Chapter 41
“So, basically, you’re bullying the poor girl into dating you?” Cal asks, dipping a few fries into ketchup before popping them in his mouth. The lunch crowd at Shifty’s is noisy so there’s no fear of anyone around us hearing these two busting my fuckin’ balls for the last fifteen minutes.
“Come on, that’s not really fair, man,” Sup says, picking up another chicken wing. “He doesn’t have to bully her—he’s milking this injury for all it’s worth. She feels sorry for him.”
I shake my head and take a bite of my burger. “Fuck you, both” I mumble around my bite.
My phone dings in the middle of the table, I wipe my hands on the napkin and grin down at it when I see it’s my girl.
Vi
Gave Teddy quite a show this morning.
I think you planned it. Trying to show me off.
I’m a person Vi, not just a piece of meat.
Vi
I forgot she was coming, that never happens.
I’ll take that as a compliment.
Vi
Cocky.
Precisely.
“I’ll say one thing, if you’re looking at her with that fucking dopey grin on your face, that girl is going to get a restraining order on your ass.” Sup takes a swig of beer, chuckling at his own joke.
I return his grin, leaning back in my chair and nodding.
“Saw Teddy this morning, she said to say hi.”
I meant it as a joke just to razz him, but Sup’s face goes from fuckery to crimson in one second flat.
“She doing okay?” He avoids my eyes, concentrating really hard on his wings.
“Seems like it, she was going for her first real outing. A walk with Violette.”
“That’s the other thing,” Cal says, leaning back in his chair. “Just remember where Violette is concerned, this doesn’t just affect her,” he warns.
“You think I don’t know that? Hollie already has a dad who doesn’t come around. Trust me, the fact that Vi comes with another little person is at the forefront of my mind. I am taking it seriously, and besides, Hollie is awesome,” I tell them.
“Just sayin’, I see it with Teddy. Her priority is her kids, I can’t imagine how cautious she’d be if someone was trying to date her,” Cal adds.
Beside him, Xander chokes on his beer. “Wrong tube,” he says, clearing his throat.
I look back at Cal. “It’s taken me a decade to get here, I’m not letting her push me away because she’s afraid.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about, it’s what happens if you do some kind of fuckboy thing.”
“Not gonna happen,” I tell them, annoyed that neither one of them has faith in me to be serious. “I haven’t been a fuckboy, as you call it, for a long ass time.”
I finish my burger listening to the two of them bitch about the California crew they worked with in Wyoming and where they’re heading back to tomorrow for a few days.
“Fucking guys just go rogue any chance they get, especially their cap, just show boating,” Cal says. “Shit is dangerous.”
“I’ll talk to Jackson if we work with them again this season,” Sup says, mentioning their own leader.
I’m just putting my last fry into my mouth when Violette’s dad approaches our table.
“Boys,” he greets, patting Cal on the shoulder.
“Jack,” we all say in unison.
“Good lunch?”
We all nod as Jack turns to me. “You feeling good, son? Ready to get back out there?”
“Was ready a week ago.” I grin.
“I get that, I got some third degrees in ’99. Had six weeks off. Was so damn hard not to get back out there at the end, but this is when you need the rest the most. The beast will be there when you’re healed,” Jack says, folding his arms over his chest.
“All right, I gotta be on time meeting Scottie for our hike or she’ll kick my ass,” Cal says.
I’m ready for my workout so I chuckle and move to stand.
“One second there. What’s your week like, King?” Jack asks. I’m not sure, but I think the look of a school kid getting in shit from his principal just took over my face.
“Uh…not too busy, what can I do for you sir?”
He nods. “Stop by the house sometime over the next couple days, just want to catch up.”
“Sounds good,” I say to him before he offers his goodbyes to us and heads back to the stockroom.
Sup starts to chuckle as he stands, putting his phone into his back pocket and pushing his chair in. Cal follows suit.
“He’s on to you, you’re in shit now,” Cal says as he throws a twenty on the table.
“He probably wants my help with something,” I retort. It’s not uncommon for me to help him around the house since Jacob died.
“Keep telling yourself that, bud,” Sup says with a big grin as he pats me on the shoulder.
“My guess? You’re about to get the ‘ hurt my daughter and I’ll be kicking your ass’ speech,” Sup says.
Apparently, they think they’re pretty funny, laughing as we leave Shifty’s. It’s about halfway home when I realize Jack does know pretty much everything that goes on in this town. He would fiercely defend his daughter and while I have the best intentions with Violette, I do have a bit of a reputation from my earlier years.
By the time I’ve pulled into my driveway I realize that they’re probably right. I am about to get the talk.
Well, shit.
I meet Opp at the gym and move through an intense workout. Probably the hardest one I’ve had since my injury and I’m feeling it by the time I leave. My muscles are tight and sore but the only thing I can think of is getting home, showering, and heading to Violette’s.
Only thing is, she hasn’t answered me since lunch, but I know she’s busy with Hollie.
I quickly shower and do my best not to brick myself up while thinking of Violette’s wet, warm body in the shower with me.
By 5:30 p.m., I’ve got my truck packed up with snacks, drinks, and my grandfather’s custom Euchre set for after Hollie goes to bed. As I get into my truck, I worry that Violette still not answering me is her way of doing her turtle thing, hiding on me. All I want is the chance to show her how I can add to her life, how I can help, not take away her time with Hollie. I go over everything I’m going to say to her tonight as I drive.
We can go as slow as you want.
I wouldn’t even think of rushing anything with you or Hollie.
You deserve so much. You deserve it all.
I’ve got it all figured out by the time I pull into her driveway, but the moment she opens the door and holds her finger to her lips to shhh me, I understand why she hasn’t texted me back. She looks awful. Still beautiful, but awful.
“Fuck, love…” I whisper, bringing her into my arms, resting my wrist to her forehead. She feels hot as fuck.
“I didn’t have a chance to text you. I'm sorry you came all the way here,” Violette says into my T-shirt. She is wearing tights and the vintage Sky Ridge hotshots hoodie I left her this morning. Her hair is loose and wavy, but she looks…wrong. Pale and clammy.
“Hollie started with some kind of stomach bug after lunch, she was sick every twenty minutes all afternoon, but I think she’s over the worst of it, she’s sleeping now,” Violette whispers as we come through the front door. “Except now, I think I have a fever and I feel really nauseous.”
She holds a hand to her forehead, then reaches out to run her hand down my forearm. “Save yourself,” she says with a weak sort of smirk. How does this woman have the stomach flu but still look so goddamn enticing?
I don’t tell her that there isn’t a shot in hell I wouldn’t have come here, even if she had texted me. I take the cards, drinks, and snacks I brought into her foyer, knowing we won’t be touching them. “Seriously, Rowan, I don’t want to get you sick.”
“Don’t worry about me, Vi, I never get sick.”
“I have nurse immunity, yet I’m still sick,” she deadpans.
I chuckle softly as I take my shoes off.
“If I could guarantee you that I wouldn’t get sick, would you want me to stay?” I enter the living room and see little Hollie laying on the couch all snuggled up, her cheeks are rosier than normal, and a plastic Tupperware bowl sits beside her on the floor. It tugs at my heart, and the feeling to do whatever Hollie needs to help her feel better almost overwhelms me.
“You can’t guarantee me you won’t get sick—” She stops mid-sentence and looks at me with the strangest look on her face, clamping her hand over her mouth. Neither of us move for a beat and then she’s gone, darting down the hall to her bathroom. I follow her in as she drops to her knees in front of the toilet, grasping for her hair to keep it back before she gets sick, but I’m quicker, scooping it into my hands and grabbing a clip off the bathroom counter, securing the strands back.
Yeah, there’s not a shot in hell I’m leaving this house right now.
“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me, Vi,” I tell her.
She nods and I make my way outside, closing the door and making my way down the hall to double check that Hollie is still sleeping and then I keep busy. I can faintly hear Violette getting sick and there’s not much I can do about that. There’s no way I’d want her in the bathroom if the tables were turned. I can only be there for her after, so instead, I clean up her place one toy and dish at a time.
I use my wrist again to press it light as a feather to Hollie’s forehead, the same way my mother always used to do for me. She’s cool, but covered with sweat, sleeping comfortably, like Vi said, probably through the worst of it.
When I’m done tidying, I head to Violette’s hallway linen closet and grab a fresh washcloth, then lean my head against the bathroom door.
“I have some electrolytes and a washcloth if you want them,” I tell her.
“Okay…” Violette says meekly. I cast a glance at a still sleeping Hollie and then make my way in.
“Is Hollie?—”
“She’s asleep, and cool,” I say.
Violette’s bloodshot hazel eyes snap to mine.
“You checked her temp?”
“Well, it was just the wrist test, but she doesn’t seem feverish anymore.”
Violette leans her head back against the tub. I run the cloth under hot water then ring it out.
“Thank you…but, Rowan, you don’t have to stay,” she says as I make my way over to her and pat her forehead with the cloth for a second. She closes her eyes.
“Let’s just get this outta the way right now. I’m staying,” I tell her.
She must be tired, because she just nods.
“Feel good?”
“Mm-hmm,” she says. Her eyes snap open. “I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Nah, you sleep in bed. I’ll stay up and watch over Hollie. Gotta catch up on my sports highlights anyway,” I tell her.
“If she wakes up, come get me, there’s toddler electrolytes in the fridge and?—"
“I told you, I’m here. I’m on it. You just need to rest; we’ll be right in the next room.”
I fold the cloth and place it on her forehead then sit down across from her.
“And just to remind you, I’m a trained medic, you’d have to do a lot worse than a little stomach bug to get me to leave. Even if you did sound like a boot came out of you.” I smirk, handing her a Gatorade. She takes it right away, and sips from it.
“Shut up,” she says, closing her eyes again. We sit like this for all of five minutes before that look is crossing her face again, and I know it’s my cue to give her some privacy.
I huff out a breath when I close the bathroom door behind me as I make my way back to the kitchen, taking some time to wash my hands. I’m not actually superhuman, I could get sick.
I spend the next hour checking between her and Hollie. Violette doesn’t move from the bathroom floor the entire time. When she finally does move, she gets lightheaded, so I pick her up and carry her to her room, tucking her into her bed. I pull the blankets up over her and kiss her hot forehead.
“I’ve got Hols, you just get some sleep,” I tell her.
She nods and her eyes flutter closed. “Thank you, Rowan.”
A tight twinge centers in my chest. The idea that Violette trusts me with Hollie hits me a little harder than I expected. I make my way to the bathroom and give it a quick clean. By now, Violette is asleep and doesn’t even notice what I’m doing.
I finish up and make my way back to the living room to check on Hollie, wondering what Violette would’ve done if I wasn’t here, but I already know the answer. She would’ve trucked on through and wouldn’t have let herself rest.
Fuck, being a mom isn’t for the weak.
I just sit down on the loveseat and take a breath when a matted haired Hollie sits up on the sofa across from me, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palms. I check my phone, 9:30 p.m.
I make my way over and sit down beside her, brushing a piece of hair off her clammy but cool forehead.
“How are you feeling, Hols?”
“Where’s Mommy?” Hollie asks.
I point to Violette’s bedroom.
“You know how your tummy was sore before?”
She nods, hugging Power Piggy and then reaching into her nest of blankets and pulling out the one she gave me the first time I came over. She hands it to me, I take it and set him in his spot on my knee.
“Well, now Mommy feels like that too, so would it be okay if I sit with you for a bit? We can watch anything you want.”
“Okay…I got all my yuckies out,” Hollie tells me matter-of-factly.” I went blahhh,” she says.
I chuckle. “Well, that’s good.”
“I’m hungry,” she says in a yawn.
I nod, because that’s a great sign, especially since it’s been quite a few hours since she got sick.
“Tell you what,” I say, moving to the kitchen and grabbing some electrolytes from the fridge. I rummage through Violette’s kitchen in search, remembering where her dishes are from this morning.
I crack the seal of the bottle and pour some into Hollie’s sippy cup and then screw on the top.
“You drink some of this and if your tummy feels good after an episode of SuperPets ”—I rummage through the pantry and find what I’m looking for—“you can have a couple crackers, okay?” I bring the box of salted tops crackers with me.
“Okay I’m firsty,” Hollie says, reaching her chubby hands up to me. “Can you sit with me?” she asks, looking up at me with those big hazel eyes the exact same color as her mom’s. “Bring your pig too,” she adds, pointing to my pig on the other side of the couch. “He’s friends with my piggy.”
“Piggy, right,” I say under my breath, grabbing it and sitting down beside her. I pick up the remote and turn on SuperPets.
“Do you feel sick?” Hollie makes her pig ask my pig in a high-pitched voice.
“No, we’re Power Piggies, we don’t get sick, right?” I say in my best pig voice.
“Right,” she says with a weak little smile.
“Do you get scawed?” she asks.
“Sometimes.” I make my pig tell hers.
“I was scawed when I blahhed,” Hollie tells me.
I look down at her and raise my pig’s little hand, patting her pigs head. “That’s okay, everyone gets scared. But you feel better now?”
“Yes,” she says.
Hollie sets her pig beside mine on my knee, satisfied with their chat, I suppose.
I turn my attention back to the TV, picking out an episode.
What I don’t expect to happen part way through the first episode is Hollie scooching over to me and snuggling right into my arm, before smiling up at me.
“My tummy feels better,” she says with the cutest little grin when the first episode is over. I look down at her and realize that in this moment, I’m her comfort. This little piece of Violette. One little smile and I’m a complete goner for her too.
“That’s great, Hols. Want some crackers?”
“Will you have some too?”
“Sure,” I tell her, realizing I didn’t even eat dinner.
I take some out of the box for myself too, and Hollie holds up her cracker and says, “cheers.” I grin and cheers my cracker with hers. And this is how we spend the next little while, chatting and watching her favorite show until she’s finally ready to fall back asleep sometime around eleven, and I carry her in, placing her beside Violette before tucking them both in tight.
I check Violette’s temp, she’s definitely a bit cooler than earlier. I look down at them for a few minutes, both sleeping peacefully side by side. I don’t know about fate, or about life’s twists and turns to get you to the place you’re supposed to be, but I wouldn’t trade my journey for the world if this is where I get to land. The vision of them sleeping soundly, safely, fills me with a kind of peace I’ve never known, as well as an overwhelming need to care and protect them both fiercely.
When Hollie snuggles close to Violette and winds her chubby little hand in her mother’s hair, I know I’m not just falling for Violette.
I’m falling for them both.