Surrender by Violet Paige

Author:Violet Paige [Paige, Violet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Head Over Heels Press
Published: 2018-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Something happened after that call with my brother. It was easier to let go. Maybe because I understood how much jeopardy I put my family in when I reached out. Maybe because hearing his voice made me realize he was doing ok on his own. He didn’t need me to push him through the day anymore. He hadn’t needed that in a long time. I hoped it wasn’t all dependent on Morgan. Regardless, it reminded me he was living his life and I didn’t need permission from anyone to live mine. How I moved forward was up to me.

Whatever it was, it made the holidays happier. Easier.

We bought a small tree. Decorated it with shiny antique ornaments that cost more than they should have. We exchanged gifts.

Vaughn surprised me with a trip to Switzerland for New Year’s. For the most part, the country closed down through the first week of January. Vaughn didn’t have to work at Mertech, and it was strange, but even Blackwing seemed to take the holidays seriously.

We stayed in a small village that looked like a European postcard. The streets were lined with patio lights. The gas lamps flickered when we walked home from the pubs. We drank amazing beer. Had incredible sex. Rang in the New Year together.

Once we returned, it was as if we lived in a bubble. I went to lunch once a week with Aubrey. We joined a book club together and met some other ex-pats. We drank wine and talked about our husbands. It was the most social I’d been since college.

Vaughn left for work each morning as a marketing executive at Mertech and came home to me each night. I cooked something new almost every night. I was determined to master French cuisine. On the nights I was too tired, he picked up take out on the way home.

It worked. I felt calm. At ease. At peace with breaking from the past. I stopped trying to cling to my old cases. I stopped worrying about never practicing law again, or mentoring students. We were happy. We were in sync. Connected.

Until I ran into Eloise at the flower shop.

“Ahh, Kate. Bon jour.” Her curls danced next to her cheeks.

I almost dropped my coffee from Marie’s. “Eloise,” I answered cautiously. “Bon jour.”

She seemed out of place here. Like she dropped into my life from a helicopter circling overhead. That was absurd. But it was exactly how it felt.

I had stopped to look through the early shipment of tulips. Spring was a long way away, but the white and pink flowers made it seem like it was only around the corner. They were deceiving, like many other things in my life.

“The sun is out. We should walk.” She eyed the sidewalk outside the shop’s door. I knew it was a directive, not a request. I decided not to argue.

I smiled at the clerk, placing the tulips back in their silver buckets, and followed Eloise onto the pavement. I buttoned my coat.

“You look well, Kate.

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