Page 11 of Follow My Heart

Faith looked over at me, excitement shining in her eyes. “Did you see, Daddy?”

Daddy. I hadn’t heard that in a couple of months. When she made the switch to Dad, it had hurt. Even though I knew she was going to grow up eventually. I hadn’t wanted it to happen so soon. “You looked great.”

I moved closer to them. Faith turned to Violet, who was talking to her about something. When I reached them, Violet asked, “Do you want to try it again?”

Faith’s gaze swung to me. “It was so fun.”

I hesitated to say anything. If I encouraged her to take another ride, she’d say no just to spite me.

“I always loved the feel of flying down a hill. There’s nothing more freeing,” Violet said happily.

Violet was a free soul. The opposite of me. I was carefully regimented. I had to be for my job. But it had started when my mother died. When the responsibility of getting myself ready for the day primarily fell to me. My brothers had their hands full with Jameson and Daphne. Jameson defied all rules and expectations, and Daphne had been so young. I was expected to fend for myself.

Faith pushed her bike up the hill.

“I can’t believe you got her to do that,” I said to Violet softly.

“I had trouble learning how to ride too. I remembered this helped me. Everything came so easily to Danielle; my parents would get frustrated with me. So I figured it out on my own.”

“I’m sorry.”

Violet smiled. “I’m not sad about it. It’s just the way it was. The good thing was that it forced me to be independent, to figure things out. I didn’t need my parents’ approval like my sister did.

“All the qualities that make for a good entrepreneur,” I said.

Violet looked at me in surprise. “I suppose you’re right. I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

“You’re not going to back down at the first sign of trouble. You’ll figure it out and keep going.”

Violet nodded. “Business ownership comes with a lot of ups and downs.”

Faith took off down the hill, this time better able to keep a straight line. Her feet didn’t touch the ground once.

“Great job,” I said once she’d reached the bottom.

“Does this mean I’ll be able to ride now?” Faith asked hopefully.

“You’ll need to keep practicing on the hill. Then you can try on a flat surface.”

“I know we were supposed to go for a walk, but is it okay if I practice?” Faith asked me.

“Of course.” The point of the walk was to spend time with Faith, and I could do that just as easily here.

Violet touched my forearm, and the heat of her palm seeped through my skin. “I’d better get back to my walk.”

“Thanks for your help,” I said to Violet and nodded toward George.

He waved. “Have a good evening.”

I watched Violet walk up the hill to her grandfather, thinking how nice it was that she spent time with him. I’d worried about him living alone, especially since he was recently widowed. But he had Violet, and she seemed to take good care of him. It only made me more attracted to Violet. She was a nice person. Not that Stacy wasn’t, but at some point over the course of our relationship, she’d changed.

When Faith was young, Stacy convinced me that it didn’t make sense to travel to Maryland. Later, she said we didn’t have time. That Faith didn’t even know my side of the family. But whose fault was that?

“I’m getting so good at this,” Faith said as she pushed her bike past me again.

“You are.” I was proud of her for trying. She was so quick to give up around me. Stacy had said it was because she knew she could get away with that kind of stuff with me, but I never knew what that meant. Was I easier on Faith because she was my daughter or because she was a girl?

She was my only child. I wanted to cater to her. But I knew I had to balance that with raising her to be independent.

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