5. COLLIDE

~ 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?”

Violet’s question made Lucas laugh to himself. He realized how silly that sounded, but that was the truth.

“It’s different, though,” he said.

“Different how?”

“I don't have to talk to cars, I just have to drive them,” he said with a bored stare. “But with her… whenever I’m near her, I just can’t speak right, you know?”

Lucas was staring at her with this look she couldn’t decipher. Violet concluded that he was actually a shy guy. Underneath his confident and jokey exterior, he was a sweetheart who was afraid to talk to a girl he likes.

“Hey, if you never tell her how you feel, how is she supposed to know?” she told him.

“Are you… saying that I should tell her?” he said with his head tilted to the side.

“Well, duh!” she said reassuringly. “I mean, what do you have to lose?”

“Uh, our friendship?”

“Well, if it matters that much to her like it does to you, then you wouldn’t lose it,”

Violet made a compelling argument. Lucas’s lips curved up a smile, but he quickly cleared his throat to hide it.

“Well, alright, in that case, I gotta talk to you about something…”

“Okay?” she replied, waiting for him to continue.

“Well, uh,” Lucas was struggling with his words. His hands went to rake his messy blonde hair and it rested on the back of his neck. “Do you… uh, wanna dance?”

“Huh?”

“…With me?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll tell you about that thing later”

“Um, okay, sure,” she shrugged.

Violet didn’t know why Lucas was acting weird, but she took his hand anyway and he led her to the dance floor. The band was playing a slow song, their rendition of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ by Frankie Valli.

“You're just too good to be true… Can't take my eyes off of you… You'd be like Heaven to touch… I wanna hold you so much…”

Violet moved her body to the music and Lucas followed along. Her hands were around his neck and his hands rested on the small of her back. She was moving with such ease and grace, but Lucas was struggling. Normally, he wasn’t this stiff, but he was a bit more nervous than usual. Violet’s darted around and she noticed that a lot of people were watching them.

Maybe it’s because the girl he likes is watching him?

“Hey,” Lucas said suddenly, catching Violet’s attention. “You look really pretty today,”

“Why, thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Hayes,” Violet replied in her exaggerated southern accent. That never failed to make him laugh. “You should wear a suit more often,”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded, fixing up his bowtie a little.

Lucas’s eyes darted to her hands on his tie and he swallowed hard. After she finished fixing her tie, her hands went back to his shoulders and she smiled at him. Lucas was caught in a daze.

“Pardon the way that I stare… There's nothin' else to compare… The sight of you leaves me weak… There are no words left to speak…”

“So, uh, listen…” he started to speak. “The thing that I wanna tell you about is, um…”

Violet was trying her best to listen, but suddenly, something caught her eye. There was a man smoking a cigarette and he was standing at the very back of the area, away from all the wedding guests. He was standing alone, wearing a sleek three-piece suit, and he was looking right at her. His dark hair was neatly slicked back and there were tattoos peeking out of his neck.

Wait. That can’t be…!

“Hey, Violet?” Lucas’s voice pulled her attention again.

“Huh?” she looked up at him in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I think I saw someone…”

“Who?”

Violet looked in the same direction again, but the man was gone. She scanned the area nearby and saw a shadow moving. Someone was walking towards the barn.

“Give me a second, I’ll be right back,” she said as she pulled away from Lucas.

“But, I—“ He tried to hold onto her, but she was already gone.

“Hold that thought,” she told him, leaving him hanging high and dry.

With quick steps, Violet approached the empty, abandoned barn. She didn’t know who she was expecting, but she had to see for herself to make sure. That man definitely didn’t look like the typical guests from this town. No one here would have owned a suit that nice. And there was something about the way that man was staring at her. She couldn’t quite see his face, but the look he was giving her gave her the chills.

“Hello?” she said as she entered the barn. There was no reply. The place was dark and empty.

“Is anyone in here?” she tried again, but there was nothing still.

It’s probably just in my head.

Letting out a sigh, Violet turned around to leave. But before she reached the door, she heard a creaking noise and she whipped her head around instinctively.

“W-who’s there?!” she demanded.

And suddenly, a figure appeared from the dark shadows. He let out a clout of white smoke out of his mouth and Violet couldn’t see his face, but she could heard him speak.

“So…” He trailed. His voice was low and husky. It was a familiar voice. She heard it often in her dreams.

No way, it couldn’t be…

The man stepped further into the light and as the smoke dissipated into the air, Violet could see his face as clear as day. She drew in a sharp breath as her eyes jolted open and her jaw fell to the ground.

“What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

He was smirking. It was a smirk she had known so well. Violet’s hand went to cover her mouth and her knees began to shake. Her heart was racing and her breath was caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

It was him. The demon himself in the flesh.

• • • • • To Be Continued - - - - -