A pause. Then another message from her.
Violet:
You’re making it very hard to be patient about tomorrow.
I smile at the screen.
Me:
Good.
Violet:
Good?
Me:
Means I’m doing something right.
There is another small pause before her next message.
Violet:
I am excited about tomorrow.
I looked out over the ranch, the soft glow of the porch lights flickering. My life feels simple and exciting.
Me:
Good night beautiful
Violet:
Good night, Everett.
I set my phone down beside me, a soft smile settling in. Tomorrow night suddenly feels like it can’t come soon enough.
20
Violet
“A coffee a day keeps the grumpy away.”
When Everett asked me on a date, I panicked. Not because I wasn’t excited, but because I haven’t been on a date in years.
I smiled and nodded, even laughed a little, like it was the most natural thing in the world when he first asked me. Like dates were just something that casually happened to me all the time.
Inside though? My brain immediately started spiraling.
It has been years since I’ve been on a real date. Even when I was with Ryan, we barely did the dating thing. At the beginning, we had dinners, drinks, and a few movie nights, but those faded quickly. Eventually, it turned into takeout containers on the coffee table and him scrolling endlessly on his phone while I sat beside him, pretending it counted as spending time together.
So, when Everett asked me out with that confident smile, I felt something between excitement and terror. Of course, I said yes, but that didn’t mean I knew how to handle it.
Our town, small, observant. And deeply invested in everyone else’s business.
We both know how living in a small town is, if we went on a date in town rumours would spread so fast. By morning, the entire population would have us halfway to marriage.
So now Everett is coming to my place and cooking for me. And just like that, my quiet little apartment became the setting for our first date.
