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“No.” It was a painful reminder that love was out of reach for her.
Her phone rang as they approached the car, little beads of rain dotting her hair and face, then sprinkling her phone as she read the caller’s name.
Reeva.
“Hello.”
“Violet, it’s Reeva.”
Well aware. “I know.”
“Your grandmother fell, and she’s in surgery. I—I think you should be there to tend to her.”
“That’s what doctors and PT are for, Reeva.” She wasn’t coming home to play nursemaid to a woman who hated her. She was surprised Reeva would want her to; this was more of a roundabout way of asking for Violet’s help. Reeva hadn’t been formally diagnosed, but Violet guessed she was agoraphobic or close to being that way. Hadn’t been out of the house but a handful of times that Violet could remember. She didn’t want Violet. She needed her.
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t care.”
Why should she? “I’m in Kentucky on a case. I’ll...call you back.” She ended the call.
“Who’s Reeva?”
“My mom.”
Chapter Eleven
Friday, October 20
1:20 p.m.
Violet bristled in the passenger seat as John exited I-40 into Cordova, Tennessee. The trip had been a long seven-hour drive. They’d left around six this morning. Violet had wrestled with whether she should even come back to Memphis. Her return would be unappreciated, and she’d end up unsettled and out of sorts. The psychologist in her told her it was okay to walk away from a toxic relationship.
But here she was. In Memphis. Unsettled and out of sorts.
John had been upset over being so far away from his sick daughter, so when he’d heard her grandmother had fallen and broken a hip, he offered to drive them both back for the weekend. Violet could see to medical needs, and John could hug his daughter.
A seven-hour drive for a hug.
What might that feel like? To know someone was willing to go that far simply to wrap you in an embrace and impart love and fatherly care. That was one favored little girl.
Asa had been fine with her leaving this morning and returning Sunday afternoon since the entire team was in the field. They would continue the investigation, building a better profile and hopefully discovering the meaning of those numbers. Ty had been at his wit’s end, and that meant endless energy drinks, bad jokes to accompany them, and all-around annoyance and a few four-letter words, which Asa and Fiona now frowned upon.
John pulled into a middle-class neighborhood with nice homes and small, tidy yards.
“I live around the corner from my sister. It’s easy to get Stella back and forth when needed. You sure you don’t mind coming with me? I can take you to the hospital first.”
He’d already offered to drop her off first, but Violet wasn’t ready, and it wasn’t like Grandmother was lying on the floor unattended and in pain. She was in the hospital with a medical team tending to her. “She’s probably still in recovery. Nothing can be done right now anyway.” She’d have John swing by the field office later and pick up her car. No need for him to be her personal Uber.
“Okay,” he said softly and didn’t press further.
The ride had been pleasant when not discussing her family, when it had been about jobs, cases, favorite foods, music and movies. She already knew he loved Hitchcock but was pleasantly surprised to hear of his love for chicken parm and Neil Diamond.
He pulled in behind a white Honda. “I’ve never brought a woman home to my sister before.” His smirk slid sideways, revealing a dimple.
She failed at suppressing her own. “I imagine you were quite the heartbreaker in high school and college.”
He flashed her a playboy grin and leaned in, giving her a whiff of his aftershave. “Oh, I was. I definitely was.”
Violet’s pulse went on the uptick, and her insides flushed. “And now?” she flirted back.
