Shrinking Violet (Colors #2) (33 page)

“Nuh-uh! Enchanted trolls can do magic. They’re way cooler than some stupid dragon!” Parker insisted. I’d convinced Freya and Parker to stay for dinner before heading out on the road again. After we’d eaten, Willow had somehow convinced both Carson
and
Parker to play princess and dragons with her. Everything seemed to be going along just fine until Parker demanded he be an enchanted troll instead of a dragon. It was then that all hell broke loose and a heated debate between him and Doodle Bug ensued.

“Dwagons bweathe fiwe!” Willow shouted back.

“There’s no getting through to her!” Parker said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in defeat. “She just won’t listen!”

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Freya spoke up, cutting through everyone else’s laughter. “Cassidy, thanks for inviting us to stay for dinner. It was fantastic.”

“You’re more than welcome,” I answered, still trying to control my laughter at Parker’s outburst. There wasn’t anything more entertaining than watching a grown man get schooled by a toddler.

They said their goodbyes to everyone on the front porch. Parker even bent down to scoop Willow up, spinning her around in a circle, causing her to squeal with laughter.

“Be safe,” I told Freya, giving her a quick hug. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that it was the start of a friendship for us, but we’d both received the closure we needed to move on from that part of our lives.

“We will.” She pulled back and Parker walked over to give me a one-armed hug.

“Be happy,” I whispered in his ear.

He pulled back and gave me a crooked grin. “You, too, Cassidy.”

As I stood on the porch, watching the tail lights of their car fade away, I inhaled deeply, reveling in the lightness in my chest.

The weight was gone.

I was free.

“I’m so damn proud of you, baby,” Carson said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arm around my waist.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Parker told me what you did. He told me about your message to Freya. You’re the strongest person I know, Cassidy.”

A smile tipped my lips upwards as I turned my head to brush a kiss against his scruffy jaw.

“You happy, Violet?”

“Never been happier,” I answered honestly. “I love you, Carson.”

“I love you, too, Cassidy. So damn much.”

“Okay, I’ve had enough. Get me down now.”

I clung to the saddle horn in front of me with a death grip, like it was the only thing keeping me from plummeting off Buttercup’s back to certain death.

I could hear Willow and Navie laughing at me from outside the corral.

“I’m serious,” I insisted. “I’m done. Get me off this damn thing before I break my neck.”

Lana stood at my side—safely on the ground, I might add—and gave me a look of disgust. “You’ve been on the damn horse for all of two minutes, Cass.”

“And that’s two minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Now, get me a ladder or something.”

“You’re being dramatic,” she harrumphed.

“I am not!” I shouted. “We’re not friends anymore! I’m freezing to death, and I’m eleventy-billion feet in the air!”

She threw her hands in the air and started walking off. “Oh, for the love of God…”

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“Carson, I give up. That woman’s impossible. Her own daughter can ride a damn horse and she’s throwing a fit like a baby. She’s your mess now.”

Carson’s deep laughter echoed through the cold December air as he made his way over to me. “I’ll gladly handle that mess every day for the rest of my life.”

To my great relief, Carson’s strong hands came up and wrapped around my waist, pulling me off Buttercup’s back and setting me safely on the ground.

“Thank you, honey,” I breathed, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby.” He chuckled. “So, can I take it you won’t be using Lana’s Christmas present anymore?”

The day had started out so perfectly. Navie was home from NYU for Christmas break. Aunt Milly was in the kitchen, working up a feast. Uncle Kal was trailing behind her, snatching up pieces and getting his hand whacked for his efforts. The whole family was together.

I’d been in Heaven until Lana announced that her present to me was free horseback-riding lessons. Needless to say, the first lesson hadn’t worked out all that well.

“Understatement of the century, Carson,” I glared up at him. “If I never get on the back of another horse for the rest of my life, it’ll be too soon.”

“Well, Merry Christmas to you, too, you ungrateful cow!” Lana yelled from where Navie and Willow stood, joined by Milly and Kal.

“You’re lucky I still love you!” I shouted back at her.

“Yep, my shrinking violet’s definitely got a fire in her belly,” Carson rumbled. “If it makes you feel better, I got you a present that I’m sure will put you in a better mood.”

I looked up at Carson with wide eyes. “But you already gave me my present.”

“I gave you
one
of your presents.”

I let loose a peal of excitement and began hopping from foot to foot. “Gimme, gimme, gimme!” I shouted.

Taking my left hand in his, Carson lowered himself down to one knee in the middle of the horse corral surrounded by our family. With a shocked gasp, I clamped my hand over my mouth as he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring I’d ever seen.

“Cassidy,” he said, those beautiful mossy green eyes staring up at me, full of so much love and tenderness. “I never imagined having a family until I met you. You’ve made me happier than I ever thought was possible. I can’t imagine my life without you in it, and the only thing that could make me happier was if you said you’d be my wife and build an even bigger family with me.”

Tears stung my eyes as I gazed down at the man who held my heart, the man who helped heal every broken piece, the man who taught me to forgive myself and helped me realize I was worth all the love in the world.

“I want to adopt Willow. I want to fill our house with more children. Cassidy, I want to make my life with you here on this ranch. What do you say, Violet? Will you let me do that?”

“YES!” I shouted, dropping to my knees in front of him and wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes, Carson!” I cried, pulling him in for a wet, tearful kiss.

“I love you so much, Violet,” he spoke against my lips.

“I love you, too. Every day I wake up, you make me happier than the one before.”

His lips tilted up into a brilliant, blinding smile that made me melt. “Then you better prepare yourself, sweetheart, because there’s nowhere to go but up from here. This is just the beginning.”

Staring into Carson’s eyes, I smiled back.

“I can’t wait.”

To my wonderful husband and family: I can’t tell y’all how much your support helps me through the hard times. I love you all for believing in me and pushing me to keep going

To my beta readers and writing buddies: SE Hall, Jennifer Wolfel, Erin Noelle, JM La Rocca, and Emmy Montes. I love, love, love, love, love y’all so hard!!!

To my friends: There are WAY too many of you to name off. Just know I didn’t forget you, I love each and every one of you, and your support means everything to me.

To the wonderful authors in Author Support 101 and F*ck That Noise: Without y’all to vent to, God only knows what a miserable person I’d be.

And as always, to my readers: This one is for YOU!

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BE SURE TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE OTHER COLORS NOVELS!

Scattered Colors

The use of the phrase life is hard has become so diluted, so overstated through the years that when someone hears it the words go in one ear and out the other. The impact is no longer there. The meaning, the importance of that phrase no longer holds any water with those it’s spoken to.

Freya Linden’s life became hard at the age of seventeen, the summer before her senior year of high school. The bright colors of her life faded into black and white, a colorless shell full of loneliness.

Until she met him.

Parker Owens breathed life back into her world. With him she began to heal. But happiness isn't a guarantee. Sometimes opening yourself up only leads to more heartbreak. The person she thought to be her saving grace shattered her completely.

Her story isn’t a pretty one. The bumps in the road were monumental and infinite. But it’s her story. And the one thing that holds true is this: despite the hardships, she made it through to the other side.

Love Hate Relationship

(Coming in October)

People say that sometimes the line between love and hate is thin. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes it’s invisible.

Rowan Locklaine gave his heart to one woman a long time ago and has no desire to go through that kind of torture ever again. His painful past has turned him cold and heartless. Women serve only one purpose as far as he’s concerned, and relationships are nothing but a waste of time and energy. When the mouthy little blonde, Navie Collins, is hired as his personal assistant, he finds his world turned upside down. And against his better judgment, he can’t seem to stop thinking about her.