Violet and Brayden leave the saloon after their dinner so that she can get him into the shower and to bed before eight. She seems to have her routine down to a T, so I don’t try to convince her to stay even though that’s all I want to do. Instead, I wait until nine o’clock when I’m certain Brayden is fast asleep, and I walk over to her cabin.
The curtains are drawn, and the lights seem to be out, making me debate if this is a good idea or not. But I’m already here, so I step up to the door and tap lightly to see if she’ll answer.
A minute later, Violet opens the door, dressed in gray sweatpants and a baggy white shirt sans bra. Her sexiest look yet, by far. Fuck, I want to do more than wish her a good night’s sleep. I want to kiss her, love her, and hold her until morning.
“What are you doing here?” she whispers, but she doesn’t look mad.
“Is he asleep?” I whisper back.
She nods.
I pull the bottle of red wine from behind my back and bite down on my bottom lip. “I brought this, but I neglected to bring an opener and glasses.”
She laughs and holds up her finger. “Hold that thought one minute.”
She steps back inside and closes the door. When she comes back, she’s got a bottle opener and two wineglasses. “I’ve got you covered.”
“You always were the prepared one.”
She grins and leads me to the edge of the porch, where we sit down on the top step. “Now that I have you alone…” She wiggles her brows. “Tell me the real reason you came back to camp.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Her cheeks darken a shade. “Maybe, but I’d rather you told me yourself.”
“I want to be where you are.” I could have given her a flowery line about how I can’t bear the thought of her being here without me or that I finally started to remember why I loved growing up in this small town, but I don’t want to muddy the waters. She deserves to know the truth.
Her lashes bat down. “I was sad knowing that you wouldn’t be back until Thursday.”
“You were already missing me?”
She shrugs. “Something like that.” She finally looks back up, holding my gaze. “I’m glad you’re here, Jami. But I guess I don’t know how things work in your Seattle office. Is it okay that you’re here?”
I cringe a little. If she wants my honesty, that’s exactly what I’ll give her. “It will be a transition. My clients are used to me being with them at the drop of a dime, but there’s always video conferencing if they absolutely need to see my face. Plus, my associate, Jared, has worked for me since the beginning, and I trust him with everything. It will work out just fine.”
The tension she seems to be carrying relaxes with her next breath. “Okay. Good.”
I nudge her shoulder. “Why are you so worried about what they think in Seattle?”
She smiles. “I’m not worried. I just don’t want to mess anything up for you. You’ve worked really hard to get to where you are.”
I take a sip of my wine and nod. “I have. But I’ve also spent the past seven years missing you, so I think being here is the right thing to do.”
Her eyes meet mine. “That was a sweet thing to say.”
“I’m just being honest, Vi. Until our talk yesterday, I didn’t know what went wrong with us. You wouldn’t believe how long I agonized over it because I always felt like there was a large chunk of the puzzle missing.”
“I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be. In a way, I always felt betrayed, but I realize now it wasn’t like that at all. Hearing your side of things puts everything in a whole new perspective for me. I don’t think I ever realized how selfish I was being back then.”
“Jami, you were only coping with the loss of your brother, and your father was no help. I never thought you were selfish.”
I shake my head again. “No, Vi. I see it all so clearly now. I see the way I was with my dad. How much I desperately wanted to fix him to be the man I grew up knowing. It killed me how much he’d changed and how terribly he was treating all of us. But all I was doing was pulling myself down with him. I lost sight of the only anchor that had ever kept me grounded. You.”
She blinks back at me, emotion filling her eyes. “Tell me you see me now. I’m still here.”
My hand cups her cheek, and I stare deeply into her eyes. “Why do you think I came back from Seattle? I’m not willing to lose you again. I know that’s saying a lot seeing as our lives have taken us in two different directions, but who’s to say we can’t meet in the middle? All I know is that I want to be here… with you. I hope that doesn’t scare you away.”
She shakes her head and leans in. “I’ve had plenty of time to run, haven’t I?”
I lean closer until I’m an inch from her lips. “Sue me if I want to hold you a little bit tighter so you don’t slip through my grasp again.”
Our lips meet in the softest kiss, one that I never want to end. So I set my wineglass down then take hers and set that one down too. Using both hands, I cup her neck and pull her in, deepening our lip-lock until I feel her tongue feathering mine.
Seven years of distance might be between us, but this kiss is proof that time can’t erase the foundation we laid down long ago. It might have gotten buried in the rubble of our pain, but it still exists. I’m just not sure what comes next.
Chapter Twenty-Four
VIOLET
Saying goodbye to Brayden on Thursday afternoon is by far the hardest goodbye yet. After spending the past four days at Camp Bexley, he never wants to leave. And after watching him smile nonstop, chase chipmunks on the trails, and belly laugh harder than he has in a long time—I don’t want him to leave either.
Unfortunately, the moment we pull up Trevor’s drive, giant tears are streaming down his freckled face, and I just about lose it in front of him. Luckily, I’m able to hold it together until I drive away. By the time I arrive back at Camp Bexley, I sit in the parking lot letting my emotions run free. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good cry, and now seems like a more appropriate time than any.
The fact that I’m court ordered to miss out on 60 percent of my son’s life is torture enough but to know that the time he’s with his father is so miserable that he never wants to return to him is a dagger straight through my heart. Even if Trevor were to set aside a little bit of time every day, it would make all the difference. And then maybe, just maybe, leaving Brayden for four days wouldn’t be so hard.
I pull out my phone, knowing I at least need to check on Brayden.
Me: Hey. Is B okay?
I don’t expect him to respond right away. If anything, I’m expecting an argument when he does respond. But when my phone vibrates to alert me of an incoming message, I read the words on the screen.
Trevor: He still seems sad. Did something happen at school? He won’t tell me anything.
I clench my jaw, knowing that telling the truth could very well start a fight, but I don’t know how else to dance around this.
Me: I think he’s afraid that you won’t spend any time with him while he’s there.