Page 77 of Whirlwind

Gently, I shook the glass globe, and the bits of white fluttered softly through the water over this slice of old Meager. A small smile swept my lips.Beautiful.

“Violet?”

The sharpness in Dad’s voice stiffened my shoulders. I turned on the heels of my combat boots and met my father’s stern, yet haggard gaze.

“Hi Dad. Are you alone or—”

“Don’t start.”

“I won’t. I’m on my way out anyhow.”

“What’s going on? Your car is loaded with suitcases and bags.”

“Mom and I are staying at Gigi’s.”

“What?”

“She doesn’t want to be here after what she crashed in on this morning in the kitchen, and I get nauseated just imagining where else you and Mrs. Jeffries may have had—”

“Don’t do this.”

“We got the message loud and clear, Daddy. We’re out of here.”

He brushed a hand down his face.

“All those things you said to me at the Tingle, that you and Mom were good, that you being at the strip club was just business—all white lies, the tip of your black iceberg.”

“It was a stupid thing to do.” His tired, low voice caught my attention.

“What exactly was stupid? Screwing another woman? Or screwing Anna Jeffries in particular?”

“All of it.” There was no sharp, defensive tone. No biting retort. Only weariness.

“The two of you are having an affair? Are you in love with her? Or was this a fling?”

“Violet—”

“Not a conversation to have with your kid, I realize.”

“I’m not in love with her. It was—”

“A one time thing? An ongoing thing?”

“A reckless, stupid thing—”

“But so much fun kind of thing.”

He averted his gaze. Marshall Hildebrand, the dirty bad boy. I guess I had inherited the gene. My father. Big, strong, commanding, confident, now seemed lost, confused. Battered, even. “She’d invited me to this cocktail party with people I should meet who were in from out of town. We were drinking, having fun and…”

“Suddenly you had her hitched to the wall of the coatroom?”

He only shook his head, his jaw flexing.

“I never realized the two of you were ever flirty with each other. Or maybe you’re just good at keeping it all under wraps.”

“We’ve never…last night was the first time we…”

“Is this a booty calls only thing or will you be her new consort and move into her mansion?”

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