“You should go get dressed, because the food will be here in twenty minutes, and then guests start arriving in less than an hour. We can take some photos of you in the photo booth before everyone gets here.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back!” Harper giggled all the way down the hall as she ran to her bedroom.
“Violet,” I said, my voice gruff.
She turned to face me. “Yes?”
“That was—” I blew out a breath. “That was really kind of you. Thank you.”
“Of course. I wanted this to be special for her.”
“Well, you’ve succeeded. I saw the charge on my card for the food and the cake, but you didn’t charge me for half of this stuff.”
“I’ve been living rent-free in your home. You’re also renovating my home for me. I would have paid for the food as well, if you hadn’t been so pushy about making me use your card.” She chuckled. “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
I nodded, fighting the urge to pull her into my arms.
Damn this woman for getting under my skin in every possible way.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” I said, moving a step closer as her tongue swiped out along her bottom lip.
I placed a hand on the side of her neck, my thumb stroking along her jaw.
And the motherfucking doorbell rang.
Violet chuckled as Harper ran down the hall in a pink dress with a big gold crown on her head and her pink sparkly shoes.
“I wonder if it’s my Pinkalicious cake!” she shouted, moving toward the door.
I beat her there and pulled the door open. Caroline stood on the other side.
There was an awkward silence as my daughter processed who it was.
It wasn’t her cake.
It wasn’t her sandwiches.
It was her mother, who showed up once a year to spend a few hours with her.
“Happy birthday, Harper. Do you remember me?” Caroline’s blond hair sat on her shoulders, and she had a smile plastered on her face. Our daughter had her mother’s green eyes, but everything else from her hair color to her golden skin color to her expressions seemed to come from me.
“Hi, Caroline.” Harper’s tone was colder than usual, which had alarm bells going off in my head.
Maybe these visits weren’t healthy for her anymore.
“Well, are y’all going to make me stand out here all day? I came for the party.” Caroline chuckled as if it was perfectly normal to show up to her daughter’s party when they hadn’t spoken in a year.
I stepped back. “Sure. Come on in. I wasn’t sure if you were coming, because you said you didn’t want to do the big party thing.”
“Well, you refused to move it, so you didn’t give me much of a choice. And this is the only day I could come. I’ve got a wedding to plan, and we’re building a new home,” she said as she fluttered her hands around. “Look at my ring, Harper. I’m getting married.”
Harper glanced down at the gargantuan diamond and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Wow. This place is very pink. You don’t usually decorate quite this much. Who did the decorating?”
“My Violet decorated for the whole party,” Harper said as we moved toward the kitchen.
“Who is Violet?” Caroline asked, not making any effort to hide her irritation.
