Page 123 of Icebound Hearts

I take a few shortcuts and arrive at his school just in time for pickup, joining the line of other parents waiting for their kids. Jake emerges less than a minute later, looking confused but happy to see me.

“Did you have a good day at school, buddy?” I ask as I’m buckling him into his booster seat.

“Yeah! We did a bunch of crafts today. I made a surprise for Ms. Violet.”

Judging from the macaroni necklace he’s wearing, I’m betting it’s something along those lines.

“I’m sure she’ll love it,” I tell him, and he squirms in his seat excitedly.

And she needs something nice like this more than you know.

Traffic is lighter than expected, so we make good time getting home, and Jake barrels through the front door.

“Ms. Violet!” he calls, and she appears from the living room.

“Hey, buddy! Welcome home,” she says with a big smile, back to her normal, bubbly self. Jake runs to her and pulls out a matching macaroni necklace from the backpack bouncing on his shoulders.

“Surprise! I made you a necklace. Look, it’s just like mine!”

Violet smiles, and although Jake misses it, I notice the glistening of tears in the corners of her eyes as she kneels so that he can drape the necklace around her neck. When he’s finished, she gives him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, bud. This was really nice of you,” she says, her voice wavering. She sniffles and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, and just like that, she’s back to her sunny self. “Are you hungry? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“Macaroni! Macaroni! Macaroni!” Jake chants, and Violet laughs at him.

“Haven’t you had enough macaroni today?”

“No such thing as too much macaroni!”

“Sawyer?” Violet asks, looking to me for approval, so I nod.

“I think we could all use a little comfort food tonight. I’m thinking a side of dinosaur chicken nuggets is in order too.”

“Yeah!” Jake lights up at that.

Violet smiles at me and goes into the kitchen with Jake to get everything started. I’d offer to cook for us, but I have a feeling she wants the time with him to help her calm down and take her mind off what happened with Elijah.

I sit at the table and watch the two of them cook together, still amazed at how good she is with Jake. She’s as patient as a saint with him, even while he’s imitating a T-Rex and screeching. It’s saying something because the kid really does have a lot of energy. But it doesn’t seem like a burden to her, or like she really has to try at all. She genuinely enjoys spending time with him, and him with her.

It shows.

I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly, but there’s been something swirling between me and Violet all night. Every time she looks over her shoulder at me or looks up from her plate while we eat and smiles, I feel it spark. I don’t know if there’s something she wants to say, or maybe she doesn’t have the words to verbalize it, but she doesn’t need words. Her smile says so much.

After dinner, Violet puts Jake to bed. I’m going to get cleaned up for bed myself when I hear her reading him a story in his room. The door is cracked open, so I stop on my way by and peer inside. The two of them are cuddled up together in Jake’s bed, Violet sitting against the headboard with Jake’s back to her chest. Her arms are around him, holding the book she’s reading from, but when she lifts one of them to give him a squeeze, the sight of it makes my chest clench.

I stay rooted to the spot, watching them until Violet finishes reading the story. I miss all the words, and I get the sense Jake isn’t listening to most of them either, but it doesn’t matter. He’s out cold by the time she reads the final line. She smiles down at him and carefully slips out from under him, somehow managing not to wake him up.

She kneels on the floor beside his bed and tugs the covers up over him, then runs her hand through his hair and kisses his forehead sweetly. Then she flips the light off, leaving the roomdark except for the night light by the door, and pads quietly toward me.

When she pulls the door open, I’m there waiting for her.

Before she can say anything, I pull her into my arms and kiss her, letting it say everything I want to but can’t.

Chapter 41

Violet

I kiss Sawyer back, losing myself in it. Our hands are all over each other, clinging to each other desperately, like we can both already feel the world trying to pull us apart.