First Meet, PT. 7, Jesse POV

“Do you love her?” he asked bluntly.

Isaac closed his eyes, tipped his head back, and stared up at the cloudless sky. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he said, “From the moment I laid eyes on her.” He took a deep breath and let it out before he looked back at him. “The only woman I loved like this walked away.”

“Mom won’t walk. She’s a military wife. She’ll stick with you, till death.”

Isaac stared at him for a long minute before he gave a small nod. He matched Isaac’s pace as they made their way to the parking lot where Violet and his mom waited by their car.

“You did well with Violet. I think she scares most boys.”

“I’m not most.”

“I can see that.” A pause and then, “I’m not trying to replace your dad or rush things with your mom. We can take this as slow as you need. You just let me know.”

 He was stunned and touched and though Isaac could be just saying it to win brownie points, he suspected the man was as honest as his daughter. If he wasn’t comfortable with this, Isaac would give him time. Since his father died, it seemed that days inched along. Now, everything was coming to him at the speed of light. He’d come here to meet the guy his mom was dating, and now he was potentially walking beside his new stepfather.

He hadn’t come up with a suitable response by the time they reached the parking lot. Mom gave him a searching look that he didn’t react to. She touched his shoulder before she went to Isaac. When she lifted her face for a kiss, he turned away and found Violet standing in front of him, her gaze fixed over his shoulder. He knew the moment they kissed, not because he heard anything, but because Violet jumped up and down.

He wasn’t prepared for her to launch herself at him. She hugged him the way mom had when she got the news that dad died. It was tight enough to hurt, but coming from her, he found he didn’t mind.

“We have to keep them together,” Violet said fervently.

When he didn’t answer, she looked up. The tears were gone, and her warrior spirit was back, making her eyes shine.

“You want us to be together, don’t you?” Violet asked, hands twisting in his shirt.

Before he could answer, Isaac called her name. Violet’s expression fell as she stared at him. She stepped back. The loss of her body against his made that ball of dread come back. As she started toward her father, he couldn’t help himself.

“Violet!”

She looked back.

“I do,” he said.

She gave him a vibrant smile that made his chest flood with sunshine. She ran to her dad, who tucked her against his side. He kept an eye on them as mom unlocked the car, and he dropped onto his seat. Isaac climbed into a white pickup truck and held up his hand in farewell as they left the park.

“I’m sorry,” Mom said as she reversed the car and changed gears. “I wasn’t planning to say that. It just came out. You must be overwhelmed. I know it’s too soon, but—”

“It’s okay, Mom.”

“It is?”

“Yeah.” He reclined his seat a little and tossed his arm over his eyes, which were burning. He wasn’t sure why. “I get it.”

Mom clutched his arm. “You do?”

“Isaac’s exactly what you said he was, and Violet…”

“She’s never had a mother,” Mom said apologetically. “She’s been raised mostly by her father’s friends and families from church, since Isaac has odd hours. She just needs…”

“She’s perfect just the way she is.”

“Aww.” Mom rubbed his arm affectionately. “That’s sweet of you to say.” Mom lightly punched his arm. “Especially when you said girls are annoying, and you didn’t think you’d have anything in common.”

“You’re right. She isn’t like the girls I know, though she did cry at the end.” He grimaced. “I hope she doesn’t do that often.”

Mom laughed as she rolled down the windows. “Girls cry when they’re happy and sad.”

He heard her sniffling and extended his free hand while the other arm stayed draped over his eyes. Mom grasped his hand and squeezed.

“I’m so happy,” Mom said. “I thought I would never feel like this again and now…”

He knew exactly how she felt because he felt the same. For the first time since Dad died, he was looking forward to something, and that something was seeing Violet again. Something about the way she’d looked at them, as if they were the answer to prayer, and they possessed something she desperately needed, made him want to be everything for her. Loneliness was something he was very familiar with, and it was stamped all over her. The way she talked to him like they were on a team made his mouth curve. That hug she’d given him, he wished it had lasted longer. He wasn’t sure what it was about her that had captivated him, but he was grateful. He had just been going through the motions of life, but today he’d been offered an opportunity to rejoin the living, and he was going to take it.

**This is a raw draft of the prequel for Corrupt Idol. Please do not share or distribute.

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