Page 83 of Follow My Heart

CHAPTER 18

RYDER

The next week, I spent almost every evening with Violet, even if it was only a walk through the neighborhood when we stopped to talk to George. If he thought it was odd I was spending so much time with Violet, he didn’t mention it.

Without Faith in the house, we’d had sex on the couch, the kitchen counter, and in the shower. We had to be careful when Faith was home. It was like we were making up for lost time when she wasn’t. There was an urgency to our coming together, almost as if we knew it couldn’t last.

Violet fit into my life in a way I never thought a woman would. She respected my job, never complaining when I said I was working late, and didn’t ask for more details than I could give. She accepted that I couldn’t talk about it.

Any time I had to work late, I sent her something: a text, a meal, or flowers. I hoped she didn’t see it as an apology because it was my way of taking care of her.

Faith asked about Violet when we had our nightly talks on the phone. She seemed pleased that I was hanging out with her, which I took as a good sign.

On Saturday, I couldn’t wait to take Faith to the festival. Violet left early to set up, but I was taking my time this morning. We made waffles, topping them with ice cream and sprinkles. Something I never thought I’d enjoy.

But Faith’s delight was the only encouragement I needed. I was out of my routine now that I was seeing Violet so much. I needed to get back to my daily runs and eating healthy.

But I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about the departure from my usual routine because I was happy. I couldn’t remember back to how I felt at the beginning of my relationship with Stacy, but I didn’t think it was this amazing.

It felt good to get back to what made me feel good.

I cleaned up the kitchen while Faith ran upstairs to get ready for a day at the farm. I never thought I’d look forward to something so much. I liked when Violet and Faith were at my family’s farm. Especially after not being able to visit often, unable to share it with the people who were important to me.

Stacy wanted nothing to do with the farm, but Violet was part of the festival.

It was part of Charlotte’s plan to increase awareness of the farm. The Monroes had upped their marketing for the past few years, so I wasn’t expecting miracles. But any uptick in profit would please Dad and the others. Maybe not Teddy. He was going to look for any reason to say we shouldn’t have hired Charlotte.

But I liked her already. I loved that she was using the charm of the farm to bring in more customers. She was building a brand for the family business. I couldn’t find fault with it. But the results would tell the real story.

When Faith jogged down the stairs a few minutes later, I was just finishing wiping the counters. I threw the dishcloth in the laundry room and washed my hands.

“Are you ready to go?”

Faith nodded, earbuds in her fingers.

“Let’s keep those here today, okay? I want to talk to you in the car.” I didn’t have anything in particular to talk to her about.

Her nose scrunched up, and I waited for the eyeroll or the complaint, but instead, she said, “Fine.”

She placed the earbuds on the counter, and I put my hands on her shoulders to steer her to the front door. “I’m looking forward to the festival.”

“Is Santa going to be there?” Faith asked as she got on her coat.

“I know Charlotte wanted to do pictures, but I’m not sure she was able to find someone to play Santa.” Thanks to Stacy not wanting to lie to our kid, Faith knew that Santa wasn’t real. I hated that she’d done that. I got that she didn’t want to lie to her, but then Faith had missed out on the magic of it all. If I had other kids, I vowed to lie to them about Santa for as long as I could.

In the truck, I glanced back at Faith, and she looked worried about something; her forehead was wrinkled.

“What’s up?”

“I don’t know anyone at the festival.”

“I’m sorry about that. But you’ll have your family.” She’d have Izzy but she was a bit younger than her. Maybe she was looking for someone her own age.

“Is it possible for me to go to school here?” Faith asked hopefully.

I shook my head. “Mom and I thought it was best for you to stay in your childhood home and go to the same school. We didn’t want you to have to find new friends and deal with another transition.” That’s not exactly how it had gone down. Stacy assumed Faith would stay with her. She hadn’t even anticipated I wouldn’t agree.

Any good parent would want to minimize the transition in a divorce, but I wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Hopefully, it was a passing thing.

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