Murder by the Sea: A Violet Carlyle Cozy Historical Mystery (The Violet Carlyle Mysteries Book 14) by Beth Byers

Author:Beth Byers [Byers, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2019-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“Kate!”

She came into the room and handed Violet baby Agatha. “Let me just get Vivi.”

A few moments later and Vivi joined Agatha on the bed, kicking her legs. Both of them were bright-eyed and curious as Kate looked down on them.

“How was it when we got back?” Rita asked carefully.

“I crept up the stairs like a thief in the night, put my ear to the doorway, and found Poppy rocking Agatha’s cradle while Jane was singing to Vivi.”

“So they were fine?”

Kate frowned fiercely at all of them, but no one was teasing her. “They were fine. Completely happy. I felt let down.” Violet’s head cocked and Kate continued. “I wanted them to have wanted me and been unhappy without me. I wanted them to wail in relief at my presence and then make that little trembly lip that says they’re sad but all is well when Mama is here. I might have cried and then told Victor I had gone mad and sent him out for ice cream, chocolate, and fish and chips.”

Violet bit down on her bottom lip and fiddled with her wedding ring in a failed attempt to not laugh at Kate.

“Shut up,” Kate moaned and then placed a hand on Vivi’s head as Violet placed Agatha on her lap.

“They love you more than anything,” Violet told Kate carefully.

“They stop crying for Victor more than me.”

“Did you want us to hold your hand and agree that all is very hard because your beautiful, healthy babies are happy?” Lila asked dryly.

“Wait until it’s you,” Kate said meanly. “You think you won’t go mad, know you’ve gone completely crazed, and won’t be able to stop yourself? Because it’ll be you too.”

Lila’s expression said that it would never be her.

“Oh what do you know? Look at your ankles! They’re beautiful. Have you sicked up even once?”

“Twice.” Lila’s evil grin made Kate throw a pillow at her. Rita and Violet were carefully saying nothing.

“Wise,” Kate said to them, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I—”

Rita patted Kate’s leg before she apologized again. “Ham said he wanted to have children right away.”

The silence immediately shifted to a tenseness with everyone holding their breath and not wanting to say the wrong thing.

“I want to marry him and have babies right away.”

Violet put her hand over her mouth to hold back all of the things she needed to say about that.

“But, I don’t know if I can trust him that far. I don’t know if he won’t shift on me again.”

Violet was nodding behind her hands, holding everything in.

“I’m angry,” Rita said blankly. “I’m so angry it’s boiling up in me and I don’t know how to get past it. I threw my heart at his feet and he acted like he was doing me a favor by telling me no.”

Violet dropped her hands. It wasn’t like she didn’t see how that would break everything down.

“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life remembering how that felt, and I don’t know if I can forget, so instead, I’m just holding my breath to see if things change.

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