Violet was tempted to let her imagination wander. It was all too easy for her to imagine what a life with Mac could be like. It was silly and she knew she shouldn’t do it. To give into daydreaming was carving out a chink in the defences she’d created around her. Some say that to dream is to aspire to how you want your life to be. For Violet, it was setting yourself up to be disappointed and fail.
She hadn’t allowed herself to daydream about loving another man in years, not since Holly was born.
She needed to keep her mind from tripping away and heading down the forbidden path which was paved with all her hidden hopes and dreams. How good it felt when Mac had held her, kissed her. How her heart lifted like a balloon when she saw Holly and Mac laughing together. Thinking about what it would be like to wake up next to Mac every morning for the rest of her life.
It was just stupid to let herself be carried away. It was time to face the realities. Like how exactly would Mac respond when he found out Holly was actually Jason’s daughter? How could they move past that? Surely, Holly would be a constant reminder to Mac that Violet had once been in love with his brother. Wouldn’t it hurt him? Wouldn’t that be a blow to his pride?
Yet something deep inside her knew she was selling Mac short. Hadn’t he proved to her he was dependable—someone she could count on, if only she allowed herself to do so? If Mac made up his mind to pursue or promise something, he’d follow through. It was in his DNA, it was just who he was. But still, raising your niece as your daughter, wouldn’t that be too much to ask?
Violet frowned and ran her hand through her hair.
Of course there was another side to this whole damn thing and one that could be even more problematic. Holly was already attached to Mac. Violet hoped that one day she, Mac and Holly could have a life together. But what happened if it all went pear-shaped? What would happen if even after giving it their best shot, they couldn’t make a go of it? There was a very real chance that not only could Violet get her heart broken again but that her daughter would be affected, and that terrified her most of all.
She needed to sit down with him and have a talk. She needed to know exactly how he felt about her, and what he’d think about Holly being in his life. At the moment they appeared to get on well but Violet needed to be sure.
She walked over to the window and looked out at the garden. The sun was beginning to set and cast a pinkish glow over the trees and shrubs. She knew Mac was finding her responses difficult to read. She’d pulled him close and then backed off and that wasn’t fair to him. She had to make up her mind. If there was any chance of building a solid relationship with him, she had to get this stuff all sorted out.
The problem about being back in town was Violet had to deal with the ghosts. Some of the memories were pleasant but some just snuck up and bowled her over with their viciousness. Ever since she’d stepped foot through the front door of her new, old house she’d been having to deal with a score of memories she’d rather forget. Most of them centred round her grandfather.
Her thoughts danced away from her, she tried to rein them in but they twirled down a road she never wanted to walk down again.
Her grandfather had been a disappointed, sad and bitter man. The sadness Violet could understand because she felt the same hard immovable lump of hurt and pain deep inside her, having lost her parents in a car crash that also robbed her grandparents of their only child—Lily and Violet’s father.
Until that time Lily and Violet had enjoyed a wonderfully happy life in Melbourne. After their parents’ death, Violet had tried to be strong for Lily’s sake, when they were moved to live with their grandparents in Violet Falls. Grandma Stella had been the buffer between the girls and Silas and for the first couple of years, life was bearable. However, after their grandmother’s health started to fade, their grandfather went into his rants more often.
‘We used to own this whole valley, did you know that?’ he’d say, time after time. ‘The Becketts were the most successful farmers in the area and Sunrise Reach was the richest spread.
‘It all started when a young Robert Beckett arrived from England. He came from a small village right up near the Scottish border . . .’
It was pointless for Violet to protest as he droned on.
‘But our fortune changed when your great-great-grandmother, Violet Beckett, was drowned in the falls. She was swept away and all the family luck went with her.’
‘They never found her body. Might she have just run away?’
‘No, she perished in the fast-moving waters. There had been a lot of rain and the river was swollen, she wouldn’t have had a chance,’ he said, before adding, ‘it was all the McKellans’ fault. Bit by bit they stole, bought and tricked us out of our land until there was nothing left. They have brought ruin onto us and one day they will pay.’
Violet remained silent. It was useless to point out it had actually been a Beckett ancestor who had lost almost half the land in an ill-fated poker game. Or that her great-great-grandfather was more interested in the bottle and had a knack of investing in dodgy get-rich-quick schemes that had taken the rest.
‘I swear to you, Violet, the McKellans will never take anything else of ours again. They may own the town but it will be a cold day in hell before any of them step foot in this house. I know those McKellan kids go to your school but you’re to stay away from them! Do you hear me?’
It had come as a surprise when Violet actually met the McKellan boys. From all the stories her grandfather had told her she’d expected they’d be monsters. Instead they were two of the most sigh-worthy boys she’d ever seen.
‘Did you hear me, Violet? Promise me you’ll stay away from those boys.’
‘Yes, Grandad. I promise.’
Violet got up and walked over to the window, rolling her shoulders to try and ease their tightness as she tried to break free of the emotions the memories evoked. She felt just a little bit guilty. Perhaps deep down she really was a bad person after all. She’d always tried to meet her obligations and keep her word, but she’d defied the promise her grandfather had extracted from her when she was sixteen at the kitchen table.
She’d never been able to stay away from the McKellan boys—not then and not now.
The sky was only beginning to lighten as Mac walked into the courtyard with a mug of coffee in hand. He suppressed a shiver as the chilled air still held a touch of frost. The cold pinpricked his face and made its way under his shirt collar and around the back of his neck. He rearranged his jacket and pulled it a little closer before taking a gulp of the hot coffee to ward it off. In the distance the first chorus of birdsong began to fill the surrounding hills.
Mac had been reliving kissing Violet over and over again in his brain. It was an image he couldn’t let go of. He closed his eyes for a second and recalled the feel of her soft body as she pressed against him. For an instant he almost caught her flowery scent and not only how she’d returned his kiss but how she’d plundered his mouth.
She’d wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.
His first instinct was to go and sweep her off her feet and carry her to the nearest church or registry office and marry her. Oh, he wanted her, and wanted her to be his wife. But he didn’t want to spook her. As much as he wanted to stampede ahead, with all that had happened in the last month he knew Violet needed some time.
And then there was Holly.
Mac knew now that Holly was Jason’s child but he hadn’t broached the subject with Violet yet. He was hoping she’d tell him what exactly had gone on all those years ago but so far, she’d remained silent.
He wandered through to the small wrought-iron gate that led to the rose garden. The first rays of sun were falling from the pink-tinged sky, lighting up the flowers. A smile tugged at the corners of Mac’s mouth as he saw the beauty around him. He could almost imagine Holly running between the rose bushes wearing her colourful fairy wings.
When it all came down to it, Jason had turned his back on Violet, and Mac wanted her and Holly more than anything. He wanted to love them, protect them and make a family. As far as he was concerned as soon as he could get Violet to agree to be his wife, from that moment on Holly would be his daughter.
He didn’t know how Jason would feel about it but then he didn’t really care. Jason had already had his chance and he’d screwed it up big time.
Besides, for Mac it was more than just putting an old wrong to right. He needed Violet and Holly to make him feel whole.