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“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Greta said, her eyes tracing Smith and Luka as they maneuvered through the office and disappeared into the shadowy hall.
“We’re done,” Julia said as she closed the door. Under her breath, she added, “He is so talented, Mom! His writing ripped my heart out.”
Greta’s eyes softened. She sat in the chair Smith had just vacated and crossed her hands over her lap. “Have you seen the way he looks at Anna?”
Julia wrinkled her nose and raised her shoulders. “And how do we feel about that?”
Greta tilted her head. “I’m pulling for them. Maybe that’s not right. I don’t know.” She sniffed. “But I came to tell you something.”
Julia raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“I want to ask Violet to leave,” Greta stated primly. “I’ve heard her nag Anna one too many times. And you should see her shoot daggers at Smith. Every time Smith comes to say hello to Violet, she mutters under her breath. Almost like she wants to put a spell on him.”
Julia puffed out her cheeks. “We all want Violet to leave. But I’m worried.”
“What about?”
“I don’t know if she has anywhere to go,” Julia said. She then explained that she and Anna asked when Larry Carpenter would visit. Violet had shown the whites of her eyes each time and assured them Larry would be there “any minute.”
“But Larry is nowhere to be found,” Julia affirmed. “And Anna hasn’t heard from him.”
Greta dropped back into her chair and rubbed her temples. Due to her elaborate array of night and day creams and addiction to sunblock, her seventy-year-old skin gleamed.
“If she tells me how to cook in my own kitchen one more time,” Greta said, raising a finger, “I’ll kick her out myself.”
“Wow,” Julia said with a laugh. “That woman is brave.”
“Just stupid,” Greta corrected her, making a face. “The nerve of some people!”
That afternoon, Julia padded to the second floor of the family half of The Copperfield House to cradle Adam, check on Anna, and search for Violet. It wasn’t a surprise that Violet was seated at the edge of Anna’s bed, spouting rhetoric about her own early days of motherhood.
And then, she delivered a piece of information that, finally, Julia could use.
“Of course, that was before I got my accounting license,” she explained. “But I still worked here and there, especially after Dean got a bit older.”
“What did you do for work?” Julia asked. Even as she said it, she thought I’d never cared about an answer more.
“I was a wedding planner,” Violet said.
Immediately, Julia’s and Anna’s eyes locked. Inspiration flowed in the air between them. Finally, they could give Violet something to do.
“Violet!” Julia cried, her voice syrupy sweet. “You know I’m supposed to get married in three months?”
Violet’s eyes widened. “I knew you were engaged. But in three months? That’s quick!”
“You’re telling me,” Julia assured her. “I’m panicking. Charlie and I were hard at work planning the night Adam was born. And now, well. I don’t even have my dress, let alone a venue.”
Violet’s eyes brimmed with light. For the first time in ages, she took her eyes off Adam and gazed intently at Julia. “You need help,” she announced.
“You’re telling me,” Julia affirmed.
“Do you have time for something like that, Violet?” Anna asked meekly. “I know it’s a lot.”
Violet shot to her feet and latched her hands behind her back. “I’m going to need baseline information. Head count. Style. I still read wedding magazines religiously, so you don’t need to worry about current styles. I know what’s in and what’s out.”
Julia wanted to laugh at her sudden authoritative nature, but she managed to keep her giggles to herself.
“This is fantastic!” Julia cried. “I’m so underwater with my publishing clients. The wedding was going to be a rush job if it happened at all.”
