Shrinking Violet (Colors #2) Read online

  I followed her through the living area and down the hallway, taking in the small house as I went. There was a tan couch, a scuffed-up coffee table which held a decent-sized TV, and a worn, brown-leather recliner in the living room. I spotted a small four-seater round table with mismatched chairs in the dinette area off the kitchen. The furniture was clearly secondhand, but it still looked comfortable and well taken care of, like Carson and Navie took pride in what they had. Other than the limited furniture, there wasn’t really anything else. There were no photos hanging on the walls or above the fireplace, no personal mementos scattered about the space. My chest tightened painfully, my heart splitting even further for both of them.

  I did my best to push the sadness away as Navie led me into her bedroom. A full-sized bed was pushed against the far corner wall with a bedside table and lamp next to it. A few posters hung on the walls. The color blue was the most prominent thing in the room, from her bedspread to the curtains hanging around the window. I couldn’t suppress my smile. I’d finally learned something about Navie…her favorite color was obviously blue. On the wall near the door was a wooden desk, every square inch covered in what looked like beads of every size and color.

  “What’s this?” I asked, moving closer to the desk.

  “Oh, uh…” I turned to look at her to find her twisting a piece of hair around her finger uncomfortably. “It’s nothing…just a stupid hobby.”

  Something from the corner of her desk caught my eye. “Oh, my God. You make jewelry!” I exclaimed excitedly. I picked up a necklace that was sitting away from the piles of stray beads. The chain was so delicate—tiny, interlocking pieces of metal with pearls and clear crystal beads evenly spaced throughout. At the front, three strands of clear crystals hung down, each with a pearl dangling at the end. The necklace was something I would have easily dropped a small fortune on back in Washington, when I spent my parents’ money like it was going out of style.

  I turned back to Navie, my mouth hanging slightly open in awe. “This is beautiful!”

  Her shyness seemed to evaporate at my compliment, her cheeks pinked as her mouth hooked up in a brilliant smile. “Really? You think so?” Navie’s entire being lit up at my praise of her amazing work. I was both overjoyed and saddened at the same time. Judging by her reaction, praise wasn’t something she was used to receiving.

  “Absolutely! Navie, you’re unbelievably talented. Do you sell these? You could make a fortune.”

  She ducked her head and shifted from foot to foot. “I’ve never really thought about it. I just kinda like making them. I never thought anyone would want to buy them.”

  “Well, they would, trust me.”

  “Thank you, Cassidy,” she said in a hushed voice. There was so much sincerity in her smile when her eyes met mine, it caused my throat to burn with unshed tears.

  “Well,” I started, wanting to shift the mood to something lighter. “I’m taking Bug to the pond to go swimming, and I wanted to see if you’d join us. We could all use a little break from the heat.”

  “Oh…” She paused, her eyes growing a little sad. “I’d like to, but I don’t have a bathing suit.”

  “That’s okay. I’m sure I’ve got something that’ll fit you.”

  And just like that, the excitement was back. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, come on. Let’s go find you something. Bug will be so excited when she finds out you’re coming with us.”

  As expected, Willow went crazy when I told her Navie was going swimming, too. We’d been out at the pond for a little over an hour, and I was already worn out after playing a rigorous game of Toss the Bug where Navie and I took turns throwing Willow back and forth in the water.

  When Navie saw I was burning out, she offered to stay in the water and let me take a little break. I spread out a blanket underneath one of the shady oaks not too far from the bank, lying on my stomach, when Carson’s voice sounded from behind me.

  “I thought I might find y’all out here.”

  The deep, rumbling tenor caused goose bumps to spread across my sun-warmed skin. I watched him from behind my sunglasses as he took a seat on the blanket next to me, his denim-clad hip brushing against my arm, sending a tremor throughout my entire body.

  “The water was too tempting in this heat.” I looked up at him with a smile to find his eyes scanning down the length of my back, resting a few seconds longer on my bikini-covered rear end.

  His voice turned gravelly as he said, “I can definitely understand the temptation.”

  From the way his jade green eyes darkened with appreciation, I knew he wasn’t talking about the water. I couldn’t ignore the way my whole body flushed at his blatant perusal, and I found myself enjoying the intense way he was watching me. It made me feel desirable, coveted. Despite my trepidation, I found myself loving it.

  “Hey, Cassidy, I think Bug might need some more sunscreen,” Navie called out.

  Carson glanced toward the water for just a second, long enough to see Navie and Willow coming out of the water. His body froze as they came closer, his shoulders tense. I worried at the sudden shift in his mood. He went from playful to what appeared to be distressed in an instant. It wasn’t until he spoke that I realized the source of his discomfort. Quick as a flash, he was on his feet.

  “For the love of…Jesus, Navie. What are you wearing?!”

  Navie looked down at her bathing suit with a befuddled expression on her face. She was wearing the only bathing suit I owned that came close to fitting her. The bottoms had a teal and white paisley pattern and tied on the sides, and the matching top had triangle cups. Navie might have been short in stature, but that girl had the curves of a vixen. We both had tiny waists, but she had to wear that particular bikini because the bottoms were easily adjustable to fit her curvy hips. The triangles didn’t cover as much of her chest as they did mine, seeing as she was about one cup size bigger than me, but I thought she still looked cute as hell.

  “Cass let me borrow one of her bathing suits so I could go swimming with them,” she answered simply.

  “That’s not a bathing suit,” Carson grumped. “You’re practically naked!” He turned his burning gaze back on me. “Didn’t you have a one-piece or something she could have borrowed? Or a wetsuit! A wetsuit would be perfect. Navie, remind me to buy you a wetsuit.”

  Navie’s hands went to her hips as she glared at him. “I’m not wearing a wetsuit, Carson. You’re being ridiculous.”

  Laughter bubbled up from my chest at the extreme discomfort on his face. I couldn’t help but poke the bear just a little. “I think she looks cute! That bikini really shows off her killer figure.”

  “It’s obscene is what it is. She looks like she’s getting ready to pose for Playboy!”

  Willow looked up at me curiously as I toweled her off. “Mommy, whas pwayboy?”

  “Nothing, honey. Carson’s just being silly.”

  “I don’t need to see that she has a killer figure!” he continued with his rant. “As a matter of fact, none of the guys on the ranch need to see her figure! She’s my sister, for crying out loud!”

  “I’m not your sister,” Navie harrumphed.

  “Close enough!”

  I casually squeezed some lotion into my hand and began rubbing it onto Willow’s skin. “Carson, she’s a gorgeous eighteen-year-old woman. Men are going to start recognizing her, and short of locking her up, there’s really not much you can do about it.”

  “Like hell there isn’t!”

  Willow let out a wide-eyed gasp. “Ooooooh, you said a potty wowd! You has ta put five dollews in da sweaw jaw.” I loved how my baby girl had trouble pronouncing her ‘r’s. It was too adorable.

  Carson turned his bewildered gaze on my little girl. “Five dollars?! Are you kidding? That word cost a quarter, at the most.”

  Her expression grew stern, her tiny fists resting on her chubby little hips. “Mommy always says if you say bad wowds, you pay da pwice. That’s five dollews.”

  It app
eared Kal had started teaching Bug the art of negotiating. I was going to have to have a talk with him about that. He loved nothing more than suckering people for the fun of it. If I didn’t put a stop to his teachings, I had no doubt I’d start finding stacks of cash hidden all over Bug’s bedroom.

  “Fine. Here.” Carson shot Willow a playful stink-eye as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. He pulled out a five-dollar bill and slapped it into my daughter’s waiting hand.

  “Pleasuew doing business with you.”

  Yep, that was all Kal.

  “Now that I’ve been swindled, let’s go, Navie. We need to get some clothes on you.”

  “But we’re not done swimming!” she said, stomping her foot for extra emphasis.

  “Carson, if you’re so uncomfortable seeing us in bikinis then you can just leave,” I told him, defending my new friend, Navie. Truth was, I wasn’t ready to leave, either. I was really enjoying spending time with who I was quickly beginning to view as my two girls.

  Carson twisted his head in my direction, his green eyes heating just a bit. “Sweetheart, I’ve got no problems with you being in a bikini.” One of his brows quirked up as he shot me a devilish smirk. “He—I mean, heck…” he shot a quick look Willow’s way, “…I’d even suggest you do a little dance for me while wearing one.”

  “Oh, gross.” Navie’s face twisted in disgust causing me to laugh again.

  “But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with my little sister gallivanting around so all the world can see her…her…” He waved his hands up and down in Navie’s direction. “All of…that.”

  I stood from my spot on the blanket and made my way toward him, making sure to stand close. I gave him my own smirk, adding in a little eye flutter for full effect. “Then, like I said, you should leave.”

  I led the girls back into the water so we could start another game of Toss the Bug, immensely enjoying the feel of Carson’s smoldering eyes on my skin the whole time.

  “He really likes you, you know.” I turned my attention from the tomato plant in front of me to see Navie had abandoned her task of picking green beans. Her gaze was trained on where Carson was over by the barn.

  “What are you talking about?” I tried to sound casual, but I knew she suspected something was brewing between him and me. They’d been living on the ranch for close to a month already, and despite how reluctant I was, there was no denying the attraction between Carson and me, even if there hadn’t been any more near-kisses. It wasn’t something I was willing to openly admit, but I was actually starting to feel a little bereft at the lack of physical contact. Whereas Carson used to take the opportunity to touch me in the past, over the last couple of weeks, he just seemed to…stop. I got the sense he was afraid to push me, but I’d reached the point where I was desperate to feel his touch on my skin.

  The saving grace in the current intensity swirling around in my life was that, in the weeks since our day at the pond, Navie and I had grown even closer. I was happy with the friendship we were beginning to form.

  “Carson,” Navie answered. “I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.”

  My stomach fluttered. “How does he look at me?”

  She stared off, silent for a bit, deep in thought. What she said next stunned me. “Like…like you’re everything.”

  Even though she’d spoken in a soft whisper, the words went off like a bomb inside my head. I knew there was something between us, but there was still a nervous part of me that didn’t want to admit it was anything other than attraction.

  When I was unable to formulate a response, Navie continued. “I’ve known him for a really long time. There’s been so much disappointment in his life that he gave up on most people a long time ago. I’ve never seen him be anything but closed-off.”

  She turned her focus from Carson to me, her dark blue eyes glassy. “The first time I ever saw him happy, genuinely happy, was the day he came home and told me about you.”

  I inhaled a shaky breath, my voice choking on the tears clogging my throat. “Navie—”

  She kept going as though she hadn’t heard me. “There might have been other women in his past, but never anyone like you. He deserves to finally have someone in his life who makes him happy.”

  I shook my head. “Navie, you don’t want me for Carson, believe me.”

  “That’s not true,” she insisted.

  I wanted to argue. I wanted to scream that I didn’t deserve him, that I wasn’t good enough, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud for fear that everything I’d been building with Carson and Navie would come crashing down around my head. I cared too much about them. It was selfish, but I didn’t want to lose either of them.

  Just as I opened my mouth to respond, a loud crack of thunder echoed through the sky, startling the both of us. We’d been so immersed in what we were discussing that we hadn’t realized the sky had begun to darken to an ominous, eerie gray. Lightning cracked, causing both of us to jump. I could hear the horses in the corral start to whinny at the oncoming storm—Kal’s newest stallion, Thunder, the loudest of them all. Ironic as it was, the horse hated thunderstorms, becoming even more ill-tempered every time one passed through.

  “Let’s get inside before it starts pouring,” I told Navie.

  I didn’t think much of it when I heard Kal’s voice call through the whipping wind to Carson, telling him to help get the horses into the stable before it got too ugly. We just made it under the covered back porch, dumping our gardening bags on the ground, when the skies opened up. Brushing my hair from my face, I looked around before asking Navie, “Where’s Doodle Bug?”

  She’d been with us in the garden earlier, but had gotten antsy and asked to join Kal in the barn.

  “Is she still in the barn?”

  I squinted, looking through the rain. I saw Kal and Carson wrangling the horses from the corral, a few yards away and into the stables. The only horse left in the large round corral was Thunder. From the way he reared up on his hind legs with each crash of thunder or clap of lightning, it wasn’t hard to assume he was going to give the guys a difficult time.

  I didn’t want Willow to be in there when they tried to get the big beast into the stables, so I took off into the rain, running to get her out of the way. I went through the barn, back to the stables, just as Carson stepped out of one of the stalls. Kal was shutting Buttercup, our gorgeous, well-mannered palomino, into one of the other stalls.

  “Have you seen Bug?”

  Kal looked from me, to Carson and back again. “She’s not with you? I sent her back up to the house just a few minutes ago.”

  Just then, another flash of lightning lit up the sky, and I could hear Thunder kicking his hind legs against the metal railing of the corral. In that instant, my heart stopped beating. I knew exactly where she was.

  “Oh, no.” As fast as my feet could carry me, I ran from the barn toward the corral. Feet beat against the ground behind me, quickly catching up. Just as I cleared the doors of the barn, I saw my little girl climbing up the railing of the corral, right by where Thunder was anxiously prancing back and forth in a tight circle. She was right at the top, at least five feet off the ground, throwing her leg over to climb back down.

  “Willow! No!” I shouted, picking up my stride. Rain pelted against my face, stinging my eyes and skin as I ran. “Willow, get down!” I shouted into the wind. I barely made out Carson passing me as a loud rumble of thunder sounded, followed by a deafening crack of lightning. My scream froze in my throat, my soul focus on the terrifying sight in front of me. Instantly, it was as if time slowed. I watched as Thunder went up on his hind legs, kicking his front legs just feet away from where my little girl teetered on the top rung of the railing. I heard Kal yell her name from behind me as Thunder came back down on all four legs, his massive body tipping sideways right into the fencing. Willow’s small frame slipped and fell onto the muddy ground, right in front of the skittish animal. All I could think was t
hat my baby girl was about to be trampled.

  I picked up the pace, pumping my arms and legs as fast as I could, praying I reached her in time to keep her from getting stomped on by the horse.

  Just as another booming roll of thunder echoed, Carson cleared the railing, landing on his feet inside the corral, never once breaking stride. He skidded to a stop directly in front of the horse, scooping Willow up in his big arms and twisting back around at the same moment Thunder went back up on his hind legs.

  It was seconds, mere seconds between Carson getting out of the way and the black stallion coming back down. If Carson had hesitated in just the slightest, they’d both have been trampled. At the same moment I made it to the corral railing, Carson was on the other side, lifting a sobbing, muddy Willow up and over into my arms as Kal climbed over. I didn’t bother to wait and see if they were able to get the stallion under control. I rushed back to the house to find Navie and Milly watching from the back porch.

  “Oh, my Lord,” Milly exclaimed, her hand to her chest as she and Navie followed me through the back door and into the kitchen.

  Willow’s face was muddy and tear-streaked as I sat her on the kitchen counter next to the sink and quickly wet a dishtowel. My hands trembled with a mixture of fear and adrenaline as I wiped away the mud to try and assess her injuries.

  “Hey, sweet girl,” I spoke softly, brushing her hair from her face. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

  She shook her head back and forth. “N-n-no,” she hiccupped on a sob.

  “Did you bump your head?”

  She sniffled. “Nuh-uh.”

  I ran my hands along her arms and legs, bending them at certain points to make sure nothing was broken. I took my first real breath since seeing her on that railing when she moved her limbs without wincing or flinching. Huffing out in relief, I turned to face the worried women behind me.