Page 5 of Songbird
“Daryl?” I say. “Please step outside. I’ll undress and then we’ll leave.”
A small crease pops up between his thick dark brows. “You want me to leave you alone in the studio? Chip won’t—”
“Just while I change,” I tell him, thinking on my feet. “And I need to talk to Violet about, uh… women’s things… to do with fabric and my, um… bridal underwear.”
At his flicker of discomfort at the mention ofwomen’s thingsandunderwear, I press my advantage. “Ten minutes,” I beg. “This is a big day for me. I need ten minutes with Violet to talk in private.”
Violet gives me a curious look when she returns to find Daryl on the wrong side of the doorway and another when I indicate she should shut him out of the room, but she doesn’t say anything when she joins me in front of the photograph that makes my heart skip every other beat.
I gesture at the picture. “Is that—” I stop myself just in time and rephrase the question. “Who—I mean, where—What was the occasion?”
If Violet notices my agitation, she’s too polite to point it out. “Chord’s brother was married last week at his ranch in Sonoma Valley.” She points to the faces behind the plate glass. “That’s Dylan—the groom. And that’s Poppy—his wife. The little girl is Dylan’s daughter, Isobel, and the woman holding her hand is Daisy. She’s Dylan’s younger sister and Poppy’s best friend.”
I point at the picture again. “And that’s you?”
Violet flushes prettily. “Yes. That’s me. And Chord, of course. That woman over there with dark hair is Chord’s other sister, Charlie, and the man next to her is the middle Davenport brother. Finn.”
Finn. Finn Davenport. Itishim.
“And Finn,” I say a little breathlessly. “He lives on this ranch?”
“Silver Leaf Ranch & Vineyard in Aster Springs,” Violet clarifies. “And yes. Sort of. Finn has a bungalow. It’s a cabin, really. Small, a little rundown, and nestled up against the river. It suits him. He likes to keep to himself.”
I study the picture, running my eyes over the hard edges of Finn’s shoulders and the square set of his smooth jaw. The barely there smile on his full mouth and the restrained twinkle in his steady gaze, like he’s amused by something nobody else sees.
Finn Davenport. The last decision I made by myself, for myself.
“Do you have a car?” I ask.
“Me?” Violet looks over her shoulder like I might be talking to someone else in the otherwise empty room. “Yes. It’s parked in the private lot out back.”
Adrenaline makes my pulse skitter. Is it hope? Fear? Insanity? I can’t tell and I don’t care. “Can I borrow it?”
“Borrow it?”
“Yes. Borrow it.”
“Now?”
“Immediately. I need to get out of here before Lauren comes back.”
“But…” Violet’s gaze sweeps down my body. “Your dress?”
I snatch up my purse from where I tossed it on a blush-colored cushioned sofa, then look down at my gown. It took ten minutes to fit and button me into it and will take as many to get me out. I can’t risk changing and missing my chance to run.
“No time.” I hike the skirt up at my hips to let her know I mean business. “I’ll take it now.”
To her credit, Violet asks no more questions before she crosses the room to collect her car key. She’s clearly not sure she should hand it over.I’mnot sure she should hand it over, but there must be a reason I stumbled across that photo today. A sign or fate or a cosmic nudge to go in another direction, and I haven’t felt this sure about anything in a very long time.
This is my shot. Finn is my shot. He’s how I’m going to reclaim control of my life and my career and find my way back to the woman I used to be. Before Chip Daniels set his eyes on an easy prize, sank his teeth into my soul, and sucked my spirit right out of me.
At the last minute, I remember to remove my engagement ring, dragging the six-carat oval-cut diamond off my finger and handing it to a surprised Violet.
“Can you give this to Lauren when she gets back?” I ask. “Tell her she can have it. I think she’ll get the message.”
Violet gapes at the giant diamond sparkling on her palm. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“It is,” I confirm. “It really,reallyis.”
