Second Chance Girl
Page 46
“I dropped by at lunch and took pictures of her in her dress. It was fun. I always enjoy your view when I’m at your place. Looking down at all the little animals.”
“My house is the closest one to yours and our views aren’t that different.”
“And yet we are worlds apart.”
“I’m ignoring you,” he grumbled as he grabbed more chips.
“At your own peril. I’m all that keeps you grounded in the real world.”
He chuckled. “Lucky me. Now if only you had superpowers to keep my father at bay.”
“Sorry. I can try to think of a few ways to distract him, if that would help.”
“No, it’s okay. We’ll get through it.”
All of them, or so he hoped. He might not enjoy dealing with his father, but he would manage to survive the visit. Ronan was less of a sure thing. His brother would be fine with Ceallach—Ronan was used to ignoring their father’s pronouncements. The bigger problem would be Elaine. Ronan still hadn’t come to terms with the woman he’d always thought of as his mother.
Carol reached out her hand. He took it and ignored the wanting that accompanied the warmth of her skin. He knew what she was offering and while he wanted a lot more, he was going to be happy with what he could get.
* * *
VIOLET AND ULRICH walked along the boardwalk by the river. They’d gone out to dinner and then had decided to take a stroll before he dropped her off back at her place. The sun had set, the air was still warm and she was doing her best not to read too much into their evening, but it was difficult not to. Ulrich was just so great to be around.
“I can’t believe how warm it is,” he said as they passed an older couple on a bench. “Back home it would be rainy and cold.”
“Isn’t it like that all the time?” she asked, her voice teasing. “I had a friend visit London once in July and she said it was the coldest she’d ever been in her life.”
“We do have challenging weather,” he admitted. “But we more than make up for it with our culture and charming accents.”
“Your accent is charming.”
“As is yours.”
“I don’t have one,” she told him. “You’re simply hearing me incorrectly.”
They moved closer to the river and leaned against the railing. Behind them was The Promenade and all the uptown shops. Across the river was the downtown district, such as it was.
Ulrich pointed. “The Boardroom is over there, isn’t it? I’m starting to get my bearings. Your shop is by the art gallery that will host the party to raise money for more giraffes.” He smiled at her. “I’ve made my peace with Millie, by the way. I shall not have any hard feelings about her gaining a herd.”
“How very nice of you.”
“I’m a very nice man.”
He was, she thought wistfully. One she would miss when he was gone.
“Tell me, Violet, why aren’t you married?”
The unexpected question had her blurting out the truth. “No one has asked.”
“Have you wanted anyone to?”
“Not really. I have a habit of choosing safe, boring men to have a relationship with. I pick them because there’s no way I can fall for them, so there’s no way they can hurt me. But being with someone for the sake of having a relationship isn’t good, either. Eventually the men figure out I’m not emotionally engaged, so they end things, usually blaming me for trying to trick them.”
She glanced at him and saw him watching her intently. “There’s an old saying that knowing the problem is half the battle, but they’re wrong. Knowing the problem just means I can see it when it happens, but it doesn’t seem to make me act very differently.”
Except with Ulrich. She’d fallen for him and he was neither boring nor safe. But he was leaving, which meant there was a predefined end to whatever it was they had together.
“Do you know why you choose safe, boring men who won’t hurt you?”
She drew in a breath. “Yes. I think so. Mostly.”
“If you’re sure.”
She laughed. “I have ideas. My parents are wonderful, loving people who told my sister and me that we were incredibly special. The most wonderful children in the world.”
“Most parents do that. At least the good ones do.”
“The problem is we believed them and no one told us otherwise. Not until we got to school and found out the truth the hard way. It was more difficult for Carol—she was older and got the brunt of the teasing. She tried to explain it all to me, to spare me the trauma, which helped. I kept my specialness a secret. Then, when I was seventeen, I was discovered.”
He shifted so he was facing her. “What does that mean?”
“A famous photographer saw me walking down the street in New York and instantly claimed me as his muse. Within weeks I was literally everywhere—in ads, on billboards. I had three major clothing campaigns and he put together a show that was pictures of me.”
“I had no idea.”
Violet did her best to stay in the moment. Talking about her past—at least that part of it—always upset her. “It was like being on a scary, wonderful roller coaster,” she admitted. “At first my mom wasn’t sure I should get involved with him, but I convinced her it was a great opportunity. I was interested in fashion and planned to study it after high school. What better way to make contacts than be a model for this guy?”
“I take it things didn’t end well.”
“No. What we didn’t know was he had the habit of picking a young woman to be his muse. I was just one in a long line of temporary faces in his work. Four months later, he moved on to someone else. It was only then I found out the advertising campaigns were with him, not with me. As far as the companies were concerned, we were all interchangeable. That was just his thing. My pictures disappeared from the gallery. It had never been about me at all. I wasn’t famous, I was a fool.”
“Not special,” Ulrich said quietly.
“Exactly. One of the masses. There were no contacts, very little money and no good memories. I went to fashion school and pretended it never happened.”
“On the outside. You had to deal with it on the inside.”
“I did. My mother felt terrible for not figuring out what was going on. I had to fake being fine so she could feel better.” She sighed. “It’s not like anything really horrible happened. Not one tried to sleep with me, I was never hurt or drugged or assaulted. I had my dream shattered. It happens every day.”
“Is that when you decided on safe, boring men?”
So he wasn’t going to try to pretty things up? “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I would say yes. Part of living here is also about that,” she added, then tried to call back the words. That truth was one she usually kept hidden.
“Things are safer in a small town?”
She nodded. “There aren’t a ton of single guys in a wedding town. Not who live here permanently. And I’m not the type to pick up a groomsman for the weekend.” She managed a smile. “It’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure you will.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “The timing of this statement might be suspect but I’m compelled to tell you that I’ve become quite smitten. You are lovely and I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“My house is the closest one to yours and our views aren’t that different.”
“And yet we are worlds apart.”
“I’m ignoring you,” he grumbled as he grabbed more chips.
“At your own peril. I’m all that keeps you grounded in the real world.”
He chuckled. “Lucky me. Now if only you had superpowers to keep my father at bay.”
“Sorry. I can try to think of a few ways to distract him, if that would help.”
“No, it’s okay. We’ll get through it.”
All of them, or so he hoped. He might not enjoy dealing with his father, but he would manage to survive the visit. Ronan was less of a sure thing. His brother would be fine with Ceallach—Ronan was used to ignoring their father’s pronouncements. The bigger problem would be Elaine. Ronan still hadn’t come to terms with the woman he’d always thought of as his mother.
Carol reached out her hand. He took it and ignored the wanting that accompanied the warmth of her skin. He knew what she was offering and while he wanted a lot more, he was going to be happy with what he could get.
* * *
VIOLET AND ULRICH walked along the boardwalk by the river. They’d gone out to dinner and then had decided to take a stroll before he dropped her off back at her place. The sun had set, the air was still warm and she was doing her best not to read too much into their evening, but it was difficult not to. Ulrich was just so great to be around.
“I can’t believe how warm it is,” he said as they passed an older couple on a bench. “Back home it would be rainy and cold.”
“Isn’t it like that all the time?” she asked, her voice teasing. “I had a friend visit London once in July and she said it was the coldest she’d ever been in her life.”
“We do have challenging weather,” he admitted. “But we more than make up for it with our culture and charming accents.”
“Your accent is charming.”
“As is yours.”
“I don’t have one,” she told him. “You’re simply hearing me incorrectly.”
They moved closer to the river and leaned against the railing. Behind them was The Promenade and all the uptown shops. Across the river was the downtown district, such as it was.
Ulrich pointed. “The Boardroom is over there, isn’t it? I’m starting to get my bearings. Your shop is by the art gallery that will host the party to raise money for more giraffes.” He smiled at her. “I’ve made my peace with Millie, by the way. I shall not have any hard feelings about her gaining a herd.”
“How very nice of you.”
“I’m a very nice man.”
He was, she thought wistfully. One she would miss when he was gone.
“Tell me, Violet, why aren’t you married?”
The unexpected question had her blurting out the truth. “No one has asked.”
“Have you wanted anyone to?”
“Not really. I have a habit of choosing safe, boring men to have a relationship with. I pick them because there’s no way I can fall for them, so there’s no way they can hurt me. But being with someone for the sake of having a relationship isn’t good, either. Eventually the men figure out I’m not emotionally engaged, so they end things, usually blaming me for trying to trick them.”
She glanced at him and saw him watching her intently. “There’s an old saying that knowing the problem is half the battle, but they’re wrong. Knowing the problem just means I can see it when it happens, but it doesn’t seem to make me act very differently.”
Except with Ulrich. She’d fallen for him and he was neither boring nor safe. But he was leaving, which meant there was a predefined end to whatever it was they had together.
“Do you know why you choose safe, boring men who won’t hurt you?”
She drew in a breath. “Yes. I think so. Mostly.”
“If you’re sure.”
She laughed. “I have ideas. My parents are wonderful, loving people who told my sister and me that we were incredibly special. The most wonderful children in the world.”
“Most parents do that. At least the good ones do.”
“The problem is we believed them and no one told us otherwise. Not until we got to school and found out the truth the hard way. It was more difficult for Carol—she was older and got the brunt of the teasing. She tried to explain it all to me, to spare me the trauma, which helped. I kept my specialness a secret. Then, when I was seventeen, I was discovered.”
He shifted so he was facing her. “What does that mean?”
“A famous photographer saw me walking down the street in New York and instantly claimed me as his muse. Within weeks I was literally everywhere—in ads, on billboards. I had three major clothing campaigns and he put together a show that was pictures of me.”
“I had no idea.”
Violet did her best to stay in the moment. Talking about her past—at least that part of it—always upset her. “It was like being on a scary, wonderful roller coaster,” she admitted. “At first my mom wasn’t sure I should get involved with him, but I convinced her it was a great opportunity. I was interested in fashion and planned to study it after high school. What better way to make contacts than be a model for this guy?”
“I take it things didn’t end well.”
“No. What we didn’t know was he had the habit of picking a young woman to be his muse. I was just one in a long line of temporary faces in his work. Four months later, he moved on to someone else. It was only then I found out the advertising campaigns were with him, not with me. As far as the companies were concerned, we were all interchangeable. That was just his thing. My pictures disappeared from the gallery. It had never been about me at all. I wasn’t famous, I was a fool.”
“Not special,” Ulrich said quietly.
“Exactly. One of the masses. There were no contacts, very little money and no good memories. I went to fashion school and pretended it never happened.”
“On the outside. You had to deal with it on the inside.”
“I did. My mother felt terrible for not figuring out what was going on. I had to fake being fine so she could feel better.” She sighed. “It’s not like anything really horrible happened. Not one tried to sleep with me, I was never hurt or drugged or assaulted. I had my dream shattered. It happens every day.”
“Is that when you decided on safe, boring men?”
So he wasn’t going to try to pretty things up? “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I would say yes. Part of living here is also about that,” she added, then tried to call back the words. That truth was one she usually kept hidden.
“Things are safer in a small town?”
She nodded. “There aren’t a ton of single guys in a wedding town. Not who live here permanently. And I’m not the type to pick up a groomsman for the weekend.” She managed a smile. “It’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure you will.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “The timing of this statement might be suspect but I’m compelled to tell you that I’ve become quite smitten. You are lovely and I can’t stop thinking about you.”
