“I’m so excited for you and your family!” Violet gushed as she hit send on the email to Mrs. Williams, which basically said everything Violet just had.
Five times.
Fortunately, the commission on this one last-minute trip was going to make her life a lot easier while she was staying in Magnolia Sound with Katie. Not that she had any financial issues, but the extra money meant she could spend some time visiting with her friend and not be thinking about–or obsessing about–her business.
Standing, she took her headset off and stretched. It didn’t take long to realize someone was here visiting. First, she heard Katie laugh, and then someone else.
A male someone.
She recognized Hunter’s voice immediately and heard him asking Katie how she was feeling and when the contractions had stopped. Fortunately, they had stopped within an hour of Hunter leaving the night before. The water and lying down really seemed to do the trick.
In the distance, she heard her friend gasp and then laugh while telling Hunter she loved him.
Say what now?
Curious, she left her room and came up short when she found the two of them in the living room and Hunter serving Katie a cupcake.
A chocolate cupcake.
With lots of icing.
Act cool. Don’t seem too anxious about asking if there’s maybe another one in the box for me…
Katie spotted her first. “Hey! How did your call go? Did she book the trip?”
Smiling, Violet went and casually sat down on the sofa. “She did! For herself and fourteen family members.” And yeah, she was feeling pretty good about herself right now. “It’s a big two-week thing, staying in three different places–one of them a cruise ship–and, if I do say so myself, it’s going to be spectacular!” Hands behind her head, she leaned back and smiled.
And hoped someone would offer her a congratulatory cupcake.
“I’m not really a cruise person,” Katie said, “but once the kids are old enough, we will definitely be using you to book us a fantastic Disney vacation.”
“Those are my specialty,” Violet replied, still smiling. Still waiting on a cupcake.
“So, you’re a travel agent?” Hunter asked as he sat on the sofa beside her.
Nodding, she said, “Yes. My agency is called Talk Travel to Me.”
“She’s amazing,” Katie gushed. “Violet helped me and Brian book our honeymoon trip.” With her hand over her heart, she went on, “It was the most incredible experience. We flew to California and drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles on the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped every night in a different city and experienced some of the best food and most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen.” Pausing, she smiled at Violet. “You picked the best places. Seriously, I don’t think anything could have been better.”
“And that’s why I love what I do,” she replied. “The praise!”
They all laughed along with her, and she thought now–definitely now–someone would offer her a damn cupcake.
“You must travel a lot then, huh?” Hunter commented.
“I do. It’s much easier to sell a client on a location I’ve experienced myself. Some places look amazing in pictures, but not so much in person. I think it’s important to have first-hand knowledge of the destinations. It puts potential clients at ease when they know I’ve been there first and can offer recommendations.”
He nodded. “How many trips do you go on each year?”
Violet stopped and thought about it. “Hmm…last year I took ten trips. The year before, twelve.” She smiled at him. “All the trips are for research purposes, but some are for actual training sessions with the supplier. Both Disney and Universal offer training seminars and hotel tours. I’ve even been able to tour one of the Disney cruise ships while it was in dock.”
He nodded again but didn’t comment.
“What’s been your favorite trip?” Katie asked, even though they’d had this conversation probably a dozen times before.
“Lake Tahoe. It was just so beautiful. I mean, there seriously wasn’t a bad view to be found! I’ve gone back twice and rented places right on the lake and…” She sighed happily. “It’s always perfect.”
“If we can get away without kids, I’d love to see it for myself.”
“This baby’s not even here and you’re already planning trips to get away without him? What’s that about?” she teased.
“Oh, please. You’ll understand when you have kids.” Katie grinned and turned to Hunter. “Back me up on this, Hunter. Having a child-free weekend is kind of blissful, right?”
His expression turned serious, and he glanced at Violet before he replied. “I wouldn’t know. My current situation doesn’t allow me any time to get away.” He shrugged. “And I’m not a big fan of travel. Everything I need is right here in Magnolia.”
Wow. Talk about a buzzkill…
And rather than debate the perks of travel–with or without kids–Violet decided to change the subject.
“So…cupcakes!” Leaning forward, she opened the lid on the big pink box and peeked inside.
And saw a glorious amount of chocolate icing.
“Oh, you have to try one, Vi,” Katie said as she picked up her own to taste. “Henderson’s Bakery is the best! I swear, this isn’t all baby weight you’re seeing on me. It’s mostly cupcake weight.” She took a bite and hummed happily. “And Hunter knows they’re my weakness.” She grinned at him. “All is forgiven.”
Violet could only assume she was referring to yesterday’s debacle.
After Hunter had left yesterday, Katie had filled her in on all the details. Single dad, nasty breakup with Eli’s mom who–apparently–was the real irresponsible one in the relationship. She bragged on Hunter ad nauseam, and by the time she was done, Violet felt a little guilty about how she’d talked to him.
But how was she to know? When a kid is left behind and is all but crying for his parents, and the one who shows up clearly had been sleeping…it just made sense that he was the bad guy.
Except he wasn’t and now she felt weird about her behavior.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hunter reaching for a napkin before he handed it to her. “This row has all Death by Chocolate. The name’s pretty self-explanatory. The middle row are called Tuxedos. Chocolate cake, vanilla icing, and there’s white chocolate ganache in the middle.”
“Oh, my…”
“And this last row has one Cookies and Cream, one Red Velvet, and two yellow cake with chocolate icing.”
“Wow,” she said, her eyes never leaving the box. “They all look amazing.”
“Go for the Tuxedos,” Katie said around a mouthful of cupcake. “The baby needs all the Death by Chocolate ones.”
Laughing, Violet took her suggestion. “Far be it from me to deprive the baby.” And with that, she took her first bite of Henderson’s Tuxedo cupcake.
And immediately made a very sexual, near orgasmic sound.
“I told you they were good,” Katie said with a knowing wink. She was about to say more when her phone rang. “I’ll be right back. It’s Rose.” Awkwardly, she got to her feet before Hunter or Violet could help her and made her way down the hall to her bedroom to talk–effectively leaving them alone.