Blushing Violet (14 page)

“Well, he is certainly a better looker than that young man you used to date, Kenny. What a pompous little man he was.”

She tore her eyes away from Morgan’s approaching figure. “I thought you liked him.”

“No, honey, I thought you liked him so I tried to like him for you.” The doorbell rang and her mother said in a low whisper, “Does Morgan make you happy?”

“Very.”

“Then that’s good enough for me.” She moved to answer the door and added, “Now your father will probably hate him out of principal, but I’m afraid there is no medication for making a father happy that his baby girl is growing up.”

* * * * *

An hour later Morgan and her father were deep in conversation about the Lions’ chances of making the Super Bowl next year while she and her mother made a salad for dinner. The open kitchen looked down into the den, and Violet couldn’t make out what they were saying over the blare of ESPN, but so far her father hadn’t kicked him out.

It helped that Morgan was also a diehard Lions fan and knew almost as much about the team as her father. When her father heard that, he had hustled Morgan off to his den to show off his prized collection of sports memorabilia. Violet had trailed along, amused by the gleam in Morgan’s eye as he took in her father’s collection with something close to awe. She had excused herself on the excuse of helping her mother in the kitchen, but in reality sports bored her to tears and the only thing that would have entertained her was ogling Morgan’s ass, and that was something you just didn’t do in front of your dad.

“Morgan,” her mother called out over the din of the TV, “do you like black olives on your salad?”

“Whatever you make is fine with me.” He looked at Violet and a spark of heat seemed to leap from his gaze to hers. Desire suffused her body and her chopping of the tomatoes slowed to a standstill.

Her mother chuckled and said in a low voice, “He better not let your father see him looking at you like that. Lions fan or not, he may end up at the bottom of Lake Michigan.”

Violet tore her gaze from Morgan’s and blushed hot enough that she probably matched the tomato. “That would be unfortunate.” She peeled the shell off a hardboiled egg and came to a decision about something she had been thinking about since her talk with her mother in the parlor. “Mom, Morgan isn’t my only boyfriend.”

Her mother stared at her, then blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. “Does he know that?”

She tried not to squirm as she crumbled the egg into a small bowl. “Yeah. Uh—they want to meet each other next week. And I’d like to introduce you and Dad to Carlos.”

Leaning against the counter, her mother examined her and finally nodded. “I know things aren’t like they were back when I was growing up, but I still think it should be one man and one woman.”

Shame heated Violet’s cheeks as she cleared the eggshell into the wastebasket. “I used to think the same thing, until I met them.”

Her mother turned her gaze on the living room. “I used to think I knew what love was until I met your father and found out I had no idea.” She briskly brushed her hands together and stood up straight. “Well, I can’t promise that your father won’t lose his mind, but I’d like to meet this Carlos.”

A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed past it. The thought of upsetting her father made her feel slightly ill, but she knew if her mother was on her side she stood a fighting chance. “Thanks, Mom.”

“What will you do if things get serious? You can only date for so long before your heart will want to take the natural next step and settle down.”

“I-I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to take it one day at a time like everyone else.”

Her mother shook her head and laughed. “You definitely take after your father’s side of the family. Calm, logical, and you can see to the heart of a matter without getting hysterical.”

Violet gave her mom an innocent look. “Who in our family gets hysterical?”

Her mother gave her a mock swat on the bottom with a dishtowel before heading across the kitchen to the sink. The doorbell rang and her mother gestured toward the front of the house with a hand full of carrots that she was about to wash. “That must be Penny and Brad. Can you please let them in?”

“Sure.” Violet grabbed a towel and dried her hands as she hurried down the hall to the front door. The doorbell rang again as soon as she opened it and Penny gave her a nasty look. “It’s freezing out here. What took you so long and why was the door locked?” Penny’s eyes were puffy and Violet noticed that she wasn’t wearing any mascara. Her light, strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her nails looked as if she’d been biting them. That was as weird as the sun turning green. Penny always looked as if she’d stepped straight out of the pages of a fashion magazine and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Penny with anything but an elegant manicure.

“You okay?” Violet asked as Brad and Penny walked into the house.

Brad also looked as if he’d been crying, and Violet wondered what the hell happened. After her mother’s revelations she found herself looking at Penny in a different light. She was still a bitch, but Violet felt sorry for her. Penny had taken the brunt of her mother’s anger, trying to do everything she could to make her happy. It wasn’t good enough for their mother that Penny made the cheer squad, no, she had to be captain. She couldn’t just sell enough Girl Scout cookies to afford to go to camp, she had to sell the most of anyone in her troop or she was a failure.

Penny tossed her jacket into the closet and gave Violet a narrow-eyed look. “Are you wearing makeup?”

She flushed and took Brad’s coat. “Yeah.”

“And Daddy didn’t make you wash it off yet?”

“Penny,” Brad said in a low voice. She went quiet and stared at the hallway leading to the kitchen. Brad sighed softly and gave Violet a tired smile. “You look nice. Is your boyfriend here yet?”

Her heart lifted at the mention of Morgan. She had no idea how she was going to introduce her family to Carlos, but that was a worry for another day. Right now she just had to get through the meal without pulling Penny’s hair or kicking her in the shins. “Yeah, he’s in the living room talking with my dad about the Lions’ defensive lineup.”

Brad’s red-rimmed blue eyes lit up. “Really?”

Penny looked at her husband out of the corner of her eye and made a visible effort to compose herself. “Let’s go meet this mystery man of yours.”

Violet followed them down the hallway, eager to break the weird tension that surrounded Brad and Penny. As they walked, Penny slid her hand into Brad’s and he held it so tight his knuckles turned white. Whatever was going on between them obviously wasn’t about their relationship.

They reached the kitchen and the blaring noise of the living room TV echoed off the vaulted ceiling. Penny and Brad froze in front of her and Brad said, “Son of a bitch!” in a loud voice and dropped Penny’s hand to sprint into the living room.

Penny whirled around and glared at Violet. “What kind of game are you playing?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Penny grabbed her wrist and hauled her down the hall to the parlor where Violet’s mother had changed her view of the world an hour ago. She felt a weird sense of déjà vu as Penny took the chair her mother had sat in, adopting the same stick-up-the-ass pose. Her voice was frosty as she said, “Why is Morgan Kane in our parents’ living room pretending to be your boyfriend?”

Violet stared at her and said through clenched teeth, “He is my boyfriend. How do you know him?”

Penny gave a bitter laugh and rubbed her forehead. “He was on the football team the same time I was a cheerleader. I was going to ask him out on a date before I met Brad, but then I found out he’s gay.”

Now it was Violet’s turn to laugh. “He’s not gay!”

An angry red flush crept up from Penny’s neck all the way to her hairline. “Yes, he is. I don’t understand why you’re lying to me. I mean yeah, I know why you’re lying to Mom and Dad, they’ve been leaning on you pretty hard to find a guy, but don’t lie to me, please.” Her voice broke on the last word and Penny actually looked hurt.

Violet shook her head. This wasn’t adding up. Penny trying to be a hurtful bitch was one thing, but this was an outrageous claim, even for her. “Penny, why do you think he’s gay?”

“Because I saw him with his boyfriend, Carlos. They were holding hands outside of the locker room when they thought no one was looking.”

The room began a slow, sickening spin. She felt as if she were at the top of a rollercoaster, about to drop into a pit where the track disappeared into a broken chasm of jagged rocks. “Carlos?”

“Yeah. Carlos Romano. Hot guy that was in a photography class with Brad. Dark hair, real good-looking. He and Morgan were,” she held up her hands, making quotation marks, “best friends. I never told anyone what I saw ’cause that could have screwed up his bond with the other football players and Morgan was a decent guy and a friend of Brad’s.”

Violet tasted the salt of her tears before she was even aware they were falling down her cheeks. “He knows Carlos Romano?”

Penny’s posture softened and she dug a tissue out of her pocket. “I know things have been rough between us, but really, you don’t have to lie to me. I won’t tell Mom and Dad as long as you don’t string this out for too long. Brad will play along too, he always liked Morgan.”

She said in a voice filled with the pain of her heart breaking, “He lied to me…they lied to me.”

“That bastard,” Penny said in a venomous voice. “I’ll castrate him if he hurt you.”

Violet barely heard her, instead stumbling from the couch and fumbling with the door to the closet in an effort to jerk it open. Male voices came closer as Brad and Morgan walked down the hall, laughing together. They froze when they saw her jamming her jacket on and dropping her purse.

“Violet?” Morgan asked in a soft voice.

Penny stalked over to the men and said in a low hissing whisper, “What the fuck did you do to my sister, you asshole?”

“Penny!” Brad said in a shocked voice as Violet wrenched open the front door and stumbled down the steps into the now dark night.

She made it to her car before Morgan caught up to her. “Violet?”

Turning her back to him, she tried to jam her key into the lock. “Fuck off, you lying piece of shit.”

He spun her around to face him, stepping back as she swung at him and missed. “What the hell is wrong with you, Violet?”

Rage spilled out of her, turning the world red with her anger. “You and Carlos know each other, in fact, you two are lovers!”

He turned pale beneath his tan and his hands fell limp to his sides. “I—that is we—I’m not gay.”

“You two have been playing me this whole time! Oh, I don’t mind sharing you with a stranger,” she said in a nasty voice. “Don’t worry, we won’t make you choose.”

He held his hands out in a pleading gesture, but wisely didn’t move toward her. “It’s not—”

“It’s not what? It’s not like you two haven’t been manipulating me, laughing at me behind my back as you both fucked me? Did you two get together and compare notes on me? Did Carlos show you the pictures he took of me while he fucked me so you both could laugh at what a naïve, trusting idiot I am?”

“No, I would never do that!”

“Oh, but you would lie to me from the moment I met you.” She staggered back against her car as pieces of their triangle relationship began to fall into place. “You were there, that night when Carlos brought another man.”

He nodded and stared over her shoulder. “That was me. Carlos and I wanted to fulfill your every fantasy, and I missed you.”

She threw her head back and screamed her rage into the sky. The door to her parents’ house opened and Brad looked outside quickly before pulling Penny out of the doorway and shutting it with a slam. “How could you do this to me? How could you hurt me like this? You know how much I loved you!”

He jerked as if she slapped him and his face went ashen. “You love me?”

Her empty stomach churned and she regained enough of her mind to just use the button on her key to unlock the doors. “Not anymore.”

He made a strangled sound and she practically dove into her car. As she slammed the door, he came close to losing the tips of his fingers as he tried to catch it. She slammed the lock into place and turned her car on and jammed it into reverse. The tires screeched before they caught the wet pavement and she spun out into the street.

In the reflection of her headlights she saw him crouch to the ground and hold his head in his hands. Wiping away her tears with a shaking hand, she sped down the street and took a few turns before pulling into the empty driveway of a house with no lights on and shutting her car off.

In the sudden silence her breathing sounded loud and jagged as she dialed Carlos’ number on her cell phone. He answered after one ring, the pain in his voice evident as he said, “Violet, I can—”

“Don’t call me, don’t talk to me, don’t show up at my work, don’t show up at my house. You are fucking dead to me, you lying, manipulative, motherfucking rat bastard dickhead douche bag asshole!”

She hung up on him and blocked his number. A second later Morgan tried to call her and she blocked his number as well. Staring through the windshield of her car she called Bethany. It took her ten minutes of hysterical crying to calm down enough to let Bethany know that she was physically okay.