27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Now What
Violet somehow avoided running into Lachlan for the rest of the day, but she knew that it would be a losing battle as time went on. She came home and opened the front door to her lovely little cottage, smiling, seeing where sunlight from the living room bathed the whitewashed entry walls. She set her new glass jar of succulents on the window sill.
At the end of her shift, she'd opened her locker and discovered the cheerful pop of green. She slid out the card from its white envelope with two chestnut horses grazing in a pasture painted on the cover. Inside were the words Happy Housewarming in somebody's scrolled handwriting in larger print and then a smattering of well-wishes and signatures. Her heart warmed, and she smiled, feeling misty-eyed. How thoughtful.
She’d suspected Effie was the facilitator, but reading the kind messages, she’d realized she was lucky to have met such a good group of people. Her eyes scanned the signatures a second time in case she'd missed it on the first read-through. But no, Lachlan's signature wasn't among them. And then she’d chided herself for being distracted by the man and headed home.
Violet noted that Fiona and Andy left the place tidy, which she was glad about since all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch and read the book Fiona lent her. A note on the coffee table caught her eye, and she picked it up.
Fab night, enjoy your charming cottage, speak soon! Fiona x and Andy :)
After devouring a bowl of homemade butternut squash soup she'd found at the small grocery shop up the road from her place, she had renewed energy and decided to finish unpacking. Not that she had much, but still, she wanted to put things in order and then make a list of things she still needed to get. Champagne glasses were at the top of the list.
She sat in the navy wingback chair in her bedroom, listening to the soft swooshing of the waves in the distance. She picked up the book from Fiona and read the words, but they didn't register—her mind was too preoccupied with her new boss.
She groaned, closing her book and pinching her lip between her finger and thumb. It annoyed her that he'd turned her insides to Jello today. Why did he have that effect on her? She thought she was over him. Done. Finished. It was maddening. And now, it turned out she’d likely be seeing him regularly. Maybe he wouldn’t be there that often. He did have a distillery to run, after all. He couldn’t very well run both businesses full on, could he? It was probably why the staff were only just now meeting him in person. Highland Haven was likely just a side thing for him, where he'd work on it from a distance, not in the trenches. And it was also a side thing for her, so maybe they wouldn’t run into each other much at all. She needed to talk to Sierra. She tapped her phone and looked at the time. Eleven p.m. Then she calculated in her head what time it was back home. Early morning.
“Hello?” Sierra answered in a groggy voice.
“Hey, it's me. Sorry to wake you.”
“You should be." Violet could hear the ruffle of bedding. "Kidding, I'm always happy to hear from you. How’s the new place?”
“Amazing. You need to plan a trip. Now I have room, and seriously, it is so awesome here. How are you, my friend?”
“Great, good. I'm meeting Matt for brunch this morning.” Violet could practically hear her grin through the phone.
“OOH, still going strong with Matt, eh?” Violet teased.
Sierra laughed. “Yep, still good. He’s a sweetheart.”
“I’m glad. You deserve that.” Violet ran her finger over a little knot in the fabric of her navy chair. “So, I found out who the owner of Highland Haven is today.”
“Yeah, who?”
“It’s him.”
“Him?”
“Lachlan.”
“What? No! Shut up!” Violet could imagine her friend’s wide expression.
“Yep, I ran into him there today.”
“Oh my God, and how was it? Are you okay?”
“Oh God, Sierra. The man is just so damn perfect. Physically, he is unreasonably hot. Worse than that, though, is just that he is honestly just such a good guy. Everybody over there is already singing his praises. It’s going to be torture. I wish he could be an asshole so I could hate him.”
“He is an asshole. He didn’t phone.”
“He’s not an asshole. He actually apologized for not getting in touch.”
“Big whoop. Easy for him to apologize now. He could have connected if he wanted to, and he didn’t, plain and simple. So don’t you go letting your imagination run away with you. You know he can be a flirt with you, and you also know it doesn't change anything—he is not interested. You know that. Don’t torture yourself, Vi. Keep that door closed. Move on. He did.”
Lachlan definitely had a way of making her knees weak, whether he meant to or not. Thank God for Sierra. She didn’t mince words. That was exactly what Violet needed to hear. He didn’t deserve her, anyway. He could have at least gotten in touch with her to make sure she was doing well—just something friendly—but not a word. He'd totally ghosted her. It was actually rude. Sierra was right. She would not let him back into her heart and mind.
“What about that Andy guy?” Sierra quipped.
“Andy? What? To date? No, no, he’s sweet, but just a friend.”
“The best relationships start as friends, just sayin’.”
“You make a good point, but not in this case. No, just no.” Violet couldn’t think of Andy that way. He was one of the girls, and that was that.
“All right. Well, I gotta go get ready, but it’s good to hear from you. Stay strong, my friend. Love you.”
“Love you too. Thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.”