Chapter 45
SAWYER
After Andrew’s wedding, none of us are any closer to understanding exactly what happened between us and Violet at the rehearsal dinner. We play it over and over again between ourselves, trying to figure out what we said or did that managed to piss her off enough to just… call the whole thing off.
The wedding itself was fucking torture—none of us wanted to watch Andrew and Isabelle exchange vows after what Isabelle did to Violet.
But we went anyway, sitting in the back row like ghosts, just in case Violet decided to go.
We wanted to be there for her if she did, and I know all three of us were desperate to get a glimpse of her.
But she didn’t show. Despite my disappointment, I’m honestly glad she didn’t.
She shouldn’t have had to sit through that bullshit.
“Do you think it’s just because we talked to Isabelle without telling her?” Lennox asks. He paces, wringing his hands together. His eyebrows have been drawn down in a perpetual frown for three days now.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I mean, I could see being annoyed by that, but it seemed like there was more to it.”
“She was talking to Isabelle,” Rhett says darkly. “I know she said something to Violet. I just don’t know why Violet would listen to her after everything she’s done.”
“Must have been something compelling,” I mutter.
At least this time, we’re in this together. There was a split second, watching Violet walk out of the rehearsal dinner, where I was worried that without Violet to steady us and keep us together, we would fall apart again.
It wasn’t as bad as losing our mom or selling our company, but it’s not like we have a great track record of keeping it together when things fall apart.
Luckily, it seems like this is only bringing us closer together. We’ve closed ranks around each other, leaning on each other and putting our heads together to try to figure this out.
The first order of business was finding a place to stay.
Simon was there to facilitate us getting our stuff from Violet’s place, which was a disappointment. I know all of us were hoping we’d be able to talk to her then, but she wasn’t even there, and Simon wouldn’t answer questions about where she was, out of loyalty to Violet.
We had to respect that. He didn’t seem angry with us, just sad that it had come to this, and as we were leaving, he clapped Rhett on the shoulder and told us sincerely that he hoped we were able to work everything out.
So that helped. At least everyone doesn’t think we’re scum now.
We rented a place just outside Sweetwater Lake, wanting to be close enough that we could be there quickly if she called us, but not so close that she would feel like we were breathing down her neck.
Rhett and Lennox go back and forth in our rented living room, trying to see if they can figure anything out.
“I wish she would just answer our texts,” Rhett says, sounding frustrated. “At least then we would know what even happened. How are we supposed to defend ourselves if we can’t even talk to her?”
“I don’t know,” Lennox says. He clenches his hands together tightly. “I don’t know. Maybe she doesn’t want to hear anything we have to say now.”
That feels so final in a way I know we all hate.
This was supposed to be just for the time it took to get through Andrew’s wedding, but it turned into more than that.
And even if we had all agreed to call it quits after the wedding, at least there would be some closure.
Some sign that we could all keep in touch and be friends like we were before everything fell apart.
Of course, I know I’m not the only one who had started thinking of this thing as something more permanent. We never talked about it, but I know my brothers. I know what it looks like when they’re invested in something or someone.
Now, we’re all at loose ends.
Rhett and Lennox seemed messed up over losing Violet, and I know I’m not much better. All the light and banter and ease that we gained when we were with her is still there, but it’s all muted. Like none of our hearts are really in it.
We all need her, and it’s easy to see that now. She’s the glue that bound us back together, and while we haven’t come undone without her, it’s like we can’t be the same if we don’t have her.
“So what do we do now?” Rhett asks. He looks at Lennox, who looks at me. “Do we just go back to our lives? Like none of this ever happened?”
“I don’t see how we can,” I tell him. “She’s a part of us now. I know I won’t be able to just… get on with things knowing that there’s this rift between us.”
“Me either,” Lennox agrees. “I don’t want to leave here without at least knowing what’s on her mind. If she doesn’t want to see us anymore, fine, that’s her choice, but we at least need to get some answers.”
Neither of them look like they know how to make that happen, and all at once, I’m done with sitting here moping around.
The only way to find out what happened is to hear it from the source, and I’m determined to make that happen.
I get up, telling Lennox and Rhett that I’ll be back later. I get in my car and drive into Sweetwater Lake, starting at the bakery.
It’s empty, the lights off and the windows dark. I can’t see if there’s still stuff for Violet to move out of it, but she’s not there, which is the main thing. I drive by her house, and her car isn’t there either.
So I head into town.
It takes some driving around, but I finally find her car outside Porter’s. As I park near it, I look up and see Violet, coming out of the diner with a paper bag in her hand, heading for her car.
I get out and walk over to her, shoving my hands into my pockets as I approach.
It takes a bit for her to realize it’s me heading in her direction, and when she does, her eyes widen. She starts walking faster, keeping her head down, hurrying to her car. She gets one hand on the handle of the door and pulls it open, but I get there before she can get in.
“Violet,” I say. Honestly, I’m relieved to just see her again. I know she’s been fine over the last couple of days, but there was a part of me that needed to see it to believe it. Something I didn’t even realize was tense and uncomfortable until the sight of her smoothed it all over.
And she looks tired and worn down, with a sadness pulling around her eyes, so I know she hasn’t been totally okay. That matches how I feel, then—how my brothers and I have been feeling. I don’t want her to be sad, but I need her to hear me out all the same.
“I don’t have time to talk,” she says, ducking down to put her food in the passenger seat.
“Please? I just need five minutes of your time,” I tell her.
“I don’t have five minutes.”
“Really?” I fold my arms, looking at her. “You can’t spare five minutes to tell me what the fuck happened with us?”
Violet takes a deep breath and swallows hard. “I don’t see what else there is to talk about,” she says quietly. “You know what happened.”
“But I don’t!” I insist, stepping closer. “Rhett, Lennox, and I have spent the last few days trying to figure out what it is that pissed you off so badly. If we did something, I think we deserve to know what it was. So we can apologize, if nothing else.”
“You’re the ones who told me you talked to Isabelle,” she says. “After she told me herself. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to hear that from my sister? To know you went to her and said those things about me?”
Now she’s lost me. I stare at her, my brows pinching together as I try to figure out what she’s talking about.
“What things?” I finally ask. “I mean, we told her off for stealing your bakery and for not supporting you. Is it just that we went to her behind your back?”
“No!” Violet bursts out. Her cheeks color a second later, and she lowers her voice.
“No. It’s not just because of that. She played recordings of the three of you saying…
saying things about me that I never thought you would say.
That I was pathetic and that I worked all the time at the bakery and it still didn’t matter.
Stuff that I always believed about myself, but I never thought you all thought that.
I guess I was deluding myself more than I realized. ”
I watch as a tear tracks down her face, and my hands itch to wipe it away for her. To pull her into my arms and try to take away the pain she’s clearly feeling over this.
Instead, I stay where I am. Violet definitely doesn’t look like she wants to be touched by me right now. I keep my voice soft as I respond to her, trying to make it as soothing as I can despite the agitation sparking through me. Because what she just said makes no sense to me.
“Violet, I don’t know what Isabelle did, but we didn’t say any of that about you.
We called her pathetic. We told her that it was pathetic that she and the rest of your family never supported you.
We said you work hard at the bakery every day, and it didn’t matter to them because no matter how successful you were becoming, they didn’t care. ”
Violet’s head jerks backward a little, a look of surprise flashing across her beautiful features. “But I… I heard you. You said you couldn’t believe you ever even wanted to be friends with me. That I was the most selfish person you’d ever met.”
I frown, wracking my brain to try to figure out what she’s talking about—and then suddenly it clicks into place. I close my eyes, battling down a sudden rush of fury.