Shrinking Violet (Colors #2) (32 page)

“I love you,” he murmured, pressing another heartfelt kiss to my lips.

“I love you, too.”

I had no idea how long we stood wrapped in each other’s embrace before the sound of an excited shriek, followed by a whoop, pulled our attention from each other and out across the yard.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about! What’s her stomach taste like, Carson?”

“Lana!” I shouted with an embarrassed laugh at my obscene friend who was standing with Willow, Milly, Navie, and Kal. As soon as my little girl took off in our direction, the rest of them followed.

“Yay!” Willow hollered once she made it up the stairs. She launched her little body at Carson, and like a pro, he caught her mid-air, swinging her up and propping her on his hip. “I told you! I told you all you had to do was kiss hew and she wouldn’t be sad no mowe!”

“You were right, Doodle Bug.” Carson chuckled, planting a kiss on her chubby cheek. “You’re the smartest girl I know.”

“Mommy says I’m a geeen-ee-us,” she dragged out, making that one word several syllables longer than necessary and causing all of us to laugh.

“That you are, baby girl,” I said, pulling her from Carson’s arms and squeezing her tightly.

Willow placed her hands on my cheeks like Carson had done just minutes before, looking into my eyes with more wisdom than an almost-four-year-old little girl had any business having. “Now you don’t gots to be sad anymowe, Mommy.”

“That’s right,” I whispered on a smile.

“And Carson don’t gots to be sad, neithew ‘Cuz he gots a family.”

It took everything I had right then not to start crying again. A quick scan of the faces all around us showed that everyone, even the gruff Kal, was affected by my little girl’s words.

“Yeah, he does, honey.”

All at once, her seriousness dissolved and she threw her hands up in the air. “And now Navie can come fow sleepovews evewy night!”

“All right.” I giggled. “Don’t push your luck, Doodle Bug.”

Having clearly had enough of the lovefest, Willow started squirming in my arms, more than ready to have her feet on the ground. The moment I set her down, I felt Carson’s arms wrap around my waist from behind, pulling my back against his chest.

“‘Bout time you two pulled your heads outta your asses,” Kal grumped, trying his best to hold back the grin that was obviously pulling at his lips.

“Kal!” Milly shouted, smacking him in the back of his head.

“What? I’m just sayin’ what we’ve all been thinkin’ for the past month, woman.”

Navie giggled behind her hand, and Lana offered up her agreement.

“All right,” Milly stated, ignoring her husband as though he hadn’t said a word. “Time to eat. You two can play grab-ass later tonight. Right now, I need your help in the kitchen. We got mouths to feed.”

Carson’s head fell back in laughter at the same time a familiar voice spoke.

“Uh, hi.”

My head spun around in shock, and I sucked in a loud gasp at the sight of the two people standing at the bottom steps below us.

“We knocked on the front door but no one answered. We heard voices, so we thought we’d come around.”

I remained frozen in place in Carson’s arms as Milly went into hostess mode and headed down the steps.

“Oh, I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m Millicent Sheffield. What can I help you with?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Freya Linden, and this is my fiancé Parker Owens. We’re here to see Cassidy.”

I knew instantly that Carson recognized the two names, because the minute Freya said them, his entire body stiffened and his arms unlinked from my waist to pull me around to his side, as if he was guarding me.

From the shift in the air around the porch, I knew everyone, with the exception of Bug, recognized the names, as well.

“Hi!” Willow shouted, bouncing to where Freya stood and effectively slicing through the silent tension that had enveloped everyone on the porch. “I’m Willow. You’we weally pwetty.”

Freya let out a giggle as she went down on her haunches in front of my little girl. Even Parker, whose face had been masked of all emotion until that moment, dropped his guard just a bit and his pierced lips tilted in a small smile.

“Well, you’re very pretty, too, honey.”

“You wanna play pwincess with me?”

Willow’s question pulled me from my stupor and I tried to take a step away from Carson, only to have him pull me back against him.

“It’s okay, honey,” I whispered up at him, taking in his guarded expression as he studied Freya and Parker. His arm loosened from around me, and I moved down the steps.

“Hey,” I spoke hesitantly. “Sorry, you just kind of caught me off-guard.” Looking back toward the porch, I started introductions. “This is my Aunt Milly and Uncle Kal. That’s my best friend Lana, there.” Lana gave them a small, uncertain wave as I continued on. “And that’s my boyfriend Carson and his sister Navie. Guys, this is Parker and Freya. We, uh…we went to high school together,” I added, even though everyone on the back porch already knew that.

Murmured hellos sounded from everyone before I turned back to Freya, who’d stood to her full height. “And you’ve already met my daughter,” I said, placing my hands on Willow’s shoulders. “She’s kind of immune to strangers.” I laughed. “Sorry about that.”

“That’s no problem,” Freya said, giving me a bright, sincere smile.

“So, um…what, uh…why…” I stuttered, having trouble forming a complete sentence due to shock. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little surprised to see you here. I don’t really know what to say.”

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Parker grumbled from behind Freya.

Unaffected, Freya turned to look at him. “Honey?”

“Yeah, gorgeous?”

“Shut up.”

I had to stifle my laughter as Parker rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Freya looked back at me then. “Sorry to just drop this on you. I know it’s kind of weird us being here.”

“I’d say that’s an understatement,” Parker added under his breath.

“
Anyway
,” Freya continued with her own eye roll. “Do you think it would be okay if we took a minute to talk?”

“Uh, yeah. Absolutely.” Turning Willow by her shoulders, I guided her back up the steps. “Hey, Doodle Bug, why don’t you help Aunt Milly get the food made for me?”

“But I wanna play pwincess,” she pouted up at me.

“Come on, baby girl,” Milly coaxed. “You can help me make some sandwiches then we’ll all make cookies. How’s that sound?”

“YAY!” Bug shrieked, all thoughts of playing princess abandoned at the mention of cookies. She skipped up the steps and grabbed hold of Navie and Lana’s hands, pulling them into the house behind her.

“Kal,” Milly called to her husband, still standing sentry on the porch with Carson.

“Yeah?” he asked, not taking his eyes off us.

“Let’s go.”

“I’m stayin’ right here.”

“You stay right there, and I swear to God you’re gonna starve to death ‘cuz I’m not making you another damn meal for the rest of your life. Now, bring your ass in this house right now.”

Kal grumbled something under his breath, but just as I knew he would, he followed his wife’s instructions and went inside.

“Carson,” I spoke once everyone else had gone inside.

His arms were crossed over his wide chest, feet planted firmly to the ground. “Don’t even try it, baby. You’ve lost your damn mind if you think I’m leaving you out here by yourself.”

My heart swelled at his protectiveness, but I knew good and well this conversation was one I needed to have in private. “Carson, please, just go inside for a few minutes. It’s okay. I promise.”

“Parker,” Freya said, pulling my attention from Carson to see her tilt her head in the direction of the house.

“What?” he asked in confusion. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! No way, nuh-uh. That’s not happening.”

“Parker,” Freya warned. “If you don’t get inside that house right now, I swear to all that’s holy, I’ll make the rest of the car ride to home an absolute living Hell.”

With a frustrated huff, Parker threw his hands up in the air and started stomping to the steps.

“Love you,” Freya called after him with a smile that made me laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Love you, too.”

“Baby, I don’t think—” Carson started, but the moment Parker hit the porch, he clapped his hand on Carson’s shoulder.

“Trust me, man. No matter what we say or do, they’re always going to get their way…
always
. Might as well make our lives a little easier and follow directions. Besides, I could use some cookies.”

With one last backwards glance chock-full of so much confusion it made me burst into laughter, Carson followed Parker into the house. It wasn’t until the door was shut behind them that I turned back to Freya to see her smiling at me.

“Come on,” she said. “You can show me your horses while we talk. I’ve always wanted my own horse."

We walked in silence toward the fence where Thunder and Buttercup were lazily grazing in the pasture. I leaned against the fence, resting my arms along the top railing and stared out at the land for a few seconds before finding the courage to speak.

“I don’t mean this to sound rude, so please don’t take it that way, but what are you doing here? I mean, how did you even find me?”

Freya, who had mimicked my stance against the fence, turned her head, her unique blue eyes fixed on my own.

“After I got your message, I did a little Facebook snooping of my own. One of your pictures was of you and your daughter in front of a sign that said Willow Ranch. Google made it a breeze from there.”

The grin she shot me was so infectious I felt my own smile take hold. “Well, that explains the how. I guess all that’s left is the why.”

She turned her head to look back at the horses as she explained, “Well, in your message, you said you’d have liked the chance to apologize in person. And if I’m being honest, I really wanted the apology in person, so we made a pit-stop on the way from Florida to Washington.”

“That’s one hell of a pit-stop,” I laughed, finding myself surprisingly at ease in her company. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever be able to stand next to Freya and have a civilized conversation. Not after everything I’d done.

“Tell me about it.” She giggled. “When I told Parker what we were doing, I thought he was going to have a coronary.”

My laughter eventually sobered as I studied the woman standing next to me. “Freya,” I spoke softly. “I really am so, so sorry for every—”

“I know,” she stated, interrupting me. “Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting when I got here, but you’re…I don’t know…” Her voice trailed off as she narrowed her eyes, taking me in. “You’re different. I looked through your pictures after I got your message. Your little girl is adorable. It looks like you’re doing a good job with her. You both seemed really happy.”

“Th-thank you,” I said softly, my words caught in my throat. Freya could never possibly understand how much what she’d just said meant to me.

“You’re happy here?” she asked with curiosity.

“I am,” I answered with complete honesty. “I really, really am. It took me a while to get to that point, but I can’t imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else.”

“That’s good,” she whispered. “I’m glad.”

“And you?” I asked carefully. “You’re happy, too?”

“I am.” She smiled sincerely.

Her face became blurry the longer I looked at her, tears filling my eyes. “I’m so glad, Freya.”

She reached up and dashed at a few tears that had fallen from her own eyes with the backs of her fingers before clearing her throat. “Come on,” she said, linking her arm through mine and pulling me away from the fence. “If we don’t get to the house fast, Parker’s likely to eat every damn cookie himself. And I could use the sugar for the ride home.”

I placed my hand on her forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Well, we wouldn’t want that.”