She knew she shouldn’t, but her hand swept the door back of its own accord. Violet closed it quickly and took a look out the window beside it. “Five minutes. Then you’ll have to go, Chet.”

He sat in her father’s recliner and leaned his elbows on his knees as Violet settled onto the couch three feet away. She clasped her hands to hide their shaking.

“Five minutes, huh? Is that long enough to kiss me? One kiss, Violet, that’s all I want. I’ll never ask you for another thing.” He leaned forward, lacing his fingers into the back of her hair and sweeping his thumb along her jawline softly. “You’re shaking.” He smiled with a touch of concern, but mostly satisfaction.

Violet reached to pull his hand away and planted it on the arm of his chair, pressing it into place. “Stop it, Chet. You know that’s something I won’t do. I can’t.”

He leaned back, grinning at her. “But you want to. I know you so well, Violet Louise Glenn. And I’m not the boy with a crush anymore. I don’t need a picture of you, I don’t need a note from you to take out and read, I don’t need you to promise me anything, and this house hasn’t needed electrical work for a week.”

Violet laughed. “You’d better give my dad a great deal on all these service calls.”

“I’ve been telling him everything’s under warranty.” He patted the sides of the recliner and looked around the room, settling on her eyes. “What’s between us is always going to be there, Violet, whether you admit it or not. You’re not happy with your husband...”

“You don’t know the first thing about my marriage, Chet,” she interrupted.

“I know what I see in your eyes. I know how the light goes out of them when he’s mentioned.” Chet leaned forward. “Is he good to you, Violet? Does he treat you like you deserve to be treated?”

She forced a smile. “Yes. Tolly’s good to me.”

“Has he ever hurt you?”

“No. I don’t know why you’d even say that.”

“The bruises from your accident didn’t look like they were caused by a steering wheel, Violet. And the front of a wrecked Corvette is crumpled fiberglass, not metal. You can easily see the difference.” He crossed his arms and leaned back.

Violet felt the actress in her take over. “He’s a wonderful husband. And I don’t know anything about cars. I was too shaken up to notice what the damned car looked like.”

He nodded slowly. “All right, then. You know you can always call me, right? Call the office. They can track me down.”

Violet looked out the picture window nervously. “I appreciate that, Chet. You should go now.”