Chapter 32 Rhett
RHETT
Sweetwater Lake is the kind of town you could do laps around all day if you wanted to. Small, compact, insular. People know me here, so I have to wave and nod as I walk around, grateful to be out of Violet’s house for a while to get some air.
It’s a crisp day, but not as cold as it has been, and the plows have already been through to remove the dumping of snow from yesterday from the roads and sidewalks. It’s all piled up to one side at the edge of town, sparkling and already dirty from the asphalt.
I can only guess it would be worse in a big city, but it makes me think about my cabin all the same. I clear the snow away from my doorway and the walk up to the house and that’s about it. Everything else is untouched and pristine, the snow allowed to collect and melt away without my input.
I would have expected to be yearning to go back by now, fed up with all the people and chaos of being back here. And there is the itch to go back sometimes, usually when things get too overwhelming, but most of all, I want to be with Violet.
She’s on my mind heavily today.
As I walk down the sidewalk, dodging people with strollers and huge shopping bags, I think about what she said yesterday after her sister left.
This will all be over soon.
And she’s right. Once Andrew’s wedding is over and done with, there’s no reason to keep pretending to be together. I’ll be going back to my cabin—my sanctuary, and I’ll be back where I belong.
Back where I chose to be.
So why is there is a pit in my gut that feels a bit like dread?
Everything there is how I want it, from the layout of the cabin to the location. It’s been perfect for me since I moved out there, but now, the thought of going back to it, cold and empty, feels almost wrong. I can admit to myself that it gets lonely.
Being here with my brothers and Violet has shown me that I do probably spend too much time on my own. The cabin won’t have Violet’s bubbling laugh ringing out or the smell of her coffee or baked goods, and that feels wrong somehow.
I step around a cluster of teenagers all looking at something on a phone and cross the street to get to the park.
Simon’s already there, sitting in his usual spot, a thick flannel blanket draped over his lap and a steaming cup at his elbow.
“There you are,” he says, grinning when he looks up and sees me. “I thought you were going to stand me up. Leave an old man alone in the cold and the snow waiting for you.”
“It’s not that cold,” I reply, sitting down and unwinding my scarf. “And it’s not snowing.”
“I notice you’re not also protesting me calling myself old,” Simon says. He nods to the snow on the grass under the trees of the park. “And there’s snow right there, young man. Do you need to get your eyes checked as well as a new watch?”
I can’t help but chuckle, shaking my head. I didn’t know what to expect from Simon, since I didn’t really interact with him at all before I left Sweetwater Lake, but I like him. He has an easy way about him, and he never asks too much of people.
It still feels unfamiliar to be this light and amused, especially with someone I don’t know well, but it’s nice in a way.
“I’m sorry I was late,” I tell him. “I lost track of time.”
“It’s alright,” Simon replies. “I know you were trying to delay the inevitable.”
“The inevitable?”
He nods to the chessboard, already set up in front of him. “Your inevitable defeat.”
I roll my eyes. “Just flip the coin for color, old man. Save the sass for when you actually win.”
He laughs and flips the coin. I call it as tails. It lands on heads, and he grins, making his first move.
That sets the tone for the first game, with Simon winning even quicker than usual. He topples my king with his bishop and gives me a look.
“See? Inevitable.”
“That was just a warm up.”
“Sure, sure. The next one will be different, right?”
It’s not.
Half way into it, it becomes pretty clear that I’m going to lose this one too. Simon moves his knight and raises an eyebrow.
“Check. Is your head in the game, Rhett, or is there something else on your mind?”
“Sorry. I’m focusing.” I move my king out of danger, but three moves later, Simon is calling check again.
“Do you want to talk about it, or are we going to keep pretending your head isn’t in the clouds?” he asks.
I sigh, scanning the board for a possible move to make. “It’s nothing. I’m just… tired.”
“Uh huh. That’s always the excuse. But I know better.”
“What do you think you know?”
“You’re distracted, and I know what the problem is. You’re mooning over a woman.”
I blink, caught off guard by him being right. I shake my head. “That’s not—”
Simon cuts me off with a chuckle. “I might be old now, but I was young once, Rhett. I’ve been there, so I know what it looks like.”
“You do?”
“Hey, I was a looker back in my day.” He grins, sweeping silver hair back off his forehead. “Had women lining up to ask me to dance. Spent my youth chasing down pleasure and then the next thing I knew, I was old.”
“Sounds like you’ve got some regrets,” I say, trying to be gentle about it, but still curious.
Simon just shrugs. “Who doesn’t. I’ll tell you this though. Violet’s grandmother was a dear friend of mine, but I also had a thing for her for a while. Years. Never got the guts to tell her my feelings.”
I blink, surprised. “Why not?”
“Somehow, even though we were both getting up there in years, I thought I would have more time. Always came up with an excuse why I couldn’t tell her then and there, and I’d tell myself that I’d say something next time. And then… then there was no next time.”
I pick up on his meaning with a sinking feeling in my stomach. “I’m sorry to hear that, Simon.”
“That’s life, son,” he says. “You’re young, but time isn’t infinite.
And you never know what could happen. In the blink of an eye, your time or hers could run out.
So the lesson is that you should never wait to tell the people you care about how you feel about them.
Holding it in doesn’t do anyone a damned bit of good.
Maybe they’ll feel the same and maybe they won’t, but at least you won’t be left with the feeling of ‘what if’ and regret that has nowhere to go. ”
That hits me hard, and I’m left staring at Simon for long seconds. I don’t quite know how to react, and he seems to understand that, giving me time.
I think about my mother and how one day she was just gone and how much time has passed since then.
All at once, I can’t sit here anymore.
I get up, almost knocking over my chair in the process. “I have to go,” I tell Simon. “Sorry, I just—”
He waves a hand, smiling up at me. “You were going to lose anyway. Will you be here next week?”
I nod. “Yeah. Yeah, definitely.”
“Hopefully with your head on straight by then. Go on now.”
I’m already striding away, a growing sense of urgency spurring me on as I head toward my car.
Sweetwater Lake isn’t a big place, but I find myself drumming my fingers against the steering wheel in agitation every time I have to stop at a light.
After the third light, I end up taking an alternate route that allows me to speed down a back road a little, and although it still takes longer than I’d like, I make it back to Violet’s place in record time.
When I left, I was the only one there, but it’s late enough in the afternoon that her car is in the driveway. Lennox and Sawyer aren’t there, so I pull up next to her car and then let myself into the house.
I barely take the time to shed my layers before striding into the kitchen to see Violet standing at the counter, measuring out flour on a scale.
She looks up when I walk in, immediately blushing. “Okay,” she says, “So I know it’s lame to come home and start baking right away, but I had an idea on the way home, so you can’t make fun of me.” She’s grinning, but I don’t even crack a smile at her poking fun at herself.
Instead, I walk right up to her and wrap a hand around her wrist. I pull her in so she’s flush against my body. Her cheeks flush even darker as she looks up at me, but before she can say anything, I lean down and kiss her.
I can practically taste the surprise in the noise she makes against my mouth, but it only takes a few seconds for her to lean up and start kissing me back. One hand settles against my chest, and the other slides up so she can put her arm around my neck.
A bubble of almost giddy warmth rises in my chest from the feeling of her touching me, and I press deeper into the kiss, sliding my tongue into her mouth.
Violet moans softly, and the sound sets something on fire inside me. Suddenly, none of this is enough.
I pull back, taking in her look of surprise for a split second before I lift her up onto a clean stretch of counter.
“What’s going on with you today?” she murmurs, her eyes wide.
“I realized how fucking hungry I am for you,” I say. “Couldn’t wait another damn second to get a taste.”
Her eyes are like saucers, but she doesn’t stop me as I start tugging down her pants and panties. She lifts her hips to help me and spreads her legs, letting me get a look at her perfect pussy.
I growl deep in my chest just from the sight of it and then drop to my knees in front of her.
“Fucking beautiful,” I say, glancing up to memorize the look on her face before I’m diving in and eating her out.
Her pussy is sweet and warm against my tongue, and it only takes a few minutes before she’s getting so wet for me. I lap it all up, savoring the flavor of her, going to town like a man starving.
I feel fucking voracious for her. Like I can’t get enough. I lick into her, feeling the way her thighs tremble around my head.
“Rhett,” she moans, and fuck, there’s something about the way my name sounds in her mouth when she’s turned on and needy for me. It makes me give her more, thrusting my tongue deeper into her for a bit before going back to sucking lightly on her clit.