by Alison Stone
If he was asking her for confirmation, he had picked the wrong person. Violet's mom provided well for her daughter but was mostly absent. Violet understood what it was like to be a kid who wanted her mom, but under very different circumstances. "I'm sorry. Can I help somehow?"
Theo turned to face her. "I don't mean to lay all this baggage on you, but I thought it would help if you knew what was going on."
"Sure." Violet kept her voice even as she reached for the door handle.
"And I know Jenny and you weren't exactly friends back in high school."
"Don't worry about it. High school was a lifetime ago."
"I appreciate your understanding."
"Sure thing." Violet held up her hand. "It's none of my business. I just work here." She tried to make light of the situation. Then she cocked her head, noticing the flicker of sadness in his eyes. "Would you rather Liam didn't go with her? Maybe you can sneak away from the office today and spend some time with your son on his day off."
A smile curved the corner of his mouth. "His aunt will be supervising the visit, so that means he gets to hang out with his cousin Noah. It'll be okay." Violet wondered if he added the last assurance for her or himself.
"Well, okay," Violet said, suddenly eager to get to work. She pulled the door handle and for the first time since she had gotten into his truck this morning, she realized she hadn't been obsessing over any of her panic symptoms. She had made it all the way here without tingling fingers, lightheadedness or a queasy stomach. A flicker of hope ignited in her heart.
With no medication.
Maybe this little job was exactly what she needed to get back her normal life. Get outside her head.
The sound of gravel crunching under tires drew her attention to a car pulling up alongside Theo's truck.
"Oh, that's Jenny. Let me go get Liam. He'll probably be disappointed he didn't have time for his game." Theo sounded resigned. He jumped out of the cab of the truck and jogged toward the trailer and disappeared inside.
Violet pushed open the passenger door and started to walk toward the trailer. The car door opened and the woman climbed out. After a cursory glance, Violet murmured politely, "Morning.”
"You don't even recognize me, do you?" the woman said.
"How are you, Jenny?" Violet stopped and smiled, confirming that she did, indeed, know who she was.
A mocking smile flickered, then disappeared on the woman's face. "I'm sure you've heard all about me."
Violet sighed. "I'm just working here for a little while. That's all. Your business is your business."
"Well, I heard you were going to be working here. I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes." She smirked. "New York City too stressful for you?" A hint of glee flashed through her eyes. This was a woman who took delight in someone else's suffering.
Not one to kick someone while they were down, Violet took the high road. "I'm in Hunters Ridge for a little bit and I heard the lumberyard needed some help."
"Yeah, sure." Venom and accusation dripped from the two simple words. Something flickered across her face that Violet couldn't read. "Why did you and Theo arrive at the same time?"
"He gave me a ride. I had a flat tire."
"Awww, too bad."
Violet returned the woman's tight smile. "Nice seeing you." She had dealt with a lot of sharks in the business world, but no one was as vicious as this woman who acted like she was still in high school and had it out for everyone.
Violet turned to leave, then Jenny called out to her. "Why are you even in Hunters Ridge? Really?"
"I'm…" Heat blossomed in Violet's face as she grew flustered at the woman's brazen tone. Squaring her shoulders, she ignored the panic tingling at her fingertips. "I'm doing Theo a favor."
"You're doing Theo a favor?" There was no shortage of disbelief in her tone.
Violet struggled to keep her face neutral. "Yes, I'm doing Theo a favor." Violet blinked slowly, suddenly feeling like she was fourteen again and being bullied in school, the new rich kid who apparently thought she was better than everyone else. Being different wasn't cool in high school. Everyone whispered about the new girl who lived in the big house on the hill. They wondered who she was and why she was in Hunters Ridge. It was a wonder anyone survived those years. But keeping her true identity secret meant keeping herself safe from her stalker.
A stalker who was never found.
Violet frowned and turned to walk into the trailer. "Nice to see you, but I have work to do."
"Wait." Jenny’s urgent plea made Violet turn around. "I'm Liam's mom." There was a possessive quality to the woman's voice.
"Liam's a nice kid."
"He is. And I'm finally getting my life back. I'm finally getting visitation. I'm not going to have him calling someone else 'Mom.' I'm his mom."
Violet's pulse thrummed in her ears. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm just working here. You have nothing to worry about."
The sound of footsteps on the trailer steps drew Violet's attention. Liam ran past Violet and stopped short of his mom. Jenny glared at Violet for a full ten seconds before composing herself long enough to bend down and give her son a stiff-armed hug. The coolness broke Violet's heart.
"I'll see you later, Liam," Violet said.
"Bye, Miss Violet. Bye, Dad." Violet followed the little boy's gaze to his father standing on the stoop. Something on Theo's face, the set of his mouth, the hardness around his eyes, made Violet's heart break.
Not for the first time since she had accepted this accounting job for Cooper and Sons, Violet questioned her decision. She hated drama and the emotions it evoked.
Ever since Abby's death, Violet had far more drama than her nervous system could handle. She didn't need this, too.
Chapter 6
Theo waved to Liam as he drove away in the back seat of his aunt's car. A part of him hated to see Liam go off with his mother, a woman who had proven to be both untrustworthy and unreliable, but the courts had insisted she get visitation.
The other part knew how much a kid needed his mom. And Jenny genuinely seemed to be trying when she wasn't getting in her own way.
Violet brushed against him on the narrow stoop outside the trailer. For the briefest of moments, he had forgotten she was there. "Sorry. I had hoped you wouldn't have to deal with Jenny."
Violet lifted her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.
"She still says whatever's on her mind."
"I noticed."
"Whenever Jenny's around, there's drama." Embarrassment heated his cheeks. As much as he wanted to rise above bad choices—Jenny, not Liam—reminders kept finding him. The man he was today would never have so thoughtlessly gotten involved with a woman like her. He'd never regret his son, he just regretted his wild days in his early twenties. But in the end, a kid needed the best shot at a stable home. Theo would do whatever it took to create that environment.
Theo opened his mouth, wanting to explain so much, but Violet lifted her hand and shook her head, letting him off the hook far easier than he deserved.
"She's apparently harboring some kind of grudge, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all in the past." Violet's tone was even.
"I was hoping to avoid a scene." Theo turned and opened the door to the trailer, holding it open for Violet. "I think I added fuel to the fire."
"I don't miss high school." Violet looked up at him with a spark in her eye as she brushed past him and went into the trailer.
"Yeah, me neither. But sometimes the choices we make when we're young and stupid haunt us into our adulthood."
"Don't worry about it." Violet stood in the middle of the trailer with her hands in her coat pockets, watching him with her beautiful brown eyes.
"I appreciate your understanding." Theo walked around to his side of the desk. The chair creaked under his weight as he flopped down. "I've created a mess, but I'm working hard to do better by my son." He drew in a deep breath and let it out. He leaned forward and pulled open the drawer. Then from inside the draw
er, he pulled out a shoe box of receipts. "But that's not why you're here."
Violet slowly sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Not for the first time he hoped it didn't take long for her to get them organized. Because the longer she was around, the more he realized the type of woman he should have fallen for.
Well, he had fallen for her. He'd just messed it up royally.
Again, a decision of the young and stupid.
Violet worked on the buttons of her coat, then dropped it off her shoulders. Theo hustled out from behind the desk and took it from her. He hung it on a rack in the corner. "I apologize. We don't have much of an operation." He turned on the space heater and stared at it a second. "I'm not sure if this thing is working."
"I can always put my coat back on."
Theo bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "This place is falling apart."
"How is business?"
"Pretty good. I'm sure you'll see that once you get into the numbers. But between my father's heart attack and my trying to get up to speed, we haven't been as organized as we should have been."
"How long has your cousin Chad been working here?"
"Since he dropped out of community college. His dad owned half the company with my dad before he died. So when he came back to Hunters Ridge, he helped out my dad. He's great with getting the play sets in the big box stores. He's a pretty good talker." He drummed his fingers on the desk. "I like to stay here and hold down the fort."
"And be here for Liam."
He nodded.
Violet crossed her arms over her chest. "Before your dad's heart attack, you had planned to make a career in the army?"
"Yes, that was my plan. I was stationed in Georgia. Mostly got home a weekend here, a weekend there. It wasn't until I came home after my dad's illness that I realized how much I was missing out on Liam's life. I thought providing money and the occasional visit was enough. I guess if you just keep living your life and don't stop to think, you don't realize you're on the wrong path."
Something flashed in her eyes and then disappeared before it had a chance to register with him. Had he said something to offend her?
"Should we get started?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly.
Theo smiled. He pulled out a drawer and set a ledger on top of the shoe box. "My dad was old school, but he was organized. If there's something I can't answer, we can call him. He's more than happy to help."
"Good to know. I can help get you organized with software, if that's okay?" Violet leaned forward and flipped open to the first page of the ledger.
"Yes, definitely. Then we'll make sure we don't fall behind."
"Looks like we have a plan."
Violet tucked her legs under her on the oversized chair she had pushed close to the fireplace in the sitting room off the kitchen. This had always been her favorite reading chair as a teenager. She had spent the latter half of the day dreaming about the time she'd be able to do this. The trailer never quite warmed up.
She shuddered, her body still trying to shake the cold that had seeped into her bones. She feared she was never going to get warm again. Her fingers had gone numb and she had insisted she bring a box of receipts home to do a little work to make headway. The faster she completed the job, the less time she'd have to spend in the cold trailer.
And with Theo.
The young man she had graduated from high school with was nothing like the man she was getting to know. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a kind heart, and he was a good father. Nothing like the stud muffin who had broken her trust and her heart on prom night.
Hadn't she agreed to go to prom with him because she had glimpsed the side of him she had witnessed today, even back then? But an eighteen-year-old Theo hadn't kept her secret.
No sense rehashing old news. It didn't matter then and it certainly didn't matter now.
A pity date, Jenny had told Violet when she found her in the bathroom outside the gymnasium that had been transformed into something out of the old movie Grease. It had been magical. Until Jenny trapped her in the bathroom stall, mocking her.
A spark crackled in the fire and an orange ember hit the screen. Violet's stomach twisted as she shoved away the memory.
Even if Jenny hadn't taken it upon herself to remind Violet of her place in the teenage pecking order, she and Theo would have never been anything more than prom dates anyway. Theo had taken her as a favor to his father, much as Violet was now doing their books as a favor to the Weavers. Such was life in small towns.
Theo's roots were firmly planted in Hunters Ridge. Her life was working for her mother. Making her proud. Proving that she wasn't that delicate flower who had to be tucked away in Hunters Ridge.
Yet here she was again.
Violet crossed her arms over her chest and shook away the thought. This was only temporary. She had to recharge and work through her panic. She'd recover.
She picked up the bowl of chili from the end table. Betty'd had some waiting on the stove for Violet when she got home because she and Isaac had gone bowling in town with friends.
The fire crackled and roared in front of her and for the first time in a long time, Violet had real hope. Her anxiety symptoms had been kept at bay for most of the day as she focused on the mundane task of organizing Cooper and Sons' books.
There was definite optimism that she'd move past this setback. And soon.
Violet finished her chili then set the bowl aside. Reaching down next to her, she picked up the box of receipts.
She flipped open her laptop and fired it up. She pulled out a receipt and flattened it out. A crackle drew her attention to the fireplace. Her mind drifted to Theo. Handsome Theo. He had been in and out of the trailer all day and she had enjoyed his company. It was such a leisurely pace compared to her usual hectic work life. She couldn't remember the last time she had sat in one place for such a long time. Her usual job required a lot of meetings and running around. Travel.
A twinge of anxiety bit at her fingertips at the thought of flying and she quickly pushed it aside.
She turned her focus to her work, squinting at an unreadable receipt. She fingered through the box and found some undated receipts. She laid them out on the chair next to her and drummed her fingers on them.
Talk about unorganized.
A creak drew her attention to the kitchen behind her. She froze and held her breath, waiting…hoping to convince herself it was just the wind outside.
Inwardly she rolled her eyes at herself. She was a big girl. She could stay home alone.
A shiver raced up her spine. A few feet away from the fire, her arms felt chilled. She got up and jogged up the sweeping staircase to her bedroom and returned with a thick sweater. She stuffed her arms in it and pulled it over her head and flopped back down in the chair. She picked up a receipt again and examined it. This was going to take far longer if she had to ask Theo or his cousin Chad about some of the receipts. Some were handwritten and others lacked a date.
Is this how small businesses operate?
Crazy.
She tipped her head back and let out a long sigh.
Creak.
She bolted upright and snapped her attention toward the kitchen. Was someone there?
"Betty?" she called, hating the squeak in her voice.
No answer.
Adrenaline surged through her veins. Her mind flashed to the night she had returned to her apartment late from work and found Abby dead in her kitchen. Pinpricks of panic washed over her scalp and arms. Her stomach knotted. She stood and slowly walked toward the sound, her mouth growing dry.
It's just the wind.
"Isaac?"
She let out a shaky breath.
A few feet from the entryway into the kitchen, a loud crash exploded, piercing her ears, and a piece of paper blew off the kitchen island and fluttered to her feet. Heart racing in her chest, she forced her leaden legs to keep walking into the kitchen. Her gaze landed on the French doors. One swung
freely on its hinges in the wind. The dark, cold winter night lay beyond.
Betty and Isaac never used that entrance. They always came in through the mudroom. Their living quarters were through an enclosed hallway on that side of the house.
Terror sent goose bumps racing across her flesh. She ran to the door and slammed it shut and snapped the bolt into place. She stood off to the side, out of view of the French door, and peered out the windowpane. Her vision tunneled and she felt lightheaded. The path she had shoveled for herself to the wood pile on the edge of the porch was mostly clear. There were no discernible footsteps beyond her own.
Her fingers lingered on the wood frame of the door. Hadn't she shut the door all the way when she went out for wood for the fireplace? Had the wind blown it open?
Violet flattened herself against the wall. Tears burned the back of her eyes. Fear, disgust and loneliness swirled around her. She despised the person she had become. Afraid of her own shadow.
Her eyes snapped open. What if someone is in the house?
Violet ran back to the sitting room off the kitchen and grabbed her cell phone. She stared at the screen. As practical as it would be to call the sheriff's office, she couldn't get herself to do it.
Yet here she was, terrified to be alone.
What if no one believed her? What if there was nothing to believe?
She dragged a hand through her hair, suddenly fearing the repercussions of calling the sheriff’s department more than she feared someone lurking in her house.
Her mother had demanded she go back to Hunters Ridge and pull herself together before she came back to work. Thinking someone was after you wasn't exactly pulling yourself together.
And she had been wrong before. Ruined reputations. Destroyed a big opportunity for her mother.
But why couldn't she shake this feeling someone was out there? Watching her.
Deep breath.
Her mind was a swirl of crazy, obsessive thoughts.
With her heart nearly racing out of her chest, she ran to the mudroom and yanked open the door to the garage. Maybe Betty and Isaac had returned. But the only cars in the garage were her sports car—repaired and dropped off by the garage—and her mother’s rarely used SUV. Then she scurried around the downstairs, turning on all the lights. But even with the place blazing like some beacon guiding a spaceship in, she still felt lonely. Vulnerable. On the verge of an all-out stomach twisting, fingers tingling, vision tunneling panic attack.