JT frowned and stood. Violet’s gaze followed his tense form as he paced across the room. She could only imagine his disappointment. Since this morning he’d had to assimilate potentially damning news about his father and decide whether or not to pursue the truth. No matter how damaged their relationship, inside JT was a little boy who’d once looked up to his father.
“Please tell her I hope she’ll be okay. Perhaps I can call again at a later date.”
“Do you want to leave your number? I can have her call you.”
“That would be nice.” Violet gave him the numbers for her cell and the direct line to her office phone. When she hung up a gust of air poured from her lungs. “How crazy was that?”
“It appears as if fate has once again beaten me to the punch,” JT replied, his voice wearing a frustrated edge.
“We still have over three weeks until the stockholders’ meeting and your cousin Phil has promised to throw his vote your way.”
“That means we have forty-nine and a half percent. My father wins.” He headed to the bedroom and retrieved the rest of his clothes. “I’d better get back to Titanium. There’s one last relative I can call. I didn’t want to reach out to her, but maybe the favor she will demand in return won’t be as bad as I think.”
Violet could tell this wasn’t the right time to reassure JT that everything would be okay. He was obviously too disappointed in the phone call to Charity Rimes to believe that the future would work itself out for the best.
“I’ll see you at home,” she called before he shut the door behind him.
After a quick shower, Violet dressed and returned to her office just in time to make the first of her rescheduled meetings. Even though it was hard to concentrate, she gave it her all. JT’s problems would work themselves out one way or another. All he needed to do was trust that when the time came, he’d choose the right path.
And what about her? Would he want her beside him? Violet knew she’d better brace herself in case he didn’t.
Nine
“He’s leaning. You want to lift his inside shoulder,” JT called. “Trot him in a tight circle.” The young rider did as asked, and JT nodded. “Do you feel him balance himself?”
Her bright smile was answer enough.
JT followed her progress around the area, but his attention wasn’t complete. Part of him was thinking about the stockholders’ meeting a week away while another portion gnawed on his relationship with Violet and what he wanted for the future.
It was relatively easy to drop his guard with her. Her lack of an agenda, coupled with her unflagging positivity, and ability to distract him from his problems made her company a balm to his troubled soul.
She seemed to understand, though not appreciate, that he possessed secrets he didn’t want to share. JT knew it was unfair. She’d given him so much of herself. That he continued to hold back made their relationship uneven. He didn’t know how to fix it without risking losing her. But would she eventually get frustrated with him and leave?
In the beginning, they’d agreed to divorce after the shareholders’ meeting. He hadn’t yet decided how to ask her to give their marriage a little more time. He’d grown accustomed to having her around.
She’d coaxed him out of his shell. He was happy. But was she? And was it fair of him to take advantage of her generosity and give her little in return?
The question plagued him through the rest of the afternoon. He listed the pros and cons of being married to Violet, pitting logic against emotion and measuring the ratio of risk to reward. In the end, after he’d applied all his business decision-making skills, it all came down to what he needed to be truly happy.
That evening, as he waited for her to show up at Baccarat, he faced the troubling reality of his situation. No matter how many objections he’d unearthed for staying married, the biggest factor in his decision was that he was falling in love with his wife. “Good evening, husband,” Violet said, sitting down beside him on the couch. “What has Rick concocted for you tonight?”
JT glanced at the drink in his hand and realized he’d consumed half of it without tasting a drop. “I have no idea.”
“Let me.” She plucked the glass from his grasp and sipped. “Blissful Ignorance. Plum gin, red wine syrup, egg white, lemon juice, rose water and balsamic. One of my favorites.”
He blinked, a little surprised by her memory and vastly turned on by the way she licked her lips and smiled. Everything about her unleashed his desire. No sooner had he figured out one habit that aroused him than she exhibited another. To say she fascinated him would be an understatement.
“A client wants my opinion on a horse that’s for sale in Kentucky,” he blurt without preliminaries. “And I thought I’d take a side trip to my family’s farm outside Louisville.”
“I’m sure your family will be happy to see you.”
“Come with me.”
They could both use a change of scenery and he very much wanted to show her where he’d spent the happiest moments of his childhood.
“I’d like that. When?”
“Tomorrow.”