Now #2
Trying to get a read on Grayson, I can’t find any emotion on his face. He just seems…quiet. It’s almost as if he’s waiting to get a word in.
“You must have so many people to feed already,” I say. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Noah, Lizzie, Dani, Celia, Dana, and Grayson. You’re a part of the family, Violet. You always have been.”
“You should come. I know Lizzie would love to see you. Plus, I’d like to have you there with us. Most importantly, you can’t say no to Laura Kaplan,” Grayson adds.
I inhale and exhale. “Okay, I’ll come.”
Laura claps her hands together. “Awesome! Well, it was nice chatting with you both, but I have to get back to work. Busy day today. I’ll see you on Monday, Violet.”
“See you Monday!” I raise my voice.
As I look around the store, my heart swells with pride and joy from all the customers browsing our selection.
There’s a group of teenage girls in the young adult section, a trio of college girls in the sports romance section, and a woman in her thirties scanning the contemporary romance section. The sound of laughter bounces off the concrete walls and travels its way outside of the store.
“I hope it’s okay that I’m going to Thanksgiving at the Kaplans’.”
“It’s more than okay.” He clears his throat. “Speaking of holidays, what are you doing for Halloween?”
“My plan is to binge-watch a bunch of movies and eat candy. Why?”
“I was going to go to the party the team is throwing, but after the victory party they had last night, I’m thinking of changing my plans. Do you want some company?”
There’s a difference between loneliness and being alone. Loneliness isn’t typically a path somebody chooses. It can happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Being alone can be a choice.
I’ve been alone since high school, and it’s something I didn’t choose.
It’s how my life turned out. I thought since I have a brother that I’d want to hang out with people all the time, but that isn’t the case.
I also have no relationship with Blake, so I really don’t know what it's like to have a brother anymore.
The thing is, I’m not alone now. I have friends like Willow, Dani, Noah, Bella, Xander, and Sage. I’m especially grateful to have Grayson back in my life, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we don’t vanish from each other’s lives again.
“Yeah, I’d love the company. Maybe you can dress up as a superhero.”
“Nice try. I haven’t dressed for Halloween since sophomore year of high school.”
“Same here.”
“Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays, but that year changed everything for me.”
“Yeah, it changed everything for me, too.” I rush out the front door and lean against Grayson’s truck.
He comes out of the store, speed-walking over to me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up sad moments from the past.”
“It’s okay.” A sliver of a smile appears on my face.
“Are you ready to go home?”
“Yeah.”
I step on the ledge to get into the truck and buckle myself in. He runs over to the driver’s side and hops inside the vehicle.
Goodbye, Sweet & Salty. I’ll see you on Monday.
We make it back to Sunset Cove University in about a half an hour. We still have another ten minutes or so to make it back to my apartment complex.
“Ah, good morning.”
I slowly open and close my eyes. “Hi.”
“I would’ve been surprised if you didn’t fall asleep on the way back to campus.”
I ended up falling asleep for half of the trip back because road trips make me sleepy. It doesn’t matter if they’re thirty minutes or two hours.
“I would’ve been surprised, too.”
“Do you get a lot of trick-or-treaters in your apartment building?”
“Not really. You?”
“No. I don’t have the memory of trick-or-treaters visiting my mom and I when I was little either because I’ve blocked so much of my childhood out.”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you for doing that.
We had so many kids ring our doorbell. Mind you, we had a Halloween party going on, but my dad was always on standby to give out candy.
A lot of the kids in our community loved Lighthouse Estates because a lot of the residents would give out regular-sized candy bars and such. I wish I was one of them.”
“At least we had each other. I don’t think I would’ve survived a lot of the obstacles life threw at me if I didn’t have you by my side.”
“I know I would’ve been underwater if I didn’t have you around.”
“I’ll be your anchor anytime.” His tone is raspy and low.
We arrive at Hightower in less than ten minutes, which never happens. I’m taking this as a win. We’ve been gone most of the afternoon, so it’s the late evening now.
When we pull up to a parking spot in front of my building, he turns off the engine and gets out of the truck. He opens my door and helps me down the step. I end up missing it with one of my feet, tripping into his arms.
“I got you,” he says.
My eyes immediately meet his, putting me into a sleep-like trance. It must be obvious how fast my heart is beating because my chest is heaving a lot.
His Adam’s apple bobs up and down, and his grip on me is secure.
“Let’s go upstairs,” I suggest.
“What?”
“Sorry, you don’t have to come upstairs with me. I meant…I don’t know what I meant. What am I saying?”
He licks his lips, grinning up a storm. “I can walk you to your door.”
“That’s what I meant!”
Am I sweating bullets yet?
I speed-walk up the stairs with him slowly trailing behind me. Once we make it to my apartment, he opens his mouth. “Thank you for coming with me to see my mom today.”
“Thank you for bringing me with you.”
“I told you it would go well. My mom has always been your cheerleader.”
“There’s nobody else I’d rather have as my cheerleader than Dana.”
“You can have more than one cheerleader, you know.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”