Free Sunset Thunder by Shannyn Leah Page B

her a relaxing afternoon, and started drying her body.
    Parker put the phone back to his ear. “Yeah. She said she can drive us,” he snarled into the phone and Violet could imagine how well Joel was handling Parker’s attitude.
    When it came to children, Joel’s tolerance wasn’t very high...even with his own. He was the man in the restaurant demanding the crying baby be removed. His standpoint hadn’t bothered Violet while they were married, since she was the woman who removed her children at signs of misbehaviour and returned once the situation was resolved anyway.
    Violet was making her way around the pool. “When?” she asked. 
    “Now Mom.” Her son was additionally pleasant this morning.
    She was glad his sandy hair and cute dimples reminded her of what a sweetheart he could be, when he wasn’t trying to be a rebelling teenager in a child’s body.
    “Alright. Where?” she asked. 
    “Where?” Parker snapped into the phone and she was glad his anger wasn’t solely directed at her. Violet was midway to her son when he yelled, unnecessarily like she was supposed to know, “Ryder’s house.”
    Violet froze.  
    Ryder’s house? Ryder’s house! What were the odds? Why? Why? Why!
    “Okay. Whatever Dad. Bye.” Parker looked at Violet. “Now Mom. We have to go now.”
    Violet hadn’t realized her legs had stopped moving. Ryder? Really? 
    “Dad’s on his way, so come on. Now.” 
    Yes, Violet come on and pull yourself together. Now. 
    “Parker there’s no need to holler. I’m right here.” She grabbed his shoulders, turning him around and ushering him back into the house. “I’m going to change.”
    “We don’t have time.” 
    “I’m sure we have time,” she said, squeezing the water out of her hair with the towel. She looked like a wet dog. There was not a chance she would step out in public like this, let alone drive to Ryder’s house. Looking like a wet dog. Absolutely not.
    “No Mom. Dad said now and he will leave without us,” Parker continued. Violet was glad her son’s tone was straight forward and solid, because if he whined all his worries to her, the sound would drive her insides mad.
    “He won’t leave without you,” she told him heading toward the hall to her bedroom. She passed Sophia who was sitting on the couch holding her overnight bag on her lap.
    “He might,” Sophia said.
    He might? He might! Joel Bensen! 
    The only time in Violet’s entire life, she wished that she wasn’t such a clean freak and that there was a dress tossed over a chair, or a pair of shorts just sitting on the couch. Just enough to cover anything this bathing suit wasn’t. 
    The sad, disappointed looks across her children’s little faces was all Violet needed to climb into the car, drenched and wrapped in a damp towel and drive her kids to Ryder’s house. Ryder’s house. She wouldn’t even need to get out of the car. Drive in, drop them off and drive out. Quick and easy. 
    Violet had never been past the metal gates of the Carlex’s lake house, one of the gorgeous estates alongside Crystal River. She wasn’t qualified to know whether the gates were closed on a regular basis and left open for them, or whether they remained open all day. The winding driveway was long, taking them under large old maple trees as the sprawling old white brick home, that had been in his family for generations, revealed itself. It was beautiful. 
    Joel’s car wasn’t in sight. 
    Parker and Sophia jumped out. “Come on Mom.” Parker said. 
    “Your dad’s not here yet.” There was no way she was climbing out of this vehicle wearing only a bathing suit, with her hair matted flat against her head and her face bare of makeup. Not a chance.
    “He might already be at the boat,” Parker objected. 
    “Parker settle down. His car is not here.” Violet reached for her cell phone. There were no pockets in her bathing suit, the cup holder came up empty, and she hadn’t grabbed her purse. She forgot