"Emily Rollins is my nemesis," she grumbled out petulantly.
"Nemesis?" I asked in amusement as I pulled away from the curb in front of Violet's school. "Do you even know what that means?"
"Duh," she replied with yet another eye roll. "It means she's my archenemy."
"Aren't you a little young to have an archenemy?" I asked with a smirk. I loved this kid. She always amused the hell out of me. You never knew what insanity was going to come out of her mouth.
"Well, I'm eleven and I have one, so that would be a big fat no," she said unhappily. She crossed her arms and frowned deeply.
"What happened, Vi?" I asked worriedly as a flash of protectiveness hit me. If anyone was giving her a hard time, I'd put an end to it if I could.
Her frown deepened. "She said since I'm a Voss that I'm a bad person, and I'm going to end up dead or in prison."
I growled under my breath. Kids could be such little shits, even in the private school we'd enrolled Violet in. "You know that's not true, baby," I told her vehemently.
"I know," she said dejectedly, her eyes glittering with tears. She turned her head to stare out through the passenger window.
Violet was struggling with the loss of her father and the new reality of who he was, versus who she was led to believe he'd been for the first ten years of her life. She'd been going to counseling, and doing better, but I knew it still caused her pain and confusion. She didn't like to talk about it.
The authorities discovered Ray's body in the abandoned factory within a week after his death, identified him as Raymond Voss, and quickly ruled his death an accident. Thankfully, Scott had indeed erased our involvement in what happened so the police never even suggested that we might be involved, but we weren't completely untouched by it.
A huge news story blew up over the scandal of the body of a major criminal under investigation by the FBI being discovered after supposedly dying in a plane crash several months earlier. We weren't able to shield Violet from it and its details of his crimes, or apparently protect her from other kids who made callous and cruel comments to her about it since they knew he was her father. I impotently wished I could wring the neck of every last little shit who'd hurt her over it, but all I could do at this point was try to distract her and cheer her up. We had a big night planned after all.
"Do you want to have Uncle Scott and me beat the shit out of her?" I asked her archly. "I bet Uncle Evan and Uncle Rex would want in on that action too."
Ella's brother and I had rekindled our old friendship since she and I got back together. We spent a lot of time with him and his family, mostly sans her father. Ed pretty much avoided family get togethers when I was going to be there, or he was on his best behavior around Ella and Violet if he did show up. I wouldn't tolerate the way he usually treated them, and he knew it. For some reason, he found the hard stares and stony demeanor I had around him intimidating, so I used it to my advantage. Besides, Ella seemed happier with less of him in her life. That was all that mattered to me.
"Maybe?" Violet asked as she gave me a sideways glance, her lips twisting into a small smile.
"Consider it done," I replied with a grin. "We won't rest until your nemesis is vanquished."
Violet giggled, her smile widening as the tears began to fade. She thought I was joking, but all kidding aside, Scott, Evan, Rex, and I would battle the world for her if she needed it. Scott was just as amused and enamored by her as I was, and Evan had been wrapped around her finger since the day she was born. Rex and his wife Jo weren't immune to the kid's charms either, and doted on her like a beloved grandchild. We all loved her. No one came into this kid's orbit without being pulled into her warmth and light.
We rode in companionable silence for a while, and I began to fret about tonight. Old painful memories began to rise, eating at my confidence. I began nervously rubbing at my lips with my thumb as my stomach churned with anxiety. I spent the next few minutes like that until Violet finally spoke.
"Are you nervous about tonight?" she asked with a sly glance my way.
"Nope," I answered immediately and pulled my thumb from my mouth to grip the steering wheel tightly along with my other hand. "I'm good."
She threw a skeptical look my way with an arched brow and her lips pressed together. It made her look just like her mother did when she knew I was full of shit. Her mother excelled at calling me out on my bullshit now that we'd been living together for almost five months. Apparently, so did Violet now too.
It was quite the adjustment for me going from living as a bachelor for years to suddenly being part of a family. There were understandable growing pains as Ella and I learned to be a couple again, and I got a crash course in being a parent from a precocious child like Violet. I didn't regret any of it since the payoff was worth it. Every struggle we made it through over the last few months only seemed to draw the three of us closer together. They were my family, my everything, and tonight I was going to make sure that never changed, no matter how terrified I felt.
"How did you meet Mom?" Violet suddenly asked out of the blue. She knew we used to date years ago, but Ella and I hadn't told her much beyond that.
I snorted out a laugh and smirked, knowing she was trying to distract me from my nerves, even if I wouldn't fess up to them. Smart kid.
"She dumped a whole tray of water glasses on me," I told her with a wide grin.
"She what?" Violet asked incredulously.
"I was just minding my own business eating in a restaurant." What I didn't tell Violet was that I was intoxicated at the time. Some friends and I had hit up a twenty-four-hour breakfast place at three A.M. to sober up before calling an end to a drunken night. She didn't need to know any of that. Ever. "The next thing I knew this waitress that wasn't even ours tripped on her way past our table, and drenched me in what felt like a bucket of ice water."
"What did you do?" she asked with a laugh.
"Well, I was pissed as all hell for about two seconds,"-I paused for effect- "until I looked up to see the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life."
Violet's expression softened. "And then what?"
"She apologized and asked what she could do to make it up to me," I continued in a wistful tone. "I suggested she could go out on a date with me, and we'd call it even."
"And?" she prodded.
"Then we went out, and I fell in love with her," I answered in a bittersweet voice. I'd been in love with her ever since. It was hard not to think of all the years we wasted being apart, but then again, Violet wouldn't be here without them. She helped make up for the pain and regret Ella and I both still carried, and made it easier to bear.
"You make Mom happy," Violet said warmly. Her easy acceptance of me and my relationship with her mother still amazed me. She'd been practically giddy last week when I told her what I had planned for tonight, and jumped in with eager enthusiasm to help me with it.
"She makes me happy too, kid," I replied softly. I grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before returning it to the steering wheel. "You both do."
The bright and sincere smile that lit up her face touched my heart and settled my nerves for the rest of the drive home, including a couple of stops for some things we needed along the way. By the time we made it to the house, we only had an hour or so before Ella came home from taking her last final exam of her first semester of college. Then we'd have the next few weeks to celebrate our first Christmas together as a family.
Ella had balked at first over my suggestion to pay for her to get the business degree she wanted. She finally gave in when I told her I expected her to come work for me afterwords to make up for it since I never went myself. Not that I needed it, and I was obviously successful without one, but I longed to give Ella everything she wanted. She deserved it after that bastard kept her from living her dreams for so long.
Violet and I hit the ground running and headed straight to the kitchen to start dinner. She and I cooked together almost every night for the three of us. It was al
ways one of my favorite parts of the day, and it gave us quality time where we could bond. It was important to me, and had prompted me to lighten some of my workload over the last few months. I'd finally learned how to let go and rely more on Gwen with my business, so I could spend more time with my new family.
She'd been more than up to the task. She had been just as thrilled that I wanted more time with Ella and Violet, as she was the day that I explained how Ella and I found our way back to each other after so long apart. The woman really had a thing for second chances after all. I'd ended up promoting her not that long ago to General Manager of R&C LTD instead of being just my assistant. It was a move that benefited us both.
Violet chose our menu for tonight, the kung pao tempeh she'd tried the day we met, so I let her run the show. I followed her lead and let her boss me around as I listened to her talk about her day and anything else she wanted to tell me. The kid loved to talk, and I was more than happy to let her. She even slipped up and called me "Dad" a few times like she'd been doing a lot lately. Ella and I were careful never to mention a thing about it to her though. Even though it thrilled Ella and me to no end, we didn't want to make things weird or uncomfortable for her by pointing it out. If that's what Violet wanted to call me, I wanted it to happen naturally.
When the food was just about ready, I set out the candles and bouquet of brightly-colored flowers we'd picked up on the way home while Violet set the table. I went to the kitchen junk drawer to dig out some matches or a lighter. I'd never lit candles in the house since I bought the place, so I wasn't even sure if I had anything to light them with. I was still rooting around for something when I heard the garage door opening. Shit.
"Hurry, Dad," Violet called out in a frantic whisper from near the table.
"I am," I replied in a whisper myself as if Ella could hear us in the garage. A second later, I found a lighter at the back of the drawer. "Vi," I said as I held it up for her to see, then tossed it to her.
She snatched it out of the air and hurriedly began lighting the candles while I grabbed the kung pao and the Thai salad we made to go with it off the counter and carried it to the table. I set the dishes down just as Violet finished lighting the last candle, and a moment later Ella walked into the kitchen.
"Congratulations!" Violet hollered enthusiastically as she shoved the lighter at me. I took it and slid it into my back pocket as Violet rushed across the room to her mother.
Ella stood staring at the table in surprised awe as Violet plowed into her and practically assaulted her with a hug. The kid might be a little overexcited about the plans we'd made together for tonight. I smirked. She didn't know the half of it.
"What's all this?" Ella asked as she grinned happily over at me.
"You didn't think you could finish your first semester of college without us celebrating it did you?" I asked her as I stepped forward. I kissed her, then took her messenger bag and her car keys from her. I'd bought her a brand now Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV, so my girls would be safe driving this coming winter.
"I don't even know if I passed yet," she replied with a grimace while she wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Of course, you did, Mom," Violet said as she grinned up at Ella. "You're the smartest, most awesome person I know."
"What she said." I pointed a thumb at Violet with a smirk. I set her stuff on the kitchen island and waved an arm toward the table. "Let's eat before it gets cold."
Violet ushered Ella to the table, and we all sat down. Violet made a big show out of serving her mother, and stared expectantly as she took her first bite.
"Mm, this is really good," Ella said with an appreciative expression.
"I made it this time," Violet told her with a beaming smile.
"You did a good job, baby." Ella reached over to pat Violet's arm as the kid preened proudly.
"You sure did, kid," I agreed as I shot a sly wink at her.
We dug into our meal as Ella told us how her last day of exams had gone, and Violet talked about her day. I remained mostly silent as my anxiety from earlier came back full force and dampened my appetite. By the time Ella and Violet were ready for dessert, I'd barely said a word and hadn't even finished my kung pao yet. When Violet leaped up to get the vegan cheesecake out of the fridge, Ella eyed me and my half eaten dinner with a worried frown.
She leaned in closer. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly as she touched my forearm.
She'd been extra vigilant about my well-being lately. About a month ago, I'd gotten a call at work late one night from my mother's extended care facility. They told me that she wasn't doing well, and that I should come in immediately. When I arrived, it was to find that her health had started deteriorating quickly.
Within an hour, I was sitting at her bedside holding her hand and saying my goodbyes as I watched her pass away. It was a wonder her body had lasted as long as it did in the vegetative state she'd been in for the last eight years. I thought I already grieved the loss of my mother a long time ago, but I was wrong. Molly Rennen hadn't been a good mother to me, but she was still my family and losing her hurt. It hit me hard, and if it wasn't for Ella's emotional support, it would have been a lot harder and a real threat to my sobriety. It was just another reason I was grateful to have her back in my life.
"I'm okay," I assured her with a soft smile as I laid my hand over hers.
She gave me a dubious expression, but didn't have a chance to push me about it because Violet had come back with the cheesecake. We watched in amusement as Violet carefully cut each piece for us with the focused precision of a brain surgeon. It was all I could do not to laugh and piss her off. Finally, she served us each with a dramatic hand flourish that had Ella laughing, lighting up her face and making her steel blue eyes sparkle.
She looked so beautiful and so genuinely happy that it nearly took my breath away. It was nothing like the broken and lost woman who had shown up at my club all those months ago, and managed to settle my nerves over what I was about to do. It was time, so I took a fortifying breath and reached into my right pants pocket to wrap my fingers around the small box I'd been carrying all afternoon. I glanced at Violet to see her smiling and nodding in encouragement before focusing all my attention on the love of my life.
"Ella?" I said as I took her hand in mine.
"Yeah, Cal?" Her expressive brows rose expectantly as she gave me a radiant smile and her undivided attention.
"You know, for a long time after I got clean I thought that I was destined to be alone, and I learned to live with it. I focused on my business thinking that it was all I was ever going to have, and I was content, but I wasn't truly happy." I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb. "I lived in denial because I thought I lost my one and only chance for that happiness, but fate had other ideas." I smiled. "Fate brought you back to me, back where you belonged." I swallowed then slowly slid off my chair onto one knee next to a suddenly wide-eyed Ella. I pulled the box out of my pocket.
"Now that I have you back, I'm never going to let you go again." I opened the little box and held it up to Ella to show her the sparkling princess-cut diamond ring nestled inside. "I love you so much, Ella, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" I asked in a breathless and rough voice, my emotions rising up to overwhelm me and making tears threaten to fall.
Ella gasped and covered her mouth as she stared at the ring in stunned surprise, her own eyes glittering with emotion. "I...I..." she stuttered out and looked up at me incredulously.
"Say yes, Mom," Violet blurted out impatiently. "Say yes."
"You heard the kid," I added nervously. "Say yes, baby."
Ella laughed happily and her beaming smile rivaled the sun. "Yes," she cried out. "Yes, yes, yes!" She threw herself into my arms as Violet let out a loud whoop of triumph.
The nerves, the fear, and the lingering pain of long ago just melted away, leaving behind sheer joy like I'd never known as I clutched Ella against me. I breathed in her luscious citrus scent,
basked in the feel of her in my arms, and reveled in the thought that she was mine forever now. I found her soft lips with my own and kissed her with a low heat that was nothing compared to the scorching fire I planned to give her later tonight in our playroom after the kid was asleep. I was breathless when I had to pull away before it became inappropriate for Violet to see.
"Put it on. Put it on," Violet demanded, grinning excitedly as she bounced in her chair.
I shook my head in amusement as Ella sat back down and stretched her left hand out to me. I swiftly did as Violet said, and slipped the gorgeous ring onto her mother's finger. Ella stared at it in awe, still grinning broadly. I took my opportunity to execute my next move. I reached into my left pants pocket and pulled out yet another jewelry box. This time I turned to face Violet.
"Fate also brought me someone else I didn't expect or even knew I needed." I grinned at her. "Now that I have you, I'm never letting you go either." I opened the slightly larger box and held it up to Violet, showing her the little heart-shaped amethyst attached to a delicate white gold chain. "Violet, I love you as if you were my own daughter, and I want to make it official. I want to adopt you and give you my name. I want to be your father, if you'll have me."
Violet's mouth hung open with an absolutely flabbergasted expression. I smirked. I'd rendered her speechless, an act I'd thought impossible.
"Say yes, baby," Ella said in a wavering and tender tone as she watched us with tears of happiness trailing down her cheeks. "Say yes."
"Yes, Daddy," Violet sobbed out as she nodded her head frantically, her big dark-green eyes gleaming with tears of joy. "Yes."
With shaking hands, I put the necklace around my little girl's neck. Then I gathered my world, my everything, in my arms and held them close, held them tight, crying joyously and unashamedly with them. They were right where they belonged. I was right where I belonged. I had the real family I longed for, the real love I thought I lost forever. I finally let go of a past filled with pain and regret, and embraced the unexpected and happy future I never thought I'd have.
Taming Rough Waters Page 29
