Marred

by Tess Thompson

  “We knew you still loved us or you wouldn’t have continued to send money,” Autumn said.

  “But we couldn’t get how you could do that but not want to see us,” Stone said.

  “I was wrong,” Kyle said.

  They all sat there for a moment.

  “What do we do now?” Kyle asked.

  “Make up for lost time?” Stone asked.

  “Can you two stick around for a while?” Kyle asked.

  “I have to get back to work on Monday,” Autumn said. “But we could come back for Christmas.”

  “And for the wedding,” Stone said. “Whenever that is.”

  They talked for a few minutes about logistics, making plans for another visit. Stone admitted he wasn’t sure where he would end up next now that he was out of the Marines. “I got my contractor license, so now I just have to bite the bullet and start my business.”

  “You could stay. Build my house,” Kyle said.

  “You serious?” Stone asked.

  “I have the land and the house plans. I just need it built. As soon as possible.”

  “You’d trust me?”

  “Who better than my own brother?”

  “It’s not like I have anything in Denver, other than Autumn. But to tell you the truth, I think she’s sick of me. I’ve been living with her for six months.”

  “I’m not sick of you, but this would be a great opportunity for you,” Autumn said.

  “Move to California? I don’t know.” Stone ran his hand over the top of his closely cut hair. “Maybe I should grow my hair out like yours,” he said to Kyle. “Go all metrosexual like my big brother.”

  “Metrosexual?” Kyle rolled his eyes. “No way.”

  “What do you call this?” He gestured toward Kyle’s outfit of black designer jeans, cashmere sweater, and Italian loafers.

  Kyle shook his head and laughed. “You could use a date with my personal shopper.”

  “Nah. Chicks dig my look.”

  “I don’t think that’s a look,” Kyle said. “More like something you pulled out of the bottom of a laundry basket.”

  “Personal shopper? California’s ruined you, man.” Stone smiled and raised his beer bottle. “You did good, brother. Successful. Rich. All bulked up. I’m proud of you.”

  “I did it for you guys,” Kyle said. “To make sure you had a chance.”

  “We made it out,” Autumn said. “Just like we said we would.”

  “Turns out you guys didn’t need me anyway,” Kyle said.

  “We didn’t need your money,” Stone said. “But we needed you. Still do.”

  “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Not again,” Kyle said.

  “There’s something we wanted to ask you,” Autumn said. “Something about the Miller boys.”

  He swallowed the bile that rose to his throat at the mention of their name. “What about them?”

  “A few months after you left, they died in a house fire. It was determined the fire was caused by arson, but they never found the killer,” Autumn said.

  “I heard about it when it happened,” Kyle said. “I always figured Karma’s a bitch.”

  “We wondered if you had anything to do with it,” Autumn said.

  Kyle laughed, a bitter cackle that sounded like a branch breaking in a dark forest. “As much as I wished them dead, I wouldn’t have risked getting caught. My focus was on providing for you two long term, not revenge.”

  “I told you,” Stone said.

  “You thought I did it?” Kyle asked. “Autumn, I’m not a killer.”

  “You were so angry,” Autumn said. “I thought you might have gone temporarily insane due to rage.”

  Kyle shook his head. “No. Wasn’t me.”

  “Who else would’ve wanted them dead?” Autumn asked. “Besides us?”

  “There was a long list of people who hated them,” Stone said. “Maybe it was one of them.”

  “The local police didn’t look too hard for the killer,” Autumn said. “After what happened to me, I don’t think there was anyone in town who didn’t think they deserved it.”

  “But still, I wonder,” Stone said. “I guess we’ll never know.”

  “Maybe Dad did it,” Kyle said.

  “I don’t think he had it in him.” Autumn tightened her sweater around her chest. “He was a docile drunk.”

  “True,” Stone said.

  “Did he suffer at the end?” Kyle asked.

  “Nah. Died in his sleep,” Stone said. “Kind of like he lived.”

  “I guess he did the best he could,” Kyle said.

  “Most people do,” Autumn said.

  “The problem is,” Stone said, “some people’s best sucks.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Violet

  * * *

  Violet spent the week before Christmas helping Kara with last-minute details for Honor and Zane’s wedding. Because Honor was busy with Brody’s affairs, helping him negotiate changes in endorsements and contracts since the announcement of his retirement, Kara and Violet agreed to take over the last-minute details. Brody had insisted on paying for the wedding. Kara had spared no expense, even ordering a heated tent for the outdoor reception. With fewer than twenty guests, it was an extravagant event, but Kara insisted that Honor have the best.

  Now, Violet sat with Kara in the Mullens’ kitchen. The wedding was five short days away. They’d finalized everything with the wedding planner and were now having a cup of coffee before Violet left for Christmas shopping with Kyle in the city.

  “We’re staying overnight,” Violet told Kara. “He won’t tell me where we’re going, only to pack a nice dress.”

  “Flora called this morning to tell me how excited she was to have the kids again,” Kara said. “She has a new purpose now that Zane and Kyle have kids.”

  “It’s nice to have someone we can trust.”

  “Do you think Kyle’s going to propose while you’re away?” Kara asked.

  “It did cross my mind.”

  “You’ll say yes, right?”

  “Oh, gosh, yes. I’m so in love with him it’s ridiculous.”

  “Isn’t it amazing when you find the right person?” Kara asked.

  “It is. You and Brody are happy, right?”

  “Very much so. We’ve had to go deep the past few weeks. Ending his career has knocked him for a serious loop. Football was his life.”

  “Giving up my store felt like I was dying, so I can only imagine.”

  “But he’s getting used to the idea. He’s starting to see the positives now. In a weird way, it’s brought us closer. Besides losing his dad, he’s lived a charmed life. I had to give up everything I knew and come out here. He’s tried to understand but up until recently he couldn’t empathize.”

  “Is he still talking about having a baby?”

  “Yes.” Kara gazed out the window. Drops of rain water slid down the glass, like they were chasing one another. “I was close with my mom. When she died I lost all sense of what it’s like to have a family. I missed her so much it hurt. I still do. To have a child terrifies me.”

  “You mean because you could lose them?” Violet flashed upon her conversation with Mary about the loss of her baby. Kara was right to be terrified.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s true of all love, though, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose it is.” Kara drew an imaginary circle on the table. “Sometimes I dream my friend Jessica is still alive. We’re doing the most ordinary things like cooking pasta together and laughing. It feels so real and then I wake up and remember she’s gone.”

  Violet squeezed her hand and said how sorry she was, even though she knew how inadequate it was.

  “Thanks for being my friend,” Kara said.

  “Back at you.”

  Kyle came into the kitchen with Brody right behind him. Both wore mischievous expressions, like two boys up to no good.

  “You ready to go, Lettie?” Kyle asked. “I want to get
to the bike shop before noon.”

  “Dakota asked for a big boy bike from Santa,” Violet said. “We’re picking it up today.”

  “Scoot along then,” Kara said. “Brody’s going to keep me company this afternoon while the decorator comes. By the time you guys get back, it will be a winter wonderland fit for Queen Honor’s wedding.”

  “Thank God he didn’t ask for a puppy,” Violet said.

  Kyle laughed as he put the bicycle in the back of car. “I need a bigger car.”

  They were parked in a lot near a busy section of shops, including the bicycle shop where they’d just purchased Dakota’s gift. Shoppers scurried past them carrying packages and bags. The sound of a Salvation Army bell rang out into the cold evening. White lights decorated the trees and lampposts. “I love the holidays,” she said.

  “I do now that I have you and the kids.” Kyle took her hand and they crossed the street to the toy store Kyle had spotted earlier. They stood in front of the display window where a Christmas train circled a three-foot tree.

  “I want that,” Kyle said.

  “The train?”

  “I always wanted a train when I was a kid,” he said.

  “I remember.” She’d remembered it all right. The train set she’d ordered from an online store had already arrived at the house.

  “I’m getting this.” The lights hung in the window reflected in his eyes as he looked down at her. “We’ll put it around the tree like in the movies.”

  “But you don’t want that one, do you? I mean, you’d only be able to use it once a year.”

  “For the entire time the Christmas tree is up,” he said. “Like a month.”

  She almost laughed. “We have yet to put up a tree this year and Christmas is in a week.”

  “We’re late this time, but next year Dakota and I will put it up with this train the day after Thanksgiving.”

  She brought her gloved fingers to her mouth. Next year. Would there really be a next year?

  “Why did you sigh?” he asked.

  “Did I? I was thinking about next year. What it will be like.”

  “I hope we’ll be moved into the new house by then.”

  Something cold hit her on the forehead. “What’s that?” She looked up toward the sky. Hail fell in hard pebbles that smacked the sidewalk.

  “Where did it come from?” Violet tugged her knit hat over her ears.

  Kyle pulled a small box from inside his coat. He dropped to one knee. “I was going to do this later, but when the sky opens and dumps hail, it’s a sign.” Pieces of hail caught in his dark hair looked like white sprinkles on a chocolate cupcake. “Lettie, you came into my life just like this hail, without warning and changed everything. You’re the finest person I’ve ever known. That you love a dope like me is a miracle. I love you. I adore you. I want to make sure you’re always by my side now and forever. Will you marry me?” He opened the box and presented the ring to her. Tiny diamonds encircled a center diamond the size of her knuckle. A scroll motif gallery and diamond-set shoulders made it sparkle from every angle. “I swear the ring is vintage. Edwardian period, according to the jeweler. He purchased it from an estate sale. Brody found it for us. The guy knows all kinds of rich people.”

  “It must’ve been a large estate. I know a little about antiques and this must’ve cost you a small fortune.”

  “Can we stay focused on the question?” He gazed up at her, still on one knee. The hail stopped as suddenly as it started. He brushed his hair back with his fingers. A small crowd had gathered around them, all waiting for her answer.

  She flushed and took off her gloves. “I’m sorry. What I mean to say is yes. Yes, yes, yes!” She threw her head back and laughed as she held her hand out to him. He slipped the ring onto her finger. It was the perfect fit. “How did you know my size?”

  “Honor told me. She knows everything.” Kyle rose to his feet and lifted her in his arms. “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.” He spun her in a circle. The sidewalk was slick. Down they went, falling in a heap together, Violet on top. The crowd went silent, waiting to see if Kyle had hurt himself. He lifted an arm. “Nothing to see here.” The crowd clapped. Violet laughed with her head buried in the scarf around his neck.

  “Way to make a scene,” she said.

  “Can we buy the Christmas train now?”

  She looked down at his chiseled, gorgeous face. My husband. My love. He peered up at her with those eyes the color of the twilight sky and she saw the little boy who wanted a train and never got one. She would give him a thousand trains if she could. “We can get the train.”

  “The big one with extra track?”

  She kissed him. “The biggest and best they have.”

  The next day, they sat Dakota down to tell him the news. She showed him her ring. “While we were away, Kyle asked me to marry him. I said yes.”

  Dakota stared at Kyle but didn’t say anything.

  “What do you think, little man?” Kyle asked. “Can I marry your mom?”

  “I think it’s a very good idea.” Dakota scooted from his chair and crossed over to them. He kissed Violet’s cheek before crawling onto Kyle’s lap snuggling into his chest. “This means we stay together forever, right?”

  “That’s right,” Kyle said. “Forever and ever.”

  “Until you grow up,” Violet said. “Which is a long, long time from now.”

  “I don’t want to grow up,” Dakota said.

  “That makes two of us.” Violet sighed and nestled closer to Kyle and Dakota. How was it possible that she could be this content?

  “Can we have bacon at the wedding?” Dakota asked.

  Kyle laughed. “What’s a wedding without bacon?”

  In one of the guest rooms at Brody and Kara’s, Violet fastened the veil onto Honor’s intricate updo. When it was secured, she stood back to admire the bride. The beaded bodice sparkled under the lights but not as brightly as Honor’s eyes.

  “You’re breathtaking,” Violet said.

  “Do you think?” Honor asked. “Because suddenly I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

  “You’re just nervous.”

  “Thank God we didn’t do anything too elaborate. You look beautiful too, by the way,” Honor said. “Kyle’s going to want to eat you instead of the wedding cake.”

  Violet looked at herself in the full-length mirror. The dress was the color of cranberries and cut low in the back. The halter top displayed her shapely shoulders. She’d had the hair and makeup girl give her bouncy, soft curls and a smoky eye. “I do look pretty good.”

  Honor laughed. “That’s my girl.”

  Kara, Maggie and Sophie came into the room, carrying glasses of champagne. Maggie wore a long royal blue velvet dress that draped elegantly over her dancer body and contrasted beautifully with her fair skin. Her wavy hair had been coaxed straight and shone like a new copper penny. Kara had on a dark green taffeta with a short A-line skirt that showed off her muscular legs. Sophie, in contrast, was dressed in a simple pink sheath with spaghetti straps and a sweetheart neckline. She’d had the stylist pile her blond hair into a complicated updo. She reminded Violet of a young Grace Kelly.

  “You ready to do this?” Kara asked.

  All day long Kara had bustled around making sure every detail was taken care of while the other girls had their hair and makeup done. They’d finally had to force her to sit in the chair for makeup and hair. She’d opted to have her hair swept up into a slick bun, so she could show off the new diamond earrings her newly retired husband had gotten her for a birthday present.

  “Is it time?” Honor asked, accepting the glass of champagne.

  “Five minutes. Long enough for a toast,” Kara said.

  “I saw Jackson pouring shots for all the guys,” Sophie said. “Zane’s looking a little pale under his tan.”

  “He hates people looking at him,” Honor said.

  “It’ll be over in a flash,” Kara said.

  “And th
en you’ll wish you could do it all over again,” Maggie said.

  A knock on the door drew their attention. It was Flora and Janet. “You guys have room for two old ladies?” Janet asked.

  Honor smiled and waved them inside. “Yes, yes, come in.”

  Flora’s dark eyes flashed with approval. “My oh my, don’t you look nice.”

  Janet nodded. “Like a doll.”

  “We won’t keep you long,” Flora said. “But we wanted to come say hello and give you a gift. Over the years, we’ve come to feel motherly toward you.”

  “You’re part of our family,” Janet said. “As are you girls.” She nodded at Violet and the others.

  “We weren’t sure you had something old,” Janet said. “I thought you might like to carry this hanky. It was my mother’s and I held it when I married Brody’s dad. It can be your something old.”

  “How sweet,” Honor said. “I would love to.”

  Janet brought a lace handkerchief from her pocketbook as well as a small box. “We also got you something. This is from Flora and Dax and Jon and me. We’re sort of your parents de facto, whether you want us or not.”

  Honor took the box from Janet’s outstretched hand and gasped as she lifted the lid. “Oh wow.” She lifted a sparkly tennis bracelet from the box. “It’s too much.”

  Flora shook her head. “No, we wanted you to have something special that would last a life time. Every time you look at it, please remember how loved you are by two women who would’ve been proud to be your mama.”

  Honor waved her hand in front of her eyes. “I cannot cry and ruin my makeup.”

  Janet fastened the bracelet around Honor’s wrist.

  “I couldn’t love it or you two more. Thank you,” Honor said. “It’s not my mom I’m grieving today. I wish Hugh was here.”

  “Speaking of Hugh. We have something for you too.” Violet grabbed the box from her bag. “This is from all of the girls.”

  “The Wags,” Kara said.

  “And me,” Sophie said.

  “You’re a Wag,” Maggie said. “A little sister Wag.”