Page 11 of Merry Mayhem
I didn’t expect to find her upside down in a ditch on my way back to Autre, of course. But I had stopped in Bad, a town between Autre and Rebel, to say hi to a few friends and kill some time. I was just restless tonight and didn’t want to be back in Autre too early. Somehow, Violet passed me on her way to, I assume, New Orleans.
I happened to come upon her car, but of course, I hadn’t known it was hers until I got out and was down in the ditch assessing the situation. I would’ve stopped for anyone. It’s part of my training, and I’d also like to think it's part of my humanity. But when I realized who she was, my heart almost stopped.
Still, it wasn’t until this moment that I realized that yes, I pulled my date for Christmas out of the ditch and was now meeting her family.
Well crap.
Do I keep up this story with her family?
Looking at the woman lying in the hospital bed, I know without a doubt she isn't going to be doing so much as getting up on a ladder to put a star on top of a tree for Christmas. She definitely isn’t going to participate in any obstacle courses, relay races, or anything else too festive.
Still, without her conscious and giving me cues here, I’m not sure what to do. I didn’t want to ruin this whole thing for her.
“Yep, I’m Josh, the guy who was coming to Rebel for Merry Mayhem with Violet,” I hear myself say. “I’m sorry we won’t get to do that.”
It’s fine. That’s not a lie. The competition would have been fun.
Her mother reaches out and grabs my arm. “Oh, you still have to spend the holiday with us.”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary.”
“Of course it is. That was your plan anyway. We insist. Besides, you'll want to be around to hear all the news about how she’s doing.”
Iwillbe very curious about how Violet is doing over the next few days. And it would be a very dickhead thing to say that I don’t care.
“Definitely,” I say.
“And you’ll want to be there when she comes home,” her grandfather says.
That would be nice. It’s one thing I love about working in the small town now versus the city where I trained. In Autre, I do get to follow up on how people do after we intervene.
Besides, Violet seemed great. And I definitely want to know that she’s doing well. “I definitely want to see her after all of this,” I say.
“And we certainly want to get to know the person she’s been spending time with. We know she went to that wedding with you. We’d love to get to know you better.”
Yeah, I kind of stepped into this.
But I nod. Because you know what? I wanted a new plan for Christmas. I don’t want to sit around and have people feel sorry for me. I don’t want to do the same thing I’ve done for the past two years and be the twenty-seventh wheel at the Landry family celebration.
And hey, Violet and I had hit it off. It might be unusual to get to know the woman's family before I get to know her, but what the hell? If I want to keep seeing her after Merry Mayhem, having her family like me has to get me some brownie points, since I won’t be able to impress her with my obstacle course agility.
“Okay,” I finally say. “I’d love to join you.”
Her mother smiles broadly. “Wonderful. We’ll have dinner tomorrow night, and we’ll talk about the plans for the weekend.”
Dinner and plans for the holiday weekend sound wonderful.
“Thanks, I’m looking forward to it,” I tell them honestly.
“And you can meet Thea,” Violet’s father says.
“Thea?” I ask.
“Our other daughter,” the woman says. “Silly me, we haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Bebe, and this is my husband, Eli. Violet is our youngest daughter. We have two boys, and our oldest daughter is Thea. We also have a granddaughter, Ruth. Thea’s daughter.”
“It’s really nice to meet you all.”
“And I’m Bruce,” the tall man says. “I’m Violet’s grandpa. This is Brewser. Well, his real name is Thurman. Family friend,” he says of the good doctor.
