Page 108 of Wallflower
Charlie and Daisy exchange looks, and I ignore the inference that I’m losing my mind.
“I do,” Charlie admits. “But you would know this for yourself if you’d just talk to her.”
Daisy tries to shove me and only succeeds in pushing herself back a few paces. “You haven’t talked to her?” she screeches.“No wonder she changed the subject whenever I said your name! The poor girl is in a mess over you! Why the hell haven’t you spoken?”
At the sudden pressure in my chest, I throw my hands up and pace away before spinning back around. “Because she left my house in the middle of the night while I was still sleeping!” I shout. “She won’t answer my calls or return my text messages! What the fuck am I supposed to do? ShechoseMilan. Shechoseto leave. AndIhad no choice but to let her go!”
Charlie shakes her head with disbelief, and Daisy echoes her with a dramatic groan.
“She’s miserable,” Charlie says slowly, gesticulating like a schoolteacher with an especially dense student. “You’re miserable.”
“And you’re both idiots!” Daisy adds.
“No. This is the right thing.” I run a hand through my hair, knowing that my desperation to believe my sisters is overriding what I know to be true. Violet chose her dreams over me. “This is what she wants and—
“She wantsyou,” Daisy disagrees, nodding her head at whatever wild hope or despair she reads in my eyes. “Yes, she wants to design, and she wants to be her own woman, but that doesn’t change the fact that she also wants you. She wants it all.”
And I want her to have it.
I pace again. Five paces away. Five paces back. Meanwhile, Finn canters over, studying me from the saddle with a confused expression. Dylan and Izzy aren’t far behind, pulling up on my other side.
“What’s his problem?” Finn asks Charlie and Daisy.
“Violet,” they reply together.
Finn nods. “Tell me about it. It’s going to be a long fucking season if he doesn’t solve this shit soon.” He transfers hisattention to me. “It’s the brotherly thing to watch your games, but it’s no fun when you lose.”
Izzy sighs dramatically and runs her gloved hand over Mabel’s mane. “I miss Violet. She never even got to see me ride.”
“We can send her a video,” Dylan offers. “And you can call to tell her all about it.”
My niece sighs again with a shake of her head. “It’s not the same.”
“It’s really not,” Daisy agrees, shooting a loaded look my way.
“So, what do I do?” I demand.
“Call her!” they all shout.
“Jesus. Okay.” I’m nervous and impatient as I fumble my phone out of my pocket, then turn my back as I find Violet’s number and hitcall.
My heart races in case this time she answers, but it goes to voicemail again. I spin back to my sisters. “She didn’t answer.”
“Try again,” Charlie suggests.
I do, and when I get her message again, I look helplessly at my siblings. They swap uncertain looks, which fills me with urgency.
“Just keep trying,” Finn says with a worried frown. “She’ll pick up eventually.”
“No,” I say.
“Yes,” Daisy argues.
I shake my head to try and clear the confusion. “No. Something’s not right. She’s blocked my number or something. She’s—fuck.” With sudden insight, I figure out what she’s done—and why. Violet has all my admiration and respect. She’s also the most exasperatingly selfless person I’ve ever met. “She’s making it impossible for me to go back on my word.”
I do a quick calculation and work out that if I can get my hands on a private jet, it’s possible to fly to Milan and back before I have to be in Calgary. It’s not enough to hear Violet speak. It’snot enough to share awkward words when I could touch her. Kiss her. Love her. Admit I was wrong and figure this thing out.
I give my sisters a quick kiss on their cheeks. “Thanks for the advice. I’m going to Italy.”
