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Leaving the dishes for later, JT tugged Violet toward the couch. Together they sank into its softness. With JT’s left arm around her shoulder and his right hand playing absently with the tie of her robe, Violet waited for some sign from JT that he was ready to hear what Charity Rimes had to say.
“Do you think my father belongs in jail?”
“If he stole someone’s identity, yes.”
JT closed his eyes and for a brief moment sadness blanketed his expression. Violet’s chest tightened sympathetically at his pain. She wished she could take it away. She wanted nothing but happiness for him. But she could only offer comfort and support. JT would have to resolve his ambivalence on his own.
“Make the call,” he said, his voice hard and determined.
Reluctant to budge from the circle of JT’s arm, but knowing she had to act while he was still in a mood to find out what the writer knew, Violet snagged her cell off the coffee table and found Charity’s number. She dialed and then held the phone so JT could listen.
“Yes?” A male voice answered.
Violet and JT exchanged a puzzled look. “Hello. I’m looking for Charity Rimes.”
“Are you a friend?”
The man’s question awakened Violet’s anxiety. “Not exactly. My name is Violet Fontaine. She spoke with my father several months ago about a book she was writing. I was hoping to find out what she told him.”
“Can’t you just ask him?”
She wanted to demand he let her speak to Charity, but some instinct stopped her. “He died.” She left out the part where Tiberius had been murdered.
A long silence followed. At last the man spoke. “I’m sorry about your father, but Charity won’t be able to help you right now. She was in an accident. Her car was T-boned by an SUV.”
“Is she okay?”
“She has some broken ribs and a head injury that the doctors want to monitor.”
JT frowned and stood. Violet’s gaze followed his tense form as he paced across the room. She could only imagine his disappointment. Since this morning he’d had to assimilate potentially damning news about his father and decide whether or not to pursue the truth. No matter how damaged their relationship, inside JT was a little boy who’d once looked up to his father.
“Please tell her I hope she’ll be okay. Perhaps I can call again at a later date.”
“Do you want to leave your number? I can have her call you.”
“That would be nice.” Violet gave him the numbers for her cell and the direct line to her office phone. When she hung up a gust of air poured from her lungs. “How crazy was that?”
“It appears as if fate has once again beaten me to the punch,” JT replied, his voice wearing a frustrated edge.
“We still have over three weeks until the stockholders’ meeting and your cousin Phil has promised to throw his vote your way.”
“That means we have forty-nine and a half percent. My father wins.” He headed to the bedroom and retrieved the rest of his clothes. “I’d better get back to Titanium. There’s one last relative I can call. I didn’t want to reach out to her, but maybe the favor she will demand in return won’t be as bad as I think.”
Violet could tell this wasn’t the right time to reassure JT that everything would be okay. He was obviously too disappointed in the phone call to Charity Rimes to believe that the future would work itself out for the best.
“I’ll see you at home,” she called before he shut the door behind him.
After a quick shower, Violet dressed and returned to her office just in time to make the first of her rescheduled meetings. Even though it was hard to concentrate, she gave it her all. JT’s problems would work themselves out one way or another. All he needed to do was trust that when the time came, he’d choose the right path.
And what about her? Would he want her beside him? Violet knew she’d better brace herself in case he didn’t.
Nine
“He’s leaning. You want to lift his inside shoulder,” JT called. “Trot him in a tight circle.” The young rider did as asked, and JT nodded. “Do you feel him balance himself?”
Her bright smile was answer enough.
JT followed her progress around the area, but his attention wasn’t complete. Part of him was thinking about the stockholders’ meeting a week away while another portion gnawed on his relationship with Violet and what he wanted for the future.
It was relatively easy to drop his guard with her. Her lack of an agenda, coupled with her unflagging positivity, and ability to distract him from his problems made her company a balm to his troubled soul.
