by Alison Stone
Heat immediately infused Violet's cheeks. The words They're not mine sprang to mind, but died on her lips.
Betty bent over and picked up the bottle. She glanced at it, then looked up at Violet. "What is this? Who is Zoe Michaels?" Betty's face collapsed in a frown. "Let me guess, one of your mother's assistants."
Violet didn't bother to argue.
Folding the coat over her arm, Violet backed up and sat on the bottom step of the sweeping staircase. She watched, immobile, as Betty picked up each pill and put them in the container. She found the lid and the last pill under the hall table. Snapping the lid back on, Betty sat down next to Violet. "You don't need these." But she handed the bottle to Violet. Betty wasn't one to tell her what to do.
Violet accepted the bottle and stared at it through a watery gaze. "I keep telling myself that. They're my security blanket."
"Remember what you were going through when you first came here as a teenager?"
Violet laughed. "How could I forget? I was a stress ball."
"And you came out of it. With a lot of hard work. You left here and went to college, went to work for your mom. You've been doing great things."
Violet held out her hand, fingers wide. "And it all slipped through my fingers."
"Don't you think anyone who's been through what you've been through would need a minute to regroup?"
"It's taking longer than a minute."
"You'll get better." Betty squeezed her hand. "With more hard work."
Violet scratched her head. "I'm not so sure."
"That's how you felt then, too. But you're not that scared little girl. You're so much older and wiser now. It won't be as hard to work through your feelings. You have the tools."
Violet shook her head. "I can't get Abby out of my mind. If I had been home. It would have been me."
"But it wasn't. God spared you. God rest Abby's soul, but her death is not your fault."
"But if she hadn't been there…" She ran a finger under her nose. "Her family blames me."
"They're hurting. They'll come around. The Amish believe in forgiveness."
The hatred in Elmer's eyes was etched in her memory. Four fasteners had been driven into her tire shortly after she visited Abby's family's home. "I'm not so sure." And even if they did forgive her, how could she ever forgive herself?
"Even if they forgot what they have been taught and don't forgive you, you can't let that stop your recovery. You can't continue like this."
"I know."
Betty slapped her thighs and stood, resolved to move past this. "So tell me, how did things go today? I see Theo is as handsome as ever." Her eyes traveled to the gallery of photos on the hall table. She plucked a photo from behind a professional shot of Violet's mother at some award ceremony holding a statue of some sort.
Violet stood and took the silver frame from Betty. Theo had his hands on her waist and his chin playfully resting on her shoulder. Her head had been tipped back in laughter when the photographer snapped the prom photo. The night had been magical until Jenny, Theo's old girlfriend, had cornered her in the bathroom.
Violet set the frame back down. "You've kept up with him all these years. You knew he had a son."
"You forget how small this town is. Isaac and I are friendly with his father."
She debated asking the question, but finally did. "Who did he marry?"
Betty lifted her eyebrows, a twinkle in her eyes. "He's not married." She patted Violet's hand. "Now if you're wondering who Liam's mother is, that's an entirely different question." She raised her eyebrows and gave Violet a knowing glance. "Jennifer Koch."
"Really?" Violet tried to hide her disbelief, but why should that surprise her? Why should anything surprise her? Theo had been dating Jenny, and they'd broken up two months before prom. They obviously had gotten back together. Jenny had said they always would.
"I don't believe they're still together." It was as if Betty was reading her mind.
Violet opened the closet at the bottom of the stairs. She dropped the bottle of pills back into her pocket and hung up her coat. "If you're hinting that I should date Theo, you're barking up the wrong tree.
"I would never suggest that."
Violet rolled her eyes as if to say, Of course not. Hadn't Betty orchestrated the whole prom fiasco? To be fair, none of them could have foreseen the fiasco part.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."
The aroma of sauce in the kitchen made Violet's stomach rumble. "Smells great. But you don't have to make dinner every night for me. I'm a big girl. I can fend for myself."
"It's my job."
Despite having been away from Hunters Ridge for years, Jacque kept the Weavers on the payroll to maintain the house. Violet always considered it a sign of her mother's gratitude for taking care of her daughter so she didn't have to. Her mother did have a heart, deep down.
Betty reached up and touched her cheek. "I enjoy cooking for you. You've been gone too long." The older woman wrapped Violet in a warm hug. "That's my girl. You'll be back to yourself in no time."
After her whirlwind of emotions today, Violet was beginning to wonder if she'd ever feel like herself again.
Chapter 5
"We won’t be long," Theo told Liam as they pulled up in front of the trailer office at Cooper and Sons after they dropped Violet off at her house. Liam had chatted about the size of the house for most of the drive. Theo hated to think his son was so impressed by wealth. Or maybe he was overthinking it. Any five-year-old would be amazed by the big house on the hill.
Man, he was still surprised by the house. Who needed that much space?
Theo parked the truck in the lot and sighed. The snow clouds had cleared and a hint of purple and pink sky remained on the horizon. Days had grown both short and cold. He sensed a long winter on the horizon, but the thought of working with Violet cheered him.
"Can I play a video game?" Liam scooted across the back seat and opened the door.
"Maybe one."
Theo had set up a couch and TV with video games at one end of the trailer-slash-office for the days when his son got stuck hanging out at work with him. Before Liam started kindergarten, he had spent most of his days with his grandmother, Jenny's mom. But now that Theo lived in Hunters Ridge and Liam was in school, the little boy took the bus home to the lumberyard. Some days, Liam hung out here, and other times his Aunt Mandy, Jenny's sister, picked up Liam to play with his cousin, Noah. Lately Jenny had been coming along with her sister, participating in limited supervised visitation as per the court's instructions.
Theo shuddered to think what might have happened to Liam if Theo hadn't returned to Hunters Ridge after his father's heart attack. It still made him hot to think Jenny had been stoned most afternoons while Liam made himself dinner with whatever was in the pantry and put himself to bed.
Often hungry.
Jenny had gone through rehab and vowed to stay clean. Since a kid needed his mom, Theo was willing to work with her and was grateful the court authorized supervised visits. This whole mess made Theo realize he should have been more selective about who he got involved with. But he had been young and foolish.
After maturing and serving in the military, Theo knew two things without a doubt: he'd never regret Liam and he'd never leave him again.
"We won't be long. I need to wrap up a few things and then we'll get dinner."
"Pizza?" Liam asked enthusiastically as he raced up the metal steps leading to the trailer, the lights on his sneakers blinking.
Liam tousled his son's hair. "Don't you ever get sick of pizza?"
"Nope," he said, his tone an equal mix of no way and you have to be kidding me.
"I'll make us chicken and broccoli tonight. You have to eat healthy sometimes."
"Bleck." His son stuck his tongue out as Theo reached around him to push open the door, surprised to find it unlocked.
He ushered his son into the office and heat poured out to greet them. Theo's shoulders slightly sag
ged when he saw his cousin, Chad, sitting at the desk squinting at the computer screen. Theo had hoped to zip in and out, avoiding a long discussion with Chad. His cousin loved to talk, which made him a great salesman, but talking meant time, something which Theo didn't feel like wasting.
Not tonight.
Chad looked up and smiled his greeting. Chad and Theo grew up together, only a year apart. His cousin held out his arm to give Liam a fist bump. "How's it going, little man?" Chad stuck out his lower lip and let out a long breath, blowing his long bangs from his forehead. The rest of his hair was generally unkempt and hung down to his shoulders. If hippies were still a thing, Chad would have fit right in. People were drawn to his easygoing nature. And his casual wardrobe didn’t seem to pose a problem when selling outdoor play sets.
"Good. Except I don't like chicken."
Chad closed down a few screens and blinked away from the computer screen. A thin line marred his forehead. "I thought you ate a consistent diet of chicken nuggets. What happened, my man?"
Liam giggled. "Not chicken nuggets. I love nuggets. Dad wants to make chicken. The real kind."
Chad raised his eyebrows in understanding. "Your dad is one mean dude."
Liam shook his head then jumped over the back of the couch facing the corner with the TV and gaming system. "Have you ever heard of walking around the couch and sitting down like I've asked you?"
Chad looked up at Theo. "Don't be so hard on him. He's a kid. We did far worse stuff than jumping over the back of a couch." He made a face, a mix between commiserating with Liam and suggesting he was about to share a story or two.
Theo tipped his head slightly in the direction of his son. Liam didn't need an earful about his father's wild past. Theo had to constantly remind his cousin to watch what he said because being just one year older had made Chad the witness to a lot of crazy stuff. It was hard enough showing up on the scene when his son was already five—even without someone always undermining him.
Chad held up his palm as if to say, What does it really matter? But to Theo it did matter. He wanted to do right by this little boy who had already suffered so much disruption in his young life.
"You plan on working for a while? I only swung by to do a few things and lock up." Theo dropped down in the chair Violet had sat in a few hours earlier. He still had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that they were going to be working together.
"I'm pretty much done with my paperwork for the night." Chad tapped the scraps of paper in front of him.
"Good news," Theo said, straightening his back. "I've got some help with that."
Chad lifted a bushy eyebrow. "Violet Jackson actually accepted the job? I thought she'd take one look at our small operation and realize we’re small potatoes." The implication that either the job or Theo wasn’t worth her time rubbed him the wrong way, but he refused to argue about it.
"Apparently, she's in Hunters Ridge for a few months and was in the market for a side job."
"The rich girl who lives in the big house on the hill needs a side job?" Annoyance edged his cousin's tone. "I thought she agreed to the interview to humor your dad because her maid or something is friends with him. She probably makes more in a month than our business sees in a year." He made a noise with his lips. "Ten bucks she's gone in a week."
"That will be one week of receipts we won't have to organize."
Chad leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest, a smug look on his face. "When does she start?"
"Tomorrow morning. I figured it's a short-term gig. She'll get us caught up. Set us up with accounting software, make it easier for us to track our expenses and income. Not like Dad's ledger. We'll keep on top of it once we're organized."
"I guess pigs do fly," Chad muttered, then reached out and wiggled the mouse on the computer. He squinted at the screen.
"Hey…" Theo leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "Violet got a flat after leaving here this afternoon. She had at least four screws jammed in her tire. Did you see anything suspicious today out in the parking lot? She ended up with a blown tire and lost control of her vehicle. Had to have her car towed out of a field."
"You have to be kidding me. Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Just shaken up." He straightened and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "I want to put a call in to Olivia. Just so the sheriff's department has a heads-up." He hoped Violet didn't mind.
"Yeah sure. Good idea. What kind of car does she drive? I can ask around. See if anyone saw something." Chad sounded incredulous.
"It had to be intentional. Four screws. Like the ones in our kits." He glanced over his shoulder, relieved to find his young son totally engrossed in his game and not listening to the adult conversation.
"I tell you, though, Violet Jackson has had a tough few months."
Theo stopped dialing his sister's phone number and stared at his cousin. "What are you talking about?"
"You didn't hear?" There was an air of disbelief in his cousin's tone.
"Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if I've heard." A slow, steady pulse grew louder in his ears.
"You don't know the reason she returned to Hunters Ridge?"
He slowly shook his head, trying to remember what he had heard, but until his father had called him from Florida, telling him Violet could pinch hit and organize their books, he hadn't thought of her in years.
Well, that wasn't completely true.
"I read it online. She came home late one night and found her friend Abigail Graber murdered in her kitchen."
"The Amish girl who left here to work within the Jacque Caldwell organization?"
"Yeah, how about that for a welcome to the world? She had her head—"
Theo held up his hand and jerked his chin toward his son on the couch. "Another time."
“Of course. Sorry." Chad closed the folder and pushed back from the desk. "I'm going to take off. You good here?"
"I’m all set. Night."
Liam turned around with a glazed look in his eyes. "Night, Chad."
Chad ruffled Liam's hair, then with a yank at the door he left. "Don't work too hard."
Theo's gaze drifted to an animated character jumping up and down on the TV screen. "How about we get out of here, too?" Theo lost any motivation he had for work.
Liam tossed down the controller and jumped up on the couch cushion. "Pepperoni and cheese?" The kid was persistent.
“Chicken and broccoli, remember?”
Liam groaned.
“Come on.” Theo turned his back to the couch and glanced over his shoulder, holding out an arm. Taking the invitation, Liam dove onto his father's back. Theo made an exaggerated groan. "You're getting too big for this." Yet secretly, he hoped it would be a long time before that day came.
The next morning, Violet hustled outside when she saw Theo’s truck pull up in the circular driveway. She hopped into his truck and said a quick hello to Liam in the back seat. He muttered a quiet hello, but didn't look up from one of those handheld video games. Or was he playing on a smartphone?
Did five-year-olds have smartphones?
When Violet gave Theo a questioning gaze as to why he wasn't in school, Theo said, "Superintendent's day."
"Ah…" Violet buckled her seatbelt. Whatever that meant. "Makes me wonder how people who have children manage to work with all these school holidays."
"We do what we have to," Theo said matter-of-factly.
Violet was curious where Jenny was. Perhaps her job didn't allow her the flexibility to have a kid in tow.
They drove mostly in silence to the lumberyard, except for the occasional "Yes!" or "Awww…man" from the back seat. Apparently Liam was enjoying his game…or not, depending on the exclamation. When they arrived, Liam unbuckled and scooted toward the door.
"Here." Theo handed his son the keys to the trailer.
Liam bounded out the door. The sound of his feet clattered on the metal steps to the trailer. Violet had
started to open the passenger door when Theo put his hand on her knee.
His touch caught her off guard. She glanced at his hand, then at him. Theo quickly pulled it away. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be rude. I want to talk to you a second. Away from Liam."
"Okay." Violet searched Theo's face. "What's up?"
"It's about Liam."
"Okay," she repeated, already figuring that much was obvious.
"His mom, Jenny"—he widened his eyes as if to say it was obvious who his mother was—"is going to pick him up in a minute so he doesn't have to hang out in the trailer on his day off from school."
Violet's heart sank. Jenny wasn't exactly her favorite person. Nor did she want to let on that she and Betty had been talking about Jenny last night. Better for Theo to think she wasn't in the least interested in his personal life. She wasn't, was she?
"Oh." Her one-word replies made her feel foolish.
Theo glanced toward the trailer through the windshield, then back at Violet. Liam had managed to unlock the door and get inside. "His mom has had some issues and the courts only recently awarded her limited supervised visits."
"You don't sound happy about it." Her mind raced at all the possible reasons Jenny could have lost custody, but she wasn't comfortable asking, and quite frankly, it was none of her business.
Theo scrubbed a hand across his jaw. "It's been a long road, but Liam and I are finally doing great, just the two of us." His eyes moved around the interior of the truck, searching for the right words.
"It's really none of my business." Violet tried to let him off the hook. She wasn't sure why he felt the need to share this with her.
"I'd like you to know since you'll be working around here." He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable.
"Okay…" She forced a smile, not sure what to say.
"Liam's a really good kid, but every time he comes home from seeing his mom, he acts out. But she's his mom." There was a faraway quality to his voice. "A kid deserves to have a mom, right?"