All it took was one night.
One big mistake.
Altering everything we could ever be.
He clears his throat and stands, his demeanor changed. It seems I’m not the only one haunted by the past. “On second thought. I think I’ll wait in my truck.”
Chapter Six
JAMISON
My father used to tell me I was too curious for my own good, and everyone knew it was true. I’ve always had an uncanny ability to sense when something is amiss. The deep desire to fix whatever that something is comes next. It’s second nature for me to dig into all the reasons why.
I’m still that way. Still too curious—starved for information and unsatisfied until I get it. Which is why I knew at a young age that finances were the bane of my father’s existence, creating more stress than he knew what to do with. I wanted to help—not just him, but my brothers and me as well. It’s why I became so devoted to how the camp was run versus the hands-on approach everyone else seemed to take.
While Anderson learned the ins and outs of every position at camp until his hands bled, I was in the office, studying numbers and drafting proposals for my father to take into consideration. I was determined to alleviate my father’s financial stress. Unfortunately, there were worse things for our family to worry about than money. I was only nineteen when we were all completely blindsided.
While I was awarded a full-ride scholarship to play soccer at Western Washington University, I made Violet apply to go there too. WWU in Bellingham was a little over two hours away with the ferry ride, but it had everything we both could want in a school. Since Violet’s parents traveled constantly, thanks to her father’s professional pool playing schedule, and they refused to pay for yet another trip to LA to dance at Gravity, Violet settled for a dance program at WWU instead.
We spent most of our first year together in whatever general classes we could share. We attended parties together, went clubbing in Canada the moment we were both nineteen, and hung out in the same social circle. We often got mistaken for a couple, causing some issues in our dating lives. Jealousy became rampant with our significant others, but Violet and I always chose each other.
I still remember where I was the day my life changed forever. Violet and I were hanging out by the fountain in Red Square, a common area where everyone congregated between classes. We were laughing about our drunken escapades the night before when Trevor launched a soccer ball in my direction, which initiated an impromptu scrimmage.
My phone buzzed from inside my pants pocket. Seeing that the call was coming from home, I excused myself from the match and answered it. Loud sobs filled the background, and panic immediately filled my chest. Then Anderson’s shaky voice came on the line stuttering into emotional fragments.
“I’m so sorry.”
Those were his first words, and I knew that something had gone terribly wrong. “Andy, what the hell is going on?”
Too much silence filled the line, and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the blow. Part of me wanted to hang up before he could speak again. I knew the news would be bad.
“There was an accident.” The shakiness in my brother’s voice only intensified. “Benny and Ty… they… and then I…”
“Slow down, brother.” I did my best to try to calm him, desperate for him to finish.
“It’s Ty,” he choked out in a cry. “H-he’s gone.”
I’d never felt a weight so heavy drop in my stomach to the point I swear that I blacked out for a second. Tyson was one of three of our younger brothers, a twin to Benson, and a kid who I swore was going places. With his love for helping and healing everything and everyone around him, he reminded me of our mom, who was a nurse and the sweetest woman alive.
“No.” I’m not even sure if Anderson heard my whisper. Everything felt constricted in that moment. My heart, my lungs. My breaths came in wheezes, and I fell back, landing at the edge of the fountain.
Violet was right there, her sweet chocolate-brown eyes filled with so much love and worry that she became my life support—a life raft that I didn’t deserve, but it was all I could latch onto to keep me from drowning.
It was a horseback riding incident gone awry. Tyson got thrown from the horse, landed wrong, and he was gone before anyone could even attempt to get help.
It was the worse day of my life, but the darkness was only beginning to close in around us all.
Shuddering at the awful memory, I lean back in my seat and turn to face the window of Pinklettes. It’s dark now, illuminating the light from inside. Violet laughs as she accepts a tip from one of the male patrons, and the sight of that face lighting up makes my chest catch.
She was always a rare beauty. The older we got and the more girls I dated, the more I realized how much of a diamond Violet Hart was. No girl or woman ever compared to her, which was why my relationships lasted no more than three months. But Violet and I were just friends. Best friends. It had always been my mission to protect her ever since we were kids. And protecting her was easy. I just never realized that the day would come when it would be me who needed the protection against her.
When the lights of the bar go dark, it’s my cue. I start my truck and drive around to the staff lot where I know she’ll exit. During my numerous failed attempts to confront her, I noticed her pattern. She only enters and exits the back door of the staff lot at night. But during the day, she uses the front entrance.
At first sight of her, I roll my window down and call out, “Hop in.”
She stops, startled at first, but then pushes back her shoulders and looks around. At first, I think she might refuse me. Maybe it’s for the same reason she wants to keep her secret, but her stubbornness confuses me. She was never like this when we were growing up. Her trust in me was something I once cherished. Sure, years had distanced us physically, but had we really drifted that far apart?
Another woman exits the building and does a double take between us. I recognize her as the bartender who served me one of the days I dared a visit into the bar when I knew Violet wasn’t there.
The woman reaches for Violet’s hand. “You okay, Vi? Want me to get Malik?”
Violet is quick to shake her head and smile at the woman. “No, Skyla, I’m fine. Turns out, I know this guy.”
Skyla raises her brows and looks at me while her lips spread into a smile. “You don’t say. Well, I approve.”
Violet seems to blush. I can’t totally tell since it’s so dark, save for a dim porch light shining down, but the sheepish look on her face gives her away.
“It’s not like that.” Violet’s eyes bat to mine. “We’re just old friends.”
There’s something so wrong about those words that left her lips. They’re a lie. Violet and I were so much more than friends. It just took us too long to figure it out.
Violet hugs the woman and slips into my truck before turning to look at me. “Where to?”
I shift my truck into drive and make my way out of the lot. “I have an idea.”
It takes a little over ten minutes to reach the lavender farm that Violet and I used to frequent growing up. It was the first place I thought to take her when she asked where we were heading, so I went with it. The field is dormant, thanks to the winter season, but I can still visualize the rolling hills of purple and green.