21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Willow
Today starts a glorious week off work.
Gunnar is going to help his brothers with some work at the inn and he decided to close The Bar. I’m going to go up in a few days, but I want to spend some time with my sisters and my Mom. I treated her like shit when I first moved home and I still owe her an apology, and probably a spa day.
I’m on my way to surprise her, and I hope she is home because this is truly a surprise. I didn’t even loop Scott in, which in hindsight, I guess I probably should have.
I pull into her driveway and I see Scott’s truck, so hopefully that means luck is on my side.
I park behind his truck, and walk up the walkway to the front door to knock. I stand on her front porch, wringing my hands. I know she will forgive me, but owning up to your shit with your mom is always hard. Especially when it’s because you treated the one person who loves you no matter what so awfully.
“Willow, what are you doing here?” she asks, genuinely happy to see me. She pulls me into a tight hug before I can answer her.
When she lets me go I answer, “I was hoping you didn’t have plans today?”
“I don’t as a matter of fact, is something wrong?” I suck in a breath. The only time I’ve come to Mom lately is when something is wrong. What a shitty daughter.
“No, Mom. I was just hoping maybe you’d want to come have a spa day with me? I booked mani/pedis and massages at the spa in the city.”
She claps her hands in front of her chest. “Oh, Willow! What a wonderful surprise! I would love to do that!” She practically skips into the living room.
I step into the foyer at the front door. I can hear her whispering to Scott in the living room.
“Willow invited me to a spa day in the city!” I can almost see the smile that is spread across her face as she talks.
“I’m so happy, sweetheart. I’m glad she’s taking the initiative to spend time with you.” Scott’s words hit me hard.
Ouch. That’s a reality check if I ever needed one. It hurts to hear the truth about your shitty behavior.
“Me too, are you sure you don’t mind if I go?”
I peek around the corner to see Scott holding Mom close.
“Never. Go have fun.” He places a kiss on her forehead and she runs upstairs presumably to get ready .
I take a step into the living room to talk to Scott while Mom gets ready to go.
“Hey Willow, it’s nice to see you today,” he greets me.
“Scott, I’m really sorry for how I acted when I first came home. I had a lot of crap going on and I guess I didn’t know how to deal with it.” I stand in front of him, waiting for his response. He loves Mom so much, I’m ready for him to give me a piece of his mind.
“None of us do, Willow. I’m just glad you are repairing your relationship with her. She told me a cliff’s note version that she thought you would be okay with after your emergency girl’s day. I’m so sorry you are dealing with all of that, and that you felt you had no support.”
I am taken back by his kindness. “I. . . uh. . . thank you. It was stupid. Mom would support me no matter what, and I should have trusted her.”
He only nods in response.
Scott is a quiet guy like Gunnar, I’m learning. He offers silent support unless otherwise asked. Something I think compliments my personality well with Gunnar. It’s the thing I love most about him.
Shit. Love? Do I love him?
I don’t get long to contemplate in my own head before Mom is down the stairs and ready to go.
“Let’s go, baby girl!” she says, opening the door .
She hops in the passenger side of my car, which is shocking to me. She’s a little bit of a control freak and has never let any of us drive.
“Wow. You’re letting me drive?” I ask.
“Someone told me I should give up a little control and trust that my girls can handle their own life.” She winks at me and leans her head toward the house.
Sounds like Scott has figured out how to handle Mom, and they compliment each other as well as Gunnar and I.
There’s that thought again.
I put on a smile and put the car in reverse, leaving the driveway and heading toward the highway to take us to the city for our spa day.
Mom and I are sitting getting our pedicures after our massages, which were amazing. I could feel the tension leaving every inch of my body after a ninety minute deep tissue massage. Maybe I should get one every week.
For that to happen, Lacey would have to hire a massage therapist at her salon. I know she’s talked about adding other services. Maybe I should push her to do that now.
Lace used to own a huge salon with every service imaginable in Portland, Maine. But when she moved to Lupine Valley after her divorce, she’s a one woman show. But she started an apprentice program with the high school so anyone interested in learning the business can go work with her during school hours, and it’s been going really well. Maybe one of them will do a massage service.
“So, are you going to tell me about Gunnar? I tried to wait for you to bring him up, but there is only so much I can change about myself,” she giggles.
“I think I love him,” I blurt out. Apparently my subconscious has been waiting for her to ask too.
“Woah. Really?” Her jaw drops. “I don’t mean that like it sounded. I’m just surprised! I’m happy for you, Gunnar is a great man. And he’s easy on the eyes.” She winks.
“Mom!” I laugh, I can’t believe she said that. Scarlett, Lacey, and Addy said she’d gotten a little brazen in her older age.
“What? I’m old, not dead. And have you seen Scott? I think I have good taste.” She shrugs, and the nail technicians laugh at her joke.
I’ll give her that, if I had daddy issues, I’d probably go after a guy like Scott.
Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I kind of did. Gunnar and Scott both have beards trimmed short and neat. Lumberjack small town vibes. Easy, quiet support, but still fun and sarcastic to hang with.
“Okay, I’ll give you that.” I laugh.
“Why do you only think you love him?” She reaches over and places her hand on top of mine.
“Well. I was talking to Scott this morning, I apologized for how I acted when I first moved home-”
“Oh, baby girl, you didn’t have to do that. We know you were going through a hard time.” Her look softens at me.
“I did, Mom. I treated you guys like shit. But he was so kind in his response and just showed me how he supports you and looks out for you in this quiet, unsuspecting way. And it made me think that’s what I love most about Gunnar, and then the fact that I said love has had me thinking all day. I know it’s crazy fast, and we didn’t really get off on the right foot, but I do. I love him.”
“I’m so happy for you. So I take it you’re not just roommates anymore?” She winks.
“We’re still roommates, just dating roommates. I still get scared he’ll want to leave me.”
“Sometimes you just have to let go and trust.” She squeezes my hand.
Let go and trust. Isn’t that what I just told Scott I should have done with Mom? Maybe I should trust her advice, her relationship with Scott hasn’t always been easy, and it took a lot of trust on her end to get to where they are now. Especially since they got together during a time that always had her more upset about Dad’s death.
Scott stepped in and took over Dad’s tradition of the 25 Dates of Christmas after learning that he used to do that for her. He had to work to show her that it’s okay if Dad was a part of their relationship and he wasn’t asking her to erase him from her life for himself .
Again, just like Gunnar, in a different way. He shared parts of himself and his past to get me to see what I was doing and how it was negatively impacting my life. Letting me know that it was ok to feel what I felt.
“I started posting on social media again,” I said.
“I know. I saw the video you posted of you and Gunnar. That’s why I’ve been waiting for you to bring him up. He looks at you just like Scott looks at me, how all the boys look at your sisters. You’ve found your true other half. I just wanted you to come to that conclusion on your own, since I’m not supposed to be meddling anymore.”
Tears start falling down my cheeks.
“And you just ignore that asshole manager of yours, trying to steal your thunder.”
“Wait, what?” I look at her shocked. “What do you mean ignore him?” Per the court agreement neither of us can say anything about the other so he shouldn’t be saying anything about me.
She purses her lips together in a tight line. “I’m sorry, I thought you’d have seen on social media.”
“I haven’t looked at my phone all day,” I admit. Which is a cardinal rule of mine. I never look after I post a personal video so I can prepare for the backlash and get ready to read the comments from trolls and steel myself against them.
“I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve just ruined this perfect day.”
This time I squeeze her hand. “No, you didn’t. I was ready. I always knew this would happen. He can’t ever keep his word. I knew he wouldn’t do it this time. Plus, I was getting positive feedback on the hashtag someone created for #whereswillow. He can’t accept that he screwed up by letting me go. One of the popular tabloids in Nashville just posted a blog about our feud. Obviously it was fueled by Jake since he was front and center of the article.”
Fuck him. As soon as we get home, I’m going to read all these comments and get a plan of action together. “Do you and the girls want to grab pizza tonight? You can help me figure out a plan for this asshole?”
“Definitely!” She smiles and pulls out her phone. When my phone starts to go off like crazy, I know she’s texting the girls to make a plan.
My sisters are standing at the door waiting for Mom and I at the back of The Bar. There is pizza, soda, and bags that presumably contain ingredients for Mom’s cookies. The sight of them and their unconditional support brings tears to my eyes. I swipe them away before getting out of the car.
“Let’s get this asshole,” Addy says with a scowl on her face.
“The guys are ready to do whatever needs to be done, and I’ve got Donna on the ready for tonight,” Scarlett informs us.
Donna is one of her long time clients, an attorney in Boston. She represented Colton in his divorce from his crazy ex, and she’s a shark. I know she’s the right call for this situation. “She’s already got the link to the videos he’s been commenting on and she’s combing through his information and the court documents from your court case decision. We’ll get this bastard.”
I put my arms out and they all pile in with me, hugging me tight. With four people surrounding me, I’m feeling the love that I was seeking before and not accepting would be given to me, I felt so unworthy of it until Gunnar showed me that I deserve the support and love.
We head up the stairs, and unload all the food on the kitchen island. Everyone takes a seat at the bar stool, except Mom who is unpacking the bags and making cookies.
“Okay, so first thing first, you need to take this, and go sit on the couch and read through what is happening. We have already scrutinized but it’s your turn.” Lacey puts my phone in my hand and shoves me toward the couch while they work in the kitchen pulling out pans, plates, and glasses to get dinner set up, and help Mom expedite the cookie process.
Sitting on the couch, I fold my legs under me. I open my app and pull up my most recent video of Gunnar and I. Some of the comments make me laugh.
Mmm, he’s yummy. #whereswillow I need to know asap where you found this specimen of gorgeous man.
Get it girl. He’s a hottie .
Holy shit, she’s been gone because she’s been hiding this man from us. Don’t blame ya girl.
New trend #willowisinlove #whosthehottie
Then I found some of the troll comments.
She needs a man to bring her back into relevance. Typical.
Heard she screwed her manager and it was so bad he dropped her ass and she went crazy on him.
Why did she even come back? She can’t sing and Nashville was right to chase her out.
My blood boils. Usually I don’t let them get to me, because there’s always trolls.
Then I find the comment from Jake.
Stop trying to come back. You know you burned your bridges, and you’ll never work in this industry again. You can’t screw everyone, figuratively and literally, who tried to help you, and then expect to be welcomed back. Of course you’d need to be screwing someone new to come back.
I screwed people? “Is he fucking serious?” I yell.
“Yea, that’s about the reaction we were expecting from you,” Addy says, walking over to join me on the couch. She sits next to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders.
“He’s a dick,” Scarlett yells from the kitchen. “Technically, according to Donna, based on your paperwork, he wasn’t allowed to make any comment about you at all. And you him. So unfortunately, you can’t address him directly.”
A grin spreads across Lacey’s face. “But it doesn’t say anywhere in there that we can’t comment. ”
“No girls. We aren’t stooping to his level,” Mom places a tray in the oven.
“Mom is right. As much as we all want to, it’s best to take the high road,” Addy says. “We’ll fuck him in other ways.” She smiles.
We spend the next couple of hours planning out what I’m going to post on social media, calling Gunnar to get his permission, and talking to Donna on the phone.
We have a solid plan, and I’m ready to take this on, with the support of my family and Gunnar.