"Uh huh, and I'd never seen anything like you before."
"I was fat - and thirteen! Maybe twelve?"
"And I wasn't looking to fuck you. Shit. I just thought you were a force of nature. Now, when you grew up a bit and started sneaking me up here to go swimming at midnight? Whole different story. Who knew that bikinis could make a man straight?"
"You are so far from straight that it's not even funny." Although I kinda liked the teasing. It made me feel a little better about the mess I'd been as a child. "You know Gran and Bea watched us, right?" I pointed up to the balcony that now belonged to my bedroom. "They'd sit up there and make sure that the teenagers didn't go too far. She told me about it before she got sick. Said she and Bea had bets on who I'd fall in love with."
"And?" he asked. "Who was Gran rooting for?"
I grinned. "Crimson!"
"Oh," he groaned. "And Bea?"
"Ashton. You, Cy, were supposed to be gay, remember? Gran said that Bea just didn't understand why you spent so much time with me, and she had to break it to her that you might just swing both ways. Like little match-making hens."
"Yeah," he said, reaching up to cup my cheek. "I loved those women. They taught me that it was ok to just be me. That I didn't have to hide it, and that there was nothing to be ashamed of. They said that we don't get to choose who we love, and that sometimes it's ugly and screwed up, but it's always worth it." He looked away, his eyes glistening too much. "When I caught Kindle with that guy, I called Gran. It was the last time I ever got to talk to her, and you know what she told me?"
"What?" I asked, feeling my throat getting tighter.
"She told me to come home." He leaned his head back and blew out a breath to find his voice again. "I promised her I would. Told her I just needed to get my shit together, but I needed to be home."
"And now you are," I told him, but there was something wet sliding down my cheek.
Cy just hugged me against his shoulder. "I miss her so much."
And that was the thing that finally did it. All I could manage was to nod. My voice refused to work, and my eyes could no longer hold back the dam. I didn't howl. I didn't wail. I just pressed my face against Cyan's big, strong neck, and for the first time in far too long, I let myself cry.
He held me the whole time.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Iheld that woman against me as long as I could. Once the tears started, she didn't know how to turn them off. Eventually, I carried her out of the pool, made her wrap a towel around herself, then picked her back up to carry her to bed. She didn't even care when I helped her change into a tank and sleep shorts, or when I tucked her under the covers. Then I sat beside her, listening to her talk about Gran until her eyes closed and she finally fell asleep.
After that, I laid in bed for too long, staring at the ceiling and listening to the old house settle. It wasn't strange, though. It sounded right. Even the thunk as the outdated HVAC kicked in was everything I remembered. I just hadn't managed to talk to Vi about the real reason I'd tried to get her to open up: Luke.
That man was risking his job for Southwind, and he had a kid to think about. Violet had mentioned something about having me do a session with the kid, so maybe talking to her would give me a little more insight? On a whim, I crept back across the hall to snag Violet's phone. Her lock code was the same as always - Gran's birthday - which let me right in. Then I opened her contacts, intending to scroll down to L. Seeing the first name in the list made my damned heart stop, though.
Ashton Walker.
Standing over her dresser, with that beautiful woman sleeping only a few feet away, I copied his number into my own phone, then I forced myself to find Luke's. I saved it as well, checking to see who else she had that I might need. The whole Spectrum was there, from Chartreuse to Teal's number that I'd texted her after the first time we talked, making it clear that Violet really was the glue that still held everything together.
Only when that was done could I finally fall asleep. The next morning, I grabbed my phone before I even got out of bed. This guy worked with livestock? That meant he'd be up early. Hopefully he might even be in a good mood.
Cyan: Hey, Luke, I stole your number from Violet's phone. Wanted to know if she'd talked to you about a therapy session with your daughter. Just to see if kids feel comfortable with me.
The reply came back almost immediately.
Luke: Cy?
Cyan: Yep. Guess I should've said that too. Sorry, bro.
Luke: Why do you want to give my daughter therapy?
Cyan: Other way around. Violet trusts Faith's opinion to judge my work. I'm looking for your kid to tell me if I've lost my touch.
Luke: Sure. She tell you about Faith's issues?
Wait, his kid had issues? Damn, ok then maybe this was a good thing.
