Chapter 15 #2
“You just cut off the fronts?” Josh asks.
Andi nods. “Cut off the back of the baskets to where they widen a bit and removed the little seat where they put kids,” she says. “Then glammed up the whole thing.”
She’s not kidding.
The shopping carts are basically intact except for being open on the front. But they’ve been painted. One is shiny gold. The other is bright pink with, I swear, glitter mixed in.
Both baskets are now padded with cushions along the bottom and all sides.
The gold one has black cushions, the pink has purple cushions.
There are also embellishments. Draped along the outside of the gold cart are black, gold, and purple beads.
The pink cart has multicolored scarves threaded in and out of the basket.
“You can get in and out of this easily?” I ask Patty.
Patty steps forward and slips into the gold cart as if she’s sitting down on a chair. “No problem,” she says.
Muriel also demonstrates how easy it is for her to sit into her cart and then get back out.
“And check this out,” Patty says, bending over and pushing a button on the wooden box that has been secured to the platform underneath the basket on her cart.
Christmas music starts playing.
“You even gave her a stereo?” Josh asks with a laugh.
“Of course,” Andi says with a grin. “I’m thinking these could be used again in the future.”
“Check out what mine has,” Muriel says, bending and opening the little door on the front of the wooden box under her cart. She reaches inside and pulls out a bag of gummy candy. “Snack box.”
I notice one other addition. I step forward and pull on the piece of nylon that’s tucked behind the back cushion. A bar extends, and the nylon slides over the top of the basket, providing a canopy.
“These are convertible chariots,” I say with a laugh. “Brilliant.”
“Wouldn’t want the queens getting sunburned or sprinkled on,” Andi says with a wink at Patty and Muriel.
“We are still trying to get Andi to tell us how much this costs,” Patty says. “We are absolutely paying her for this.”
Andi shakes her head. “Most of the stuff was just pieces and parts I had lying around in the studio. It was fun to put them together.”
Patty puts a hand up, stopping Andi. “Absolutely not. I’m going to have Muriel keep working on you. I know she’ll wear you down.”
I know that Muriel will get Andi to the point where Andi will give her a number. The number won’t be accurate, though. It will be way less than these two carts are worth, but there will come a point where Andi will want to shut Muriel up.
“Well, this is going to be amazing.” I look at Josh. “Though I think you might be right about having the bigger, stronger charioteer,” I tell Muriel.
“Prepare to eat our dust,” Muriel says, settling into her shopping cart like a true royal.
We have about ten minutes until the obstacle course starts, so we push the carts over to the starting line, and Josh asks if I want some hot chocolate.
I’m contemplating if I can finish a whole cup of hot liquid before I have to run up and down this football field when I hear our names being called.
“Thea! Josh!”
We both turn at the sound of my mother’s voice.
What the…
Shock washes over me.
My mom, dad, both grandfathers, and my daughter are all striding toward us with huge grins.
But I don’t focus on any of them.
I only have eyes for my sister.
“Violet!” Andi exclaims.
Andi and Everly both look at me. “Violet’s here? Why didn’t you tell us?” Everly asks.
I don’t even realize that I have reached out and grabbed Josh’s hand until he squeezes mine. “Breathe. It’s gonna be okay,” he says softly.
I pull my eyes away from my gorgeous, upright, conscious sister and look up at him.
Of course, it’s going to be alright. Violet is here. She is obviously out of the hospital and doing well.
My family is surrounding her, and my dad has her arm tucked in his, but she’s walking on her own. She is wearing sunglasses, but otherwise doesn’t even show signs that she’s been in the hospital with a serious concussion. In a fucking coma.
I realize quickly that my family was trying to surprise me with this.
Clearly, they woke Violet up yesterday. There’s no way they brought her out of the coma and then let her come home within the past hour or two.
As they get closer, Violet looks from me to Josh, and her smile gets even bigger.
And that’s when I realize they weren’t trying to surprise me.
They were trying to surprise Violet’s boyfriend.
“Hi!” she exclaims.
I step forward, instantly putting my arms around her. “Oh my God, Violet, I am so thrilled to see you.”
She hugs me tightly. “Me too.”
“Are you really okay? How do you feel?”
“I actually feel really good.” She pulls back and looks at me. “I woke up yesterday. I know Mom and Dad didn’t tell you. That’s on me. I wanted to…” She glances at Josh. “I wanted to see you here, not at the hospital.”
She’s talking to him. She didn’t want him to see her in the hospital.
“I know that's silly,” she says, laughing lightly. She pulls back from me to face him. “I mean, you’re the one who pulled me out of the car. You saw me at the worst of it.”
I realize I’m not breathing, and I force myself to take a deep inhale of oxygen.
“You look fantastic,” Josh says, his deep voice, low and reassuring.
She does. Violet is beautiful, even only one day post-coma.
She tucks her hair behind her ear. “Thanks.” She’s acting almost shy.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a crowd gathering around us. The entire town. Of course.
Violet has lived here her whole life. Everyone knows her. This entire town has been worried about her, and I’m sure they are thrilled to see her.
The crowd also includes her ex. Sam and Ashley are about ten feet away and can likely hear everything. They can certainly see everything now that Josh and Violet are center stage.
Which is good.
Probably.
This entire thing, with Josh being here for Merry Mayhem in the first place, is because Sam is here with Ashley.
It’s dramatic, and happy, and worthy of a TV Christmas movie.
I nudge Josh with my elbow.
Thankfully, he’s a very smart man, and he instantly understands.
He steps forward with a big grin and enfolds Violet in a hug.
She seems to sag in relief, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing tight.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says to him.
“I’m glad you’re here too,” he tells her.
“Thank you so much for doing Merry Mayhem anyway,” she says.
They’re speaking softly enough now that I am probably the only one who can hear them.
“Of course. I made you a promise,” Josh says.
Violet pulls back and looks up at him with a sweet smile. “I’ve been thinking, my family has told me all about how great you’ve been with everything, and how much they love you, and how fun all of this is. And I think…” She wet her lips, then says in a rush, “We should do this for real.”
I stiffen, my gaze flying to Josh’s face.
He is clearly surprised, but he quickly covers it. “Do what?”
“Date. For real.”
Then my sister lifts up on tiptoe and presses her lips to Josh’s.