Violet (Suitors of Seattle Book 7) Read Free Page B

way she'd treated Mr. Smith immediately.
    Jonas took the seat she indicated.  "You were about to send me a note?" he asked, seemingly surprised.  His eyes were narrowed as if he expected her to say or do something stupid.
    Violet nodded.  "Yes.  I want to apologize for my behavior, you see.  I've never lost someone I love.  I was insensitive to you and your nephew, and I never should have displayed that painting for all of Seattle to see.  Will you forgive me?"  She could never go so far as to say that she shouldn't have painted it, because she knew deep down in her soul there was nothing else she could have done.
    Jonas blinked a couple of times in surprise.  The last thing he'd expected was an apology.  "I didn't come to get an apology from you. I wanted to talk about working with you further. Your show did so well it wouldn't make sense for me not to continue working with you. I know I was rude to you last night, but as long as you understand that that sort of thing will never happen again, we can work together."  He closed his eyes for a moment, wanting her to tell him 'no.'  He didn't have any desire to ever see the woman again, let alone have a working relationship with her. 
    Violet sighed. "I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I wasn't willing to work with you. I do wish you would accept my apology.  I never meant to hurt you or anyone else with that painting. I should have been more sensitive."  She'd never had anyone not accept a pretty apology immediately.  Why wouldn't he?
    "If you are willing to work with me, I'd like to talk about a showing at my gallery in New York City."
    "New York City? I've always wanted to have a showing there. It's been my dream since I was a little girl." Violet was surprised by how very excited she was at the prospect of working with this man. The previous night she'd thought him old and crotchety. Now, she found him handsome and extremely attractive. Of course now he wasn't angry with her.  At least she hoped he wasn't.
    Jonas nodded. "I can get everything set up from here, but for the actual event, we will need to take a train to New York. Will your mother allow you to travel without her?"  He'd known very few young ladies who were allowed to travel without at least a traveling companion.  He sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to put up with an overbearing mother on the thirteen day trip as well as a spoiled artist.
    Violet thought about his question for a moment. She couldn't help but smile as she thought about how her mother had taken a train along with her sister Daisy when she left to go to Montana to be a mail order bride. "I'm honestly not sure. I hope so. She may insist upon going with us."
    Jonas raised an eyebrow. "Will she make it difficult for me if she does have to go with us?"
    "There's no telling with Mama."  Violet smiled at him. "When my sister Daisy was my age, my mother went with her to be a mail order bride in Montana."  She tried not to laugh at the look of surprise on his face.  What kind of mail order bride took her mother along for the ride?
    Jonas sighed. "I was afraid it would be like that. Would she be all right if I hired a companion to travel with us? I'd like to take my nephew as well along with his nurse of course."
    Violet thought about that for a moment. "I think if she had some say in who you hired, Mama would be all right with that." She hoped that her mama would have very little say in whomever was hired though.  "I would be happy to sit in on any interview."
    "Then by all means I will run whoever I hire through your mama." He stood up and walked toward the door seeming to ignore her offer to help him interview companions. She could hear him mumbling under his breath about artists who were too young to make their own decisions.
    Once he'd gone through the door behind him, Violet stood up and did a little dance. Never in her life had she imagined that she really would be going to New York City and having a showing when she was only