I follow her into the living room and shut the door behind me. Her parents are sitting at the dining table with a pot of tea between them and tablets in hand.
Both of them look at Violet with confusion. Her mom, Mary, gives me the same concerned once over she always does. I'm not sure if it's the tattoos or the whole musician thing, but Mary has never been my biggest fan.
Violet's dad, Dan, gives me a friendly nod. "Is that you, Ethan?"
"Yeah, nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Valentine." I shoot Mary my sweetest smile. "Your hair looks great."
She smiles as she smooths her auburn hair. "Violet, sweetie, what are you doing here? And why is your ex… uh, what's Ethan doing here?"
Violet chews on her lower lip. "I've been with Ethan the last few days. Not just Ethan. I’ve been with Mal too. He's Ethan's older brother. Do you remembers him?" After her parents nod, Violet continues. "Well, he offered me the job I was talking about. I may have exaggerated a few things, but he's paying really well."
"Is he?" I ask.
She nods. "Yeah. It's very generous. A few months' rent at least." She shifts her weight between her legs. "Um, Ethan and I, we uh… well it was his idea, and I think it's a good one. You know how Asher was always a little morbid, especially after he'd watch those violent war movies about men dying for just causes. Once he said that if he died, he'd want his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean, so I was thinking it's about time to do that. You know, off the pier maybe. I think he'd like that."
I squeeze Violet's hand.
Her nails dig into the back of my hand as she squeezes back. "But only if it's okay with you."
Mary looks us over slowly. "How about some tea first?"
"That sounds great, thank you." I pull a seat out for Violet.
"Thank you." She sits then crosses and uncrosses her legs a dozen times.
Mary goes into the kitchen to make another pot of tea. Dan asks Violet about the job Mal offered her. She's careful to stick to the facts, just the facts.
When Mary returns with the tea, Violet nearly jumps to get it. She buries her face behind her mug.
"You could have done this earlier, sweetie," Mary says. "If you'd wanted."
"Yeah. Uh, I just, I wasn't thinking about it." Violet chews on her lower lip. "Does that mean you're okay with it?"
Mary and Dan exchange the kind of look that only couples who have been married for thirty years can exchange. The two of them communicate everything with their eyes and no one else is privy to it.
Mary looks back to us. "Yes, Violet, I think it'
s a nice idea. We have our stones."
Huh?
"They had stones made from the ashes," Violet says. "It's a thing."
Mary places her hand over the small gem pendant hanging around her neck. "It wasn't cheap, but it… it's nice to know I always have him close." She turns to me. "You know, Asher told me that he wanted to play keyboard in a band. At first, I discouraged him. He was already stressed all the time from his piano performances but that was a mistake. It would have been good for him. I thought I was helping but… thank you for giving him that chance."
I shove my hand in my pocket. "He was great. Didn't fit our sound but it would have been fun."
She smiles. "Yes, but if he wanted to do it, he wouldn't have listened to me."
That is true. Asher wasn't as strong as Violet was and he certainly didn't have her propensity for telling people to fuck off, but he was just as stubborn as she was.
Mary nods to Violet. "Let me help you with the urn, sweetie." Her expression screams and we'll also talk about your deception.
Violet swallows hard. "Okay. Did you, um, did you want to come? Because that would be fine. No, it would be great. But we can also do it alone."
"No, I don't think I have the stomach for that." She leads Violet into the kitchen.
Then it's just me and Dan.