Shrinking Violet (Colors #2) (23 page)

I turned to look at him and held up my hands. “Okay, don’t be mad, but I snuck into Navie’s room after she left for school and took some of the jewelry she’d made. It’s all so beautiful and I tried telling her she should sell it, but she doesn’t seem to think she’s good enough to make any money. You said she refused to take money from anyone for her dress so I just thought that if I brought some of her jewelry to the market, I could sell it for her and give her the money to buy herself a dress. I have no doubt that these will sell, and then she’ll have plenty of money for a beautiful dress and even a pair of shoes.”

I finished my quick spiel and sucked in a deep breath. “Are you mad?”

Carson stepped up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, slowly sliding them up to cradle my neck. “Are you kidding? Baby, that’s a fantastic idea! I’ve been telling her for years that she has a gift, but she wouldn’t believe me. Maybe this’ll give her the confidence she needs to realize how good she really is. And she’ll be able to buy her own dress. You just killed two birds with one stone, sweetheart.”

“Oh, thank God,” I puffed out a relieved breath. “I really thought it was a good idea, but I was worried you or Navie would be mad at me for taking the jewelry without permission.” I twisted my fingers together in front of me as I asked, “Do you think she’ll be upset when she finds out?”

His thumbs brushed against the underside of my jaw as he smiled that bright smile that made my stomach dip and my knees go weak. Man, I was crazy about this guy.

“Sweetheart, if she’s upset, I’ll take full blame. I’ll tell her it was all my idea.”

“But I don’t want her to be mad at you,” I insisted with a shake of my head. Navie was the only family Carson had. I hated the idea of causing any kind of rift between them.

“Violet,” Carson chuckled, “that girl can’t hold onto a grudge when it comes to me. If she gets mad, she’ll crack in a matter of hours.”

“Pretty sure of yourself there, aren’t you?” I glared.

“What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

I smacked him on the arm playfully as he laughed and pulled me in for a kiss.

I’d been right about Navie’s jewelry selling well. By the time Carson and I packed up to head home, I’d managed to sell every single one of her pieces I’d brought with me—with several people requesting I bring more the next time I was at the market. I was really hoping Navie’s self-confidence would get a major lift when I handed over the cash she’d rightfully earned.

We walked into Carson’s house and found Navie sitting at the kitchen table, studying. I was suddenly hit with a nervous energy, worried she’d be angry with me taking her jewelry and selling it behind her back.

“Hey, guys. How was the farmer’s market? Sell a lot of stuff?”

“Actually…” I dragged out, walking up to her and placing the stack of cash on the table in front of her. “We sold a lot. It was a great day.”

“What’s this?” Navie asked, looking up at me with confusion in her deep blue eyes.

Luckily, Carson stepped in just then. “That, little bit, is the money for your prom dress.”

She shoved the bills back at us. “I told you I’m not taking money from you guys,” she said with frustration.

I pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “I know. I understand why this is important that you do this yourself. This is your money, fair and square. I hope you aren’t mad, but I took some of the jewelry you made with us to the farmer’s market. Navie, the women there couldn’t buy it up fast enough. They loved it! They even asked that I bring more with me next time.”

“Wait…” She stared down at the money on the table, her brows furrowed. “You took my jewelry?”

My stomach knotted up with dread that she wouldn’t understand why I did what I did. Grabbing hold of her hand, I looked at her imploringly. “You’re so unbelievably talented. I just wanted everyone else to see what I saw when I looked at your creations. I’m sorry I went behind your back, sweetheart. I only wanted to help.”

Her wide eyes came back to mine in disbelief. “I made all of
this
?”

“Yeah, honey.” I laughed.

She picked up the stack of bills and started thumbing through them. “They really loved my jewelry that much?”

“Of course they did. You’re amazing.”

With a sudden squeal of excitement, she launched herself at me, squeezing tight as she hugged me. “This is so awesome, Cassidy! I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you so much!”

I blinked several times to push back the tears that wanted to fall as we pulled back from each other. I made sure my tone expressed just how much I meant it when I told her, “Navie, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you. I know we haven’t known each other very long, and I know it’s just been you and Carson for a long time, but I hope you know that I think of you as a part of this family. Everyone at the ranch does.”

With a sniffle, she brushed away a few tears that fell from her dark eyes and hugged me again. “I love you,” she whispered. “You’re our family, too.”

I looked over her shoulder at Carson. The smile on his face was full of awe as he mouthed
I love you
.

“I love you, too.” I answered back, speaking those four important words to the both of them.

We separated and I wiped at the wetness on my cheeks. “Now.” I smiled, lightening the mood. “What do you say we grab Lana and Bug and have a girls’ day at the mall? We have a prom dress to buy.”

Another excited squeal echoed through the room as she jumped up and ran from the room. “Gimme five minutes and I’ll be ready!”

I laughed as Carson walked over to me and pulled me from my chair. “I didn’t think it was possible to love you more than I already did, but you managed to prove me wrong, baby.”

“Mmm,” I hummed as I reached up to kiss him. “I like the sound of that.”

“And I like the sound of you coming apart in my bed at night. Speaking of…you should totally come over after Bug goes to sleep.”

I laughed as he held me against him tightly. “I’ll see if I can make that happen.”

“You do that, Violet.” He grinned.

“I’m ready!” Navie exclaimed as she came running back into the room. “You want to go shopping with us, Carson?”

“Ah, little bit, I’d rather get my nuts pecked at by Milly’s chickens than go shopping,” he answered humorously. “But you ladies have fun.”

“We will.” Navie giggled.

He turned back to me, all humor wiped from his face. “And make sure she gets a dress with good coverage. Think long sleeves. If I see any cleavage, I’m likely to have an aneurysm.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I whispered conspiratorially.

“Okay, can we go now?” Navie asked with a roll of her eyes.

With one last kiss, I pulled away from Carson and started for the front door.

“Make good choices!” Carson yelled out.

I turned back in shock. “Did you just quote
Pitch Perfect
?”

“Blame that little devil girl standing next to you. She played that damn movie every day for a solid month.”

Navie giggled and hopped up to place a kiss on Carson’s cheek. “You’re the best brother I never had.”

He grinned down at her lovingly and a million butterflies took off in my stomach. God, he was sexy when he was being all brotherly. “And you’re the best sister I never had, little bit.”

Yeah, I was definitely coming over later that night.

The gymnasium was done up to perfection. The school colors stood out proudly, masking the walls and making the gym look like an elegant ballroom. As head of the prom committee, I’d made sure we had the absolute best of everything. Prom was supposed to be a magical night, and I wouldn’t settle for anything less. It was the one and only thing I felt like I had control over. But even though I tried so hard to make the night special, I still felt that black hole deep inside of me growing wider and wider, threatening to swallow me. No matter what I did or how I acted, I still felt like I was sinking into a dark pit of despair

And I had no one to blame but myself.

Parker sat next to me at our table, his jaw ticking from being clenched so hard. He hadn’t said more than a handful of words to me since he picked me up earlier—and what he did say was as far from nice as a person could get. Not that I really blamed him for hating me. Hell, I hated myself for what I did to break him and Freya up, but it was like a compulsion. I could still hear my mother’s callous words ringing in my ears.

“You do whatever is necessary to get what you want. And you run over anybody standing in the way of you achieving your goal.”

And that’s exactly what I’d done. I blackmailed Parker to get what I thought I wanted, using the only thing I knew mattered to him—his mother.

I was the lowest form of human in existence. I could hardly bring myself to look in the mirror most days. But I’d still done it. I’d hurt two innocent people because I was weak. I hated being alone, and I let my mother get inside my head.

“You look handsome tonight,” I told him, trying my best to salvage this miserable night.

The look of disgust in Parker’s dark eyes as he stared at me chilled me to the bone, and I had no doubt in that very moment that his hatred for me was all-consuming.

“I’m getting a drink,” he growled. He stood from the table and stalked away without so much as a backwards glance.

I didn’t know what I was thinking when I forced Parker’s hand and made him take me to prom. I couldn’t tell you what I thought the outcome would be, but stupidly enough, I’d hoped that once he saw me in my pale green dress that showed a generous helping of skin, he’d loosen up to me just a little bit.

I should have known better. Sex hadn’t been able to repair our relationship after we’d broken up, so I was an idiot for thinking it would change things after. However, I hadn’t taken into consideration just how badly his disdain of me would hurt. With each passing minute, I felt like I was bleeding out on the floor.

“What the hell crawled up his ass and died?” Brynn asked from across the table. Just the sound of her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I wanted to scream at her to shut the hell up, but I didn’t. I kept my mouth closed as I eyed the rest of our group sitting around the table.

God, I really didn’t like these people. I saw the same distasteful qualities in them that I saw in myself every single day. We were all bottom-feeders. We all fed off the misery of the kids we picked on. We were the lowest of the low. I didn’t want this for myself. I didn’t want these people to be a part of my life, but in my tragically pitiful world, popularity was all I had. So I stayed. I played the same game as everyone else.

All because I was too weak, too scared of being the same outcast at school that I was in my own home.

“Don’t listen to him, babe,” Seth slurred as he fell into the chair next to me. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a flask and put it to his lips. I watched as his throat bobbed up and down with each gulp of liquor. “You look sexy as hell tonight. Owens is a fucking idiot if he can’t see that.”

“You really think so?” I asked, clinging to anything I could to make myself feel just the slightest bit better. I knew Seth was drunk and that he had the propensity to act like a raging asshole, but he was one of the best-looking guys in school. Not as handsome as Parker, but a close second. And he thought I was sexy.