Page 116 of Always a Bridesmaid
And then time was up when it came to getting in and out before the storm.
…
“Are you sure?” Maisy asked, sitting next to the piles of clothes on Violet’s bed. She laid Isla on her back, and the cutie clamped onto her toes, her eyes widening as she studied them.
In her excitement, Isla kicked and lost her grip. Her face wrinkled up and pinkened, displaying her devastation at losing her new toy, in spite of also being responsible.
Maisy stuck a pacifier in Isla’s mouth, and she concluded it was roughly as cool as her toes.
If Violet didn’t force herself to look away from her niece’s chubby cheeks, she wasn’t sure she’d follow through with the decision she’d made.
She unzipped her suitcase and began transferring the piles of clothes. “One thing I’ve learned this past year is that beingsureisn’t as reliable as I used to think. I promise I’ll visit more, but I’m sure that I need time and space.”
“Just keep avoiding Ford, and you can get those things here.”
Violet cocked her head. “You and I both know that in Uncertainty, avoidance is futile. Every single place reminds me of him, and I saw him running three out of the past six mornings. Each time, it felt like someone had sliced me right open again.”
Simply speaking the words jabbed at the gaping wound in her chest, each of their shared memories another gush of stinging lemon juice.
Stop or you’ll cry. And you don’t have time to cry.Not to mention she’d shed enough tears.
“My muse has returned, the bakery looks amazing, and I have a new job all lined up, so mission complete.” Violet debated whether or not to pack or leave out her beloved worn yoga pants. “I can stay with my mom for a month or two while I find an apartment, and then I’ll be back on my feet, too.”
“You should take my mom up on the offer she originally tried to bribe you with. She and Dad owe you, after all. They loaned me money for my bakery, so it’s only fair.”
When she’d spoken to Dad during the lunch they’d met up for this afternoon, he’d also offered to help her financially.
Still, Violet shook her head. “Stubborn pride or not, I don’t want to glance around and think that I only have what I have because of them. That’s how I felt after Benjamin, and it sucked. Then it sucked even more as one by one those things were taken away.”
The cute underwear she’d worn to the bachelorette party—when she’d been foolish enough to think she should tell Ford that she was going to stay because she was in love with him—seemed to taunt her. She’d idealized the moment, imagining telling him and then stripping, and…
Violet shoved the panties under a stack of T-shirts. “Fiercely independent is my new motto. I don’t need anyone else.”
Maisy’s lower lip stuck out. “No one?”
The pile of jeans protruded a couple of inches, and Violet shoved them level with the suitcase so she could fasten the thin divider. Then she reached out and took her sister’s hand. “Except you and Isla, of course. You can visit me anytime, and I hope you will. We can take Isla to the beach and cruise the bay.”
Maisy lifted the one pair of heels Violet had brought—strappy and silver, with a purple bow on the toe. “I meant to borrow these before you left.”
“You can borrow them when you come to visit me.” Violet plucked them out of her sister’s hands and shoved them in the other side of her suitcase.
“Commercial photography is far from your dream job,” Maisy said.
“Don’t start,” Violet warned.
“Too late. You say your muse is back, but you like taking emotional shots. Not pictures of other people’s yachts for a magazine.”
“Don’t forget fishing boats.”
Isla began fussing, and Violet scooted her suitcase aside, hovered her face over her niece’s, and toyed with a curl on the top of her head. “Hey, pretty girl.”
Isla grinned, and she happily kicked her feet.
“Can you tell your mommy to not make this harder than it already is? And remind her I can take on side jobs?” Violet skimmed her fingers down Isla’s torso and then grabbed her toes and wiggled her foot. “Maybe add in that your daddy will be home in less than a month, and he’s not going to want to share a house with his mopey sister-in-law?”
Isla pushed out a squeaky noise that Violet took to mean she’d do what she could.
Maisy’s sigh made it clear she wasn’t convinced. She opened her mouth, but the doorbell rang, and she mumbled they weren’t done discussing this yet.
