Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

RYDER

A fter the day I spent with Violet, things picked up at my job. We were investigating a big case, so I was answering calls when I was technically off the clock and working longer hours than usual. I worked as much as I could so I could still have off the weekends I was scheduled to be with Faith. Lately, Stacy needed me to watch Faith every weekend. She was busy with her new boyfriend, Phil, who had three boys of his own.

I didn't want Faith to feel displaced, so I spent those weekends with her and tried to avoid work calls as much as possible.

I'd exchanged texts with Violet that Monday night, saying we were each home safely. Then that was it. I'd probably missed my opportunity. She'd given me her phone number, and I should have taken advantage of it. But I'd gotten so swamped with work, and I couldn't think of what to say, especially when I didn't have time for a social life outside of Faith right now.

What did you text a new friend? Someone you wanted more with but knew you couldn't have because you were technically still married? It was complicated, and a part of me wanted to wait until the divorce was officially final, even though Stacy had already moved on.

To speed things up, I eased off on the negotiations, letting Stacy have more of what she wanted. The most important thing to me was time with Faith.

I wasn't worried about child support. In Maryland, it was a calculation based on salary and hours with each parent. But I planned to send Stacy whatever Faith needed and buy her things when she was with me. I wasn't going to complain about supporting my child like one of the other guys did at work. He kept calling it alimony when it was actually child support.

Faith was my responsibility. I wanted to ensure she stayed in her childhood home and the transition was smooth. I also didn't want Stacy worrying about money.

I went for my morning runs earlier than usual and hadn't had time in the evenings to stop and talk to George. I was exhausted by the time I fell into bed.

Stacy kept Faith on Halloween weekend, so I worked. I was hopeful we could arrest this guy soon. Whenever the U.S. Attorney's office was involved, they wanted a lot of evidence before they asked for the arrest warrant.

That night, Violet sent me a picture of her in front of her shop, handing out candy to kids. She wore a Dorothy costume. It wasn't supposed to be sexy, but I wondered if it showed cleavage and wished I was with her.

Do you have Faith this weekend? You should stop by Main Street for candy.

I was sitting in my work car, but I wasn't the one who had eyes on the suspect at the moment, so I texted her back.

Faith is with her mother.

Bummer. I loved Halloween as a kid.

It sucks to miss it, but Faith is trick-or-treating with her friends. No parents allowed.

I remember those days.

It sucks for me. But that's a part of growing up.

It sure is.

The phone fell silent for a few minutes, and I assumed she was handing out candy.

Are you handing out candy tonight? Or are you the grumpy guy with your light off?

I'm not grumpy. Just working.

I didn't want to mention that I leaned into work when I didn't have Faith. It was hard coming home to an empty house.

That sucks.

You nailed it.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over so I can decorate for Christmas.

What do you usually do for the holidays?

Christmas in Florida is different. Lights on palm trees are nice, but I missed the cold weather.

Maybe we'll get lucky, and it will snow.

Yes!

I want to put up a tree in the shop with lots of lights.

You could tell a lot about a person when it came to their Christmas tree.

Do you use artificial, get one from a lot, or cut one down?

In Florida, we always had an artificial one. It's hard to find the real ones. And when we did, they weren't the best. They died before Christmas Day.

If you want to cut down a tree, I can take you to my family's farm.

That would be amazing. I bet you know all about which tree is best and how to cut one down.

I chuckled, even though she couldn't hear me, and I was by myself in a dark car.

I do.

I'd love to. Thanks for offering.

I can repay you for your ice-cream class.

No repayment needed. But I'll still take you up on the offer. I've never had a real tree before.

A tree virgin.

Not for much longer.

Faith is with me most weekends now.

That's great! I bet you love spending extra time with her.

It's the best.

I wondered if she'd mind that I spent most weekends with Faith, and time alone wouldn't be possible.

It will be nice to see her again.

Why had I waited so long to reach out to her? I was grateful that Violet had taken that step.

I'm sorry I haven't reached out. I've been busy with work.

You don't owe me an explanation

But I did.

I was worried I'd waited too long. That you wouldn't want to hear from me.

The bubbles popped up then disappeared, and when I'd almost given up on her responding, the text finally came through.

I do.

I let out the breath I'd been holding.

Another group of kids is stopping by for candy. I'll talk to you later.

She'd sent me a picture of her costume, and even though I wasn't in one, I wanted to return the favor. I tipped the phone so that she'd get a glimpse of my chin with few days' old scruff and the color of my white shirt and suit jacket. Then I sent it over with a text.

Not a costume but thought you'd enjoy.

Love! You look sexy in a suit.

Was she flirting? Did I want her to be? Why else had I sent her that image as a tease. Sometimes I felt like my body wanted something my brain wouldn't let me have. That it was racing ahead of logic and reason, and I couldn't rein it in. I wasn't sure I wanted to.

My phone started buzzing with case-related messages, and I put Violet out of my mind. I needed to focus on work. I couldn't stop thinking about how she looked in that Dorothy costume with her hair curled. I wondered how much cleavage was visible.

I wanted more. And the best part was, I didn't feel as guilty about those thoughts when we first met. Maybe I was finally moving on from Stacy and the idea of the perfect marriage. That wasn't what we had. And I could see that we'd grown apart over the years.

My brain was reluctant to think a relationship could withstand the test of time, but my heart and body was a different matter.

B etween Halloween and Thanksgiving, I exchanged text messages with Violet, everything from notes about our day to pictures of her newest ice-cream creation and my runs. It was nice to have someone to talk to. It made me realize I hadn't had that kind of relationship with Stacy.

She used the classified nature of my job to avoid talking about my day. She used it to turn the focus on her.

It was nice to feel seen again. We hadn't been able to do another Monday-night cooking class, but Violet had forwarded the class schedule. I liked that she'd gone out of her way to send it to me.

Thanksgiving was my holiday with Faith. I picked her up after school that Wednesday and took her home. Today was the day we were going to get a tree. I was cramming every bit of holiday I could get into this weekend.

Faith would get the full Thanksgiving experience with my family, and even get to decorate a tree. I planned to find one for ourselves and one for Violet. Maybe two if she wanted one for her house too. She hadn't said.

I insisted on picking up Violet. I bought a few tree stands since it was my first time putting up a tree, and I wasn't sure if Violet had any.

We pulled up to her house, which was in a newer neighborhood a few minutes away from her grandfather. I was sure that was on purpose. She wouldn't want to be far from George even if he insisted he was fully capable of taking care of himself.

I parked behind her small sedan in the driveway.

Violet came outside before I could open my door.

I hurried to the passenger-side door to open it for her.

"Hello," Violet said with a smile, handing me two to-go mugs. "I made hot chocolate."

I heard Faith's squeal from the backseat.

"Someone's happy."

Violet leaned in so I could smell the lavender in her shampoo. "The question is, are you?" Then she climbed into the truck, and I was left feeling like she'd lit a match on my body and I was burning out of control.

I was excited in a way I hadn't been since we went to her shop to make ice cream.

I handed Faith one of the mugs, leaning over Violet in the process. I felt satisfied at the hitch in her breath. It was proof that I wasn't the only one affected.

Then I closed her door and rounded the hood to get into the driver's seat. This was different because I was showing her my childhood home, sharing something with her that was important to me and my family.

I sipped the hot chocolate. "Are there marshmallows in here?"

"What's hot chocolate without marshmallows?" Violet asked with a sexy shrug.

I wanted to tell her how I felt, but my daughter sat in the back seat watching our every move. She was aware that I'd arranged for Violet to join us but not all the other texts we'd exchanged over the last few weeks that had nothing to do with cutting down a Christmas tree.

"May I?" Violet's hand hovered over the radio.

"Of course." I backed out of her driveway, feeling oddly complete with Violet in the front passenger seat and Faith in the rear.

Violet settled on a station that played holiday tunes and displayed a red stocking over its logo.

"It's too early for Christmas music," Faith said from the back seat, but her voice had a teasing quality to it.

"It's never too early for Christmas music, especially when it feels like winter." Violet rubbed her hands together to warm them.

"I'd love to live in Florida."

"It gets really hot in the summer, and I missed living here," Violet said over her shoulder.

"Why did you move that summer before third grade?" I asked her.

"My parents were worried I was getting too close to a certain boy."

My head swiveled to see her teasing expression.

"Got you."

"That was innocent." Nothing that I was feeling now had the same quality to it.

Violet shrugged. "My dad got a job that paid more."

I glanced over at her. "That must have been hard to leave everyone you knew."

"I was young enough that I was able to start over at a new school fairly easily. I just missed the seasons and my grandparents."

What would have happened if she hadn't moved away? Would we have continued to pretend that we were boyfriend-girlfriend in third grade? Would it have progressed into middle school? Would we have been high-school sweethearts?

I couldn't regret my relationship with Stacy or having Faith. It was a journey I had to take. I was a different person, and even if I was still finding my way, I couldn't disregard the process.

Maybe it was fate that both of us moved back around the same time. My job brought me home, and Stacy ended our marriage.

"Tell me about your family. I've never been to a Christmas tree farm before," Violet said, the excitement evident in her voice.

"It was fun growing up there. As early as I can remember, we ran through the rows of trees, playing hide and seek. We built forts and pretended to build camp fires."

"How about tree-cutting season. Was it hectic?"

"My dad was tense during the season, worried we'd run out of trees, which we did on several occasions. It just depends on whether people want real or artificial that year. The years that most people wanted artificial, it was stressful. My dad took odd jobs working as a handyman to fill in the gap the rest of the year, and my mom worked in the school as an aid." It was something but never enough. Not with seven kids to feed. And it only got worse when my mom died.

"That is tough to have a seasonal business. I can't imagine."

"We had a family meeting trying to figure out whether we want to close the farm when Dad retires or pass it onto our kids. No one was willing to give it up."

"What are you going to do?"

"Dad wanted to hire a marketing specialist. It's actually Cole's sister, Charlotte. But Teddy's resisting. He hates change." I had a feeling there was something more going on with Charlotte, because most people seemed to like her and thought her ideas were good.

"It would be nice if she could help."

"Dad allows Teddy to have a lot of say in the business, but at the end of the day, it's still his. Everyone who lives close by chips in during the season. Except for me."

"I think it's amazing that you run the business as a family."

"We're close. But I feel bad that I haven't contributed as much as my siblings."

"I'm sure your family understood."

I looked back to make sure Faith had put her headphones on to listen to her audiobook on her e-reader. "I think they were hurt by it. I was torn between what Stacy said we should be doing, and what I wanted."

"Which was?" Violet asked softly.

"I wanted to spend holidays with my family. At least alternating. We lived down the street from her parents. They came over whenever they wanted." I hadn't realized how invasive it was until I moved out of that house. I didn't have to worry about my in-laws popping in whenever they wanted. What if I wanted to make love to my wife in the kitchen? We never had privacy. And maybe that was part of the problem.

"You're here now, and I'm sure Faith is enjoying getting to see both sides of her family."

"She adores Izzy. I wish we'd spent more time with her as she grew up."

Violet reached over to squeeze my thigh, and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. "You're making up for lost time now."

She quickly removed her hands, but the damage was done. My leg was hot, and the blood pulled to my dick. My daughter was in the truck. I didn't have the luxury of giving into my baser needs.

A few minutes later, I pulled down the lane for Pine Valley Farms, and I parked in the lot by the main barn. We got out, and Violet slipped her hand around my elbow. "Do you know all the good spots?"

Warmth spread through me as I glanced down at her. "I'll take you to the family lot."

"Oh. What's that?" Violet asked as we took the path up the hill, away from the rest of the customers milling about.

"We have a private field just for family. Lately, we've been using it more since a few of us have gotten paired off: Wes, Daphne, Fiona, and Jameson."

"Wow. I can't imagine having a personal Christmas tree field."

I winked at her. "Stick with us Calloways; we'll hook you up for the holidays."

Violet grinned. "I love the sound of that."

"It comes with a price though," I said as I looked over at Faith, whose earbuds were still in. I'd have to tell her to take them out but not yet.

Violet's lips tipped up. "Oh, yeah? What's that?

"You have to keep us in ice cream," I said seriously.

Violet dropped her head back and laughed. When she recovered she said, " I can do that. Peppermint stick?"

"You still have s'more?"

"I always keep a tub of it because it's my favorite."

I grinned. "Mine too."

Faith popped out her earbuds and dropped them into her coat pocket. "What's so funny?"

"Your father told me I owe him ice cream for the tree today."

Faith's face lit up. "Can we have hot chocolate?"

"You sure can," I said, pleased that Faith loved my ice cream.

"And peppermint stick?" Faith continued, testing how far she could go.

"Faith. She needs some ice cream to sell in her shop," Ryder chided.

"I don't mind. I can spare a few cartons for friends."

"I'll have to run more if you keep feeding me ice cream."

"Grandpa said you've been running early in the morning and sometimes nights too. But that you haven't stopped by to talk to him."

Ryder ran a hand through his hair. "Work's been crazy. I've been working as much as I can when Faith's with her mom."

"I'm glad you could get some time off for the holiday."

"I am too." For the first time in a long time, work wasn't coming first this weekend. I was still on call if there were questions regarding the case but I didn't need to be there physically. I was going to enjoy this time with my family, and Violet.