AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So I share information about myself freely. “I’m a few credits away from finishing my college degree, which I’m doing by correspondence, and I’m starting my own soap company.”
“Soap. That’s … cool, maybe?” Her pinched face says otherwise.
I laugh. “I’ve been making soap and oils and things since I was, well … your age, and I love doing it.”
She fidgets with the cuffs on her sweatshirt. “When’s the wedding?”
“Next spring.”
Violet peers at my hand. “Is that your engagement ring?”
“It is.” I hold my hand out, admiring the pearl. “It was Henry’s grandmother’s ring. The gold is from the Wolf mine.” It dawns on me then. “This wasyourgreat-grandmother’s ring.”
She nods slowly, as if she’s connecting the dots to this foreign new life of hers. How weird it must be to have an entire side of your family that you know nothing about. “It’s pretty. Not flashy.”
“No, it’s elegant but understated. Henry said that’s what she was like. Marianne Wolf was her name. I don’t know much else about her.”
Henry strolls past us on the sidewalk, his phone pressed to his ear, his expression stern as he makes his demands. He used to intimidate me so much when he was like this, but now my pulse stirs watching him. He’s in charge and he will get what he wants.
“What if it isn’t a good deal?” Violet asks.
“Huh?” Her question catches me off guard.
She trails him with curious eyes. “What if his guy says Barbara’s trying to take advantage of us?”
“Then Barbara will be lucky if she can sell a Barbie house by the time Henry is finished with her.” The woman has no idea who she’s trying to swindle.
A few beats pass and then Violet’s throat bobs with a hard swallow. “Thanks for listening to me when no one else would.” She may not have had kind words for me the last time we met, but at least she doesn’t seem to hate me.
“You’re welcome.” I remember being fifteen. Not yet an adult and yet not a child anymore. Then again, Mama still dismisses my opinions on things now. “But I’m not the only one who listened.” I point toward the brooding man who paces outside, the blustering breeze fanning his hair. Henry is the one getting things done. I only nudged him.
She glances at him but stays quiet. Something tells me she’ll be too stubborn to acknowledge his help, just like she was too stubborn to ask for it in the first place. She needs to see another side of him. Unfortunately, Henry isn’t the easiest person to get to know.
I have a thought. I slide out my phone. “What’s your number?”
She frowns. “Why?”
“So I can send you our contact info, and the next time you want or need to see your father, you can call or text us.” Instead of showing up at the penthouse unannounced, which is what I think she has been debating while mutilating her breakfast.
“I didn’twantto see him,” she mumbles, but her cheeks flush, giving away her intentions.
Sure you didn’t.“You should be able to reach us, Violet,” I say more gently. “Just in case.”
She bites her bottom lip, considering the suggestion until finally, she relents.
I stifle my smile of triumph as she recites her number and I punch the digits into my phone.
CHAPTER14
“I’m nervous about this,” I admit through a sip of my drink—a frothy cocktail named Beauty and the Beast for the decorative rose petals and bell-shaped glass. “A stranger is picking out my wedding dress for me.”
“No, Emmanuelle isdesigningthe precise dress for you,” Margo purrs, elegantly draped in the teal leather wing chair across from me. She looks prim and regal, gripping her gimlet with a delicate hand. Completely opposite to the scantily clad fortune teller sharing Merrick’s dick with her boyfriend last night. “She has a talent for these things.”
“Butwhat ifI hate it?” They never asked me about my likes or dislikes. Puffy sleeves? A crinoline skirt? Lace? Bows?
“Abigail, have I ever led you astray when it comes to fashion?”
“No,” I admit with a hint of reluctance. If I could have Margo dress me every day, I would be relieved. And how does she manage to use her accent to make me feel guilty for questioning her?
