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Kristen opened the door to her sister.
“Oh my God, Kristen,” Violet said, opening up her arms to scoop Kristen into them. “I came straight here. I’m so sorry about Stephen. Are you okay? Do they know what happened?”
Kristen sagged into Violet’s embrace and choked back a sob. Violet had responded as soon as she’d sent the message, and after Kristen had told her about Stephen, she’d dropped everything to come over.
“I’m so sorry about all those things I said the other day,” Violet continued. “I don’t know what got into me. You’re a great mum, and I know you’ll make the right choices for Ollie.”
She shook her head. “No, you were right. I was taking it too far. Ollie loves school. He’d be miserable if he had to stay home with me all day, and besides, it’s not teaching him how to deal with his problems if I’m just hiding him away from them. You were right to say I was taking a leaf out of Mum’s book of parenting.”
“So, we’re okay?” she asked with a cautious smile.
Kristen smiled back and put out her arms. “Of course.”
The two sisters hugged each other hard, then they went into the kitchen and sank down into chairs at the table.
“So, is Stephen going to be okay?” Violet asked cautiously.
“We don’t know much yet. He’s got a fractured skull, and broken arm and ribs. Looks like the top half off his body took most of the impact.”
“My God.” She placed her fingers to her lips. “Do they know who did it yet?”
“Nope. No clue. It was a quiet road, and he was out jogging. Someone hit him from behind and just took off. Luckily, someone else came along not long after and called an ambulance.”
“I’ve never been a fan of Stephen’s, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It must have been terrifying, lying there, hurt and not able to do anything about it.”
Kristen grimaced. “I know. Hopefully, he won’t remember much of that part, though.”
“What are you going to do about Ollie? Are you going to take him in to see his dad?”
Kristen pulled a saltshaker towards her, twisting it in her fingers as a distraction. “No, there’s no point in frightening him. And it’s not as though he’d have seen Stephen this week anyway, so he doesn’t know any different. I’d rather he goes to see him when Stephen is doing better. If there’s machines and tubes and stuff, I don’t think Ollie would handle it too well.”
She nodded. “I understand. You’re making the right choice.”
“I hope so.”
Kristen let out a sigh and put her head in her hands. She was so tired—tired of everything. Tired of fighting all the time. She felt as though she’d been doing it her whole life and right now, she’d had enough. She wanted to walk away and start again, but she couldn’t do that. She had Ollie to think of, and so, even though she was exhausted, and nothing ever seemed to be good enough, she’d wake up tomorrow and start fighting all over again.
Violet’s wrapped her fingers around Kristen’s arm and gave her a squeeze. “Hey, you’re doing a great job, and everything will be all right.”
She lifted her gaze to her sister. “If you keep saying that, will it make it true?”
“You bet.”
The two sisters smiled at each other.
Kristen heard the click of the front door opening and turned at the sound. The kitchen door pushed open, and Haiden appeared around the corner. He spotted the two women and their serious expressions and frowned.
“Kristen, what’s wrong? Is it Ollie?”
She stood to greet him. “No. It’s Stephen. He’s been involved in a hit and run. He’s badly hurt.” Her voice broke on the last sentence and Haiden’s look of concerned deepened.
“Oh, shit.” He pulled her into his arms, his hands in her hair, her face pressed to his chest. The heat of his breath warmed the top of her head.
Aware that Violet was still sitting at the table, she pulled away and glanced over at her sister. She caught the knowing look Violet gave her. Well, that was one cat out of the bag. Not that it mattered now, she guessed. There were bigger things to worry about.