Page 59 of Redeeming Violet

Yes, the man stomped like a child getting ready to get scolded. In a way, I guess he was. His mom was pissed Jaxon hadn’t told her he was in town and she had to hear it from Cooper. For his part, Cooper was standing next to me grinning like a fool.

“You’re evil,” I told him.

His smile faded when he turned to me. “Jaxon needed a shove.”

“A shove?” I asked.

“He is so wrapped up in protecting you, he forgot about his greatest ally, our mom.”

How bad could meeting his mom be? I’d never done the whole meet the parents thing as an adult, but it couldn’t be that bad. Could it? And Jaxon would be next to me. By the sound of the escalating voices, I had to put a stop to this.

“Enough, Jaxon,” I said when I opened the door. Two sets of angry eyes swung my way and Mrs. Cain’s body jerked. Shit, I’d forgotten about my face. Before I could greet her, or make an excuse about my face, she made her way to me and hugged me. Jeez, the Cain family liked to hug.

“You are even more beautiful than Cooper told me you were.” She took a second to enunciate his name and shot Jaxon a look. Now I saw where he got his death glare from. His mother’s look was almost as good as his. “Let me make us a cup of tea. Jaxon needs a timeout. Then the boys will have a fight because Cooper told me you were here. We don’t need to watch them.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her. She knew her boys well. And it may’ve seemed she was complaining about Jaxon’s behavior, but her words were laced with love and affection for her boy.

“That sounds wonderful, Mrs. Cain.”

“Please call me Abby, sweetheart, or mom. Whichever you prefer is fine.”

Mom?

My eyes found Jaxon; he was still standing with his arms crossed over his broad chest and a scowl on his face.

“That was exactly why I didn’t want this to happen. Violet is not ready for mom,” Jaxon said, looking over my head to Cooper.

“Ready for me?” Abby asked, the adoration gone replaced with hurt.

Instinctively, I grabbed her hand and when she looked at me I tried to excuse his harsh words. “He didn’t mean anything bad by it. Right, Jaxon? He’s just worried because I’m so embarrassed about my face, that’s all. I didn’t want to meet Cooper, I’m not at my …” I stopped and pointed to my face. “Best right now.”

“That’s not what I meant. Baby, I don’t give two shits if you meet my family wearing a paper bag. What that fuckwit did to your face makes you no less beautiful. I know my mom. I knew the minute she caught wind I’d brought you here, which was supposed to be used for you to relax and catch your breath after the shit time you’ve had, she’d get ideas in her head and pop over.”

“Oh. I don’t think anyone has any ideas. And I am relaxed.”

“Pleased you’re relaxed, Vi, but she does have ideas in her head. And while she’s not wrong in her assessment of the situation, I didn’t want you freaked out.” What was he talking about? Did the Cain family have some secret code only they could decipher?

“Now who’s freaking her out, idiot?” Cooper said. “And please come in the house and shut the door. Christ, I don’t live in the hood. My neighbors will call the cops.”

“I’m not freaked out,” I lied. I was freaked the fuck out. I didn’t know what ideas Jaxon was talking about and I didn’t think I wanted to know.

“Bullshit, but you try and hide it well.” Cooper laughed. “My brother is strange. He has this thing, it goes back to high school. He never brought any of the girls he dated to our house. Ever. Used to drive my mom crazy. She’s never met any of them. His prom date came to the house, but she didn’t count because they were just friends. Girlfriends, never. Our house was completely off-limits.”

“I’m not strange,” Jaxon argued, but didn’t correct what Cooper had said about girlfriends.

Was I his girlfriend? Weren’t we too old to be girlfriend and boyfriend? I’d heard him call me his woman, but I didn’t quite understand if that was different in some way.

“He told me I didn’t need to meet the girls he dated. When he was ready, he’d bring me the woman he was going to marry,” she whispered.

I rolled my eyes to the heavens and looked at the ceiling, praying to all things holy not to let the tear that had formed fall. I didn’t want Jaxon to think I was putting stock in what his mom had said, or I would somehow believe she thought he’d want to marry me. He hadn’t even told me he loved me. And technically he didn’t bring me to her, she came to me.

“Christ! The both of you. Either of you ever stop to think that maybe I would’ve liked to tell my woman I loved her before you…” he pointed to his brother, “told stories about me not wanting women around my family. And you…” he pointed to his mom, “telling her I was delivering you my bride like we were back in the 1800s. Nothing like scaring the shit out of her.”

Huh? Come again? Did he say loved me? Abby squeezed my hand. Cooper chuckled. And Jaxon growled at Cooper for laughing.

“See? A shove,” Cooper said.

“Come on. Let’s get our tea,” Abby offered.