“Most things don’t,” Violet said softly. “Some people just aren’t lucky. Trust me.”
I understood that. “I think we make our own luck. Sometimes we don’t, and life kicks us in the teeth,” I admitted. “But when we have a chance for happiness, I think we have to jump at it.”
“Like you and Aiden?” she asked unerringly.
I grinned. “Yeah, like me and Aiden.”
“He seems to have stuck in there through some weird stuff. You remember when that finger showed up in the box at your office?”
“How could I forget?” It was a case that had gone south, but everything had eventually worked out. “Everybody who should be in jail is in jail, and you’re in a good place. I would never push you to do anything you don’t want to do. I know Yara and Buddy love you already and very much want to adopt you. But Violet, this is your decision.”
She took a deep breath and faced me directly. “I want to be a part of this family. I really do.”
“Wonderful,” I said, “it looks like we’re going to court on Monday.”
She paled again but kept eye contact with me. “All right, court it is.”
Chapter4
Icalled Aiden after I left and passed through town, heading in the other direction along the river. It was already getting dark, so I flipped on my lights.
“Hey, where are you?” he asked.
Chunks of ice from what had to be a large truck were scattered across the road. “I just left Yara and Buddy’s. I’m going to see my folks before I drive back over the pass,” I said. “Did you get anything done today?”
“I think so. We set up the armory at the office. We should get several new cases on Monday, so we’re ready to go.” Aiden had purchased a building on Lilac Lake that he now rented back to the ATF. It was big enough for his entire crew of five, with a basement I believed he was turning into some sort of gym. The agency had signed a six-month lease, so I’d have him in town for at least that long, but then…I wasn’t sure. “How’d it go with Violet?” he asked.
“Pretty good. She seems more worried than anything else.”
“I know how she feels,” Aiden said. “When I left Ireland to come live with my grandparents, I wasn’t sure they’d want me. I didn’t think they’d want to keep me. She’s probably having feelings like that.”
I perked up. “Maybe you could talk to her.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to. Anytime,” he said. My heart warmed. He might look like a badass and shoot people once in a while, but he really was a sweetheart.
Plus, he was gifted. Last night had been incredible. We hadn’t made it to working on any of the bedrooms. When Aiden concentrated on something, he did it fully, and he had me in his sights—and hands—last night. My body flushed.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, a chuckle in his voice.
How did he know?
“Stop reading my mind. And you can’t be reading my face because I can’t see you.”
“Huh. Good point.”
It sometimes scared me how well he knew me. Just then, a deer bounded across the road. I squealed and hit my brakes, sliding wildly.
“Aingeal?” he asked, his voice roughening.
I hissed out in panic and tried to correct, but the Jeep slid across the road and went off the bank, smashing into a tree. The airbags deployed all around me, and dust filtered across my face. Then silence.
“Anna.”
“I’m okay,” I said, my ears ringing. Dust covered me. I coughed and pushed the airbag away.
“What happened?”
My body tightened from the adrenaline flooding my system. “I swerved to miss a deer. I’m not hurt.” The forest stretched out before me, and the descent off the bank hadn’t been very far. I tried the engine. It didn’t work. “Crap.”
