Page 16 of Against All Odds

Thanks again,

Vi

My point is made, but instead of getting irritated, I find myself smiling and then plug her number into my phone and shoot off a message.

You know, stalking is illegal in Virginia. Also, it’s Everett.

Violet

Is it stalking if I leave a note?

Pretty sure showing up outside someone’s house two days in a row would establish a pattern, even if the person knows.

Violet

I’ll be sure to ask my lawyer to add these charges to my tab.

I didn’t say I didn’t like the stalking ...

Violet

Some things never change.

I laugh as I start to walk back to the barndominium.

So you want to make me dinner?

Violet

I’d love to have you over if you’re open to it. I was going to make a pie too.

Is it Granny’s recipe?

Violet

Of course.

I’ll be there.

This is a bad idea. I know it even as I say it. Spending time with Violet isn’t going to be good for me. I’m busy, living my very structured, very meticulously planned life. I don’t have time for any woman other than the one who lives on the other side of this door.

I push the front door open, putting any thoughts of Violet behind me, and Brutus,mybulldog, lifts his head. He sees it’s me, and if a dog could roll his eyes, he would. “Hello to you too, Brutus.”

He does huff this time before he lays his pudgy face on his paw and returns to his nap.

Dismissed, like usual.

I scratch the top of his head and then kiss my mother on the cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.”

She sits in her recliner that she’s had since I was a kid, staring at the television. Our routine is practically the same. Before I leave for work, I come over and make sure everything is exactly as it needs to be for her day.

“Everett, be a dear and help me find the remote. I might have thrown it out.”

“It’s in the pouch right next to you.” Where it stays tethered so she can always find it.

She looks down and her eyes widen. “Oh, I didn’t see it. I thought I knew it was here, but I can’t remember.”

I smile, knowing the cadence of her life, and sit in the chair opposite her. She puts on her favorite game show, the familiar voice of my childhood filling the room.

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