“No phones at the table,” my mother chides.
I see an incoming video call from Violet, which is odd, because I know she’s babysitting.
“Give me a minute, I kind of need to take this,” I say before sliding off my chair and hitting the green button with my thumb. “Hey, Vi, what’s going on?”
I vaguely hear my mom say, "Ooh, a woman,”in the background before I manage to leave the room and find a quiet spot in the main hallway at the bottom of the wraparound stairs.
“I’m totally fu—” She looks at Wyatt who she’s bouncing in her arms. “Ducked. Totally ducked.” Violet sets the toddler on the ground, and her face is a mask of pure panic, and she looks exhausted.
“What’s going on?”
She attempts to breathe normally. “I told him he could have two friends over. Two guy friends and they could chill by the pool. Two.” Violet grabs her hair in frustration before her eyes catch something off screen. “Oh no, Wyatt don’t eat Puck’s food.” She sets the phone down on what seems to be the kitchen counter and is propped up against something so I get full view.
“Puck? What? Violet, you’re scaring me.”
The screen shows me that she rushed to Wyatt who is eating dog food from the bowl while a Labrador runs across the screen. She takes Wyatt into her arms and returns to the phone.
“I went upstairs to do bath time and get the cute kid ready for bed, only an hour later I came downstairs to find that the bad kid had multiplied two to God knows what number, and it’s freaking Project X outside, with every teenager in a ten-mile radius.”
“Shit. Connor is throwing a party?”
She nods her head repeatedly. “This is so bad. I swear I saw Spencer’s daughter out there, which means he will go through the roof. I don’t have it in me to call Ford. This is their last chance to be alone before they’re a family of five, and hell, I know they volunteered for that, but Brielle doesn’t deserve her weekend of relaxation to be ruined. I mean, I was sixteen once, I just need to think like them and be one step ahead. I can beat them at their little game.”
I give her an awkward look. “What would sixteen-year-old you have been up to?”
Violet takes a moment to think as her lips curl into her mouth. “Bad. This is very bad.” She glances off-screen again. “Puck, what do have in your mouth? What the duck is that can?” Violet looks back at the screen with her eyes blazed with more loss of what to do.
Her night is a disaster, far more than the mini storm happening in my parents’ dining room.
A shaky breath escapes her mouth. “Maybe I just hose them all down?” Her voice squeaks.
In my mind, I walk through what I just talked about with my parents. I know they were subtly calling me out on my selfish move, but I’m ready to prove them wrong. Not just with hockey but also with the people that I care about.
I refuse to let Violet go through this alone.
“I’m at my parents’ house, which means I can get to you in forty-five minutes. Hang on, I’m on my way.”
17
DECLAN
Immediately, I rush to Violet who is walking down the stairs, while the music’s pulsing base is low in the background.
“You didn’t have to come,” she says as she scratches the back of her head.
“I wasn’t going to leave you alone in the trenches.” I squeeze her arms for comfort.
“I got Wyatt to sleep, but I have no idea if the party outside will keep raging. It’s so stupid, I know all I have to do is head out there and demand they all leave, but then…”
“You’re no longer the cool aunt. Plus, in all honesty, I think the odds of a group of mostly 16-year-old-boys listening to the hot twenty-something woman are kind of slim. They might be distracted.” I attempt to make her smile.
“I’m so angry. Connor has never put me in this position.” I can easily sense that Violet is deeply disappointed.
I bring my arm around her shoulders, and we walk to the kitchen. “Let’s come up with a game plan.”
We head straight to the window by the kitchen sink to peek outside. The florescent-blue pool light gives us a view, along with the outside lighting around the deck where teenagers are gathered.
“At least they have good taste in music,” Violet attempts to joke.
