Chapter 7
Rya: What are you and Zayn doing today?
Violet: Nothing yet. Drinking our coffee out on the deck.
Rya: Wait!
Rya: You’re not baking?
Violet: No. I caught everything up yesterday.
Rya: What! For once, you’re not baking on a Saturday. Let’s do something.
Violet: I busted my ass off all week since I was trying to catch up from Vegas. I was worried I wasn’t going to finish in time.
Rya: Me and Ez are coming over.
Violet: Thumps up emoji.
I’m surprised she’s even awake. It’s only nine in the morning. Zay and I crashed after our dinner last night and woke up early to enjoy coffee out on our deck. I love slow mornings. We usually never get these.
Especially together.
Or on weekends.
It’s rare for me to not be up early on a Saturday baking away.
I set my phone down. “Rya and Ezra are coming over” I say to Zay, who is enjoying my cinnamon rolls.
I lean my head against the chair and lift my legs up onto our round electric outdoor firepit. “For someone who hates me baking in our home, you sure enjoy the hell out of the baked goods,” I say, chuckling.
He stops mid-bite and rolls his eyes at me. “I never said I hated it. I just think it would be better to bake in a bakery, not in a home.”
I ignore his gaze, biting my tongue. This is the first Saturday in a while that I have off with no baking or plans. I’m not going to ruin it with a petty argument.
I close my eyes, allowing the sun’s warm rays to penetrate my skin.
The sun always calms me, making me feel physically and mentally at ease.
It’s true what they say: vitamin D does wonders for you mentally and physically.
Every time I feel stressed and uneasy about something, I take a break and let the sun’s rays ease my stress.
When I started doing research for my health journey, that was one thing I read repeatedly too.
I make sure to get some sort of sun exposure every day, even if the sun is behind clouds.
The UV rays still penetrate through them.
A couple of hours later, Rya and Ezra are walking out to our deck.
No doubt it took them that long because Rya takes forever to get ready, but she’s always put together.
She has on flared jeans with a cute pink, long-sleeve, low-cut top that she paired with white wedges.
Me, on the other hand, I’m still in my black leggings and an oversize t-shirt—one of Zay’s old ones that he handed down to me when he was done with it.
Rya halts in her steps. “Why aren’t you two ready?”
Zay looks at me in question, as if I didn’t tell him our plans. Ezra walks over and sits next to Zay in blue jeans and a collared black shirt paired with black Nikes. The two of them can make any casual clothes look good.
“What are we going to do? We didn’t have plans,” I say, staring up at her, squinting my eyes from the sun.
She slumps down on a chair. “Yeah, but we’re just wasting time sitting around here.”
I roll my eyes. She is always go, go, go. Always moving on to her next adventure. Sometimes she schedules way too many things at once and will still try to make everything work. Even if she goes to one scheduled event for twenty minutes, she’ll still pop in.
“Hi Ez,” I say. I forgot to say hi because of Rya’s grand entrance.
Rya puts her face down, avoiding eye contact with all of us now. She doesn’t even say hi to Zay. Which is weird. She can’t be this upset.
Ezra leans up from his chair. “Are these your homemade cinnamon buns?” he asks, tearing one apart from the others.
“You know it,” I say.
He takes a bite, moaning while he chews it. “These are the best,” he says with his mouth half-full.
Rya crosses her leg over the other. “Guys, what are we going to do?” She huffs.
“We should go fishing,” Zay says, looking toward me.
My lips curl into a faint smile. “I’m down to go fishing.” We haven’t done an outdoor activity together in a while.
“Me too,” Ez says.
Rya crosses her arms over one another and knits her brows together.
“What babe?” Ezra asks, glancing over at her.
She raises her brows. “I just didn’t think we would be fishing. I didn’t dress for it.”
“I have clothes for you to wear,” I say, finishing up my second coffee that is now cold.
She sighs, gets up from her seat, and walks back into the house. I follow behind her. The cooler air from the inside of my house hits my warm skin, making goosebumps run down my arms.
An hour later, we’re setting everything up on the uneven dirt ground in a canyon. The crisp air and clear blue skies make this day even better. The calm chirping of birds echoes in the background. Tall evergreen trees surround us, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
To my surprise, it’s not busy today. Before heading up here, we stopped at Walmart and got some steak and vegetables to grill shish kabobs. I throw a handful of blueberries in my mouth to stop my body from jittering. All I’ve had to eat all day is a cinnamon roll and two cups of coffee.
When I worked in a corporate office, this was pretty much everything I would eat and drink before lunch.
Sometimes, if we were busy, I would skip lunch.
I stopped doing it because it’s not healthy for your gut.
But sometimes you need to have balance and enjoy a cup of coffee and something sweet in the morning.
I grab a knife and start cutting the steak while Rya cuts the vegetables. I look up ahead and find Zayn setting up a fishing pole for each of us while Ezra is getting the grill ready with the charcoal.
I glance up at Rya. “I don’t remember the last time we all went fishing together,” I say, slicing the steak.
She smirks, not responding right away. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Is everything okay? You seem off today” I say, grabbing the skewers.
Her eyes go wide, avoiding eye contact with me. “Yeah,” she mutters, and I notice Ez flick his gaze at us with a pursed mouth. He turns back around, waving a paper plate above the coals to get them going.
“All our poles are ready to use,” Zay says, walking back toward us.
I glance up and notice all four of our poles are sitting upright next to our chairs.
I smile up at Zay at how cute he is for setting our poles up right next to each of our chairs.
He comes around and straddles his legs around me and leans his head on my shoulder.
I glance up and Rya’s eyes narrow back down to her vegetables.
Did she and Zayn get into an argument in Vegas I don’t know about?
“Are you ready to fish?” Zay says in my ear, making my ear tickle from his heated breath.
I tilt my ear down to my shoulder in reaction. “Yes. But I’m starving. I want to get these on the grill first.” He wraps his arms around me. “Aren’t you hungry? All we’ve had all day is coffee and sweets.”
He leans up. “I’m getting there.” He swings his leg back over the table, stands up and says, “I’m going to see if I can catch something. Maybe I’ll have a fish to fry by the time you finish cooking those,” he says, grinning broadly as he winks at me and walks back to the lake.
The sharp pop of the beer bottle cap echoes in the quiet air. Ez hands me a Corona. I shake my head. “I’m okay. Thanks.” He hands the same beer to Rya, and she takes it from him, taking a big gulp.
“The grill is ready,” he says, opening another beer. “Do you guys need help?”
I shake my head. “No. I think we’re good.”
He nods and walks down to the lake. I look over my shoulder, watching as he lightly slaps Zay on the cheek, startling him. I hear Zay call him a fucker.
After the food is done, I make a plate for both me and Zay and walk down to the lake. “Have you guys caught any fish?” I ask, sitting down.
“No,” they both say.
“It’s dead out here,” Zay says, slumping further into his chair.
I hand him a plate of food. He leans up and takes it from me. “Thanks, babe.”
“Here Ez,” Rya says, handing him his plate of food.
I set my food on my lap and cast the line into the lake. Everyone howls out a laugh because it doesn’t go far. “Shut up,” I say between my own giggles. “It’s been a while.”
I reel it in and throw the line in again, and this time it gets farther out.
“Good job,” Zay says between his chews.
For the rest of the day, we all enjoy the peaceful atmosphere with each other’s company. Every now and then, a burst of laughter breaks the silence. We end the day once the sun falls, throwing a warm glow over everything.