Mabel.
Emily’s mother.
Richard’s mother.
My spirit panged and danced and thrilled.
A song of old affection that raced across the field.
Emily’s fiancé rounded the front of the Suburban and took her hand, and Melanie lifted the seat so another girl who I didn’t recognize could climb out of the very back.
Relief blustered through me when I realized I’d dodged a bullet for a moment more.
Richard wasn’t with them.
They all started down the path, making their way in my direction.
Then that balloon of hope I’d been feeling busted, spitting and sputtering out when I saw the shape of a tall figure show at the rear of the Suburban from where he’d come around from the opposite side.
Hovering and hesitating.
His hands stuffed in his pockets.
Wearing a tight tee that showed off his arms covered in intricate ink. Jeans just as snug. Hair whipping like mad around his rugged face.
The man hard and rough and raw. Like the sweet country boy I’d known had been scraped away by the things that he’d seen. By the years that had passed. By the fame and the money and the glory now tacked to his name.
A dichotomy where his aura danced in between.
It didn’t matter that he was two football fields away.
I could feel the intensity of his stare.
The weight of him crashed through the atmosphere and pressed down on my chest. Saturating my senses.
How on earth was I supposed to handle this? It felt cruel and unjust. Like the world was out to end me. Every fear and hope and wound I’d ever sustained whirred and whipped and rebounded in a bid to annihilate.
All at the same damn time.
One hand wrapped in her fiancé’s, Emily lifted her other, her words carrying on the slight breeze as they made their way down the pathway, “Hey, Violet. Sorry we’re a few minutes late.”
I waved in welcome and tried to make my voice match the feeling. “No worries at all. I was just wrappin’ up prepping for tomorrow.”
“I hope we’re not interrupting.”
“Nope. This is what I do. Besides, you know I wanted to be a part of this.”
It was only half a lie.
Her smile was soft as they made it to the bottom of the hill. The second she got to where I stood, she wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you. Thank you a million times. I am so excited. I can’t even tell you what this means to me.”
I hugged her back and breathed in her sweetness, clinging to the memories of why I’d grown so attached to her. “Oh, you don’t even need to explain. I can feel it radiating from you.”
A thrill traveled her spine, and she pulled away so she could gesture to the man who stood like a guardian at her side.
Oh, was the man intimidating. Different than Richard, though. Screaming of a fast life and big city. Covered in ink.
The man left no question he’d seen a thing or two.
None of that held a smidge of importance, though.
He might look her opposite, like she’d said, but there was no denying the devotion that poured from him. No denying their connection. The man her match. “Violet, I’m so happy for you to officially meet my fiancé. Royce Reed. Royce, this is Violet. One of my favorite people in the world.”
She looked back at me when she said it.
My heart panged.
Did she have to be so sweet?
His onyx eyes raked over me like they were searching for a secret. Peeling back my layers to see what was hidden underneath.
What he didn’t know was I didn’t have them.
I was an open book.
My heart written on my sleeve just as clear as the ink on his flesh.
Out in the open and visible for anyone to see.
I guessed that was why I’d made it so easy for people to take advantage of me.
A flashfire of severity gobbled up my skin.
There was nothing I could do but glance at the dark figure that slowly made his way down the path hedged in lavender.
Face chiseled, every distinct, glorious line glinting in the shimmering light of the fading day.
A beautiful invader.
A harbinger of treachery.
I should have recognized it before.
Not ever again.
Royce offered me a tattooed hand, drawing me back from the shadow that was descending. “It’s nice to meet you, Violet. I’ve heard a ton about you. My girl said there was no chance we could do this without you, so we can’t do it without you.”
I shook his hand. “I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Melanie suddenly came pushing around Emily, her dark brown ponytail swishing around her shoulders. “Um, excuse me. Can we get the pleasantries over with because this girl needs hugs.” She gestured frantically at herself. “I haven’t seen my Violet in way too many years. I’m over these withdrawals. Gimme some Violet.”
She came at me like the powerhouse she was, and she threw her arms around me and squeezed me with all her might. She squealed low and jumped a little before she pulled away. “I can’t believe we get to plan a weddin’ together. O.M.G. Is this not the best thing in the world?”