Page 75 of Heartstrings
But what pissed me off the most?
My dad’s swift return to being as uninvolved in my life as possible,like nothing had happened at all. Even though his attempt at discipline was nothing short of infuriating, a tiny, minuscule part of me had hoped it was a sign—one that meant he was trying to change, that he wanted to be my dad.
I resumed scrubbing, taking my anger out on the crusty bits of food baked onto the side of a casserole dish. Two more pots found their way to the drying rack before my cousin stomped into the kitchen carrying a broom and dustpan.
“Does anyone know where Violet is?” Hillary asked. She threw open the pantry door and dumped the contents of the dustpan into the garbage with more force than necessary. “I don’t mean to be a crab, but she hasn’t helped at all.”
I smiled to myself, glad I wasn’t the only person who was irritated by my sister’s disappearing act. Right at the end of dinner, her phone rang, and she excused herself to take the call. Nobody had seen her since. Now that I thought about it, I wouldn’t put it past Violet to have Lydia call her just so she could avoid washing dishes.
Dad shrugged as he polished off his last bite of pie. “No clue.”
Sighing, I dried my hands on a dish towel before turning to Hillary. “Leave whatever else is still on the table,” I told her. “I’ll go find Violet, and she can finish what’s left.”
Except locating my sister wasn’t the easy feat I thought it would be.
The first place I looked was the living room where most of our family was congregated around the TV, but unsurprisingly, Violet wasn’t there. Maybe she was still on the phone and had shut herself up in Dad’s office for privacy? But a single glance through theFrench doors let me know the room was deserted. After doing a thorough sweep of the main floor, I went upstairs to check her bedroom. That was empty too.
Where the heck was she?
I was heading back toward the stairs, thoughts focused on bribing Wyatt or Quinn, my two youngest cousins, to help me with my search, when I heard my name.
“I understand, but Indie is an adult. She can handle this.”
To my left, the door of an unused guest room stood ajar. Violet’s voice was coming from inside, so I paused in confusion. Why was Violet hiding in one of the spare bedrooms? More importantly, why was she talking about me? I leaned in to hear more.
“I’ve been trying to fix things, but it’s not going well,” she continued. A pause. Then, “Okay, maybe you should tell her.”
No longer able to keep quiet, I pushed the door open. “Who are you talking to?”
Violet, who was standing by the window looking out at the ocean, jumped so high it was a miracle she didn’t shoot through the ceiling. Without saying goodbye, she ended her call and spun around to face me. “What do you want?” she demanded, her neck and cheeks flushing red as she shoved the phone into a back pocket.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” I replied. “We’re almost done cleaning up dinner, and you haven’t pitched in at all. No need to bite my head off.”
“Okay, fine. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll meet you downstairs.” She turned away as if to dismiss me, but she had yet to answer my question. No way was I letting her off the hook.
“Who were you talking to?” I asked again.
“Someone I work with.” Her response was brisk, flippant. “Nothing you’d be interested in.”
“But I am interested,” I said, putting a hand on my hip as I took another step into the room. “I heard you say my name.”
“Weren’t you the one who told me to mind my own business the other day?” Violet snapped. “Why don’t you do the same and butt out?”
“There’s a huge difference between you meddling in my life choices and me wanting to know why you’re talking about me,” I told her.
“Despite what you think, the world doesn’t revolve around you, Indie.”
I gave a humorless laugh. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Violet’s nostrils flared—it looked like she was resisting the urge to explode—and three tense seconds of silence passed. “Oh, really?” she finally said. “I don’t suppose you know where my script forLady Phoenixwent, do you? Obviously someone as perfect and considerate as you would never snoop through my stuff, but I wanted to ask just in case.”
Oh, crap.
I’d been so caught up in the excitement of ACM and creating my portfolio that I’d forgotten all about returning the script to Dad’s office. I’d left it in Sofia’s room, which in all likelihood meant it had been swallowed up by an endless mountain of laundry. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and crossed my arms. “I thought you were taking a break from acting.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Violet said, “I mentionedwantingto take a break, but that doesn’t mean I can afford to.”
“Why not?”
