Chapter 9 Confess

• ~ Violet ~
• - - - - - THREE WEEKS LATER - - - - -
• “You know what they call this in the olden days?” Lucas paused for a beat before whispering into Violet’s ear, “It’s a shotgun wedding,”
• “Shush!” Violet glared and covered Lucas’s mouth so no one could hear him. “Don’t you dare spread any rumors! Ivy is not pregnant!”
• After proposing to Ivy just a few weeks prior, Dylan then told everyone that they were doing the wedding in three weeks. Barbara was overjoyed by the news, and so was Violet. They were supportive and they helped out all they could to give Ivy her dream wedding. Though it caused the townspeople quite a stir, it was a wonderful time for the Carvey family.
• “Yeah, but a wedding in three weeks?” Lucas’s chuckle was muffled because of Violet’s hand.
• “I don’t know, I guess they’re just so… in love?” Violet shrugged as she stared at the happy couple.
• Tonight was Dylan and Ivy’s wedding reception. The event was being held at Ivy’s father’s ranch. It was a beautiful place surrounded by the rolling hills. The fairy lights were hanging and the band was playing. Ivy’s dad also invited almost everyone in town, so Lucas and his dad were also in attendance.
• “You mean in lust?” Earl, Lucas’s dad, suddenly popped his head into their conversation. “I think your brother’s rushing this because Ivy is a good Christian girl who doesn’t wanna put out before marriage,”
• “Well, okay, maybe that too,” Violet rolled her eyes and laugh. “But he really does love her. I’ve never seen him so happy like this,”
• Violet knew why people would be skeptical, but it had been a while since something this wonderful happened to their family, so she was too happy to care. Tonight, for instance, she got all dressed up, wearing her favorite ivory summer dress and matching heels. Yes, for the first time in a long time, she was wearing heels again.
• “Good for them, I guess,” Earl shrugged and downed his wine.
• “Yeah, good for them,” Lucas agreed.
• “Aw, Luke, don’t be so salty. You’ll get your own shotgun wedding soon enough,” Earl let out a chuckle and patted his son’s shoulder.
• “Shut up,” Lucas whined and jerked his hand away.
• Violet couldn’t help but smile as she watched the two men arguing. Earl and Lucas were more like best friends than father and son. His mom passed away when he was young, so they were all each other had. Earl always said that his wife was the only adult in the house, so when she passed away and he had to raise Lucas on his own, it felt more like two boys raising themselves.
• “Your time will come, hang in there,” Earl said as he playfully shoved Lucas’s elbow.
• “Hey, I didn’t know you wanna get married young too?” Violet asked Luke.
• “Maybe,” he shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. “If I meet the right girl,”
• “Or maybe you’ve met her already,” Earl commented and Lucas glared daggers at him.
• “Get outta here!” Lucas was embarrassed and it showed in his face. He gave Earl a firm shove and the old man went away, laughing merrily.
• “Just sayin’, your old man’s just trynna help ya!”
• “Whatever,” Lucas rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. He’s a weirdo,”
• Violet didn’t get why Lucas was so embarrassed by Earl’s comments. If anything, she was confused. She never pegged Lucas as the romantic type.
• “I really can’t picture you marrying young,” she said. “I thought you said you wanna do Nascar racing and traveling the world and all that stuff?”
• “Yeah, I do,” he agreed. “But, lately I’ve been thinking that maybe settling down isn’t such a bad idea too,”
• “Settling down?” she gasped. Her eyes were wide as saucers. “Woah! Lucas Sterling Hayes, you’ve found a girl, haven’t you?”
• “W-what?” Lucas stammered.
• “Who is she? Why are you not telling me about her?” she demanded.
• “I… I don't know…”
• “Is she here?”
• “Well, yeah, sort of,”
• “Where? You have to introduce me to her!”
• Violet looked from side to side, studying all the people that were there. There were this group of girls from their college sorority that was there. It could be one of them. Or there were these girls that frequented the café often. It could be one of them too.
• “Well, the thing is… she doesn’t know that I like her,” Lucas said as he put his gaze down. He was either really nervous or really uncomfortable.
• “Oh?”
• “Yeah…” Slowly, he looked up to see Violet’s eyes and it was like he was trying to read her expression. “I’ve been pining over this girl for a while now. But she doesn’t see me as more than a friend,”
• Violet started to wonder about the girls that were friends with Lucas. Lucas was a popular guy. He was funny and charming, and he had lots of friends. Many of them were girls. It would be impossible to figure out who he was talking about.
• “Well, did you ever tell her how you feel?” she asked.
• “No,” he replied. “I’m too… scared,”
• “What?” she gaped.
• “What?” he asked back.
• “You race cars and you ride bulls, but you’re afraid to tell a girl that you like her?”
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• - - - - - To be continued - - - - -