She nods slowly, her chest rising and falling in quick succession.
It’s my fault this is happening. My fault this whole thing is blowing up tonight, right here, without regard for anyone.
Fuck. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Yeah, Dad,” she says as I open my mouth to speak. “It’s true. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but… I have feelings for Cash.”
Her father’s face quickly turns shades of purple, and I wonder for a second if he’s nearing a heart attack or a murder spree. It’s hard to tell at this point, but if I were in his shoes, murder would win hands down.
I scrub my hand over my face and walk toward Violet, my hand landing on her back in support. I’m not sure it’s the right choice, but it’s where I want to be. “I’m so sorry, man. We really weren’t planning this.”
“Why do people say that?” he barks. “Do you think I give a damn that you weren’t planning it? She’s twenty years younger than you! I trusted you!” He walks toward Andrew, helping him up from the ground before he turns back toward me. “You’re thereason she’s not going to Dallas, aren’t you? You don’t care about her future. You only care about yourself.”
“Dad,” she presses, “I don’t want to go to Dallas. I don’t even like the corporate world.” She nods toward the camera slung over her shoulder. “I love photography. I—”
“Good Lord. I thought we were over that.”
“Cash sees me, Dad. Hereallysees me, and,” she wipes away a falling tear, “it feels good.”
I squeeze her tighter against my chest as I stare at my best friend. “I should’ve told you I had feelings for her the second they—”
“No!” he screams. “You should’ve acted like a grown fucking man and not had feelings for her in the first place!”
“Oh no.” Violet glances down at her phone in the pouring rain, the light from the screen brightening her face. “Bella’s called twice.”
A knot forms under my ribs. “Everything okay with the kids?”
She nods, and tucks under the edge of the building to avoid the rain and look at her phone closer. “She sent a text too. Apparently, there’s an alarm going off and she can’t figure what it is.”
“Fuck,” I growl. “I bet it’s the alarm for the creek. I need to get home and move the animals.”
“Oh no!” She lifts the soaking hem of her dress and tucks her phone back into the camera bag as we rush toward the truck on the other side of the street. “Should I text your brothers?”
“Sure. You can text them on the way for me.”
“You didn’t move the animals? You knew there was record rain coming,” her father presses, rain dripping off his forehead as he stands at the side of my truck. “You never let that shit slide.”
“Well, I did this time.”
He shakes his head as I slam the truck door closed, turn over the engine, and land my hand on my girl’s thigh as we take off. I’m not sure what I’m going home to, but I’m sure it can’t get worse, until I see the headlights of my buddy’s truck following behind us.
Chapter Eleven
Violet
“I promise things won’t always be this hard,” Cash says, squeezing my thigh as we pull into the driveway, my dad’s bright headlights right behind us.
I can’t decide if he followed us here because he wants to help or because he wants to continue berating us for our choices. I’m guessing it’s the latter, but I’m not having it tonight. I get I’ve wronged him and he’s angry, but I feel slightly responsible for all the distractions. I need to help make this night easier for Cash, not harder.
“Look at me,” Cash groans, hair still heavy and wet from the rain. “You’re going in the house.”
“No! This is my fault and you’re the most responsible guy ever. If I weren’t distracting you all day, you’d have had the animals moved, you’d still be at the distillery party, you wouldn’t be dealing with my father, and everything would be fine.”
“Everything wouldnotbe fine. I would be miserable, alone, and I wouldn’t be climbing into bed with you tonight.” He squeezes my thigh one last time, his voice deep and serious as he says, “Go inside.”
A knock on the side of the window interrupts our conversation. It’s my father, his graying hair wet and dripping, his jaw locked, his eyes set, and his shoulders squared. He lookslike a serial killer from one of those cheesy, low budget horror movies.
Cash doesn’t flinch. He quickly opens his door and stares at our potential killer. “What are you doing here?”
