Chapters (38)
- 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
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- epilogue
“Yes, it was.” I reached to touch the locket, then chastised myself for getting fingerprints on it. “But you won’t believe what he told me...”
Rick smiled and kissed me into silence. “We’ll talk later. Right now we’re going to dance real slow and then I have a little gift for you and this...” he looked around, “romance emporium of Violet’s.” He pressed a remote button and the oldies jukebox came back to life. I recognized the opening chords of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
“Take my hand, take my whole life too,” Rick whispered. We were barely moving in the middle of the tiny dance floor. When the song ended, he held my face in his hands and said, “I love you, Ronni Johnson.”
I smiled into his eyes and said, “I love you, too. Where’s my present?”
“I see the Romance Emporium Effect is wearing off.” Rick laughed softly and went behind a booth to retrieve a large package wrapped in brown paper.
It was a poster-sized enlargement of the photo of Johnny and Violet laughing and holding hands in the school’s archway, beautifully matted and framed.
“Oh, Rick, this is wonderful,” I said. “Thank you.”
“It’s to hang behind the soda fountain.” He took it from my hands and hung it on a hook he’d obviously sneaked onto the wall earlier. “I even had the mat matched to the countertop.”
“Yes, you did. Thank you so much, Rick. They belong there.” I looked at Violet, so full of beauty and love and happiness, on the brink of beginning her grown-up life. I couldn’t help thinking that I was beginning a new chapter, too. I closed my eyes and just for a second I saw the blonde and brown-eyed little girl I’d have someday.
I already knew her name.
―The End―
A word about this story:
I’ve said it before: authors are thieves.
Though this is a work of fiction, some of the most incredible scenes are based on actual events.
The crazy vine thing in the first chapter, for instance.
I couldn’t have made that up if I tried.
Writing about the abuse Violet suffered was dark and painful, particularly as she lived in a time when
help wasn’t readily available.
It is now.
Please support your local shelter for
victims of domestic violence.
Acknowledgments
I am the most fortunate writer in the world to depend on a discerning and lovable group of advance readers. My heartfelt thanks go to Lucinda Hathaway, Beth Monette, Marianne Barnebey, Robert Gebhardt, David Boyd, Dan Brown, and Lillian Pizzo.