Page 30 of Petals of Blue: Part One
"Please give us the chance to explain," I beg, my words feeling like knives crawling up my throat. What if after we explain, she still tells us to get lost?
I wouldn't blame her.
Blue moves her hair over her shoulder and cocks her head. "Explain what exactly? It feels like there are so many things." She glares at Declan who has found a new chair.
He sighs and scrubs a hand down his face.Did something else happen?
Felix catches on to my plan and leans forward. "Everything. Let us explain all of it."
Silence descends, and the nausea I've been struggling with since last night rises. I swear I'm about to throw up when a young woman with bright blonde hair in a high ponytail skips up to our table. She can't be older than twenty.
"Good morning," the newcomer drawls with a hand on her hip. She's slender and muscular like Blue, but a bit shorter. "Who are all of you?"
Jared looks taken aback, which I'm sure we all do.Who is this woman?"Uh. I'm Jared. How can we help you?"
"Ma?"
Who's Ma?
To my complete shock, Blue sighs. "This is Roman," she gestures to me, "Felix, and Declan."
"Owner of Butter and Bloom," Declan adds, sounding proud.Good for him.
Blue whips around to face him. "You're shitting me!"
"Nope." My brother grins.
"We live in the building. Is that how you all met?" the blonde questions, still flashing looks at Blue.
"You live here?" Jared's excitement over new information is contagious. Now we know where to find her.
"Yep!" Blondie chirps. "Oh, and I'm Violet, by the way. Blue's cousin."
Nineteen
BLUE
Declan chokes. Sputtering on his sip of coffee, he looks like a damn idiot who should have kept his mouth shut yesterday.
I'm not totally positive I know what he was insinuating when he was dissing my empty ring finger, but wow. Watching my cousin steal the wind beneath his wings is going down as one of my most favorite petty moments.
I can't hold my smirk in, but I'm not about to trauma dump with Violet watching. She's witnessed enough as is. "V, honey, I have some asses to kick. Meet you for dinner before my shift?"
Curiosity flashes in her eyes. Thankfully, she doesn't push the subject right now because she most definitely plans to later. "Sure, Ma." She blows me a kiss and skips away.
I wish I had half of her energy. She's probably going on a hike with her friends and making another livestream on one of her social media platforms. How she makes money off of videotaping herself doing random things is beyond me.
Whatever works for her. At least she can pay for her own adventures now.
"Why does she call you Ma?" Roman questions me softly with a warm nudge on my arm.
I jerk away and mask the move by taking a sip of my drink. Felix notices, but I ignore his intake of breath. "Because I raised her. Her dad died, and custody was transferred to my aunt when Violet was seven."
"How old were you?" Felix looks like he's ready to hunt down the key to unlock all of my answers.
I look him dead in his angry eyes so I can witness my truth spearing him in his fuckingloyalty."I had just turned eighteen. My bags were packed, and I used all the money I had to buy a one-way plane ticket from Tacoma to New Orleans. Then the doorbell rang."
"And then?" Jared looks a little slightly shaken up, yet he's still determined to know why my life took a turn.
