The Girl in the Love Song (Lost Boys 1)

“Baylor?” Dad’s eyes widened. “That’s a wonderful school. Congratulations, honey.”

His tearful pride threatened to wreck me.

“Are they paying for everything?” Mom asked.

“Almost,” I said,. “I have some savings. I’ll find a place. Get a job. I’ll be fine.”

“We’re proud of you, pumpkin,” Dad said. “So proud. So much potential…and we failed you—”

“It’s okay, Dad,” I said abruptly. Nothing was okay, but I needed him to stop talking. His brokenness was too much to take. He was my father. He was supposed to be strong. Protective. Mom was supposed to be strong, too, and nurturing. They’d both been those things, once upon a time.

Mom took my hand, tears pricking her eyes. “Violet…I’m sorry. So sorry. And Jesus, tomorrow is your birthday…”

A sob burst out of her that she immediately covered with her hand. She pushed back from the table and ran from the room. Dad stood up too and patted my shoulder. He bent and kissed my head.

“We’ll make it up to you,” he said. “Somehow.”

He left, and I was alone in the kitchen. The house went silent again, a quiet that felt permanent. Empty. It swallowed the echoes of happier times until there was nothing left.

The next day, Shiloh came over to help me get ready for the Prom. She brought me a white gift box wrapped in gold ribbon. Inside was a ring she had made herself. A beautifully intricate mix of bronze, gold, and silver strands twining together.

“Happy Birthday, Vi.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said, slipping it over the middle finger of my right hand. “Stunning, Shi. You’re so damn talented. I can’t wait to see you have your own store front downtown someday.”

“You and me both. There’s also an inscription.”

I took it off. Inside, she’d engraved Vi and Shi where the metals were welded together. Tears threatened as I hugged my friend tight.

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Me too.”

She quickly released me to move behind and help me button my dress—royal blue with a crystal-embroidered bodice and a long, sweeping chiffon skirt. In the mirror, I watched her braids fall over her slender shoulders as she worked, her eyes shining.

“I hate that you’re leaving,” she said. “We were supposed to have four more years together before you abandoned me for med school.”

“I know. It makes me sick to think about it.”

“What about everything else? How are you taking the divorce?”

“It’s for the best. At one time in my life, it would have been the worst thing to happen. Now, it’s one more torrent in a giant shitstorm.”

“That left you in the cold. I’m worried about you striking off for Texas on your own.”

“I have a little saved up.”

“Will it be enough?”

“It’ll have to be. I can’t ask them for anything. They don’t have anything.”

The reality of it struck me hard, how fast things had changed. I stood in my room that had been mine since I could remember, and it was already feeling like I didn’t belong here anymore.

Shiloh bit her lip and finished the last button. “Have you thought about maybe asking Holden for a loan?” She held up her hands at my appalled look. “I know, I know. I’d hate it too. But he’s got more money than God and doesn’t seem to give a shit about any of it. He’d give you some start-up cash, easy.”

“I don’t know him well enough to ask him, and it’s too humiliating anyway.” I shook my head, examining myself in the mirror. “No, I have to make it on my own. Maybe this is the universe’s way of toughening me up before I become a doctor.”

“When are you leaving?”