Lando took a few more photos while Violet stared at the storm. Lightning struck down again, and she waited patiently for the thunder to blast her full on. It would echo from where they stood, filling the empty spaces in the air and consuming them for a few seconds before dissipating.
She lost herself in the moment, in the storm, in the nature surrounding her. Violet must have missed when Lando stood next to her, but Diane’s camera was gone from her hands, and there was another one between her fingers.
“Where did you get that?” Violet asked.
“Eli gave it to me. She said it was her sister’s, but she hadn’t used it in years.”
Violet raised an eyebrow. “That was sweet of her. Are you sure she’s dating someone?”
Lando chuckled lowly. “I am. She was just being nice. But I’m not super familiar with this camera. The ones at the school are Canon.”
“They’re not all that different.” Violet kept her hands in her jacket, wanting to help but also wanting Lando to figure it out on her own. She hadn’t specifically asked for help, so Violet kept to herself for now.
“You say that, but then all my pictures turn out like crap. It’s better on my phone.”
“Phones have some amazing technology these days.”
Diane gasped. “Did you see that?”
Violet twisted and faced the oncoming storm. She’d missed whatever was so exciting, and Diane didn’t seem as though she wanted to elaborate. Biting her tongue, Violet kept her silence. She was withdrawing again, and while it might do her well in one way, it wouldn’t do her well in the long run.
Three bolts of lightning struck down, the clouds rolling as they came closer. Lando hissed and tried to snap a photo, but she wasn’t quick enough. Violet understood that. It had taken her months to perfect long-exposure shots, and if Diane had her making the shutter speed faster, there was no way Lando was prepared for that.
“Hold on.”
Violet stepped around Lando and back to the Hummer. She pulled open the back and searched for the tripod she knew they had stored there. Walking to Lando, Violet was already setting it up. She planted it on the ground and held her hand out for Lando’s camera. With a curious look, Lando handed it over. Violet took it, screwed it on the holder, and then plopped it onto the tripod.
“If you want to capture lightning, the best way is through long-exposure.”
Lando shuffled in next to her, but Diane scooted in between them and pushed Violet to the side. Lando flickered her gaze between the two of them, an eyebrow raised, before she listened fully to what Diane was saying.
“You want to make it at least thirty seconds, but you can go longer. The hardest part is getting the focus and making sure that the camera doesn’t move.” Diane took Lando’s hand and brought it up to the camera and then encouraged Lando to lean down and look through the lens. Diane’s hand rested at the small of Lando’s back.
Violet stepped away again, holding as much of the anger inside as she could. Diane was being ridiculous, but so was Lando in allowing it to happen. Yes, she might be curious about the camera, but Violet could just as easily teach her, and she’d been ready to do it.
She managed to make it through the twenty minutes of Diane and Lando chattering away about whatever. She tried to tune them out as much as she possibly could, but the constant flirting grated on her nerves. By the time they got back in the car, Violet was done with it all. They’d wasted a day traveling to Kansas, a day on a storm that would net them nothing, and all for what? To miss the large storm cells moving across the eastern part of Colorado? She still didn’t know why Diane had dragged them there.
It was mid-afternoon by the time they got back toIndigo, and Violet stalked out to the back porch without a word to either Diane or Lando. In the silence, she stayed outside as the weather finally hit the bed and breakfast, the large raindrops pinging on the tin roof of the porch. The sound comforted her, the scent of fresh wet dirt soothed her soul.
She had to stop whatever feeling was rushing through her. She needed to find her balance again, tell Diane how she felt and be done with it. Either Diane was going to change her tune or she was going to turn Violet down. Again. But Violet had decided before the season even began that this would be her last chance, and she’d never actually said the words.
She ate dinner mostly in silence, trying to ignore Diane and Lando as they flirted away, Eli as she shifted nervous glances in her direction, and her own jealousy gurgling deep in her belly. She couldn’t do this anymore. Something was going to give. As soon as she finished, she headed up the stairs to her room.
She hoped against hope that neither Lando nor Diane followed her. She didn’t want to burst in front of the other guests, in front of their host. Snorting, Violet realized immediately why they were there—a buffer. Diane had wanted someone who would keep Violet in line, and who better than a stranger. Lando hadn’t done it when they were in Oklahoma or in Colorado, but strangers certainly could.
Violet sat heavily on the edge of the bed and covered her face with her hands. She was absolutely pathetic. Years of storm chasing with her best friend, with the woman she was so hung up on, had gotten her nowhere. The door snicked open, surprising her.
Lando slipped into the room, closing the door behind her and locking it. She leaned against the frame, her hands behind her back, the lines of her body loose as she stared Violet down. “What’s going on, teach?”
Violet could have whimpered. There was that endearment again. “Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.” Lando narrowed her gaze before pushing off the doorframe and coming toward Violet. She sat next to her on the bed. “Talk to me. Seriously. Because you look like something is eating away at you.”
Violet couldn’t help the obnoxious snort as it left her lips. “It’s way above your pay grade.”
Lando’s lips parted before she shut them quickly. Violet knew she was pushing buttons on purpose, but she couldn’t stop herself, even if she wanted to. She wanted a fight. She wanted to make her point.
“You shouldn’t be doing anything withher.”