Sunset Thunder (20 page)

“Sophia, we can’t hide from people because someone has hurt us.”

“Someone? Everyone lies Mom. Dad lied to all of us. Grandma and Uncle Carl lied to Marc and Izzy about who their real dad was. Kate lied to Marc about Rosemary. Everybody lies.”

When it was said so plain, so simple, it was no wonder Violet didn’t trust.

“I can’t defend why any of them kept those secrets and told those lies. I know some of them were done out of love, to keep our family together.”

“Not Dad.”

“Your dad didn’t want to hurt either of you. We grew apart and that’s not either of our fault or your own.” Violet took a deep breath. “We can’t hide from life or from people. Life is wonderful and there are a lot of amazing people out there. Some might hurt you, but others will love you and that love is worth putting yourself out there.”

“Like Ryder?”

“I know it’s scary Sophia. I’m scared too. I don’t know that Ryder’s not like your dad and that he won’t hurt me. But I trust in my heart that he’s good and kind and thoughtful. He didn’t invite me to go fishing, he invited you two. I just tagged along because I was scared Parker might rip him to shreds.”

Sophia grinned.

Parker smirked.

Violet’s heart lightened.

“If I thought for one second that Ryder would hurt us, I would never invite him in. I promise.”

Violet sank onto the beige leather sofa beside her kids and pulled Sophia into a firm embrace. Her children came first.

Parker crawled over top of Violet and settled himself awkwardly in the middle of them, to stretch his short arms around both the girls.

“Are you still inviting Ryder over?” Parker’s muffled voice asked.

“I don’t know if we are ready for Ryder to come over,” Violet admitted. They had trust issues that ran deeper than Violet knew.

“I’m ready,” Parker’s muffled voice said.

“You’re heavy and annoying,” Sophia said, pushing at Parker. Parker caught the humor in her voice and fell against his sister, rolling onto the floor. “Dork.” Sophia rolled her eyes.

Parker ignored her and ran down the hall toward his bedroom yelling he was getting his swimsuit on because Eliza promised to take them swimming after breakfast.

Sophia didn’t follow. She curled her legs against her and wrapped her arms around them, staring at Violet with eyes that had more to say. Violet didn’t pressure her. She leaned into the sofa and sat quietly with her daughter. When she was ready to talk, Violet was here to listen.

“I’m going to ask Emma to finish your dad’s wedding,” Violet said. “If you had told me that my planning his wedding was embarrassing, I would have handed it over to Emma right away.”

“Mom, it’s embarrassing that he’s getting married here at all.
Everyone
in the resort is talking about it.”

“People are always going to talk.”

Sophia dropped her head. When she slowly looked away from her fidgeting fingers she said, “They talk about Dad having an affair with Missy. Like when you two were still married. Is it true?”

Violet had no other answer but the truth. “I don’t know, Sophia. I’ve heard the rumors.”

“Don’t they bother you?”

“They did, of course. But, your dad and I weren’t in love with each other anymore. It doesn’t mean we don’t still care about each other. If you need to know the answer to that question, then I guess you should ask him. Either way, it won’t change the past and it won’t control my future. It won’t scare me away from letting people into my life.”

Thanks to Ryder.

If he hadn’t opened her eyes, she would still be cowering with the illusion it was her strength.

“You don’t think I should ask, do you?”

“You do what you need to do. Don’t hold back on the account of others...of me. Whatever the truth is, it won’t change me.”

Sophia sighed loudly, a trait she didn’t get from Violet and curled up beside her mother. “I like Ryder,” she said, as if it was being forced out of her. “And he smiles more when you’re around and you smile more when he’s around. So, if you like him, I guess I like him too.”

“You guess?”

“I like Tank and Sabin more.”

Violet laughed. Oh, her daughter was going to be just fine.

WEDNESDAY ROLLED AROUND and Violet still hadn’t tried to make any contact with Ryder.

Damn, she was one stubborn woman.

Ryder had stared at her number in his phone contacts and thought about sending her a little,
have you stepped out of the dark yet? Or are you ready to get some deep fried pickles?
He thought better of it, giving her the space she needed.

So he’d tried his hardest to not think about her, but it seemed the blonde beauty was unforgettable. The abundance of exhausting Skype meetings with his cousins, the Kendricks, back in Oakston had distracted him momentarily. They demanded the final decisions,
his
final word, for the redesign of the store, which in turn required his full attention.  

But the moment his feet hit the wooden dock, the bow of the boat reminded him of the apple they shared together under stars that had cast a luminous glow across her smooth face, which only heated his desire to kiss her again. And the swim platform brought back the exact moment a weight, Ryder hadn’t realized he was carrying, lifted, reminding him that it felt good to smile, laugh and tease. It was all because of Violet.

He wanted to be angry at himself for being foolish enough to let another woman past his guard and provide her with the weapons to hurt him, but Violet had given him a gift she would never know, his desire to live life again. The down side was that he wanted to live his life with Violet. He wanted to board the boat with her at his side, open a silly can of corn for her fishing bait, and
he
wanted to massage the sun block across her entire body, before wrapping his arms around her and kissing those saucy lips.

Ryder needed a break from his head...from Violet. He decided spending the day with his dad would keep him busy.

Susan took the opportunity to run into town and complete some errands, which gave Ryder one-on-one time with his dad. Sadly, Donald was having a bad day. The two of them heading to the dock with their fishing gear was now out of the question. Donald didn’t even want to go to the gardens, and that was his favorite place.

Ryder and Donald spent the morning watching old movies on television instead. Old black and white Westerns, with poor effects and comical conversations were minimally distracting.

Ryder felt like he was glancing at his phone every five minutes, to see if he’d missed a text from Violet. The volume was hiked to the max so there was no way he could have missed it, but he looked anyway.

Ryder opened his eyes, not realizing he’d fallen asleep. His exhausted body begged him to return to sleep. Ryder stretched his body out in the recliner and glanced over at the matching beige chair, expecting to see his dad. Donald wasn’t there. 

Ryder sat up, pulling the lever on the side of the chair and standing, all in one motion. “Dad?” he called. “Dad?” Besides the noise of Tank scrambling to his feet, silence answered Ryder.

Where was his dad?

Panic thundered through his body as Ryder checked every room in the house, even where Susan and Kelly slept. Nothing. 

Ryder dialed Susan’s number as he stepped out onto the small wooden porch to scan the property.

She picked up on the first ring.

“I fell asleep,” Ryder said right away.

There was no time to play games. His dad was not stable enough to roam the grounds by himself and with the river... Ryder almost screamed. He didn’t even know if his dad could swim anymore. In his prime years, Donald had been an avid swimmer, but now, now he was deteriorating and Ryder didn’t know what he was capable of these days.

“I didn’t mean to. And when I woke up Dad was gone. I can’t find him. He’s not in the house.” 

“Alright. Ryder, calm down,” Susan said in a tone he’d often heard her use with his father to ease his alarm.

Was that even a possibility?

“Check the gardens first. Your dad will sit in the gardens all day.” 

“Okay.” 

“I’m on my way. I shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes. Check by the river and on the boat.” 

Ryder was running to the garden, then changed direction toward the river.

Where did he check first?

Some of the paths led to the dock, so he would take those paths straight to the water.

He stopped suddenly. “What if he’s not there?” 

What if Ryder couldn’t find him? What if he fell in the water? What if he got lost in the bush across the road?

There were so many what it’s clambering in his head that he almost missed Susan’s promise that they would fine him.

“I will call Kelly and we will both help you find Donald.” 

“Okay.” Ryder hung up and ran until he hit the gardens. They were his grandmother Carlex’s gardens, which was why Ryder figured his dad loved to sit for hours staring at the bright bursts of color.

The estate was huge.

Why had he fallen asleep?

He had one thing to do today, watch his dad, and his distraction for Violet had clouded him into a deep sleep. His feelings for Violet, a woman who was fighting against them, were the reason Donald was missing, possibly hurt, possibly...

Ryder swallowed the fear of losing his father, as he rounded the edge of the property and found no sign of his dad. He knew the day would come when this disease took over his father’s body, but Ryder wasn’t ready to lose Donald yet. He wasn’t ready to be alone.

***

VIOLET TURNED ONTO Crystal Cliff Road. Her eyes darted from the luxury estates, hidden behind wrought iron-gated properties along one side, to the trees lining the woods on the other side. The leg not pushing the pedal bounded at a rapid pace.

What if she chickened out? You’re not five years old, you’re an adult. Adults don’t chicken out.

Violet pushed a hand on her left leg, as she spotted movement in the long grass on her right. A man walked away from the six-foot grass blowing in the breeze and toward the road. Violet wouldn’t have pressed on the breaks had she not recognized the man wearing only brown slacks and no shirt.

Mr. Carlex.
Ryder’s dad.
Only, he was half the size he used to be and his burly figure was now frail bones.

Violet pulled over and climbed out, leaving her worry about Ryder behind her.

The closer she walked toward Mr. Carlex, the worse he looked. His once knowledgeable, smiling eyes were sunken and confused, darting around like he was lost.

What was he doing walking around in a bush wearing no shirt, and still a quarter mile from the Carlex estate?
 

Donald turned away from Violet and started back toward the grass that led to the bush. A bush one could easily get lost in, and from the confused look across the older man’s face, it didn’t appear as though Donald was aware of where he was headed.

Violet panicked. She was still over twenty feet away from Donald and would have to climb down the steep ditch.
What if she lost sight of him once he went back through the long grass?

“Mr Carlex!” Violet called, stopping short at the edge of the road, the tips of her heels kicking up pebbles and dust.

Donald didn’t look back at her, he didn’t even acknowledge her voice. He disappeared into the green shrubbery and Violet was forced to climb, slide and trip down the sharp ditch scattered with two-foot high grass and hard soil beneath her heels. She wished she’d worn shorts or pants, instead of the cotton, navy, t-shirt dress she’d chosen, so she could slip into her office after talking Ryder.

She made it half way down on her feet and then fell the rest of the way on her rear. Only the thin material of her panties separated her from the rough grass, rocks and dirt. Violet didn’t have time to pay attention to the damage on the back of her stinging legs. She dusted her derriere and without reservation, she ran through the high grass, struggling to follow the flattened path of Mr. Carlex.

“Mr. Carlex! Mr. Carlex!” She continued shouting his name until she broke through the grass and stopped abruptly, almost falling forward.

Violet sighed a breath of relief when her eyes fell on Mr. Carlex; he had stopped too.

He stared at the ground, where she’d emerged, making no eye contact with her. Sabin stood at his feet, obedient to his owned, but wagged his tail when Violet called out to him.

Trying to catch her breath, Violet sucked in a deep lungful of air, before she turned her full attention to Ryder’s dad.

This man neither looked nor acted like the Mr. Carlex that had gracefully made speeches at her mother’s events, with his poised, confident smile, that encouraged others to open their chequebooks for every wonderful event Eliza had thrown. Violet was sure, if anywhere else, she might not have recognized him at all. He looked like he’d ages twenty years in the last two years since she’d seen him last.

“Mr. Carlex, what are you doing out here?” Violet asked, but she prepared herself for him not to answer. 

He didn’t answer right away, more interested in staring intently at the ground around them. Violet was more concerned about how she was going to get him back up the ditch.

When Donald finally answered, it came out slow at first, as if he was struggling to remember what he was thinking and sounded like a child answering her.

“I want to go home.”

The bush was not the way to his house.

“Do you need a ride?” she offered, omitting the part where she was heading to his house, planning on confessing her stubborn feelings to his annoyingly handsome, pushy and sweet son. She had a sinking feeling Mr. Carlex wouldn’t have heard her if she had.

Donald still avoided eye contact with her and repeated, “I want to go home.” 

“I will take you home.” 

“I want to go home.” He said it louder, shouting at the end. “I want to go home.” And louder again. He was acting...
child-like
.

Violet had seen symptoms like this before and they were an awful lot like Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Dementia? Mr. Carlex had dementia? How did Violet not know this? How did nobody know this?
It finally struck her
...Because Ryder was hiding it.

After great effort, including using soft tones to Donald like she did with her grouchy son, and mentioning every name she could in hopes of sparking a memory, Violet finally got him in the car and drove to the Carlex estate, but not before Mr. Carlex had planted an elbow across her jaw. She didn’t blame him, he was confused.

Her jaw pounded with pain. When she touched the area, it swelled against her fingers. She was going to need some ice.

Her concern for herself diminished when she parked in front of the Carlex estate, and absorbed the pain and worry Ryder conveyed from where he stood beside the grand circular stairs.

He stood with two women. Both looked to be in their early twenties. Ryder’s hands were flaring in every direction, while the shorted blonde-haired woman, who wore mask of concern, tried to calm him by touching his arm. Ryder jerked away only to start the action with the tall brunette, whose soft blue dress matched her tender approach.

When they became aware of Violet’s vehicle, their eyes relaxed when they realized Mr. Carlex sat in the passenger’s seat. Relief danced across all three of their faces.

Who were these women? Had Ryder moved on so quickly? Was she the fool who thought she was falling in love and he was the player everyone said? No. Stop it, Violet.

These were her terrified thoughts. The very ones that would have her simply depositing Donald and excusing herself so she didn’t have to face the reality. Good or bad, she wasn’t running away from this.

Both women rushed to the passenger’s side of her car, pulling the door open. Their soft voices soothed the man who had screamed a fit not even a minute earlier, scaring the daylights out of Violet. Donald was quick tempered but quick to settle down. 

When Donald emerged from the car, Ryder’s arms went around his father for a long embrace.

Violet stood back and watched. There was no recollection in Donald’s eyes for his son, who was filled with fear and relief at his dad’s return.

Violet felt the tears for Ryder form along the rim of her eyes. She held her breath, hoping...praying...that Donald wouldn’t pull away from Ryder in another fit. She watched how much Ryder needed his dad...or what was left of him...and her heart was breaking with each long, aching second that went by. Ryder hadn’t only lost his mother, he’d lost his dad and nobody had known it.

“Hi, I’m Susan.” The shorter of the two women stopped beside Violet and squeezed her hand.

Susan? Susan!

“And this is Kelly.” As Violet’s eyes moved to the young...so very young woman...who gave a little wave, Violet’s heart stopped.

Susan and Kelly? Susan and Kelly? What was Violet thinking coming here? Trying to win Ryder back, when he’d already moved on and was here with Susan and Kelly?

“Hello. Nice to meet you both. I’m Violet Caliendo.” Professionalism was her best trait...even when she was dying inside.

“Yes, I recognize you.”