Ridge: What does that mean?
Mom: Moreland swore he saw that woman outside of a bar last night. He chased after her, but she had too good a head start on him and ducked out of sight somewhere, or maybe into a car. It really upset More and Violet that he had seen her. Vi left not long after.
Ridge: Violet was with you last night? At a bar? What the hell, Mom?
Nothing made sense anymore. What in the hell had Violet been doing out at a bar with my family? And why would Fiona have been there?
Mom: Two things to say to you, son. One - Fiona didn’t look pregnant at all. If anything, she looked slimmer than before she left here. Two - You may have stupidly thrown your wife away and treated her like something completely disposable, but the rest of us did not. She will always be a daughter to me.
Ridge: I didn’t throw her away. I love Violet.
Ridge: Mom?
No response came in and the messages said they had been delivered but not opened.
Great. My mom is ignoring me the way I ignore Aunt Gayle.
Since my mom wouldn’t even read my text, I opened up my contacts and dialed Violet’s number. It rang through to voicemail. I didn’t bother to leave one because I didn’t want the first time she heard from me after all this time to be in a message. My family was right. It was time to find my way home and get my wife back.
Chapter 20
Violet
I was thirty-five weeks pregnant and felt ready to burst as I got myself back together after my latest doctor’s visit. Everything with the baby was fine, but I was a bit concerned that Dr. Carson told me I was two centimeters dilated already. I didn’t believe him for one minute when he told me not to worry, that some women walk around for weeks dilated to two centimeters.
It felt like an omen - and not a good one.
It took forever to check out, get my new appointment for the following week, and waddle my ass down to my SUV. I just managed to buckle my seatbelt when my phone started to ring.
“Mom?” I asked after checking the caller ID.
“Hi, sweetie. I need you to do me a favor.”
I loved my mother. I really did. Some days, I wondered why, though.
“You do remember I’m heavily pregnant, right?” I asked.
She made some dismissive noise. “Listen, I’m in the middle of having my color set, but I forgot your brother couldn’t ride the bus home today. I need you to go pick him up. Kay? Thanks. Bye.”
And she was gone without waiting to see if I could even do it. It was definitely one of those days when I questioned my ongoing involvement with her. Most days, she could be great. Then there were the days when she was a terror and felt like the world existed to serve her. I hated those times - like right now.
“I love my brother,” I reminded myself as I pulled out and headed to his school. As soon as I pulled up, it was obvious why he couldn’t ride the school bus home. He had all his batting gear with him, and he was still in uniform. How could Mom forget he had practice?
“Hey, Drake,” I said as he made his way to my vehicle and opened the door.
“Where’s Mom?” My little brother looked me up and down and shook his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving birth any minute now?”
“I still have five weeks to go.”
“Doesn’t look like it,” he muttered, and his tone didn’t sound like he was teasing me.
“You could walk home,” I offered. He quickly put his seatbelt on and smiled at me.
“You’re looking great, Sis. Not at all like an overinflated balloon about to pop.”
“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled back.
“Seriously, though, where’s Mom?”
