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“I suppose,” Violet murmured, grabbing her computer and opening the lid. She could dive into work and ignore what she didn’t want to see with the best of them. That was until night hit and she had to sleep next to Lando, someone she didn’t realize she was so connected to.
Maps filtered over her screen, and it took Violet a second to orient herself on them, figuring out where they were in the relative approximation of the map. She leaned against the headboard as was her habit and scrolled through the different mapping structures. It didn’t look as though there was a storm in sight. A few hints of promising bad weather here and there but nothing that looked as though they could get out and go.
It seemed as though she was going to be stuck there.
Violet ignored the fact that Diane was in the room next door, that she could hear her rustling around before she went down the stairs, her heavy boots loud on the stairs. There wasn’t much of a barrier between the rooms there, meaning they would have to be quiet when racing out to chase. Violet’s head hurt. The ache in the back of her neck and into her shoulders came tenfold, and she was going to have to do something about it to avoid it getting worse.
When she looked up, Lando was gone.When had that happened?Violet let out a breath, relaxing into the pillows and closing her eyes, tears stinging. She didn’t know why she was close to crying. Nothing big had happened in the last few hours that would set her off, but she knew, without a doubt, that this was one of Diane’s underhanded fuck-yous. Violet had ticked her off, and this was the punishment for it.
Finally coaxing her body to move, Violet rummaged through her bag for the container of Tylenol and popped a few between her lips, dry-swallowing them. She settled the computer on Lando’s side of the bed, not that there was much room to do that anyway. Lying on her side, she stared at the computer screen and watched as the mapping moved in a short prediction before flashing back to where it started.
Why had she thought she could spend six months with Diane? She never remembered what it was really like, and then even three months of her were difficult. They did much better when they weren’t in each other’s constant presence. But Violet never remembered that. She always wanted them to be able to be best of friends, like when they were younger, when they were kids, before…before Diane had found out Violet liked girls.
Groaning, Violet closed her eyes and rested against the very comfortable bed. It had been ages since she’d allowed herself to take a nap, but with the headache quickly turning into a migraine, she relaxed her muscles and allowed sleep to pull her under its wing.
* * *
Lando left Violet moping on the bed. Honestly, that scared her more than angry-Violet did. Something had come over Violet since they’d left Colorado, and Lando wasn’t sure she liked it. Really it had started after the argument with Diane in the room the night before. Violet seemed defeated.
Making her way down the stairs, Lando remained in awe of the house. It was easily one of the fanciest places she had ever stayed in her life. It wasn’t some ritzy hotel, but the house was beautiful. Deep rich wood floors, homey yet fancy decor. Lando had no idea how to describe it, but when she was done renovating her house, this was what she wanted it to look like. The kitchen was Nan’s dream, honestly. Nothing compared to what they’d planned to do, but an absolute dream.
The people downstairs must have been from one family. There were six of them total, and Lando had no doubt they took up the rest of the rooms in the house. While she didn’t mind sharing a room with Violet, sharing a bed was a different ask altogether. She wouldn’t lie to herself and say she hadn’t thought about Violet in a certain way, but she’d always reined herself in. Sharing a bed with someone she looked up to as a mentor would easily get awkward fast, even if they didn’t do anything and Lando kept the feelings and thoughts she’d once had to herself.
Lando avoided the family, wanting the quiet instead of boisterous noise. She wasn’t used to being constantly surrounded by people, and while living with Diane and Violet for the week hadn’t been awful, it was going to push her limits soon enough. Lando pulled on her jacket and stepped outside onto the front deck. She could see for what felt like miles, though she knew it wasn’t that far. The house backed up into a hill, with trees surrounding it to block some of the wind as was normal in that part of Kansas. She’d studied it at one point in one of her classes.
The old dog hadn’t moved from where Eli had coaxed him. Squatting, Lando put her hand out so he could smell her. He didn’t even raise his head as he took a good whiff of her scent. Chuckling, Lando smiled at him.
“I think you’re a big old teddy bear of a dog.”
“He is.”
Lando jerked with a start at Eli’s voice. “Sorry! I didn’t realize you were out here. I hope you don’t mind.”
Eli shook her head and put her free hand out. The other held a coffee mug. “Max is the old man of the farm. He’s my weatherman, actually. It’s not a bad storm unless he begs to come inside.”
“And do you let him?” Lando straightened her back and stood up, eyeing Eli up and down.
“When it’s snowy, yes, or below freezing.”
“So he likes to be outside.”
“Every day.” Eli’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “You’re Lando, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a nickname.” Lando had no idea why she was explaining this to a perfect stranger except that most people seemed confused by her name.
“I figured as much.” Eli rolled her shoulders and turned to stare out at the farm. “Are you from Kansas?”
“Yeah, but the other side. I’ve driven out here a few times with my Nan when I was younger on some trips, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been to this part of the state. We usually headed east since it’s closer.”
Eli’s lips pressed tightly together. “Most people think western Kansas is Wichita or heaven forbid, Topeka.”
Lando laughed, the light noise bubbling up. It felt good to talk to Eli, relaxing in ways being with Diane and Violet wasn’t. “Yeah, I used to think that too. Curse of having two drastically different sides of a state, I think.”
“Exactly. I’ve lived here my entire life. Born and raised here.”
“Oh yeah?” Lando stepped around the now-sleeping Max and leaned against the railing of the porch. “I bet you see some good storms from here.”
“I do. Diane explained you three were storm chasers.”
