“So,” she began once she finished chewing.
“So,” he mimicked, studying his hands.
Violet knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t apologize for her behavior the previous day and…well…now seemed like the appropriate time. Reluctantly, she placed the rest of her cupcake on the coffee table and faced him.
“I’m sorry.”
His aquamarine eyes went a little wide as he looked at her. “Excuse me?”
“I said, I’m sorry. About yesterday. I made a snap judgment about you without knowing any of the facts, and I was kind of bitchy to you, so…yeah.” She let out a long breath and wondered if it would be rude to take another bite of cake before she spoke again.
“I appreciate it, but it really wasn’t necessary,” he said as he went back to studying his hands.
Which–in turn–made her study his hands and…wow. They were impressive.
Like the rest of him.
Swallowing hard and forcing herself to look at anything other than his hands, she said, “It really was. I’m not usually like that. I mean, I’m opinionated and not shy, but I usually give people the benefit of the doubt before I verbally attack.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say attack…”
“No. It was an attack. For sure.” Pausing, she figured she’d give him the Reader’s Digest version of herself to make him understand where she was coming from. Shifting, she faced him. “I have a…a thing about bad parenting. I spent a lot of years in foster care and I saw a lot. Too much. And now, when I see parents mistreating their kids and being neglectful, it just…”
If anything, his expression softened slightly. “I get it, and I’m sorry you had to go through that. And for what it’s worth, I feel the same way about bad parenting. I didn’t have it easy growing up either. My mom died when I was eight, and my dad was stuck raising four kids under the age of ten.” He paused and shook his head. “He did the best he could, and he wasn’t abusive or a bad parent, but…we struggled. I swore to myself I would give my kids the life I never had.” Then he let out a mirthless laugh. “And I’m failing miserably.”
Unable to help herself, Violet placed her hand on his arm. “You’re not. You’re really not. Yesterday–from what I could tell–was just a crappy situation. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.”
“Thanks,” he said quietly before his head turned toward hers. “If you don’t mind my asking, how did you end up in foster care?”
It wasn’t something she enjoyed talking about, but considering she was the one who brought it up, Violet figured she owed him an explanation.
“My parents were barely out of high school when my mom got pregnant with me. Their parents begged them to put me up for adoption, but they swore they were in love and ready to get married.” She sighed. “My dad walked out when I was five and my mom started drinking. Heavily. My grandparents–my mom’s folks–stepped in and would take care of me when mom was too hungover to do it, but…by the time I was ten, they were both gone. I don’t even remember my dad’s parents.” She paused and took her hand off of him. “Things got worse once my grandparents weren’t there to help out. My mom would disappear for a day or two at a time and I sort of got used to it.”
She hated the tremble in her voice and reached for the rest of her cupcake before she said any more.
“Violet…”
“She went out one night, got drunk, and got into an accident. She killed three people. And herself.” She shook her head. “I had no time to grieve or to prepare for what was going to happen to me. It was all a blur. One minute I had a home–albeit a crappy one–and the next, I was told to pack up whatever could fit in one suitcase and taken away.”
“Holy shit, Violet. I’m so sorry. I…I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for you.”
She took another bite of cake and nodded.
“No wonder you were pissed at me yesterday.”
If anyone had asked him why Violet had such an issue with him, Hunter never would have guessed this was it.
It bothered him.
A lot.
Maybe it was because it was a heartbreaking story and he couldn’t imagine anyone doing something like that to their own child.
Or maybe it was because his immediate thought was of how it was something Melissa was capable of.
“Sorry,” she said softly, breaking him out of his reverie. “It’s not something I talk about often, but I thought it was important for you to hear so you don’t think I’m a total bitch.”
“I didn’t think that, Violet,” he replied, but when she looked at him, he knew she didn’t believe him. “Okay, maybe I thought it a little bit yesterday.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For admitting it.”
It seemed like a weird thing to thank him for, but…whatever. “Can I ask you something, and then I swear we’ll change the subject?”
Beside him, she straightened. “Sure.”
“Is that how you and Katie met?”
Her eyes went wide. “So…you know about…I mean…”
He held up a hand to stop her. “Yeah. I’m good friends with Brian, and we all hang out together a lot when he’s not deployed. When Brian told me about Katie doing childcare and suggested I bring Eli here, it came up.”
“Then you know she hasn’t had it easy either.”
All he could do was nod.
“We’ve been best friends for fifteen years and…” Pausing, she gave him a weak smile. “We’re the only family each other has. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.”
“It’s great how you’re here with her. Rose moving here seemed like a nice thing to do, but I could tell Katie wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with her living in the house.”
Violet laughed softly. “Yeah, she told me.”
There were a dozen questions on the tip of his tongue–questions about her life and how she handled all the blows–but now wasn’t the time. Not only because they barely knew each other, and it was safe to say his curiosity was touching on very sensitive subjects, but because his son and Kira were running around.
They sat in companionable silence as the kids came into the room. Kira was carrying a book and Eli was holding onto a stuffed elephant. Hunter watched in amusement as the two of them sat down in the corner of the living room where Katie had set up a reading nook, and Kira proceeded to try to read the book to Eli.
“Okay, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Violet whispered beside him. She had moved a little closer–probably so he could hear her–but when her shoulder brushed his, Hunter felt himself stiffen slightly. He forced himself not to move, not to react, but it was harder than he thought.
Glancing back over at the kids, he smiled. It wasn’t often he had the opportunity to watch his son interact with other kids and it was kind of cool.
“If you don’t mind me saying,” Violet began, “Eli’s kind of quiet. Kira’s a total social butterfly and chatterbox. I hope she gives him time to talk.” Then she laughed, and it was a little husky, and Hunter knew he should probably get up and go.