Can You Feel My Heart (MFF)

10. Laughter and Confessions

The car sat in the driveway, engine idling as Ben and Violet both sat in silence. One of them completely clueless and the other terrified of the decision he had just made.

Ben was trembling on the inside, freaking himself out over the snap actions he had taken. Now that the truth was closer to surfacing, he wanted to push it back into the darkest recesses of his mind.

This could screw up everything.

Violet could quit her job. With Zack having the financial security she'd need to ease her mind, she could walk out as his hostess without a second thought.

She could walk out on them and take Destiny out of their lives. Forever.

There were a lot of things that could happen, and Ben wasn't ready to face those possibilities as realities. Katie would kill him if this blew up in their faces.

Ben huffed out a worried breath and turned the engine off, stealing a glance at Violet before he got out of the car.

"I didn't tell Katie we'd be coming."

At the fear in his voice, Violet turned to look at him. His pupils were growing and swallowing the golden brown. He bit his bottom lip and chewed softly on the right corner, and avoided making eye contact with her.

What the hell was going on with him?

She gently smiled, wanting to comfort him in some way, and reached for the door handle. Whatever they needed to talk about couldn't be that bad.

Ben followed her lead, exiting the car and locking it as they made their way to the front door.

The moment of truth was coming and Ben stalled a second longer at the door. He took several gulps of air and unlocked the door silently sending up a prayer that all went well, he stepped aside to let Violet go in first.

***

Katie stood in the kitchen, her back to the counter and a mug of hot tea cradled in her hands. She was worn out. Destiny, the ever exuberant, was finally sleeping in her crib. After multiple games of hide and seek and several retellings of her favorite bedtime story.

The kid was a fountain of never ending energy and Katie could barely keep up.

She heard the front door open and walked towards the living room. Knowing the door had been locked right after Ben and Violet left, she knew it could only be them who opened it.

How long had she been blindly gazing at the kitchen floor?

She checked the clock on the wall, there was no way it was already time for them to be back. She hadn't been that out of it, had she?

Why were they coming home three hours earlier than normal? Worry fought to control her, making her hands begin to moisten and her heart rate to accelerate.

"Ben," she called out curiously. "Violet? Is everything okay?"

Before she could walk to the front door, the other two met her in the entryway to the living room. At first glance, she started to freak out. Ben didn't look so hot. His face was pale and his eyes wide with fear.

"What is it? What happened?" She almost yelled as she raced to him.

Her eyes darted between him and Violet. They were complete opposites. Where Ben was fearful and nervous, Violet was curious and oddly calm.

Ben sucked in a lungful of air and blew it out slowly, his eyes closing and barely reopening.

"I told Violet that we needed to talk," he said with a quiver in his voice. At her quirked eyebrow he motioned his head toward the couch, trying desperately to get her to take the lead.