11. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
VIOLET
Mountain Man: I think we should go out again.
Me: You really need to work on your delivery.
Mountain Man: …
Me: Sigh.
Mountain Man: People were staring at me at the grocery store today.
Me: Are they not allowed to look at you?
Mountain Man: Yeah, but then the cashier was super chatty.
Me: *eyeroll emoji*
Me: Maybe she was just being friendly.
Mountain Man: One more date. Just to make sure.
Me: And then what?
Mountain Man: What do you mean?
Me: I have a better proposal. For both of us. Let’s say 2-3 months. We go out in public once or twice a week and pretend we’re dating until November. It will guarantee all the women in town have completely moved on, and it’ll make my ex regret ever cheating on me. Win win.
Mountain Man: Deal.
Me: That was quick. You sure you don’t want to think about it?
Mountain Man: Why?
Me: Just to be sure.
Mountain Man: No, I'm good.
Me. Okie Dokey.
Me: Do you work this Saturday?
Mountain Man: No.
Me: A bunch of us are going out for Savannah’s birthday.
Mountain Man: Who?
Me: Savannah Williams? Youngest Williams sibling?
Mountain Man: …
Me: Sigh. Owners of The Dock? She’s the one who brought our food the other night? Blue and purple hair?
Mountain Man: Okay.
Me: Anyway, it’s probably not your scene. You know, fun and social. But if you want to come with me, you can. Hattie’s bringing Dylan.
Me: Or we can plan lunch or dinner a different day.
Mountain Man: Okay.
Me: Man of many words
I sat my phone down and picked up the rose quartz necklace I was working on before Seth had texted.
Once I finished that, I began making a pair of earrings to go with the necklace.
The set was for an order placed through my online store, but I liked how it turned out so much, I decided to make a second pair for me.
Rose quartz was often used to help release negativity, anger, and resentment.
It would probably be good for me. I wore my citrine necklace almost all the time, and I thought it worked pretty well to evoke joy and positivity.
Adding the rose quartz could help with emotional healing. Well, at least it couldn’t hurt, right?
Although it was also thought to attract new love, which was not something I was looking for. Yet another reason the idea of fake dating Seth was enticing. I could show James I’d moved on and have someone to go do things with without actually dating.
Speaking of the big burly man who still hadn’t texted back. By now he was probably on shift.
Me: So… okay you’ll come Saturday night? Or okay you want to plan something else?
Mountain Man: The first one.
Me: You really don’t like words, do you?
Mountain Man: I don’t like unnecessary words. I just got to the station. I can text later.
I smiled. Technically, he didn’t need to text me at all. But for some reason I liked the idea that he might.
I made myself a late dinner and went back to making some jewelry. I’d been doing it since I was a teenager and I’d always found the process therapeutic.
Thoughts of my mom drifted into my head, and I picked up my phone. It had been too long since I’d talked to my parents.
“Hey, chickadee,” my mom said with her usual zest.
I smiled at the nickname she still called me. “Hi, Ma.”
“We were just talking about you.”
The last two times she’d called, I couldn’t talk because I was at work, but we’d texted instead. I didn’t get the sense there was anything important she was calling about. And she would have told me to call her back if it were urgent.
“Oh?” I popped in one earbud and sat my phone back down on the table, going back to twisting the metal around the crystal I was working on.
“We know it’s still a few months away, but what do you think about us coming down there for Thanksgiving this year?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Dad and I both have time off that week, so we figured it would be nice to get away for a few days.”
“I love that idea.”
“Good.” Her voice sounded further away as she relayed my response to my father.
I leaned forward and sifted through my box of supplies, attempting to locate an O-ring for the pendant in my hand.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making some jewelry.”
“Ahh. I miss those days when you would sit in the middle of the floor, making jewelry for hours.”
I chuckled. “Except it was hard to get my attention.”
“Oh yeah. When you were locked in, a bomb could go off and you’d be totally unfazed."
She wasn’t wrong. I was like that at a crime scene sometimes too. Probably part of the reason I hadn’t realized the fire had rekindled at the farmhouse last week.
We talked a bit more, and I felt better that I’d finally gotten to talk to her. I was excited for them to come visit at Thanksgiving. It was the perfect amount of time to catch up without feeling like they were smothering me.
She passed the phone over to my dad. He almost immediately asked me if I was keeping up on my oil changes and about the faucet that dripped in the kitchen that I had told him about a few weeks ago.
I had to shake my head at him, but secretly I loved that he worried about me.
After confirming I had recently taken care of both of those things, we talked for another twenty minutes about the latest NCIS episode he had just watched before saying goodnight and hanging up.
By the time I climbed into my bed later that night, Seth still hadn’t texted back. I opted not to dwell on that fact. For one, his job could be demanding, and if he wasn’t on a call, he might be resting before the next alarm sounded. Two, we weren’t really dating. The expectations were different.
Plus, I wasn’t the type of person who dwelled on negativity. Even with my career choice, I tried not to. Him not replying to me was not a reflection of who I was.
I could, however, admit James had been a shitty boyfriend. Cheating aside, I’d never felt that I could truly depend on him. He constantly said he would do things and rarely followed through.
Next time I threw myself into a relationship, I wouldn’t settle. I deserved better, and I had to believe the kind of guy who understood that was out there. He’d find his way into my life when the time was right for both of us.
SETH
I looked at the time and wondered if it was too late to text Violet. I would have done it earlier, but almost as soon as my shift started, we were pulled out on back-to-back calls. I pulled up our text thread and typed out a quick message.
Me: Sorry. Been busy with calls. I’m good with Saturday, just let me know the details.
A text notification from my brother came through and I switched over to my thread with him.
Mason: You busy?
Me: On shift, but not really. What’s up?
Mason: Shelby’s mad at me again.
Mason: I just don’t know what to do.
Mason: She seems to really be struggling going back to work full time. But she gets upset at me when I suggest ways to make it better.
Me: You guys will figure it out. You always do.
My brother and Shelby had been together since I was like twelve or thirteen.
Got married ten years ago at the end of my senior year in high school.
They had always been perfect together. The type of relationship I thought I was going to have with Lucy, until that completely crumbled into a million pieces.
But this last year was the first time they’d struggled.
Mason: I don’t know, man. Hopefully you’re right.
Mason: How’s things going there? Women still knocking down your door?
Me: No. I fixed that.
Mason: Oh?
I smirked. He would probably laugh and give me shit but I didn’t care. We’d always been close and I rarely hid anything from him.
Me: The town thinks I’m dating someone now.
Mason: Thinks?
Me: Yeah, we’re pretending.
Mason: I’m going to need the full story at some point. That seems so unlike you.
Me: I’ll call you tomorrow morning when I get off shift.
Mason: Ok. Stay safe tonight.
Me: Will do.