your job altogether. I’m sure Phillip makes a good enough living to support the both of you.”
“Mom! ” Violet’s face contorted and she blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m not quitting my job.”
“Why not? You’re going to be a doctor’s wife after all.”
Violet shook her head in disbelief.
“ Well, maybe you should think about it. That way you don’t have to worry about working during your pregnancy.”
Violet gasped. “There’s no pregnancy! And there isn’t going to be one.” Violet didn’t even want children. At all. Sure, they were fun to be around for a couple hours, but that was plenty enough for her. Despite their track records, Violet hoped one of her brothers would finally tie the knot to help take the pressure off her. Jeremy traveled non-stop with his band and Tanner and Brayden were happy bachelors. Yeah. No help there.
Janie made a sound that resembled “we’ll see about that” and Violet scraped her hand over her face. This was unbelievable. She’d been in the kitchen all of two minutes and she was already contemplating sticking her head in the oven.
“Where’s Dad?” Violet asked and went over to retrieve a beer out of the fridge for her brother.
“In the garage.”
The fridge was stocked full of Gatorade, milk and juice, but no beer. Violet knew there’d be some in the old fridge they kept in the garage and she wanted to say hi to her dad anyway. Escaping the ridiculous and infuriating conversation with her mother, Violet slipped out the door that led from the kitchen into the garage.
The garage was Dale James’ fortress. Like the kitchen, everything in the garage was organized to perfection. Tools were neatly displayed on hooks and every last nail, bolt, and screw was separated in its own container. The smell of grease and rubber reminded Violet of her childhood and the days spent watching her dad teach her and her brothers all about cars. “Take care of your engine and your engine will take care of you,” he used to tell them.
Dale was the rock in the family. He provided the much-needed balance to Janie’s overbearing ways and sometimes outdated thinking. He made a decent living restoring old cars so that Janie was able to stay home and raise her children the way she wanted to.
Violet bit back a sudden wave of emotion. The realization that she could’ve lost her dad to cancer still shook her to the core. That kind of loss would have destroyed her mom, not to mention her three brothers. What would they have done without him?
Violet let out a ragged sigh. It was the one thing she would always be indebted to Phillip for. She’d been given a second chance to not take her father for granted—not that she ever had—and she would never forget it.
Whether they were piddling around in the garage or working on a project for the house, Violet always felt more comfortable around her father. It beat baking in the kitchen with her mother and listening to her endless lectures about a woman’s place in the home.
Even though she’d been around cars her whole life, Violet never felt the desire to work on them for a living. Maybe she should have just out of spite. Oh, her mother would have just loved that!
The body of a ’68 Pontiac Firebird sat next to Janie’s aging minivan. Despite the fact that her children were grown, Janie insisted on keeping the oversized vehicle for when her future grandkids spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa. Not gonna happen, Violet thought, reflecting on her and her brothers’ non-relationships. At least not in the foreseeable future anyway.
The Firebird was just a frame and an engine, but it was coming along nicely. Dale had spent his life lovingly rebuilding and selling classic cars. The same way her mother could pull a MacGyver and whip up a meal in the kitchen out of virtually nothing, Violet’s dad could take a skeleton of a car and transform it into a vintage masterpiece.
Although her brothers both drove classic muscle cars,
“Mom! ” Violet’s face contorted and she blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m not quitting my job.”
“Why not? You’re going to be a doctor’s wife after all.”
Violet shook her head in disbelief.
“ Well, maybe you should think about it. That way you don’t have to worry about working during your pregnancy.”
Violet gasped. “There’s no pregnancy! And there isn’t going to be one.” Violet didn’t even want children. At all. Sure, they were fun to be around for a couple hours, but that was plenty enough for her. Despite their track records, Violet hoped one of her brothers would finally tie the knot to help take the pressure off her. Jeremy traveled non-stop with his band and Tanner and Brayden were happy bachelors. Yeah. No help there.
Janie made a sound that resembled “we’ll see about that” and Violet scraped her hand over her face. This was unbelievable. She’d been in the kitchen all of two minutes and she was already contemplating sticking her head in the oven.
“Where’s Dad?” Violet asked and went over to retrieve a beer out of the fridge for her brother.
“In the garage.”
The fridge was stocked full of Gatorade, milk and juice, but no beer. Violet knew there’d be some in the old fridge they kept in the garage and she wanted to say hi to her dad anyway. Escaping the ridiculous and infuriating conversation with her mother, Violet slipped out the door that led from the kitchen into the garage.
The garage was Dale James’ fortress. Like the kitchen, everything in the garage was organized to perfection. Tools were neatly displayed on hooks and every last nail, bolt, and screw was separated in its own container. The smell of grease and rubber reminded Violet of her childhood and the days spent watching her dad teach her and her brothers all about cars. “Take care of your engine and your engine will take care of you,” he used to tell them.
Dale was the rock in the family. He provided the much-needed balance to Janie’s overbearing ways and sometimes outdated thinking. He made a decent living restoring old cars so that Janie was able to stay home and raise her children the way she wanted to.
Violet bit back a sudden wave of emotion. The realization that she could’ve lost her dad to cancer still shook her to the core. That kind of loss would have destroyed her mom, not to mention her three brothers. What would they have done without him?
Violet let out a ragged sigh. It was the one thing she would always be indebted to Phillip for. She’d been given a second chance to not take her father for granted—not that she ever had—and she would never forget it.
Whether they were piddling around in the garage or working on a project for the house, Violet always felt more comfortable around her father. It beat baking in the kitchen with her mother and listening to her endless lectures about a woman’s place in the home.
Even though she’d been around cars her whole life, Violet never felt the desire to work on them for a living. Maybe she should have just out of spite. Oh, her mother would have just loved that!
The body of a ’68 Pontiac Firebird sat next to Janie’s aging minivan. Despite the fact that her children were grown, Janie insisted on keeping the oversized vehicle for when her future grandkids spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa. Not gonna happen, Violet thought, reflecting on her and her brothers’ non-relationships. At least not in the foreseeable future anyway.
The Firebird was just a frame and an engine, but it was coming along nicely. Dale had spent his life lovingly rebuilding and selling classic cars. The same way her mother could pull a MacGyver and whip up a meal in the kitchen out of virtually nothing, Violet’s dad could take a skeleton of a car and transform it into a vintage masterpiece.
Although her brothers both drove classic muscle cars,
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