Shrinking Violet (Colors #2)

Copyright © 2015 by Jessica Prince
All rights reserved.
Visit my website at
www.authorjessicaprince.com
Cover Designer:
http://quirky-bird.com
Editing:
www.hottreeediting.com/
Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing,
www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

OTHER BOOKS BY JESSICA

THE PICKING UP THE PIECES SERIES:

Picking up the Pieces

Rising from the Ashes

Pushing the Boundaries

Worth the Wait

THE COLORS NOVELS:

Scattered Colors

Shrinking Violet

Love Hate Relationship (Coming October 2015)

DEADLY LOVE TRILOGY:

Destructive

Addictive

Obsessive (Coming Soon)

OTHER TITLES:

Nightmares from Within

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Find Jessica At

Other Colors Novels

To my family.
Every day, I count my blessings that I have each and
every one of you in my life.

How has this become my life?

The heat from the sweltering Texas sun beat down on my skin, making it tight and itchy as a fine sheen of sweat beaded across my forehead. The humidity in the air was so thick, I was afraid I was going to choke on it. Everything about the air outside the crowded airport was stifling.

Holding my hand over my eyes to shield them from the relentless rays, I scanned the cars around me, hoping it wouldn’t take long to spot Aunt Milly and Uncle Kal. The heat was bad enough, but standing outside when the temperature was over a hundred degrees while pregnant was just plain cruel. After shuffling around for another ten minutes, with no sight of my aunt or uncle, I decided using my suitcase as a seat was the best option.

Folding my hands over my stomach, I stared down as sadness began to take over once again. I wasn’t even showing, yet my entire world had already been turned upside-down by the tiny life growing inside of me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to my baby, wondering if it was even possible for him or her to hear me, let alone understand. “This is all my fault.” I sniffled as tears began to make tracks down my cheeks. I tried my hardest to put strength in my next words. “But I swear I’m going to be better. I promise you, I’ll be better.”

And I would.

No matter what it took, I was determined to shed the skin of my former life—a life where I carelessly played with other people’s emotions for my own satisfaction—and be the kind of mother my child deserved. The kind of mother I never had. I would never subject my child to the cold, callous person I used to be. I’d make sure my baby felt loved every second of every day for as long as I had breath in my body.

I was a horrible person. I did unspeakable things. I wasn’t worthy of forgiveness. But for the life growing inside of me, I’d give unconditional, unending love in the hopes of finally,
finally
getting it in return.

“Cass? Cassidy!” The sound of my aunt’s voice pulled me from my self-loathing. I briskly wiped at the tears on my face, but it was too late. Aunt Milly spotted them before I had a chance to hide my sorrow behind a fake smile.

“Oh, sweetie,” she cooed as she pulled me into her arms. “It’s okay,” she whispered with a motherly affection I was so unused to. “It’s all gonna be okay, baby girl. You hear me?”

For what felt like the millionth time in my life, I questioned how someone as uncaring and heartless as my mother ever came out of the same womb as the soft, gentle woman who engulfed me in such a loving embrace.

At her show of affection, the floodgates burst and I buried my face in her neck, sobbing uncontrollably. “Aunt Milly,” I cried. “I screwed up. I’m a horrible person.”

Her soft hand ran through my hair as she pulled back to look at me. “Hush now, child. You’re not a horrible person—”

“But I am!” I interrupted loudly. “How can you say that? The things I’ve done…I
hurt
people!”

“And you’ll learn from those mistakes,” she insisted adamantly. “You’re only human, sweetheart. We make mistakes. It’s how you
learn
from those mistakes and carry yourself in the future that determine your true character.”

“The things I’ve done…” I choked out. “They’re unforgiveable, Aunt Milly.”

“Everyone is worthy of forgiveness, Cassidy,” she said as she brushed a finger along my cheek. “Even you.”

I wanted to believe her. As I stared into her honest blue eyes, I wanted so badly to believe I was redeemable. But how could I ever ask everyone I’d wronged to forgive me when I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forgive myself?

I was cutting it close.

I was due to start my new job in thirty minutes and the drive alone would take twenty of those. That was
if
I didn’t get my ass lost on the way there.

“Stupid fucking alarm,” I muttered under my breath as I snatched a t-shirt off the floor and held it to my face. Smelled clean enough. That worked for me. I tugged it over my head as I made my way out of the bedroom toward the kitchen. My mind focused on one thing and one thing only—
caffeine
.