Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 45 of 65

Violetta sewed through Tuesday and Wednesday without stopping for more than Elowen's feedings. By Thursday afternoon she had six more roses done and one panel cut. Then the doorbell rang. She heard her mother open the front door downstairs, then a pause, then footsteps on the stairs. Lymber leaned into the office. "Jordie's here," Lymber said. "He knows about Greg. About the breakup. He wants five minutes." Violetta set the needle down. "Send him up." He came in with his hands in his jacket pockets, the way he stood when he did not know where to put himself. His hair was flat from the wind. He looked at the dress form and then at her. "I heard at school," he said. "Greg told his friends you ended it." "I did." "For the dress." "For the dress." He nodded once. He did not sit. "I'm not here to ask you to take me back today." "Good." "I'm asking if one day. Not now. After the showcase. After you finish. For Elowen." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and put them flat on the edge of the cutting table. "I know what I did. I'm not pretending. But she should have both of us in one house if there's any road back to that." Violetta looked at him. She thought about the porch on Wednesday with the flowers. She thought about Lucy at the door. She thought about the four roses she had sewn at midnight while her chest hurt. "I'm not saying yes," she said. "I know." "I'm not saying no either." His shoulders dropped half an inch. "Okay." "After the showcase. After a year of you showing up every Saturday without missing one. After Elowen is two and steady. Then we talk. Not before." "I can do that." "You said you could do a lot of things." "I know." He looked at the floor. "I'll show up." "If you miss one Saturday, this conversation is over. Not the visits. This." "I won't miss one." She picked up the needle again. "Then go home, Jordie." He stood a second longer. He looked at the dress on the form, the half-finished bodice, the roses pinned in a row along the muslin. He did not touch it. "It's good," he said. "The dress." "I know." He left. She heard the front door close. Lymber came up the stairs and stopped in the doorway. "You okay?" "I told him maybe. One day. After the showcase." Lymber watched her face. "Do you mean it?" "I mean I'll think about it after. Not before." She threaded the needle. "I have four months and a dress to finish. That's the only thing that gets my head right now." Lymber nodded and went back downstairs. Violetta pinned the next rose to the muslin and started the first stitch.