Violet was still in a state of shock after running into her wayward uncle in the pet store. She could hardly concentrate on trying to choose a cat.

Noah could tell something was up and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “What was that all about? I thought he was a convicted murderer. How did someone like that end up with a fiancée? Do you think she knows?”

That wasn’t even what she was concerned about right now. It was the fact that there was absolutely no way he could be engaged to someone as quickly as he supposedly was.

Had that woman Mandy desperately thrown herself at him because of his money? But, if so, why was he going along with it? None of this made sense. Gray was such a false, unpleasant person…there was no way someone could fall in love with him that quickly. It had to be a relationship of convenience.

“I’m not sure but honestly I’m more confused because I ran into him when we went out to dinner a few weeks ago and he got water dumped on him by a different woman. I don’t see how he could have started dating someone this quick, unless he was cheating on the woman before…but it didn’t seem that way to me,” she said with a frown.

It wasn’t really any of her business but Violet knew her dad should probably be informed of this. He was always wary of his half-brother and needed to stay ahead of the curve.

She tried pushing those thoughts away. This wasn’t important right now. They had come here to get her a new pet and that was what she was going to do. Her mind couldn’t be wandering when she was making a decision like that.

Yet her eyes still trailed the two of them looking at fish tanks. Mandy was running around choosing fish while Gray stood back with a pleased smile on his face watching her go. A genuine one.

Violet had never seen him smile genuinely before; it was always more of an insincere smirk. And what was with his voice earlier? That wasn’t his usual voice at all. If she hadn’t see his face, she would have thought she was speaking to an entirely different person.

Noah snapped his fingers, trying to get her focus back on the cats. She gave him a sheepish look. “Sorry, were you saying something?”

“I was saying that guy is definitely a creep no matter what but it isn’t your problem so you should stop worrying about it. What do you think of this one? He’s trying to reach through the glass to us but the air holes aren’t big enough.”

A large orange cat was rubbing up against the glass and purring, trying to catch their attention. Violet smiled. That was pretty cute. They ended up asking an employee to hold that one and she told them about the cat’s history as Violet petted him.

“He’s a sweetie! His last owners got rid of him because they were having a baby, isn’t that sad? He had been with the mother since she was a teenager and is friendly and docile as can be. I can’t believe the nerve of some people. Pets are for life!”

Violet was inclined to agree. Molly, the first cat her mother ever had, was abandoned by her original owners as well and she was a great cat. It had been devastating for little Violet when she died.

The orange cat purred in her arms as she continued stroking his back and she knew that he was the one. By the time the paperwork was finished, Gray and his supposed fiancée had already left the store.

She tried not to think about how weird today had been. The next time she saw her dad she could tell him what she saw and put it behind her.

“What are you going to name him?” Noah asked once they made it into the car.

They had already bought everything she would need for the cat (except for a giant cat tree she had ordered online to be delivered) and put it in the trunk before moving over to the adoptions area. This cat was ready to go aside from having a proper name.

The shelter had called him Trevor but he didn’t look like a Trevor to Violet. She was still thinking of what name he did look like though.

“This is pretty lame but I might call him Blaze, because of his fur color. Too childish?”

Noah shook his head. “Nah, I think that works.”

When they arrived back at Violet’s new place, they set up all of Blaze’s things in one of the spare bedrooms on the first floor, like at her parents’ house. He was quite cautious at first as he moved around the room sniffing everything but within fifteen minutes he had fallen asleep inside a strawberry-shaped cat bed.

Satisfied that he was doing okay, she slumped against the wall and sighed. Running into people you know but don’t like is exhausting.

As always, Noah was in tune with her mood and sat down quietly next to her so she could rest her head against his shoulder instead of the wall. Violet sighed contentedly. Aside from the cat tree that should be arriving in the next few days, her place was as put together as it could be for now.

She had to admit it was strange not seeing her parents or Nathan at all when she came home but it had been nice doing her own thing without being teased or disturbed in any way. But whenever Noah wasn’t here it felt very lonely.

It had been less than a month but Violet found herself visiting home for dinner frequently. Her mom was a much better cook than she was and it felt wrong not seeing her parents every few days.

Physical therapy was going well but she was losing her mind doing nothing but paperwork at the dojo. She had already reread every book she owned and then some while she was laid up with her knee brace so that was out as a way to keep her from going insane with boredom.

She toyed with the idea of visiting her dad at work since her mother’s lab was too high security for a casual visit but didn’t want to risk running into Jeremy. That would be awkward. So now she had to avoid Hale Investments like the plague.

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