Page 135 of Play On

“Mum, Dad, I have an idea I’d like to share with you.”

“Another idea?” Dad asks, looking sceptically at me.

Mum smiles. “That’s our Violet. Full of fanciful ideas.”

I don’t flinch. It’s time to prove to them I’m serious, and I know I have an uphill battle on my hands.

“We tried something new with the plant sale,” I begin, laying down the groundwork for my argument, “and it went so well. People loved it, and we raised a lot of money for charity.”

“That was a huge success,” Mum says, nodding.

“And we’re going to do more of them as a result,” I say.

I feel Nicholas staring at me. God, I want nothing more than to blurt out the truth—that the idea was never Steven’s, but Nicholas’s, and Mum and Dad should be thankful they have such a brilliant son willing to pour his heart and soul into this estate—but I refrain.

That’s not what Nicholas wants, and I have to respect that.

“Where are you going with this, Violet?” Dad asks.

I pause for a moment and try to settle the nerves that are attacking my stomach.I can prove to them I’m capable, I tell myself.I just have to convince them to give me one chance. Just one.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” I begin slowly, “about what I want for my future. I have always loved art, and I have dreamt of a career in it. But when it came to acting upon it, I held myself back. Out of fear.”

“Fear?” Mum asks, looking taken aback. “What do you mean, out of fear?”

My gaze meets her surprised one. “I was terrified of making a mistake. I was scared that if I messed up, if I made mistakes, I would disappoint people and that idea terrified me. So much so that it froze me in place—right here, at Wintersmith Hall.”

Suddenly I feel Amelia staring at me, and I break away from my mum to look at her. There’s surprise in her vivid green eyes, but also something else I can’t quite read in them.

“Violet,” Dad says, commanding my full attention, “are you trying to say you haven’t pursued a career because you were afraid of making a simple mistake?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s not easy to admit, but it’s the truth.”

“Sweetheart, why didn’t you ever say anything? We would have told you how silly that was,” Mum insists.

“Because I was embarrassed,” I say. “I wasn’t confident like Nicholas. And in my eyes, he never made mistakes. So it was easier to stay here and help you and work in the gift shop than take a risk of disappointing people.”

Dad stares at me. “You were that afraid of making a mistake? Good God, Violet, did you think you were going to go through life—and a career—making none? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Inside, I want to crumble in humiliation from Dad’s words.

In the past, I would have. I would have stopped speaking, brushed it off, and gone back to starting and stopping projects instead of seeing anything through for fear of failure and disappointing people.

But not tonight. I know I’m capable of so much more.

“You’re right, Dad, it is ridiculous,” I say, acknowledging the truth in his words. “Which is why I’m going to stop thinking that way and focus on pursuing a career in art.”

“Oh, I think that’s wonderful, Violet,” Mum says enthusiastically.

Okay. I need to rely on her now to convince Dad to give me a chance.

“I’m glad you say that, Mum, because, I’m going to need some help in filling in the gaps on my CV. If I want to work in a gallery, I need to have experience in cataloguing pieces and setting up exhibitions. And I’d like to do some of these things at Wintersmith Hall so I can show a gallery I have hands-on work experience in these areas.”

Mum laughs. “Oh, Violet. You couldn’t even finish the library book project. That was cataloguing. If you couldn’t finish that, how are you going to set up some kind of exhibition from start to finish?”

My heart sinks. Okay, maybe Mum is not exactly going to help me, but I won’t let her defeat me, either.

“I wasn’t ready before. But I am ready now. I’m ready to plan, organise, and complete a project from start to finish. I have actually been working on this for a few weeks. Researching and fleshing out some ideas from start to finish. I’ve been planning. Looking at what other estates are doing. And I have an idea for some art events we could host here at Wintersmith Hall. Like a sip-and-shop event where people could come in and purchase art from local artists. I think it could be popular—like the plant sale—and bring in new guests and new revenue to the estate.”

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