Page 29 of Follow My Heart

“Got you.”

“That was innocent.” Nothing that I was feeling now had the same quality to it.

Violet shrugged. “My dad got a job that paid more.”

I glanced over at her. “That must have been hard to leave everyone you knew.”

“I was young enough that I was able to start over at a new school fairly easily. I just missed the seasons and my grandparents.”

What would have happened if she hadn’t moved away? Would we have continued to pretend that we were boyfriend-girlfriend in third grade? Would it have progressed into middle school? Would we have been high-school sweethearts?

I couldn’t regret my relationship with Stacy or having Faith. It was a journey I had to take. I was a different person, and even if I was still finding my way, I couldn’t disregard the process.

Maybe it was fate that both of us moved back around the same time. My job brought me home, and Stacy ended our marriage.

“Tell me about your family. I’ve never been to a Christmas tree farm before,” Violet said, the excitement evident in her voice.

“It was fun growing up there. As early as I can remember, we ran through the rows of trees, playing hide and seek. We built forts and pretended to build camp fires.”

“How about tree-cutting season. Was it hectic?”

“My dad was tense during the season, worried we’d run out of trees, which we did on several occasions. It just depends on whether people want real or artificial that year. The years that most people wanted artificial, it was stressful. My dad took odd jobs working as a handyman to fill in the gap the rest of the year, and my mom worked in the school as an aid.” It was something but never enough. Not with seven kids to feed. And it only got worse when my mom died.

“That is tough to have a seasonal business. I can’t imagine.”

“We had a family meeting trying to figure out whether we want to close the farm when Dad retires or pass it onto our kids. No one was willing to give it up.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Dad wanted to hire a marketing specialist. It’s actually Cole’s sister, Charlotte. But Teddy’s resisting. He hates change.” I had a feeling there was something more going on with Charlotte, because most people seemed to like her and thought her ideas were good.

“It would be nice if she could help.”

“Dad allows Teddy to have a lot of say in the business, but at the end of the day, it’s still his. Everyone who lives close by chips in during the season. Except for me.”

“I think it’s amazing that you run the business as a family.”

“We’re close. But I feel bad that I haven’t contributed as much as my siblings.”

“I’m sure your family understood.”

I looked back to make sure Faith had put her headphones on to listen to her audiobook on her e-reader. “I think they were hurt by it. I was torn between what Stacy said we should be doing, and what I wanted.”

“Which was?” Violet asked softly.

“I wanted to spend holidays with my family. At least alternating. We lived down the street from her parents. They came over whenever they wanted.” I hadn’t realized how invasive it was until I moved out of that house. I didn’t have to worry about my in-laws popping in whenever they wanted. What if I wanted to make love to my wife in the kitchen? We never had privacy. And maybe that was part of the problem.

“You’re here now, and I’m sure Faith is enjoying getting to see both sides of her family.”

“She adores Izzy. I wish we’d spent more time with her as she grew up.”

Violet reached over to squeeze my thigh, and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. “You’re making up for lost time now.”

She quickly removed her hands, but the damage was done. My leg was hot, and the blood pulled to my dick. My daughter was in the truck. I didn’t have the luxury of giving into my baser needs.

A few minutes later, I pulled down the lane for Pine Valley Farms, and I parked in the lot by the main barn. We got out, and Violet slipped her hand around my elbow. “Do you know all the good spots?”

Warmth spread through me as I glanced down at her. “I’ll take you to the family lot.”

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