Page 78 of Friends That Heal Us
EZRA
It’sanother lonely night in this house I wish I could call home. A home that Violet and I share. Yes, we share it, but it doesn’t feel the same because she shared it with her ex. We’ve both been moving forward together, and I think the next step is to get a place together. This house has such an eerie feel to it. Like I have to walk on eggshells.
I need to talk to Vi about how she’s feeling about us. Our actions show we want to be together, but we’re still taking things day by day, and I don’t want to assume anything has changed.
I get in my truck and head over to her bakery to see if I can surprise her and take her for a drive.
Once I get to the bakery, the chimes of the bells ring through my ears as I walk in.
“Hi,” Liv says, greeting me as I walk in.
“Hi, Liv.”
“Are you looking for Violet?”
I nod.
“She’s in the back,” she says, pointing toward the back. “I’m sure she’s fine with you going back there.”
I smile and nod and head that way. “Thank you.”
The sweetness that lingers in the air gets thicker as I go into the kitchen. Violet has her back to me as she washes dishes and sways her hips to the song she’s blasting in the kitchen.
I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe, my eyes fixed on her. There’s something about her that pulls me in—the way she moves, the calm she carries. She has always made my darkest days feel lighter. As I stand watching her, I pay attention to the song lyrics to “Take Me Away” by Morgan Wade. I’ve heard it once before. The song lyrics kind of resonate with us. Is that how she feels?
Her eyes grow wide as she clutches her chest. “Oh my god!” she yells over the music. “Ezra. How long were you standing there?”
“Long enough to watch you work your hips like that,” I say with a wink.
Her face grows red as she shakes her head and walks over to turn down the music.
“I wanted to see if you wanted to go for a drive with me. Get some fresh air.”
“That would be nice. I feel like I haven’t been outside in weeks.” She throws her apron onto the counter. “I go from here to the house and then back here.”
“You have been pretty busy. Have you found another baker yet?”
“I found two that I like and would like to hire them both.”
“You should. I don’t think that will be a bad decision.”
She walks closer to me, turns the kitchen lights off, and fills me in as we walk out to the front. “They’re both going to culinary school right now, so they would both need to be part-time. But even that will help me. Hey, Liv, are you ready to lock up?”
Liv gets up from her chair. “Yup. I was waiting for you.”
“You don’t need to wait for me if everything is done.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
Vi flashes her a smile before we all head out, and she turns to lock up the bakery behind us.
“Are we going to the river?” Vi asks, turning towards me.
“Yeah.”
Call me cliché, but I thought it would be fitting to have a conversation about us at the first place we laid eyes on each other.
We both step out of the truck, the cool air wrapping around us as we make our way into the forest on the trail that leads to the river. It’s not a forest, but that’s what we called it when we were younger.
