurt her. She’s been let down by one too many people in her life.”
“Thank you, Sigmund Freud, for sharing the inner workings of my psyche.” I rolled my eyes. “I just don’t like to expect things from people. I prefer to count on myself.”
“I’ve never let you down, have I?” my bestie asked.
“No. But you’re a woman. And a rare gem.” I smiled as I reached for my water.
“And it took you the entire first year in college to finally put your guard down with me. Not everyone is going to let you down.” She leaned her head on my shoulder before continuing. “I just love you so much, and I want you to know how easy it is to love you.”
“Oh boy. Someone has had one too many glasses of bubbly,” I said over my laughter.
“I’ve never let you down either, have I?” Blakely asked, her eyes wet with emotion now.
“Do not start crying. Why are you both getting weepy? I’m not upset. And no, you haven’t let me down. You two would be in the small group of humans I love who are not assholes.”
“There’s a lot of us out there, Vi.” Montana sat up, and tears ran down her face. “You just have shitty parents and an asshole sister. And a bad track record of ex-boyfriends. But otherwise—”
“Otherwise, what? That’s kind of a lot. And stop crying. You’re making things weird.” I wiped her face with my napkin just as Myles walked in.
“Oh boy. Someone is three sheets to Emoville,” he said, winking at his girl.
“Emoville. You stole that from me,” I gasped.
“Hey, I’m hip on the wedding lingo. What can I say?” He shrugged. “Why are they both crying?”
“Cheap champagne and childhood trauma. You know, girl stuff.” I glanced up as the door opened, and Harper came running toward our table.
“Vi, I got to do Daddy’s makeup! Wait till you see him.” She climbed right up on the booth and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I missed you.”
She missed me.
I missed her.
“I missed you too, Harps.” I hugged her tight as my gaze moved to the large man walking toward the table.
Broad shoulders. Long legs closing the distance. And that’s when I saw it.
Blue glitter covered his eyelids.
Dark blush was on the apple of his cheeks.
And his hair was pulled back into two tiny pigtails on top of his head.
“What the hell is happening here?” Myles gaped at him.
“Hey. Earmuffs, dude. Harps is sitting right there,” Charlie grumped.
“So, calling you out for looking like you’re about to step onto a Broadway stage is offensive to Harper?” Myles asked.
“No. You can’t say ‘hell’ in front of a kid,” Harper said, shaking her head at him.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t know ‘hell’ was a bad word.” He shrugged.
“I think ‘shit’ is worse,” Blakely said, and the table erupted in laughter.
But my eyes never left the gorgeous man standing in front of me.
Yes, I had a good buzz going from the bottles of champagne we’d consumed over the last few hours.
Yes, I was still floating on air from the orgasms I’d received last night.
But none of that had anything to do with the reason that I was salivating as I took him in.
It was the glitter and the hair and the fact that he’d let his daughter give him a makeover simply because it made her happy.
Charlie Huxley is a good man.
A really good man.
I didn’t know many, and he was showing me that they still existed.
“I think you look great,” I said as Blakely and Montana looked at me and chuckled.
“Oh, she’s got it bad,” Montana said as she slid out of the booth and wrapped her arms around Myles.
“What do you got bad, Vi?” Harper asked.
“Nothing. Ignore them. I’m happy to see you guys, that’s all.”
“Well, dude,” Myles said, “I’m not going to lie to you. I love that you’re a good dad, but this whole look is a bit alarming. No offense, Harps. You’re cute as hell. Oh wait. I can’t say that. You’re the cutest kid I know. But your dad looks a little strange with that hair and all the glitter.”
“I’ll give you a makeover next, Mr. Myles,” Harper said through her giggles.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Charlie said with a look at his friend.
“I get it. She’s impossible to turn down.” Myles winked at Harper as we slid out of the booth together.
“Tell me about it.” Charlie took Harper’s hand, and then he did the most unexpected thing of all.
He reached for my hand too.
He interlocked our fingers, and I looked up to see my friends watching and smiling.
Normally this type of public affection would freak me out.
Maybe it was the buzz still coursing through my veins.
Or maybe it was just the man who was holding my hand.
But I liked it.
I liked it a lot.
We all said our goodbyes, and Charlie opened the passenger-side door for me before he helped Harper into the back seat and got her buckled.
As we drove home, Harper told me all about doing her father’s makeup.
“He yelped out when I put the ponytail in his hair, Vi. He was being a big baby,” she said over her laughter.
“Hey, you pulled my hair really hard,” he huffed as he glanced over his shoulder at me and smirked.
“Maybe you have a sensitive scalp.” I reached over and tugged on one of his pigtails.
“Ouch!” he said dramatically.
“Listen, I give you credit for leaving the house like this. That’s a loyal daddy right there.” I chuckled.
“Would your daddy not leave the house like this?” she asked.
The question was so innocent, yet it was a sore subject for me.
“No. My dad wasn’t big on that kind of stuff.”
“What’s he like?” she pressed.
“Not everyone likes to talk about their families, baby girl,” Charlie said as his hand found my thigh and he squeezed it.
“No. It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it.” I shrugged, placing my hand over his. “My dad left when I was a baby, and we don’t have a great relationship now. But I have siblings that I’m close to, so I see him at family events, and he’ll be here for my sister’s wedding in a few weeks.”
“He sounds like Caroline,” Harper said. “Daddy’s not going to make me see her anymore. If it makes you sad to see your dad, maybe you shouldn’t see him anymore.”
I never actually considered that. I was usually feeling wounded that I wasn’t included. But she was right in a way—being around him did not make me feel good. It made me feel unwanted.
Unloved.
And that wasn’t healthy for anyone.
“You’re awfully smart for a seven-year-old,” I said.
“Daddy! Vi’s the first person to call me a seven-year-old. I’m not six anymore. I’m seven. And I am really smart. Super smart.” She giggled as we pulled into the driveway and Charlie opened the garage.
Harper ran inside because she wanted to go set up her makeup for me to get a makeover next. Once we stepped into the house and Harper took off down the hall, Charlie stopped me. My back was pressed to the door, and he placed a hand on each side of me, caging me in.
“Your dad is an asshole, Firefly.”
I nodded and smiled, because this man just somehow knew what I needed to hear.
“I know. And maybe Harper’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t be so accessible to a man who hasn’t treated me well.” I tipped my chin up.
“Well, you’ve probably spent a lot of time guarding yourself from others because of your relationship with him. When the person you should have been guarding yourself from all along was him. Other people might not let you down, you know?” He leaned forward and kissed my cheek.
It was sweet. Intimate in the strangest way.
Not sexy. Not passionate.
But there was a connection. An understanding.
“I’ve never thought of that.”
“Listen, I’ve been guarded my whole life, so I’m not one to talk. But I’m just saying, you’re all kinds of magic, Violet Beaumont. And I don’t think that man should be the reason that you don’t trust the rest of the world. He’s the one who doesn’t deserve you.”
“What happened to the man who doesn’t like to speak? I feel like you could be my therapist lately.” I chuckled.
“I’d like to be a lot more than that,” he said, his voice gruff as he whispered against my ear, his lips grazing the sensitive skin there as he spoke.
“I’d like to strip you naked right here, turn you around, and fuck you senseless against this door.
But I’ve got a little girl counting on me, so that’ll have to wait. ”
My breaths were coming fast, and I searched his gaze when he pulled back. “You’re an asshole, Charlie Huxley. Now I’m all flustered.”
He took a step back and laughed. “Good. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t run you off just yet.”
“One day at a time. And we’ve made it through the first one, and I’m still here. How about you?”
“Me and my dirty thoughts aren’t ready to run yet, Firefly.” He grinned at me, and I chuckled, because the blue glitter was sparkling in the light shining down on him.
“I’m ready for you, Vi!” Harper shouted as she came running down the hall and took my hand. I glanced over my shoulder and found his heated gaze watching us.
“See you later, Charles,” I said with a smile.
“Count on it.”
I chuckled as I followed Harper down the hall.
I liked how I felt when I was here.
When I was with them.
Like I belonged.
It was equal parts exciting and terrifying.