“You know what I sometimes think about?”
“No. What?”
“What would have happened to my girl if you hadn’t stopped. Can you imagine it? Because I can, and it gives me chills. I can picture her, in pain, terrified, not knowing if the baby was going to be okay. It’s a hell of a picture, let me tell you.”
The thought gave him chills, too.
“When I imagine that picture, I dismiss it, and I replace it with what really was. That she had someone with her, someone who held her, encouraged her, helped her. I can’t tell you how that makes me feel, William, because I don’t have the words for it. So, all I can say is, thank you.”
William nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. Violet let the silence play out for a little while, then she said, “Has she told you about her family?”
“A little.”
Violet sighed. “I blame myself, you know. I lost the love of my life when my son was only nine years old. God, I was so heartbroken when Henry died. I went a little crazy, I won’t lie to you. He’d left me well off financially, so I just checked out of life. I took Michael around the world, trekking through South America, ashrams in India, abbeys in Europe, all of it. I just wanted to live, you know, for Henry, because if he taught me nothing else, he taught me that you have to live your best life. It’s short and it could be over like that,” she clicked her fingers. “So now I wonder if I made Michael feel insecure.” She sighed. “Or maybe he’s a changeling because I can’t believe that any son of mine could be so cold, so avaricious,so superficial as to discard someone like Juniper. Because that’s what he did, you know. He married a woman with a heart colder than a dead fish. Then they had a little bitch of a daughter, just as cold as them. But then, the shock of all shocks, they had Juniper, all golden curls and green eyes and joy.” She paused and William followed her gaze to where Juniper was kneeling on the grass with Billy, laughing as he splashed the frogs in the pond. “I knew from the moment I saw her she would be mine more than theirs. So, I paid Michael one hundred thousand dollars for the joy of naming her. Can you imagine that? Taking money for something like that?” She laughed derisively. “But he would have called her something plain and dull and I wouldn’t have it.” She paused again, looking down at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. “I did my best for her, but she was like a shrinking violet there. It warms my heart to see the life she’s made for herself here. It was hard won, and it cost her a lot.” The sad note in her voice suddenly changed, becoming more upbeat, lighter. “But she’s gained a lot. That baby of hers was sent by angels. I’m sure of it.” She smiled as she watched Billy, shrieking with laughter, fall back on the grass as Juniper splashed him. “What about you, William? Are you living your best life?”
The sudden change of tack startled him, which he was sure was her intention. But she’d shared a lot with him in the last few minutes and although his instinct was to deflect, he felt it was only fair to give her question serious consideration. Was he living his best life? “I don’t know.”
She snorted. “Then you’re deceiving yourself.”
Maybe he was. He’d definitely felt, over the last few years, like he’d lost his place. Lost the certainty he’d felt about his life. The restlessness that had plagued him churned at his guts, a constant reminder that no, he hadn’t been living his best life, if only he were brave enough to acknowledge it. When he thought about it, he realizedthat the churning feeling had lessened recently. To the point that sometimes he didn’t even feel it at all. He shied away from that idea, merely responding to Violet with a shrug, “Maybe I’m not.” It was irrelevant anyway. What could he do to change his life? He certainly couldn’t abandon his parents and their life’s work. There was no possible way either of them could run the business without him, and he wouldn’t see them lose it because he wanted to be selfish. It was duty and love that bound him and there was no escaping that.
“You can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge.” She pushed to her feet, surprising him by leaning over and pressing a kiss on his forehead. “She won’t live in Sydney. She couldn’t do it. Even for you.” She moved away to take a seat next to Nora.
He felt a little thunderstruck as Juniper approached him. “Everything okay?” She sat down next to him, snuggling in when he put his arm around her shoulders.
“Sure. I managed not to tell her about my birthmark.”
Juniper laughed. “She got you thinking?”
“Yep.”
“She does that. It’s her super-power. In my experience, you’re usually better off than before she got you going, if that helps.”
He wasn’t sure it did, but he was saved from replying by Billy walking over, the wooden frogs nestled in his shirt, which he’d folded at the front to hold them. He clambered into William’s lap and proceeded to lay all the frogs out, sharing their name and ages, their favorite foods and colors.
CHAPTER 14
Juniper
Afew evenings later, Juniper stepped out of Billy’s room, making her way to the kitchen just as Violet came in from the motorhome.
“You probably don’t want to do that,” Violet said.
“Huh? You don’t want a cuppa?”
“I do, but you don’t.”
“Ah, yes I do.” Juniper turned to look at Violet questioningly.
“Your man’s home. He got back about ten minutes ago, I would say.”
“What, how do you know that? Psychic flash?”
Violet gave a rich, deep chuckle. “No, darling. Jasper and I just took a walk down the street and saw a light come on up there.”
Juniper stood stock still in the kitchen for a long moment before whirling into action. She hurried, packing two shopping bags, then scurried to her bedroom to pack an overnight bag.
Shopping bags in hand, overnight bag slung over her shoulder, she paused long enough to kiss Violet on the cheek before moving towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
