Page 105 of Love & Other Disasters

Thirty-Five

“I don’t want to do this,” Violet complained, as Jill zipped up her dress. The last time Elle painted her up like a glam queen, J.P. happened. An evening of sitting on the couch watching television had never led her astray. She couldn’t say the same thing about a man. But still her friend and sister buzzed around helping her get dressed up.

“It’s time for you to get back out there,” Elle said, “while you’re still young and hot.”

“And you can’t sit around here and mope for the rest of your life. If you’re giving up on J.P., then it’s time to move on,” Jill said.

“Who says I can’t sit around here for the rest of my life? What’s so wrong with that? It’s a perfectly solid idea.”

“What does your shrink say about this?” Elle asked.

“Nothing.”

Elle and Jill gave each other a look of skepticism.

“What? Jill’s not dating anyone, either, and I don’t see you in any rush to get back out there.”

“When your ex-boyfriend goes to jail for running a drug ring cult, then we’ll talk,” Jill said, holding up a pair of heels.

“My ex-boyfriend had me investigated. How does that not count?”

“It’s time to get over that, too,” Elle said. “There were valid reasons. I know you were the only non-executive he had that PI investigate, but there were extenuating circumstances.”

As the months went by, Violet calmed down significantly on the entire thing and now could admit that perhaps she should have been willing to hear him out. But she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it to an audience. Elle had softened her stance on the matter, but she wouldn’t tell Violet why.

“I don’t understand you. One moment he was going to experience the wrath of Elle, andnow you keep dropping hints that I should forgive and forget.”

“I never said forget,” Elle said, arranging all the makeup back into the travel case. “I took a step back and looked at the situation from the perspective of just discovering a corporate embezzlement and the Katia thing.”

“What Katia thing?” Jill asked.

Violet went to the kitchen for a glass of wine while Elle recounted with glee the story of their night at the Rabbit.

“Oh my god,” Jill exclaimed, joining Violet in the kitchen and pouring a glass out of the now opened bottle. Elle followed and grabbed a glass.

“I didn’t know you had that in you. Holy freaking crap. Did you ever get your panties back?”

“No, come to think of it. And I don’t have a one-night stand in me, I ended up with him as my boyfriend.”

“I disagree. You had a one-night stand; then a relationship with your boss. Those are two distinct things. But I get where Elle’s coming from on the whole investigation thing.”

“Oh, come on,” Violet exclaimed. “I need you two to keep telling me that breaking up with him was the right move. Keep me strong here.”

“Conner is a personable guy,” Elle said. But he sounded like more of a consolation prize.

“How do you know him?” Jill asked.

“He’s an attorney with Brent’s company.”

“A lawyer? Don’t tell him about our criminal pasts,” Jill laughed.

Violet smoothed her dress. “I’m not saying a word about that adventure.” Although it might get rid of him, if he turns out to be a nightmare. She’d keep that story in her back pocket just in case. And she didn’t want to talk about the Medi-Health debacle, either. Interest in that mess had reignited with Melvin’s extradition to the US and speculation ran wild in the local news.

There wasn’t much point in dating when she couldn’t get J.P. out of her brain. Even while working toward her CPA certification, she couldn’t get him out of her head. What would he think about it? She missed their conversations, bouncing ideas off him, and their intimate moments. But, since they hadn’t spoken since last fall, it was time to move on with her romantic life.

J.P. sat parked at the end of Violet’s driveway. It’d been almost a year since he’d been there. Everything looked the same, except an unfamiliar car was parked next to hers. Who did it belong to? If she were inside with another man, he’d have to keep his cool. What if he put himself out there, and she didn’t take him back? Better to find out now. It was worth the gamble.

The moon hung low and a thin layer of clouds swept across the sky, giving the night an eerie glow. Unable to sit in the car without the air conditioning running, he took a deep breath and stalked to the door, the air outside still oppressive. It was already sweater weather back in Glencoe, but not here where summer held a tight grip for as long as possible. On the porch, he paused, taking several deep breaths before knocking. It took a few minutes before someone answered, and he worried about what she was doing. A blonde woman opened the door and stared up.

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