Page 14 of Wallflower
Charlie crosses her arms and blinks with disbelief. “And you were going to tell me…whenexactly?”
“Daze?” Chord turns to the woman he arrived with, a pretty blonde with big hazel eyes and a mouth that looks on the verge of smiling. I get the impression it’s always like that—she’s got a warmth about her—and I wonder if she’s Chord’s girlfriend. Not going to lie, they make an odd match. “Take Izzy back to the main house for breakfast, will you?”
The girl—Izzy—skips toward him. “But I already had breakfast, Uncle Chord.”
“Have it again,” he replies. The way his tone softens is subtle, but I hear it, and I’m surprised. He straightens the hat on her head. “Little girls who want to ride big horses need to give their body energy to grow nice and strong.”
“Did you hear that, Aunt Charlie? Uncle Chord’s going to buy me a horse!”
An odd noise sticks in Charlie’s throat, and the blonde woman chuckles as she lifts Izzy’s hand. “Careful, Izzy. You’re going to give Aunt Charlie a few more gray hairs.”
Izzy giggles. “Aunt Daisy! She doesn’t have gray hair. She’s not a grandma!”
Ah. Another sister, then. For some reason, I’m relieved. Chord on his own will be hard enough. Chord with a girlfriend? The stuff of nightmares.
“Wrinkles, then?” Daisy pushes at the crease between Charlie’s brows, trying to smooth out the line.
Charlie swats her away, but the corner of her mouth twitches. “I don’t have wrinkles, either.”
Daisy chuckles. “Not yet anyway.”
Daisy leads Izzy away, and I’m tempted to take a long step back as Chord and Charlie stare at each other, but they’re glaring so hard I already feel as good as invisible. It takes my discomfort to all new levels.
“So.” Charlie shifts her feet as she crosses her arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Izzy invited me.”
She gives him an exasperated look. “Our six-year-old nieceinvitedyou?”
“That’s right. To a family game night.”
Charlie rolls her eyes to the sky. “Good Lord.”
“And I’m not sure if you heard but I signed with the San Francisco Fury.”
“I—” Charlie clears her throat and shakes her head. “No, I didn’t know that.”
I’m not an expert at these things, but I get the impression Charlie just told a big fat lie.
Chord pins his arms over his chest, mirroring Charlie’s defensive stance. “Yeah. I’ll have a place in the city soon, but until I get that all worked out, I’m going to hang out here.”
Charlie’s brows shoot up. “Here? For how long?”
His nostrils flare a little, and tension feathers in his sharp jaw. “Until the season starts.”
“October? You’re going to be here for the entiresummer?”
“I’ve got a house here, Charlotte. I have every right to stay. Silver Leaf is my home too.”
She snorts. “Yeah, sure. Home.”
A vein throbs in Chord’s neck, but instead of losing his cool, he shakes his head and expels a loud breath. That’s when I notice I’m holding mine as well.
“This is Violet.” He waves in my direction but doesn’t look at me. Maybe I should be relieved about that, but it makes me feel like more of a nobody than I already do. “She’s my personal assistant. I need you to find a cabin for her to stay in while I’m here.”
Charlie’s chin dips as her brows shoot up. “Youneedmeto find her a cabin to stay in forthree months? What do you think this is, Chord?”
“A hotel?” he snaps.
