THE MAVERICK DOCTOR AND MISS PRIM/ABOUT THAT NIGHT... (30 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

V
IOLET
 
WALKED
 
SLOWLY
 
along the path. It was another beautiful day in Atlanta. It seemed as though the sun had been shining constantly since she’d got back.

Almost as if something was trying to remind her that she should still be in Africa.

The garden was quiet and she was grateful. The last few times she’d been here her mom and stepfather had been with her. They needed time and a place to grieve too, and the memorial garden was probably the most appropriate place.

But she was still trying to adjust. Trying to adjust to sharing her grief with other people. She was used to the calm of the garden, the tranquility. The first few times her mom had come with her it had almost felt like an invasion of her privacy.

Her family was still tiptoeing around her. Even Sawyer. Which was strangely uncomfortable.

She wasn’t quite sure if it was what she’d told him or the presence of Callie in his life that was keeping him so even-tempered. But he’d changed. Changed in a good way.

It was good having her brother back in her life. And he was slowly but surely finding a path back into the DPA. Which was just as well, as she’d taken a leave of absence for a while.

The director had been very understanding. He’d told her to take as much time as she needed, had offered her counseling and let her know that any career path within the DPA was open to her.

Violet approached the little granite plaque. It was attached on the wall next to hundreds of others. Sometimes she stood and read them all. But today she was only interested in her own.

She ran her fingers along the letters. Feeling the bumps and outlines beneath the pads of her fingers.

Daisy Connelly.

Born May 16th. Died May 16th.

A little flower lent not given, to bud on earth and bloom in heaven.

There was a lump in her throat—there would always be a lump in her throat when she came here—but today, for the first time, she wasn’t crying.

She arranged her flowers in one of the little vases underneath the plaques. There were too many plaques for everyone to have an individual memorial flower vase, so the people who visited had to share.

She always brought the same flowers, a mixture daisies and violets for her daughter from her mommy.

A little array of pink flowers caught her eye with a little white card attached. She couldn’t help but peek at the text.
Today I brought you petunias
. They were cute. Obviously hand-picked due to the haphazard way they’d been placed in the vase.

Her eyes looked along the line. There were more of them.

Today I brought you marigolds.

Today I brought you sky-blue pansies.

Today I brought you poppies.

Today I brought you Livingstone daisies.

They were beautiful. Flowers everyday. Were they from a newly bereaved parent?

She could feel the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. And she knew. Instantly.

Her head whipped around and her breath caught in her throat.

Evan.

Sitting on one of the benches. Watching her. Waiting for her.

Her legs were on autopilot. She was standing in front of him before she knew it.

His tan was deeper, his hair lighter, his eyes just as blue as she remembered.

He gave her the smile she loved so much. “Hi.” After two months. One word.

“Hi.” Her voice croaked. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch him. But she couldn’t. Not yet.

“I came to meet Daisy. To talk to her.”

She felt her heart squeeze in her chest. “The flowers are from you?”

He nodded.

“But they’re so unusual. Where did you find them?”

He gave a little shrug. “My mom has a beautiful garden of flowers. When I told her why I needed them she made sure I had something different every day.”

Wow. He’d told his mother about her. She didn’t dare to think what that might mean. She counted along the wall. Ten lots of flowers that were obviously from him—some looking a little worse for wear.

She felt a little startled. “You’ve been coming here for ten days?”

His eyes met hers. “I knew that I’d meet you here eventually. I just had to learn a little patience.”

She sat down on the bench next to him. Her eyes fixing on the wall covered in hundreds of individual plaques. So many little lost lives. So many families grieving.

His hand slipped into hers. It felt so natural, his fingers intertwining with hers.

But she held her body rigid. Keeping a wall up around herself.

“When did you get back?”

“Ten days ago.”

Ten days. As soon as he’d got back he’d brought some flowers for Daisy.

One of his fingers started tracing a little circle inside the palm of her hand. It was comforting. It was soothing.

“I met your brother.”

“What?” Her head shot up.

He nodded slowly. “I called him. Asked him to meet me at the airport.” He lifted his eyebrows at her. “We had a beer.”

She was imagining this. This couldn’t really be happening. This was like one of those crazy dreams that woke you in the middle of the night.

She could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Maybe she would wake up now and everything would go back to normal.

But all she could feel was the cool summer breeze skittering across her skin.

“Violet?”

She opened her eyes again. The glare from the sun made her blink. She definitely wasn’t imagining this.

She was scared to ask. It would have been a showdown between two of the most important men in her life. Surely that couldn’t have gone well?

“How did it go?”

She held her breath. Sawyer hadn’t said a word to her yesterday. Why not?

“Better than I could have expected. We talked about Helen. Sawyer told me he’s tortured himself enough and it’s time to move on.”

“Oh?” If she held her breath much longer she would burst.

“He mentioned something about being part of the family.”

That was it. This must be a dream. This couldn’t be happening. She grabbed hold of a little bit of skin and pinched. “Ouch!”

“Violet? What are you doing?”

She jumped up and rubbed her leg. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m pinching myself, trying to work out if this is real.”

He stood up next to her and put his hands at her waist. “Oh, it’s real all right. Can I do something else to convince you?”

She didn’t have time to answer. Because his lips were on hers. Kissing away any doubts. Kissing away any fears.

His warm body was pressing against hers. One hand at the back of her head and the other on her cheek.

“I want to spend the next fifty years convincing you, Violet,” he murmured in her ear.

She could feel herself melting. The past two months had been the longest of her life. Working through the grief with her family had been tough. But it was the final act. The final piece of the puzzle.

She wanted to go forward. Go forward and embrace life.

And this was the man she wanted to do it with.

He started kissing around her neck and ears, sending tingles down her spine. “So, this thing with Sawyer, it’s over? It’s really over?”

His lips moved back to her face, dropping kisses on her nose and eyelids. “It’s really over.”

A warm wave washed over her. She believed him. She really believed him.

Maybe they could all finally start living their lives again.

She pulled back a little. “Then there’s something I want to do.”

Her voice was serious and she could see the instant wariness in his face.

She slipped her hand into his and walked back over the wall.

It was time. It was truly time.

She lifted their hands together and placed them on Daisy’s plaque.

“Daisy, honey, there’s somebody I want you to meet...”

EPILOGUE

“W
HAT
’
S
 
GOING
 
ON
?
A C-section doesn’t take this long.” Sawyer paced up and down the corridor.

Callie gave her husband a smile and adjusted the toddler in her lap. “Sit down, honey.” She glanced over to where an elderly couple was sitting. “You’re making the expectant grandparents nervous.”

The doors burst open behind them.
“It’s a girl!”

Evan’s face was scarlet, as if he was about to burst with excitement.

Sawyer was up at him in seconds. “Is everything okay? Is she okay? Is Violet okay? What took so long?”

Evan put his hand on Sawyer’s arm, his voice steadying as he spoke. “Everything’s fine. My wife is beautiful. My daughter is beautiful. Six pounds three ounces, with a perfect Apgar. Her mom’s just given her her first feed. I just didn’t want to leave their sides. I didn’t want to miss a second.” He pulled his scrub hat from his head and opened the door behind them. “But now the newest member of the family would like to meet everyone else.” He bent down and swooped up the toddler from Callie’s lap. “Particularly her big cousin, Riley. Want to see the baby, Riley?”

Riley wrinkled his nose. “Baby,” he repeated. “Baby.”

Callie laughed and grabbed her husband’s hand, holding the door for Sawyer’s mom and stepdad. “Let’s go, folks. Let’s meet the newest family member.”

* * *

Violet stared down at her daughter. Perfect in every way.

She stroked her finger across her pale skin and downy hair. Leaning forward and taking a deep breath. She just didn’t want to let her go.

Evan had been more than an anxious father throughout this pregnancy—even though he’d tried not to show it. In the past few months she’d been scanned every week and when they’d mentioned yesterday that they wanted to deliver her due to the position of her placenta they’d both had a minute of heart failure.

Even though a C-section hadn’t been what she’d planned, the most important thing in the world was having a healthy baby.

She dropped more kisses on her daughter’s eyelids, watching the rise and fall of her little chest. Moments like these were precious. And all she wanted to do right now was count her blessings.

The doors swung open and the family invasion began.

“She’s beautiful!”

“Let me see her!”

“Can I hold her?”

Evan slid on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Riley looked at the baby and shuddered. “How are my girls doing?”

She loved it. She loved the way he said it and the tenderness in his eyes.

“We’re doing fine.” She snuggled against him. “But you were away too long.”

She looked up at her family. She could see the tears in her mother’s eyes as she leaned over to see her new granddaughter. She could see the relief written across her brother’s face.

She watched the smile that he and Callie exchanged as he reached over for his squirming toddler and balanced him on his hip. Becoming a dad suited Sawyer, more than she could ever have imagined.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

Violet turned to Evan and smiled. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

He nodded. “It’s beautiful and it suits her perfectly.”

Violet turned to her family. “We thought long and hard about a name. I was worried about family traditions.” She wrinkled her nose. “Evan’s family has a whole host of unusual names. But we’ve settled on one we both love.” She tilted her daughter upward, pulling the blanket down from under her chin. “So, everyone, meet Rose. Rose Hunter. My beautiful daughter.”

She smiled as Evan turned to her with a gleam in his eye. “And just think of all the other flowers we’ve got to choose from.”

* * * * *