Page 62 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
“I don’tcareabout your reasons. Do you know how much it hurts to know you’ve been hiding that from me for this long? I tell youeverything! Everything aboutme, andRick, and…oh my goodness. Whatelsedon’t I know about you?”
Violet tried to speak past the emotions clogging her throat, but her voice came out strangled. “I sculpt at Justin’s studio. I’m making a sculpture for the family of a little girl who passed away last year. Her name was Erin.”
“Did you work with her, too?” she asked in a shaky, reluctantly empathetic tone.
The pain in Desiree’s voice, the hurt in her eyes, made it almost impossible for Violet to think. She nodded, tears burning again.
“You lost a child you obviously loved, and I never knew?” Desiree sank down to the edge of the bed. “How does that even happen? How can my own sister, who I see every single day, have that much of a secret life? Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”
“I never meant to hurt you. It’smyissue, Des, not a reflection on you.” Violet stepped toward her.
“Don’t,” Desiree snapped, holding her hand up to warn Violet off. “Please.”
Oh no, what have I done?“I’m sorry…”
“You’resorry? We grew up with a mother who built her life on lies and whims, and she didn’t give two cents about us. She had a whole life I never knew anything about. Youknowhow much that hurt me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I thought…” Sobs stole her voice and she covered her face. “Justgo, please. I can’t do this right now.”
“Just let me explain.”
Desiree lifted her tear-streaked face and glared at her. “I said I don’t want to hear it. Not now. It hurts too much. Please justgo.”
“But—”
“Go!” Desiree yelled. “Now!”
ANDRE HAD BEEN on a high all day. After their magnificent night, and their conversation about the future, he was ninety-nine percent sure Violet was going to come with him to Cambodia. He was still buzzing as he turned onto the road that led to the inn on his way home from the clinic and could hardly believe it had been almost a month since he’d arrived. It seemed like forever ago that he’d first seen Violet standing in the hallway of the inn, looking gorgeous in that sexy black dress with the enticing zipper.
The roar of a motorcycle pulled him from his thoughts as Violet sped down the driveway and across the road, flying past him in the opposite direction. Her reckless entrance and the hunch of her shoulders and dip of her head sent his protective urges surging. He turned his bike around and raced after her, wondering what had happened.
He spotted her turning off the road and kicked up his speed even more. Trees and houses blurred as they flew down a number of streets. She turned off the pavement and onto a narrow and bumpy dirt road, slowing just enough for him to catch up. He followed her for at least a mile down the woodsy road to a dead end. He cut the engine, ripped off his helmet, and ran to her, slayed by her puffy red eyes and tear-soaked face.
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
He reached for her, and she twisted violently out of his hands, stalking toward a sandy path, her arms flailing. “I mess upeverything!” she shouted.
“No, you don’t, babe. What happened?”
“I told Desiree everything! About the hospital, sculpting,Erin!” She stomped across the sand in her boots, tears falling like rivers down her cheeks. “Now she hates me. And you know what? I don’t freaking blame her. You were right.” She spun around, glaring at him with so much hurt in her eyes he had to reach for her again. “I’m all the bad parts of Lizza wrapped up in one freaking witch of a person.” She fell into his arms, sobbing.
“No, babe, that’s not true. You don’t have a bad bone in your body. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk to her.”
“This isn’tyourfault! I should have been honest with her from the start. This is onme. I don’t even deserve to bearoundher. She’dneverhurt anyone the way I hurt her.” She gasped a breath between sobs and said, “She’sgoodandsweet.”
“So are you, baby.” He kissed her head, wishing he’d never urged her to tell Desiree the truth. He lifted her face, brushing her tears away with his thumbs, his chest constricting so tight it was hard to breathe. “You are a loving, kindhearted person. I’m not going to let you villainize yourself. You were hurting when you came to the Cape. You needed space to deal with it all, and you acted in the only way you knew how. The only way you’d ever been able to survive. Did you tell her that?”
She clung to him, shaking her head. “She wouldn’t even let me explain.”
“Then I’ll talk to her. We’ll make this right, babe. Desiree loves you, and she knows how much you love her.”
Violet looked up at him with the most defeated expression and said, “I can’t stand this. It hurts so bad…”
She collapsed, burying her face in his shirt, and they sank down to the sand right there in the middle of the path. Andre held her as the sun disappeared behind the dunes.
“We’ll make this right, babe,” he vowed.
He held her until she had no more tears to cry. And then he continued holding her, whispering his love for her as cold air swept over the dunes and night fell around them.
Chapter Seventeen
