Page 132 of Theirs for the Holidays

I look over at him. “What?”

“Why should you go and support her when she’s treating you like this? She doesn’t deserve to have you standing there with her. Let everyone wonder what she did to alienate her own sister on what’s supposed to be a happy day.”

For a moment, I consider it. I never wanted to go in the first place, but I knew my mom would have a fit if I even thought about not going over hurt feelings. She’d tell me to be the bigger person, and then probably get a jab in about my weight for good measure.

“No,” I sigh. “I’m going to go. If I don’t show up, Isabelle will just think she won. She’ll think I’m too miserable to come and probably spend the whole time badmouthing me to everyone there.”

“Fair point,” Sawyer admits. “Well, at least you’ll have us with you. And hey, just say the word and I’ll be ready to spill some wine on her dress or something.”

I laugh, feeling a bit lighter for their support.

42

RHETT

The next dayfinds me pacing around Violet’s house.

This is one of the things I dislike the most about being in towns, even ones as relatively quiet as Sweetwater Lake. There’s never enough to do. If I was back at my cabin, I could be buried in any number of projects right now, taking my mind off the restless energy burning under my skin.

Violet is back at the bakery, packing more things up to move it out of there, and I wish I could be there with her. Or that she didn’t have to do this at all. I understand she’s going through a hard time, but the protective feeling in me wants to help. She seems determined to do this on her own though, and I have to respect that.

I also have to find something to do before I go insane.

I’ve already chopped all the wood in the backyard, and I’d go hunting for more trees to take care of if it wasn’t for my wrist still being broken. The dishes from breakfast and from dinner last night are done, and I’ve already picked up and washed all the clothes I brought with me.

There’s nothing left for me to take my emotions out on.

“You’re going to wear a hole through the floor at this rate,” Sawyer says when I pass him in the living room for probably the fifth time this morning. “Why don’t you sit down somewhere?”

“Because,” I snap, but then take a deep breath to rein in my agitation. It’s not Sawyer’s fault, and we’ve been doing a much better job at not going in on each other for little things these days. I don’t want to fuck that up. “Sorry. I’ve just got too much restless fucking energy. I feel like I need to be doing something, but there’s nothing to do. It’s driving me crazy.”

Sawyer nods. “Yeah, I get that.”

I take his advice and flop down on the other end of the couch, careful not to jar my wrist. “I fucking hate this.”

“That makes two of us. Well, three of us. Lennox is just better at hiding it, I guess. But none of us want to see Violet going through this.”

“It’s not fair,” I say. “Her sister is such a spoiled little brat, and now she’s pulling this? Just because she’s jealous?”

“Right?” Sawyer grins. “She should learn how to nurse a grudge and maybe just not talk to Violet for a few years instead. Worked for us. We never tried to sabotage each other’s livelihoods and all.”

That makes me snort. We must be moving past it if we can make jokes about it now. Although Sawyer’s process for working through things has basically always been to make jokes about it until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up about something before,” Sawyer says offhandedly. “At least not something that didn’t directly affect you.”

He’s right about that. One of the reasons I distanced myself from other people was to avoid getting dragged into their drama. People as a whole came with too many issues, too much baggage. It was easier to hold myself apart from it.

“I’ve never had much use for society or people on a large scale,” I admit. “I’m happiest in my own company.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Sawyer says mildly. “I remember what you’re like.”

“Normally, I don’t stick my nose into business that has nothing to do with me. I never see the point. But it’s different with Violet. I care what happens to her. She’s not just anyone. She’s Violet.”

Sawyer smiles, but it’s not mocking. It’s like he understands. “Yeah, she is. Of all the people who this could have happened to, she deserves it the least.”

“She made something beautiful and perfect with her bakery. Something that brought her so much genuine happiness. She didn’t try to force herself to fit into the mold her family wanted her to, and she made her dreams work for her. And now her sister is ruining that.”

Lennox comes in right in the middle of my speech and stands in the doorway, arms folded, looking into the middle distance. When I finish, he nods, sighing a little. “Seems like we’re all on the same page then.”