Page 60 of A Spot of Trouble
Violet let out an incredulous laugh. “I’ll own up to the cupcakes but we absolutely didnottake a shower together. Where on earth are you two getting your information?”
Josh shook his head. “Never mind that. You’ve got some explaining to do.”
“No, I don’t. I’m a grown-up, remember? I don’t need your permission to drop off a box of cupcakes, and it’s my business who I shower with.” Her ears felt impossibly hot all of a sudden, even though a cool, salty breeze had rolled in with the morning tide. The seagrass lining the sidewalk danced and swayed. “Not that we did that. Again, just to be clear, we didn’t. Sam and I got doused in a fire sprinkler accident. It was completely innocent.”
“Still.” Josh frowned. “We don’t like it, Vi. Not at all.”
Joe heaved out a sigh. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him?”
Sprinkles—good girl that she was—snorted in apparent derision.
Violet rested her palm on the Dalmatian’s sweet head and squared her shoulders. “You’ve got to stop. I might have been a bit naive in the past, but that was my mistake.Mine. You can’t keep hovering like this.”
“Can’t I?” Josh said, casting another death-glare toward the fire station.
Things were getting out of hand. Violet wasn’t sure who was behaving more abominably—her brothers or her friends at the senior center. When had she lost complete and total control over her own love life?
The minute you trusted the wrong firefighter.
Joe regarded her until the backs of her knees went as hot as her ears. “Why are you bringing Sam cupcakes, anyway? You’re rivals. Or do I need to remind you that there’s a bet at stake?”
As if she could forget.
Violet couldn’t enroll Sprinkles in obedience school. After the police department’s recent loss, she’d done a cursory internet search for nearby dog training programs.Just in case.Every single one of them conducted class on the weekends. Who was supposed to man the cupcake truck while she cajoled Sprinkles into doing a series of senseless tricks?
The prospect of losing to Sam was more humiliating than Violet cared to think about. Embarrassment aside, she didn’t have time for formal obedience lessons. It simply couldn’t happen.
Joe sighed. “Look, we’re not trying to tell you what to do.”
Really?If Violet had been capable of snorting with her Dalmatian’s panache, she would have done so. She opted for a hearty eye roll instead.
“We’re just worried about you, that’s all,” Joe said quietly. “No one wants to see you get hurt.”
Again.No one wanted to see her get hurtagain.
The word hovered between them—unspoken, but very much there. Was the greater population of Turtle Beach ever going to move past Emmett’s betrayal?
And then a thought hit her, right out of the blue—if Violet couldn’t put her humiliating romantic past behind her, how could she expect anyone else to do it, least of all her own family?
Maybe it was time to forgive and forget, once and for all. Maybe she’d wasted enough time feeling bad about the way Emmett had taken advantage of her. Maybe it was time to give love another chance.
Not with Sam, obviously. That was out of the question.
Wasn’t it?
Violet’s heart thumped hard in her chest.
“I’m over it,” she announced, willing herself to believe it. “I’m not going to let myself get hurt.”
She had way too much on the line to take a chance on another relationship. The greater population of Turtle Beach already thought she was a fragile little thing who couldn’t think for herself. They’d thought as much since the day she’d been born. Violet couldn’t imagine how her hometown would react if she let another firefighter break her heart.
She’d have to walk up and down Seashell Drive with a bag over her head. Or better yet, move to an entirely new city. Maybe even another continent.
Moving away was out of the question, though. Violet loved Turtle Beach, quirks and all. She loved her family too, naturally. She just wished they weren’t quite so invested in her personal life.
“Dad knows about your wager with Sam,” Josh said. “He thinks your little bet is the reason why the Hoses were so fired up last Saturday.”
Ouch.
