After living here, Violet had come to the realization that her mom was a bitter woman who always saw the negative and was a master at being passive-aggressive. Violet couldn’t change her, but Violet decided she would change how she reacted to her mother.
“Shake that booty, Violet,” Beth yelled, turning Violet and shaking her own booty.
“Booty dance,” David yelled, bending over and doing some strange dance that reminded Violet of twerking but involved some other strange moves. She chuckled because Deacon and Grant obviously knew whatever dance he was doing.
Emerson danced by, singing at the top of her lungs. Oh, these women had become the friends she’d never had in high school.
As Violet was staring at her friends, she wondered if everyone exchanged gifts for Christmas. How did one go about asking that? Violet didn’t need gifts, but she’d feel horrible if anyone bought her something and she didn’t have something for them. She had some money but not a lot. What could she do for her friends? And she wanted a gift for Deacon and something for Tessie. Should she buy Speedy a gift?
Violet tried to think of something special that would mean something to Speedy but not be a huge amount of money. He loved working in the garage on cars and motorcycles. He enjoyed singing. Speedy had sung to Deacon at bath time last night.
She’d been following Clara’s advice, and Violet thought she knew what Clara meant. When Violet wasn’t looking at Speedy, if she glanced out of the corner of her eye, she’d catch him perusing her curves with a smirk on his face. She’d had to brush by him to get to the refrigerator when he was heating a bottle. Her bottom had brushed against the front of his jeans. He’dmade a noise in his throat that sounded like a groan. Maybe he wasn’t as immune to her as she thought.
The problem now was, did she do anything about it? And if yes, what? Violet had very little experience with guys. Her mom had set up a blind date for Violet when she was twenty-four. They’d gone out a few times and he was nice. When he’d pressed for them to have sex, Violet had decided, why not? He was nice, not bad-looking, and his kisses seemed okay. She’d slept with him once and had to wonder what the heck the big fuss was about. He’d grunted a few times, thrust inside, and then groaned. She’d had no problem not sleeping with anyone since then because what a friggin’ disappointment.
They started picking up the room as parents came to pick up kids.
Winnie knocked and came in to pick up David. “Let’s go, buddy. Last day of school is tomorrow, then Christmas break.”
“Mom,” David whined. “Can Grant and Deacon stay the night if we promise to sleep and get up without whining?”
Winnie grinned and cocked an eyebrow. “No whining, huh?”
“Not a smidge,” he said.
“Well, Phoebe, Sprite asked if you wanted to stay with Blake? I’m happy to have Grant and Deacon with us,” Winnie said.
Violet wasn’t sure what to do. Did she have the authority to have Deacon stay the night without asking Speedy? Nope, she didn’t feel comfortable doing that yet.
“Hold on a sec, let me call Speedy,” Violet said.
“Call me for what?” Speedy asked as he walked through the door.
“To have Deacon and Grant stay the night with David. I’ll drop them at school in the morning,” Winnie said.
“It’s fine with me if you’re sure,” he said.
“Okay, tell the ladies thanks for putting up with you guys,” Winnie said.
Violet loved hearing all the kids say thanks and be so happy after having fun this evening. Beth gave Violet a hug as she left. She’d also whispered, “Alone time, enjoy,” as she left.
Violet finished setting the front room back the way it usually was. Speedy had gone to check on Tessie. If she followed her schedule, Tessie wouldn’t need a bottle for a couple hours.
Violet adored that Beth was looking out for her and pushing Violet and Speedy together, but exactly what was Violet supposed to do? Grab the man’s cut, pull him close, and lay one on him?
Violet did not have the confidence for that. What if she was a horrible kisser because she’d only had the one guy who took her virginity and a couple of first and second dates? No one had ever asked for a third date. Not that she minded. None of the guys had intrigued her. Violet had gone out with them to appease her mother, who said she needed to snag herself a man before she was any fatter.
Now that she thought about it, Violet hadn’t ever dated someone that she’d been attracted to. They’d always been men her mother had pushed on her.
Ugh! She was going to shower and listen to some relaxing music because she needed to get her mother’s words out of her head. She walked into the bathroom, laid her phone on the counter, and started her shower playlist. They were all songs she used to change her attitude when she was down.
She slid off her clothes, avoiding the mirror, but Clara’s words kept coming back to her. She was curvy, and if she believed Clara, it wasn’t a bad thing. Sure, she had thick thighs, and they rubbed together but they were feminine. Her breasts were large and nothing to be ashamed of. She forced herself to look in the mirror, staring at herself with Clara’s words ringing in her head.
She was not a fatty like her mother said. She was choosing to believe that Clara, who had nothing to gain by lying to her, wastruthful. She stood under the shower, letting the hot water beat down on her as she washed and conditioned her hair—the water and the music renewing her.
She grabbed her vanilla body wash and listened to the songs, the tension leaving her shoulders as she washed.
She rinsed the suds off, grabbing a towel for her thick hair and one for her body. She paused after she opened the shower curtain. She’d been so upset thinking about her mom that she’d forgotten her pajamas to change into and her robe.
