The place is quiet in that familiar way it has been while I worked on bringing it back to life. Dust drifts through the light streaming in from the high windows, and somewhere in the lobby, a loose piece of trim tapped softly against the wall every time the wind pushes through the old building.
One week until this place will be filled with people instead of silence.
Normally that thought would be the only thing on my mind.
Instead, my brain kept circling the same conversation I just had with Riley.
“You’re scared it will push her away.”
He wasn’t wrong.
For one week I had been trying to handle everything on my own.
Sydney.
The paternity test.
The theater.
The idea that I might have a daughter.
Every time I thought about telling Violet, I stopped myself with the same reasoning.
You don’t have all the answers yet.
Wait until you know for sure.
Don’t bring something big into her life unless it’s true.
But sitting here now, the quiet pressing in around me, another thought finally pushes through all the excuses.
Violet isn’t someone I am trying to protect from the complicated parts of my life. She is someone I want to build something real with. And real means messy sometimes. Real means uncertainty. Real means letting someone stand beside you even when you don’t have everything figured out yet.
I rub my hands over my face slowly.
Riley said something else before we hung up.
If she’s the right woman, it won’t scare her off.
That doesn’t mean the conversation would be easy. But avoiding it definitely isn’t the answer.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and open our text chat.
For a second, I just stare at the message box.
Then I type.
Me:
Hey, I know I’ve been silent. And I am sorry. If you have a moment today, can you come to the theater?
The three dots that show her typing have me staring at the screen.
Violet:
Hey, yeah, I can sneak away for a bit once Maddie is here in a couple of hours. I hope everything is okay.
Me:
