Page 79 of Pucking Sweet

She snorts. “Yeah, like that’s an option.”

I grab her hand, squeezing it. “Itis, Violet. I’ll admit, it took me a long time to deprogram myself from Mom’s world, but I know this much to be true. The last thing on this earth you should ever do is bind yourself to a man who cannot andwillnothold to a single vow he makes to you.”

She jerks her hand free. “He’s different with me than he was with you.”

“No, he’sreally not.”

“People can grow, Poppy. Are you saying we’re all incapable of change?”

“I’m sayingheis.”

She huffs, crossing her arms.

“Vi, he has no inducement to change,” I go on, praying she’ll hear me. “And besides, do you really want to be in the business of changing people? He has to be allowed to be exactly who he is, honey. The only changing he’ll ever do is the changing hewantsto do for himself. Hard to accomplish when you already think you’re perfect.”

She turns away, watching the little girls in their leggings and sweaters learning to figure skate. We’re both quiet for a minute. “Do you ever wish you could turn back the clock and be eighteen again?”

I watch her watch the girls spin. “Why?”

“Life just felt so much easier. I was just traveling and partying, making amazing memories with great friends. It was like one big dream.”

“I can’t say I relate,” I mutter, snatching up my tea and taking a sip. It’s sweet and soothing, a perfect blend.

Vi glances over at me. “You didn’t take a gap year?”

“Mom wouldn’t let me. It would’ve interfered with my cross country schedule. I qualified for nationals, but then I hurt my knee. Either way, I was on scholarship. You don’t graduate summa cum laude if you’re sailing on a yacht in the Mediterranean for a year.”

She looks back out at the skaters. “We’ve lived such different lives.”

I hum into my tea. “Yeah, we sure have.”

“I’m sorry, Poppy.”

I go still, not daring to look at her. “For what?”

She just shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t really know. Everything? Nothing? Does that count as an apology?”

“Not really.”

She’s quiet for another minute. “I think I was always jealous.”

“Of what?”

She tucks her hair behind her ear, still not looking at me. “Mom never pushed me the way she pushed you because she knew I wasn’t worth it.”

Silence meets her confession. After a moment, I place a hand on her thigh. “Violet…”

“Oh, come on. You know it’s true.” She blinks back her tears. “I mean, look around us. You’re Poppy, the high-powered sports executive with the scholarships and the trophies. I’m just Violet. I’m the fun sister. The life of the party. No one expects me to amount to anything.”

“Hey, come on now. You’re smart and beautiful and everyone thinks the world of you.”

She nods, but I can tell she’s unconvinced. “I just want my life to matter too, you know? I want to do something meaningful. I want people to look at me and not see all my wasted potential.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“Am I? Well, what do I have to call my own, Pop? What do I offer the world? I can’t run Daddy’s company like Rowan, and I’m not organized enough to manage nonprofits like you. I certainly can’t explain the merits of Surrealist art.”

“Well, who can, really?” I say with a weak smile.

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