Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Violet
Happiest day of our lives.
I had gotten another group text from Lacey. This one also included a picture of her and a beaming Willis on a beach. She wore a wispy wedding dress and was holding out a bouquet of white roses and lilies in one hand. Her other arm was curled around Willis. He was grinning and looking off to the side.
“Seeing if your friends approve, jackass.” I deleted the message. The most recent one beyond that was from Evander. I pulled up the image he’d sent. A gorgeous pink-and-purple sunset. The sun hung close to the horizon, crowded by puffy clouds. Rays shot up through the clouds, making the pinks brighter.
The only thing better would have been to see it in person—with Evander.
I glanced out the window to the trees that blocked the sun when it was that low. One more strike against this house. A pickup pulled into the driveway. Lily and Eliot were picking me up.
I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. Lacey and Willis could do what they wanted. I no longer wanted to be a part of that life, and I was grateful I didn’t marry him. It would’ve been the worst mistake of mine I’d ever made.
Lily bounded out of Eliot’s pickup parked by the curb in front of my house and flew toward me.
“Oh my god, you’re even more adorable than last time.” She slowed right before she reached me and threw her arms around my neck.
Touched, I hugged her hard. “I never got to compliment you on how cute you looked pregnant.”
She pulled back, a twinkle in her blue eyes. “You might have the chance to soon.”
Excitement had me jumping up and down, but I had to stop and support my belly. “Oof. That’s no longer a thing.”
She laughed. “Not for your bladder. Come on.” She grabbed my hand and towed me toward the truck. “No one knows yet. Just between us?”
Fuck Lacey’s message. She could deal with the whining and the microcontrol tactics. I’d rather spend my time with a man who built me up instead of tore me down. A guy who gave the best orgasms and listened to me talk about work without the snide “in academia” comments. A baby daddy who sent me a gorgeous picture of the sunset.
Besides, if I had stayed in California, I would’ve missed out on times like this. “My lips are sealed.”
“That’s what he said.” She snickered.
My niece, Cali, hung out the window. “Hey, Auntie Violet.”
“There’s my favorite girl. You ready to pick some pumpkins?” I had cleared the extra guests with Evander. Since I wouldn’t be an active part of the harvest, I could watch the kids. Eliot and Lily had been happy to help and probably more than a little curious about Evander.
“Yes!” Cali cheered.
Lily could show Eliot and the kids the property our grandparents used to own. Evander would only be in the house for another three months, and the new renter may not want us on the land.
A heaviness at the thought of Evander moving off the property lingered on my shoulders as I climbed into the back seat. Cali’s booster was behind the driver’s seat, and my nephew Kellan faced the rear of the back seat. He gave me a toothy smile and wave, kicking the little athletic shoes on his feet. His chubby cheeks lightened my mood.
Evander said he was staying in Coal Haven. His budget was likely better than mine. He’d find another spot. Would there be land for pumpkins? Maybe he didn’t want to grow them again.
He didn’t talk to me about his future, and I was afraid to ask. He’d said he was staying in Coal Haven, and he wanted to be a good dad. Did he know what he’d do, or was I just not a part of his future beyond the baby?
I was settling into a nice routine. My own routine that didn’t revolve around meals at just the right place and saying the right thing around people I didn’t care for. I could hang up my lab coat and come home. Work stayed at work. I didn’t have to talk about the newest, most complicated fluorescent marker to impress Willis’s PhD colleagues.
I had crocheted a throw blanket each for Cali and Kellan. The current one I worked on was a corner-to-corner blanket for Alder for helping me move. All my siblings would eventually have their own.
First, I was working on one for Evander. A gunmetal-gray blanket that would match the furniture he had in his living room. Each time he came over, I hid it from him. I didn’t know why. He’d set up the cat couches in the shed for Flo and Poly. He’d sent me a picture of them lying in one. A few skeins of yarn knotted together wasn’t a promise ring, but making a blanket for a guy said more than we’re just fuck buddies who happen to be having a baby.
I’d give Evander the blanket when I was done. What if it was too close to Christmas? What if he thought I was taking us too seriously and backed off?
Shouldn’t I be relieved? Evander was becoming my co-parent. Nothing more. Eventually, he’d find someone he wanted a life with. Someone he trusted from the start. Someone he trusted with our kid. And he’d marry her so quickly it would make my head spin. She’d send pictures to everyone she knew to celebrate, even me.
Lily craned her head around. “How are you feeling?”
“A lot better than when I moved here.”
“The house looks nice,” Eliot said, his eyes on the road. “Well cared for.”
Until you had to use the faucet. Two more cupboard hinges had popped out. “It’s something. I think well loved is the term for something that’s ready to fall apart.”
“You’ll find a better place when you’re ready,” Lily reassured me.
“Don’t hesitate to give us a call,” Eliot said, turning onto the highway. “Baby or not, you don’t need to be moving by yourself. ”
“Also, don’t hesitate to drag Alder away from the office,” Lily said. “Especially if it’s back to Coal Haven.”
“He hasn’t run across Daisy yet.” If that happened, I didn’t know if I’d ever get my brother to return. He never spoke about her, but the rest of us thought that was a sign in and of itself that he wasn’t over the end of his marriage.
She’d moved on after him, and that had hurt. Seeing happy pictures of an ex, one that I was over, still burned. To know I wasn’t worth the effort by myself…
I wasn’t thinking about Alder’s situation anymore.
When we arrived at Evander’s, pickups lined the driveway. Some were parked in the grass alongside the gravel. The spot I used to park at in front of the garage was open.
I pointed. “You can just park there.”
Adults and kids roamed by the fence line. Evander was jogging in from the field by the time I got out. His easy gait belied the power in his body. I knew firsthand how well he moved, how he used his strength for the utmost pleasure. A quiver traveled over my skin, but I ripped my attention off him before I started licking my lips.
Two tall, dark-haired men trotted behind Evander.
“Hey, hey,” Eliot called to them as he swung Cali out of the pickup, and she giggled. “Did you bring Aggie out?”
One of the guy’s grin was wide, as if the mere mention of Aggie was enough to brighten his entire day. He must be Aggie’s husband, Ansen. “She might stop out later, but she got a call on a couple of donkeys for the rescue.”
Evander introduced us. The two guys were his cousins Ansen and Archer .
Archer smiled at Cali. “Emmaline’s here if you want to go play. Evander’s letting all the kids pick as much as they want before we get started.”
Cali looked at Lily first before she ran toward the fence where the adults watched or helped the kids pick pumpkins.
“It’s a real family reunion,” Ansen said. “At least for us cousins. First time we’ve all been together.” He chuckled. “Archer and I only just met you this year.”
Evander stuffed his hands in his pockets. No emotion showed on his face. “Better late than never.”
“Good thing you didn’t know what you were missing with our company.” Archer flashed a grin.
“Dad!” a kid called from the field. All the guys but Evander turned their heads as if they’d been summoned. A young boy waved, and Archer trotted away.
Evander’s attention was on me. I gave him a little smile, but I silently asked if he was okay. Wasn’t this outside of his comfort zone? A yard full of family, and he was the host after he’d been away from them for decades? Would we ever be like this? Milling around a yard, laughing and talking. Would I be the single mom of the group?
“Glad you found your open parking spot,” he said. “You wanna come see the harvest for a bit?”
“Sure.” I had worn jeans today just in case. A dress had been tempting after the back seat of the Cadillac, but Evander’s priority was the harvest. Then his relatives. I was last on his list. Besides, there’d be a lot more people milling around today. The old T-shirt I wore covered the maternity panel and made me look really pregnant.
His gaze brushed over my belly, affection filling his eyes, then he tilted his head for me to follow. “I’ll introduce you to everyone. Brace yourself.”
“How many more relatives do I have to meet?” I had almost as many siblings as he had cousins, but with their spouses and kids, they far outnumbered the Dukes.
I had already met Isla and Stetson, but I was introduced to them again. Isla’s husband, McCoy, was easy to pick out because he didn’t look like a Barron in the face. Lyric waved from where she was helping a young girl juggle pumpkins. Neither Isla nor Stetson made mention of how I’d been in Evander’s house claiming to be his landlord when I was really his baby mama.
Next, I met Evander’s cousins from his aunt Kira, Holden, and his wife Emery. They pointed out all their kids, mentioned one, or was it two, was in college. Holden’s sister, Nora, was there with her husband, who had the same welcoming personality as Evander. Where Nora was bright and bubbly, Colt dipped his head in greeting, and that was it. Evander and Colt probably got along quite well.
I officially met Liam and Kennedy. Teen boys who were twins and spitting images of Liam were helping the younger kids in the field.
“Wow. That’s a lot of people,” I said to Evander.
“Overwhelmed?”
I shook my head, watching Lily and Eliot follow Cali into the field. Eliot had Kellan on his shoulders. My nephew wore a small cowboy hat that was so fucking adorable, I could probably get baby fever again. “No. It’s nice to see.” I rested my arms on my stomach. “After my family and I learned about Lily and Eliot, we all gathered at her place for a picnic. She asked why we didn’t do more of this. We’re all so spread out. I realized that part of the reason was me. I rarely came home. It wasn’t worth the fight.” I inhaled and wiped those thoughts from my head. They were the beginning of the end of my relationship. “Maybe when I get a decent place, I can have everyone over.”
Evander’s expression flickered, but I couldn’t catch the emotion in his eye. “Your plumbing would never survive all the guests.”
I laughed, hating that it was true. “It’s survived this long. I don’t want to see what’ll finally break it.”
His eyes crinkled, and with the way the brim of his cap shaded his eyes, the twinkle felt like it was just for me. Butterflies took flight in my gut.
I had to be careful. Evander was in a new stage in his life. He had a renewed relationship with his family, a possible business, a kid on the way—all priorities that wouldn’t be me.
Evander
I wielded my clippers with ruthless precision. Clip. Toss. Repeat. Stetson drove the tractor hooked to the wagon, but he only moved when everyone had cleared out of the way and did a head count. There was no room for error when it came to all the kids roaming around.
Kids. My place was filled with kids. Boys and girls wandered through the patch, reminding me of my cousins when they were younger. Mine would join them one day. If I kept growing goddamn pumpkins.
Liam picked next to me. Kennedy had taken their kids to the shop to see my mom and dad.
Isla blew a whistle. It was time to move the wagon. We’d just swapped out the buckets she’d procured. McCoy switched with Stetson behind the wheel, and we waited for everyone to drift away before we moved the tractor up.
Liam straightened and groaned. “Good god. A guy might think he’s getting old doing this work all day.”
“A guy might be right.” I rolled my shoulders and stretched my arms over my head. Despite part of the summer being dry, I had a good crop. Next year, I’d have to implement an irrigation system.
Next year? I was getting ahead of myself.
“That same guy might be sucking on an ibuprofen bottle tonight. What are you going to do next year? Get a pumpkin picker but still throw a party?”
I’d fielded several of those questions but hadn’t been able to give more than a noncommittal response. Isla had approached me about propagating the raspberries at the edge of the garden. Nora had approached me about a few acres to grow some potatoes. She had a large garden on her land—she’d shown me pictures—but she didn’t have room to get a nice crop of potatoes. Stetson and Holden had asked how long I planned to rent or if Violet would allow me to buy the house. I didn’t bother to consider purchasing the property. The opportunity wouldn’t happen for years yet, and I’d deal with that when or if the time came.
I didn’t tell them about the marriage trust. It wasn’t my family business. I mentioned her aunt Linda and how she had the ultimate say.
I took my gloves off and slapped them against my jeans. “Know any rentals with some land that’ll let me plant?”
Liam rubbed his chin. “Bruce told me. About the trust. None for you, one for Derek. He let the others know too.”
Surprise hit me hard. Dad kept my business more private than his. It was an unspoken appreciation I had for him. “Dad did?”
Liam nodded. “Stetson asked him one time why you didn’t retire earlier and buy a beach house or something instead of getting sent to the desert.”
I snorted. “I would’ve been too pigheaded to take the money anyway.”
“It would’ve waited for you.” He shook his head, his jaw hard. “Shit thing to do, but I know a guy who has land who won’t require you to rent from him.”
Dad. “I didn’t think about asking him.”
Liam gave me a questioning look. “You’re actually considering making all this yours?”
I stuffed my hands back into my gloves, my gaze landing on the house. Violet was walking from the porch toward the shop with a bowl in her hands.
Liam let out a low whistle. “So it’s like that. Everything working out? You talked to her?”
Violet and I were definitely in the more action stage. Not as much talking. She was here, so maybe we’d get to that point. “We’re in a good place.”
“That’s all?”
“Nosy fucker.”
His grin was shameless, and I laughed, relieved he wasn’t prodding deeper. Also happy just to be able to easily talk with him. Being with Liam was like having a small piece of my brother back.
“I’m just saying,” he said. “You were pretty protective over that parking spot.”
“We’re having a baby together.”
“That all?”
I wouldn’t tell him we were doing more. Other than sex, was there more? “She’s just…” The mom of my baby. The person I look forward to seeing the most. The woman I can’t quit thinking about.
“That’s what I thought. Maybe you need to tell her what ‘she’s just.’”
The tractor fired up. Any more talking would get swallowed by the rumble of the engine.
Violet was starting to mean a lot to me. I thought I’d ruined everything. She was still gun-shy of relationships. But adults talked, and she was always open to a discussion. Maybe it was time to figure out if I was “just” anything to her.