“Did she hear us?”
“Not only didn’t we hear you, but we didn’t even speak during the meal and we still didn’t hear a peep out of your area.”
“What? No talking?”
“It was incredible. We just ate and looked into each other’s eyes the entire time. When I finally did decide to speak it made the words that much more powerful.”
My dad leans forward and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Son I hate to ask you this on such a special night…I don’t want to ruin the mood and all, but did you have a chance to speak with Vic.”
I purse my lips. “Unfortunately not. It’s the only downer to the evening.”
“As far as I can see there are two. Why is Harmony missing?”
“She’ll be here, but she might be a little late,” I say. I know what she’s up to and if anybody can pull it off it’s her, but I’m not holding my breath.
“Hello future father-in-law and fiancé,” Violet says as she slides in next to my dad and I and we kiss.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” I say. “Having fun?”
“A blast! And it was another perfect idea to bring me a pair of tennis shoes. They almost go with my dress in a sporty, Milanese kind of way. And it makes it much easier to walk around on the rocks…especially after my second glass of champagne.”
“We can’t have you falling and injuring yourself. We need you healthy so you can carry alllll my babies real soon.”
“You’re going to grow the family, son?”
“I was thinking seven. It’s a lucky number. Whadda ya think, dad?”
“Seven sounds like heaven,” he says. Since when did my dad get so carefree and full of rhymes?
“What do you think, Violet? Seven?”
“Whoa. I’m in, but one at a time please. I’m the one who has to give birth that many times. Then again maybe seven all at once would be easier.”
“Well good news.”
“What’s good about delivering seven children at once?”
We all laugh.
“I was thinking seven family members, so that means just four more kids. Sound more doable?”
“That’s very doable,” she says. She winks at me at the double meaning of doable.
“Great. So it’s settled, and now it’s officially a perfect night.”
“Almost perfect,” she says.
“Why almost?”
“Where’s Harmony?”
“She’ll be here soon. Don’t worry.”
“And what about Vic? Did you guys ever get things worked out?”
She sticks out her lower lip at me, and gives me those sad puppy dog eyes.
I want tonight to be perfect for her, and that’s the one thing I couldn’t deliver. It’s not only a bummer for her, but for me. I tell myself it’s just going to be the way things are and not to worry about it, but inside I know the truth. I wish he were here. I’m pretty down about him not being here to join us.
“Not yet,” I say. “But…well…you know how guys are right?”
“What do you mean?”
“They come to blows and a minute later they’re buying each other beers like they’re best friends or something,” a voice says.
I look over Violet’s shoulder just as she turns back to look herself.
“Vic!” we say in unison. “You made it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Uh hum!” Harmony clears her throat loudly.
“Thanks to a little gentle reminder and some persuasion from Harmony.”
He comes right up to me.
“How you doing, buddy?”
“I’m good thanks.”
“Violet.”
“Oh, Vic,” she says. They hug and now everything is finally one hundred percent perfect.
“Congratulations,” he says turning to me with his hand out.
“Thank you,” I say shaking his hand.
“Now let me buy you a beer!” he says.
We all laugh and suddenly out of nowhere appears the maître d’. “Some drinks, gentleman?”
“This guy is my hero,” I say.
“You’re my hero,” Violet says as she hugs me from the side and buries her head into my chest.
Vic, dad and I toast to my engagement with Violet right there by my side.
“How could life get any better?” I ask.
“Daddy! Don’t forget about me.”
“Never pumpkin!” I say.
Charlotte comes flying into our hug and fits perfectly right on my other side.
“Now, the night is perfect.”
“But the night is young,” Vic says.
“And we’ve got a whole lot more fun to have,” my dad adds.
“We sure do I say. Tonight, tomorrow, forever and always.”
With the guys who matter most having my back, and the girls who matter more than anything at my side, I can’t wait for all the fun things we’re all going to do. Together forever until the end of time.
EPILOGUE
Violet
Saint Patrick’s Day
I take another bite of my Irish stew followed by a sip of Guinness. I’ve always heard it was such a heavy drink, and it does have a bit of a dark barley taste, but it’s just what I need after an adventurous morning of exploring Killarney National Park in Ireland.
Chance surprised me with a Saint Patrick’s Day getaway to Ireland. Every holiday we’ve been together he’s done something to blow my mind. This time was especially nice.
While most tourists come to drink and party, we came to get away from it all out here in the great outdoors. A few deep breaths of the air out here and you feel completely refreshed. It may be a bit cool at first but once all that oxygen gets inside your lungs you truly feel energized and ready to explore the Irish countryside. Everywhere you turn it’s a post card.
“Look,” Charlotte says, pointing out the window from the cabin restaurant where we’re enjoying lunch.
“Looks like a red deer,” Chance says.
“Yeah!” she says. “I saw them in the guidebook. Oh look. There are a bunch of them.”
I look at Chance and he looks at me. We both smile and he offers me his hand. Charlotte jumps up from the table and runs over to the window.
It’s so much fun seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I never really knew just how much fun it could be…until Chance and Charlotte.
“You know I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a few months now, but I keep forgetting,” Chance says.
“Oh?”
“Remember when you went to the police station and bumped into that officer and then hurried out?”
“Bumped into? Oh, wait. Yeah, of course. What a crazy day.”
“Do you know who that officer was?”
I stop and think. Was it one of Chance’s colleagues? Is this awkward now. I try and relive the moment in my mind…the feeling of the man who caught me before I tumbled to the ground. Those strong fingers. That scent…of…his…
“No?”
“Yes.”
I release his hand and lean back in my chair. I cross my arms playfully. “All this time and you never told me.”
“I meant to. I really did. It was just such a double shock seeing you that day at the casino. A shock to see how much you had changed, and a shock to realize that you were the same girl from the police station.”
“That is beyond a coincidence. The universe was trying its hardest to bring us together.”
“And we answered the call,” he says.
“We sure did.”
“Speaking of calls, I made one just before we left.
“Sounds like another surprise. What kind of call?”
“Well, dad was the one who kept me from getting a job in California when I graduated from the academy. There’s that. And Charlotte’s growing up so quickly. So there’s that. And…Harmony got signed to an agency in L.A. So there’s that. And I know how much you enjoy taking pictures and L.A. is a hub for photo
graphers—”
“So there’s that,” I say finishing his sentence for him. We both laugh.
“There is that,” he says. “So…I called up Vic to see if they had any openings at his station and it just so happens that they do.”
“You’re thinking to go to L.A.?”
“No, I’m thinking we go to L.A. The door is open if we want to. All we have to do is walk through.”
“What about the house and everything in Vegas?”
“We sell it and start fresh in California, just like the old story goes. California or bust.”
“Bust huh?” I look down at my breasts, which are covered with a windproof, rainproof jacket, but Chance laughs at my joke all the same.
“And I do like to go for bust.”
“Just not at the casino,” I say.
“Never there. And that’s another thing. I was thinking that if you want to continue working there are probably a lot of jobs in other industries outside just tourism and food and beverage like those that dominate the market in Vegas.”
“Yeah…about continuing to work.”
“The minute you don’t want to work you tell me and you’re done. You absolutely don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that…well…soon I might not be able to.”
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
I look back down at my jacket, but this time a little further down. I point toward my stomach.
“You have a stomach condition? We’ll get the best doctors to take a look at it. I wish you would have told me sooner.”
“Chance! Uhh hum!” I say as I point at it rapidly.
“Wait! You’re…?”
I nod my head.
Chance jumps up from his chair and comes around the table to hug me.
“We’re having a baby!” he says for the entire restaurant to hear.
“Is there a doctor in the house?” someone shouts with an Irish accent.
“No! Not now. In…”
“Seven months,” I say.
“Seven months,” he repeats.
The entire restaurant breaks out in applause.
Charlotte comes running back over from the window. “Am I going to have a brother?”
“Maybe, sweetheart.”
“Or a sister?”
“We won’t know for awhile.”
“Wooow. Cool!” she says. “Can I pick the name?
“We can all pick it together,” I say. “Like how we always make decisions. Everybody gets a voice.”
“Okay,” she says. “That sounds fair.”
And it is fair. But what certainly isn’t fair is the hand life dealt me. I hit the jackpot when it came to Chance and Charlotte. The odds must have been a million to one, maybe a billion to one, but somehow I was that one.
And things were only getting better. We were going to move back to California and start a family around our friends and families. My parents would be there to help me, and Chance’s dad would be close by as well. Not to mention Vic and Harmony.
Chance had truly locked up my heart and thrown away the key. By the end of the year I’d be able to hold my own little baby in my hands and feel its heart beat in rhythm with mine as I’m surrounded by family. Just the way life is meant to be lived.
“I love you,” Chance says.
“I love you.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Violet
Five years later
“You did it!” my agent Debbie says.
“Did we sell another one?”
“We didn’t just sell another one…we sold them all!”
“This is a dream come true,” I say.
“And the best part is that it’s a dream come true for the pet adoption center. This is enough to finance their efforts for a few years. It’s so kind of you to give all the proceeds to charity.”
“There’s no better place for the money to go,” I say.
“Congratulations,” Debbie says. “I’ll let you get back to enjoying your night.”
Debbie darts off to schmooze clients right about the time I see a familiar face.
“Violet?”
“Brad! Hey. How are you?”
“Wow. I’m good, but I guess not as good as you.”
“You look great,” I say.
“Thanks. You look great. And your pictures. Wow! I still remember that photo meet-up. What was that? Five, six years ago?”
“Something like that. Yeah, I’ve really been working hard on my photography. That and I’ve caught some breaks. I’ve definitely been blessed. How is everything with you?”
“Good. Still taking pictures.”
I can see the way Brad’s looking at me and I can tell he’s still interested. He’s a nice guy and attractive and I should certainly set him up with one of my friends. Unfortunately I think he has other ideas.
“Are you seeing anyone these days?” he asks.
“Chance.” Chance appears out of nowhere and extends his hand to Brad. He places his other hand on the small of my back. It’s right in that spot that still gives me goose bumps like only he can. “I’m Violet’s husband.”
“Oh,” Brad says. “Nice to meet you.”
Earlier in the night I’d had a couple other interested suitors, but when I pointed toward Chance’s direction and they took one look they knew better than to even consider continuing the conversation in that direction. L.A. is known for the amount of indecent proposals that get tossed around left and right. It’s a very image driven place and people are always looking to “upgrade” as they say. Gross.
Luckily for me there truly is no one better. And one of the many, many reasons why is that Chance says he loves me just as much now as when we first met, even though I’ve had three kids and put on a bit of weight. He says a few extra pounds never hurt anyone and it allows him to really let loose in the bedroom without worrying that he might hurt me. I’m definitely not complaining one bit.
Brad reaches out to shake Chance’s hand. I can see Chance’s grip is firm, as it should be, but he doesn’t go out of his way to overpower Brad or anything like that. Chance is protective without a doubt, but he doesn’t show signs of jealousy. I think it’s partly because he doesn’t need to. He’s so big most guys sort of just submit to his dominance naturally. His deep voice doesn’t hurt his cause either.
“It was nice seeing you again,” Brad says. “Nice seeing you, Brad. Crazy bumping into you in L.A.”
“Yeah, I was in town for the week and I saw the name Violet on the exhibition. I never got your last name so I just wondered. Violet is a unique name. That and it looked like your style of taking pictures.”
“Thank you,” I say. “It’s really nice that you thought of me and dropped by. I’d love to see your pics sometime. Do you have them online anywhere?”
I feel Chance’s hand slide down my back and squeeze my butt. I raise up on my tiptoes just a bit. I’m not sure if Brad notices it or not.
“I don’t have anything online yet, but when I do I’ll email you.”
“Thanks. I’d love to see them.” And I really would. It would be cool to see how his work looks now, years after that day at the photo meet-up when we gave each other constructive critiques and pointers.
“Okay. See you around,” he says and wanders off towards a couple of blondes in the corner drinking craft beer.
“Were you trying to make me jealous?” Chance whispers into my ear.
“Never,” I say.
“Because it’s working.”
“Come on,” I say, turning to look up at him.
“Okay, maybe not jealous but definitely turned on, but then again you always turn me on.”
“And you’ve definitely got me turned on 24/7/365 too. That little public booty grab right now pushed my desire into overdrive.”
“Speaking of drive, I could easily round up these guys who have been ogling over you all night long and drive them down to the station. Hold them o
vernight for harassment. That is of course if I decide not to drive my fist into their guts first.”
Police Officer's Princess: A Single Dad, Brother's Best Friend, Police Officer Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 31) Page 20