Summer's Glory: Seasons of Faith Book One (Arcadia Valley Romance 2)

by Mary Jane Hathaway

  He nodded. “I’d better finish up.”

  Violet watched him walk away and thought how the accident was their whole relationship in a nutshell.

  They were a disaster from start to finish.

  ***

  “Thanks for coming in on your day off. You really didn’t have to. You could just come help in the afternoons if you want.” Violet reached out to help Jamie tie the European style white apron around her waist. She wasn’t sure why her mother had chosen that style but it gave the restaurant a sophisticated air. As she tugged the straps into place, Violet winced at the pain in her neck and back. Her body was starting to stiffen up from falling so hard on the cement floor that morning.

  “I love hanging out with you and if I get tips while I do it, that’s fine by me,” Jamie said.

  “I think secretaries and teachers should get tips, too.” Violet could hear a bit of a nasal quality in her voice as she spoke. Her nose hadn’t bled for very long, but her face felt sore.

  “I agree.” She turned and faced her friend. “Hey, you have a little mascara right here...” Jamie licked her thumb and wiped under Violet’s eye.

  “Ew, stop that.” She tried to move back but Jamie was insistent.

  “Just wait a second. You’re going to be working all over the restaurant. You don’t want to be running around looking like you were out all night.” Jamie frowned. “Is that… Do you have a black eye? Did Thor head-butt you again?”

  Violet sighed. “In about five minutes we’re going to be overrun by hungry people looking for wood-fired pizza.”

  Jamie didn’t budge. She crossed her arms and waited for more.

  “It wasn’t Thor. It happened here this morning. Long story.”

  Her blue eyes were wide. “Long story? How long can it be when it ends in a black eye?”

  “Fine. Silas did it.” Violet turned to get the keys from the hook. “And now, I have a restaurant to run.”

  “No, no, no.” Jamie planted herself in Violet’s way. “I don’t care if we have to open late. You need to explain. I’m really worried now. You said he was horrible to you in high school and you didn’t want to be near him. Now you spend one morning together and he gives you a black eye?”

  “It wasn’t like that. It was probably more my fault. I just ran around the corner and he was standing there and…” Violet made a crunching noise.

  Her friend didn’t look convinced. “He hit you in the eye?”

  “No, I ran into a poster tube he was carrying. Face first.” Violet peered at the door. Cars were pulling into the lot. The ovens were roaring and the kitchen prep works were standing at the ready. The wait staff hovered near the register, probably chatting about their weekend.

  “Thor freaked out and thought Silas was trying to kill me. Loki ran over to protect Silas from Thor. It was chaos and we’re lucky there was only one person injured. But Silas was fine. He gave me a handkerchief when my nose was bleeding all over. He was very apologetic. It was no big deal.”

  “You guys have terrible luck.” Jamie shook her head.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I mean that this could be the chance to get past all of that and instead you injure yourself running into his handsome self.” Jamie gave her a sly look. “Unless that was part of your plan. Girls have been known to do a lot less to get a guy’s attention.”

  Violet stared at her friend for a moment and decided not to answer. Implying that she had run into Silas on purpose was patently unfair and so far off the mark that Violet didn’t even know how to respond. She liked Jamie. Their families had known each other for years. But there was probably a reason that hadn’t become good friends until recently. Jamie just didn’t seem to get her sometimes. No wonder she liked to spend so much time with Thor. Her dog never got it wrong.

  “Of course that’s not what happened―” Jamie started to say, as if realizing she had offended Violet.

  “I’ve got to open the door,” she said, motioning toward the patrons outside. She didn’t wait for Jamie to say anything more. Violet pasted on a smile as she turned the key and greeted the customers. As they filed past, she looked down at the wooden braces on the wall where Silas was planning to build the counter. She only had to survive the week and then she’d been done.

  “Excuse me? Hello?”

  Violet turned to see Cassie Johnson standing behind her, one hand fisted on a hip, just like in high school. It took her several seconds to realize Cassie was real, and not some hallucination brought on by colliding with Silas Black in the pre-dawn hours. The bright blond, wavy hair and heavily lined blue eyes were still the same. So were the blindingly white teeth and the tight clothing. None of those things were bad, in themselves, but there was something about Cassie that made them seem bad. Her default expression was a smirk but she could pull off an overly concerned look when she needed to, and then finish it off with the eye roll of the century.

  “Can I help you?”

  “We need a table, hon.” Cassie smiled sweetly.

  “Of course. If you’ll just wait in line, the hostess will take your name and―”

  “No, no. Violet, this is just a pizza place.” Cassie let out a tinkling laugh. “Don’t try to make it some five star restaurant. We don’t have to make reservations.”

  Violet took a moment to retie the bow on her apron. She hadn’t really thought about Cassie since she’d left Arcadia Falls Christian School. But if she had, she would have figured Cassie would grow out of her attitude, just like most teens. Apparently, it was a permanent state.

  “I understand, but if I give you a table now, the waitresses won’t be ready to bring your drinks. You can either wait near the door, or wait at a table, but there will still be a wait.” She tried to speak as evenly as possible. Inside, she was rolling her eyes just as hard as Cassie was.

  “Fine, we’ll wait at a table.” Her gaze flicked up and down Violet’s outfit. “I’d like you to serve us. That way, I’m sure the order will be right.”

  Violet wanted to say she was busy in the kitchen or overseeing the restaurant but then she imagined Jamie getting Cassie’s table. She glanced at the group of waiters and waitresses, mentally trying out who could handle Cassie. There was a very sweet college student named Jeremiah, but it was only his second day and she didn’t want to scare him off. Hunter was handsome enough to get Cassie’s attention, but he wasn’t exactly patient when customers were difficult. Maybe Griselda would do, but the girl was so nice that Violet felt bad even thinking about it. She considered and discarded all of the staff in seconds, and turned back to Cassie.

  “Sure, whatever you like.” She gave her a smile. “How many?”

  “Ten,” she said and waved her arms to a group of women at near the door. “It’s my glamboree squad.”

  “Your… what?”

  “Glam-bo-ree,” Cassie said slowly, as if Violet didn’t speak English. “We sell the Glammies, the cutest and most comfortable yoga pants available. They’re very hard to find, very expensive and it’s almost impossible to be chosen as a distributor. ”

  Violet nodded but wondered how hard it could be when ten women were chosen from the same town. Ten. She groaned inwardly. This wasn’t going to be a fun table to serve.

  “I’d give you a brochure but it’s really not your style.” Cassie smirked and gave her another once over.

  As Violet led the Glamboree squad to their table, she wondered why she wasn’t feeling the burn of humiliation and anger. When Cassie had been rude to her in high school, it ruined her whole day. If she had been forced to be the waitress for a whole group of her friends, teenage Violet would have died from embarrassment. But she felt exasperation and nothing more.

  As she took their drink order to the beverage station, Violet thought of Silas, and how every time they locked eyes, she felt like her world was shifting. And not in a good way. What was it about him that made her care so much? Why hadn’t she gotten over him the same way she’d forgotten all about Cassie?
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  Filling the glasses and lining them up on the counter Violet’s mind kept circling an uncomfortable truth, trying not to face it head on. Eventually, she was out of angles to consider and she had to admit that Silas was different. He always had been. He always would be.

  Setting the last drink on the counter, a terrible realization washed over her. If it was more to do with who Silas was, than what he did, perhaps his actions weren’t exactly as she remembered them. Just maybe, Silas acted as badly as Cassie or Rudy Gomez or anybody else who had been mean to her in twelve years of schooling. But it was Violet that had given his actions the weight they carried.

  “Need any help?” Jamie said, appearing at her shoulder.

  Violet jumped, nearly knocking over a glass of iced tea.

  “Wow, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jamie said. She looked concerned, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Still feeling bad about Silas?”

  “I guess― wait. What?” Unless Violet had been thinking out loud, there was no way Jamie could have known.

  “What happened this morning. It’s probably still on your mind,” Jamie said. She shot her a worried look. “If you need to talk about it―”

  “No, no. Sorry. I was thinking about something else. I know the blond-haired girl from high school. She wasn’t very nice to me back then and it doesn’t look like things have changed. And yes, please. I’d love some help taking these out.” Violet rushed to put the glasses on trays hoping Jamie wouldn’t ask any more questions.

  “Wait, did you recheck the order?”

  Violet frowned at the trays. “Two lemonades with fresh raspberries, one lemonade with lavender, one iced tea with fresh mint, one unsweetened tea with mint, one homemade root beer from our personal stock, one cold brewed iced coffee with organic cane sugar and organic cream, two strawberry spritzers with mint, and…” She looked up at Jamie and started to laugh. “I forgot Cassie’s drink. Probably a Freudian slip.”

  Jamie grinned back. “You’re welcome. Let me help you take the trays to the table. I don’t want you to throw the drink in her face.”

  “I accept your offer but I won’t be throwing any drinks. It’s no big deal. She doesn’t bother me anymore.” Violet said, and she meant it. Cassie’s rudeness made her uncomfortable but it didn’t hurt her. Not like Silas. His presence made her feel as if she was reliving the very worst years of her life and he had been nothing but kind.

  As they carried the trays through the crowded restaurant to Cassie’s table, Violet tried to look as serene as possible, but inside she was fighting a deep sense of unease. She had sworn to never accept Silas’ apology and never trust him again. But his behavior was of a man who had changed.

  Unlike Cassie Johnson, Silas appeared to have grown up.

  Chapter Six

  “I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness.”

  ― Aldo Leopold

  “How’s the sauce coming along, Mom?” Violet pressed the phone to her ear while she stood in front of her stove, watching her little red tea kettle. It was nearly ten at night and she hadn’t eaten since lunch, but she was too exhausted to cook. All she wanted to was get off her feet and read for a while before falling into bed.

  “We got all the tomatoes harvested and cleaned today. We’ll start blanching and peeling tomorrow. How did everything go at the restaurant?”

  “You mean between the four times you called and the two times you stopped by?” Violet asked. She realized now how important the pizza sauce recipe was because it was clear her mother hadn’t turned over the running of Fire and Brimstone lightly. She was worried to pieces that Violet would either burn the place down or alienate all the clientele while she was gone for the week. Her mother had mentioned that the restaurant was doing well, but she just hadn’t realized how much business they were doing until she saw the lines of people waiting for a table. If it had been that busy on a Monday, Violet couldn’t imagine what it was like on a weekend.

  “I meant this morning, with Silas. I asked you twice but you never answered.”

  Violet shook some chai tea into the tea ball and searched for something innocuous to say. Thor lifted his head from where he was laying on the kitchen floor as the tea kettle started to whistle. “I met his dog.”

  “Oh?” She could hear the confusion in her mother’s voice.

  “He’s got a mastiff named Loki. She and Thor got along really well.” She decided not to mention the moment where Thor and Loki faced off over her prone and bleeding body.

  “Oh, it’s a girl? You could make puppies together,” her mother said. “I could be a grandma.”

  “What? No, not having puppies.” Violet had no intention of linking herself in any way to Silas, no matter how beautiful his mastiff was, and how amazing it would be to see Thor’s puppies.

  “Well, never say never. And did you ask him about the butcher block stations near the freezer?”

  Violet put a palm to her forehead. She had completely forgotten after the accident in the hallway. “I didn’t get a chance. I’ll do that tomorrow. Did you sign the plans he left for you?”

  “I sure did. It’s going to be beautiful, Violet. There aren’t many carpenters like Silas and certainly nobody like him in our area. We’re so lucky he could fit us into his schedule. I heard he’s doing some cabinet work for people in town but he’s not just some kitchen remodeler. I should show you the magazine article I have saved somewhere. His work is amazing.”

  She didn’t doubt that Silas was talented and had skills far above anyone else in Arcadia Valley. She just wished that her mother would have been okay with a standard breakfast bar and counters. But that was the type of person her mother was. She did nothing by halves. After saving for twenty years to open the restaurant, she wasn’t going to skimp by putting in cheaply made furniture made from some kind of wood pulp composites.

  “I’m headed to bed, Mom. I have to get up really early to open the place for Silas.”

  “OK, but make sure you tell Jamie she gets free meals, too. I’m so grateful to both of you for helping out this week.”

  “I’ll tell her. I love you, Mom.” Violet said goodnight and hung up. As she watched the chai steep in her mug, Violet thought of tomorrow morning. Her black eye had become even more obvious as the day wore on and she’d have to use some serious concealer tomorrow to cover it. Her nose was swollen and red, but more worrisome was how it hurt to sit down. Good thing she didn’t get a lot of time to sit during the day.

  Lifting out the silver tea ball and emptying it into the trash, Violet tried to reassure herself that tomorrow would be a breeze. She’d limp in there, say hello, then hide in the office until Silas left. After working a ten hour shift on her feet, she didn’t know why she was so worried about seeing Silas. She should really be more worried about surviving another day taking orders and carrying pizzas in Arcadia Valley’s hottest new eatery. Violet had to admit that facing him for ten minutes sounded a lot worse than a whole day of physical labor.

  She took her mug into the living room and curled up in her favorite chair, wincing as she tucked her feet underneath her. Thor followed and rested his head on her knee, gazing at her with his large, brown eyes. “I need some perspective, buddy.”

  He made a soft woofing noise in his throat and Violet stroked his ears. As she took a sip of the hot tea, Cassie Johnson’s face popped into her mind. All things considered, Cassie and Silas should carry equal weight in her past. But they didn’t. Not really. For some reason, Silas’s actions had grown in her memory until they were earth-shatteringly awful.

  For years Violet had consoled herself with the idea that God would make Silas pay for his bullying. Violet’s rage had fueled her need for revenge and she couldn’t wait to see him punished. But if her anger was out of proportion to his actions, then maybe God wasn’t going to smite Silas the way she had been hoping. She’d been waiting to see Silas have a Paul-sized moment of revelation, but maybe God and Silas had already crossed paths.

>   Thor sense Violet’s distress and whined, nudging her knee with his big head. She stroked his ears and tried to shake off the feeling that she had been wrong. She didn’t want to think it was possible but there was a chance all of her faith in God’s righteous anger had been misplaced. Not because God wasn’t worthy of her faith, but because the anger she’d been carrying wasn’t just.

  “Maybe the person who really needs that lightning bolt is me,” she whispered.

  Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back. One week. She only needed to last through the week and she could go back to her comfortable life. Everything had made sense before Silas had shown up again. She had been content and happy. She would be again just as soon as she got away from Silas.

  ***

  Silas drove into the parking lot and his palms started to sweat at the sight of Violet’s little blue car.

  “Not gonna bring you in this time,” he said, glancing back at Loki stretched out in the back seat. “Sorry, girl, but I think you’d better stay in the truck.” It was still early and wouldn’t get too warm for several hours.

  Loki cracked an eye and gave Silas a look as if to say she already knew that. Heaving a sigh, she closed the eye and went back to sleep. Silas pulled into a space a few spots from Violet’s car, lowered the windows halfway and shut off the engine.

  Reaching for the book and bouquet of white daisies on the dash, he held them in his lap for a second, trying to muster the courage to get out of the truck. He hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. Not when he applied to the carpentry program, not when he applied to apprentice to the man he admired most in the wood-working field. Certainly not on any first date. Silas shook his head at the thought. It wasn’t a date. The farthest thing from a date, really. It was an “I’m sorry I almost broke your nose” kind of thing.