Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Theo
Present Day
W illow Kingsley was a fucking fairy.
I hated fucking fairies. Her over-the-top, bubbly spirit made me want to take a sharpened pencil to my eyeball. I hated how fake her personality seemed whenever she came into a room. No one was that happy. There was nothing in life to be that joyful about. I’d watched her interact with Grandma and PaPa over the past day, and it made my stomach turn in irritation. What was even worse was I had to be her chauffeur around town because Grandma asked me to show her the basics. The problem with driving around Little Miss Sunshine? She made friends everywhere we went.
Not only was Willow Kingsley a fairy, she was damn likable at that.
She’d only been in Westin Lake for twenty-four hours, and somehow, she’d found a handful of new friends within the small town. We started the morning at the restaurant, where she managed to mess up a dozen sourdough loaves.
“How hard could it be to make sourdough?” she stated with a large amount of confidence.
Then, when she baked them, they came out looking wonky as hell. She placed her hands on her hips, with a smile on those full lips, and said, “Oh. It could be that hard.”
She laughed as if she didn’t just waste my time and money.
The oddest part was that my whole body heated when she laughed. I didn’t know a person’s laughter could make me feel…warm.
I hated the feeling because it confused me. I hadn’t felt that kind of warmth since…
I shook my head, sending the thoughts flying far, far away. There were many things in my life I didn’t talk about. And even more things that I tried my best not to think about, too.
Per Grandma’s request, I gave Willow a tour of the small downtown area, which didn’t include much outside of a few restaurants, antique stores, and our grocery store, and somehow along the way, the social butterfly Willow exchanged numbers with at least ten people.
She made more friends within a day in my hometown than I had in my whole life. I wasn’t shocked by this, seeing how being an introvert was my superpower. At a point in my life as a kid, I wanted friends. The older I grew, the more I realized life was a lot easier without people around. If anything, I’d much prefer the company of a dog. They never brought much drama along with them, not like people did.
Willow, though, thrived in the company of humans. As I sat outside Pete’s diner, waiting for her to pick up her dinner, I watched her laugh her head off with Ms. Jerkins. That was surprising to me because Ms. Jerkins was laughing with Willow. I couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, I’d heard Ms. Jerkins actually chuckle. All I knew about her was that she was the grumpy old lady who lived on the corner of Race Street and Harrod Avenue, who was always telling kids to stay the hell off her lawn.
It was as if Willow had a natural talent for making people feel seen and safe around her—even the grumpiest souls.
“I can definitely stop by and help you water your plants tomorrow. It’s not a problem at all,” Willow told Ms. Jerkins before hugging her goodbye. Then Willow danced back over toward me on her tiptoes because that was how she moved—as if she were floating through life.
Fucking fairy.
“Sorry about that,” she said, smiling my way. “I just met Dolores. Do you know her?”
“I know everyone in this town.”
“How many of them know you?”
None.
I don’t let people get that close.
I didn’t reply to her. She didn’t seem to mind.
“I love small towns.” She smiled. “This one is like the small town I grew up in. Where everybody knows your first, middle, and last name.”
“You’re from a small town?” Why did I ask that? I didn’t care.
“Yes. Honey Creek, Illinois. Home of the best gossips you’ll ever meet.”
I glanced around toward the group of women looking in Willow’s and my direction. “I bet the people of Westin Lake would give you a run for your money. What made you leave your small town?” Why did I ask that ? I didn’t care.
She paused for a moment, seemingly growing somber before she answered. “I outgrew it.”
“Fair enough.” I stood from the table. “Ready to head back to my place?”
Before she could reply, a person called out behind me. “Well, if it isn’t the talk of the town.”
Every hair on my body stood up when I recognized the voice. I turned around to find Peter, my cousin, standing behind me. He looked exactly how he always had—like a fucking asshole. Peter was five years older than me and my only cousin. He had a kid named Jensen, whom I looked after every now and again. Jensen was about fourteen and was the complete opposite of his father. The kid didn’t know it yet, but that would be one of his strongest traits down the line—that he was nothing like the piece of shit who raised him.
Peter moved through life with a heavy level of smugness to him even though he didn’t have the life success to match said uppity personality. He peaked in high school and never really advanced past the asshole jock phase of his life. Being a young dad probably didn’t help his arrested development, either. Peter didn’t have to work for much of anything in life because his parents spoiled the everlasting shit out of him as if he wasn’t a thirty-something-year-old. The only thing he truly had going for him was his good looks and his high school quarterback stories about when they went to state.
Oh, and shagging my ex-girlfriend.
Peter’s eyes moved toward Willow. He eyed her up and down as if she were the fresh meat on the deli line, and that instantly pissed me off. Sure, I had no reason to be overprotective of Willow, but the last thing she needed was a dick like Peter coming on to her. And that was exactly what he’d do—come on to her. Especially since he’d noticed Willow was with me.
I didn’t know where the competition between Peter and me rose from. Truthfully, when we were young, I looked up to the guy. I thought he was the coolest, strongest person in our town. I envied how women— of all types —were enamored with him. When I was at my worst with being bullied for my speech and looks, all I used to think about was how I wished I could be just like Peter. Cool, calm, and collected. Liked by everyone. Handsome. Strong. When I first started going to the gym, my first and only thought was WWPD. What would Peter do?
It wasn’t until a few years later that my rose-colored glasses were taken off, and I learned that my cousin crafted the nicknames the bullies called me. I never really got over that betrayal. I thought family members were supposed to be better than others, but sometimes it appeared that they were the ones who could hurt you the most.
Willow smiled sweetly toward Peter, and that pissed me off.
Damn.
I was officially pissed off.
His mere existence did that to me.
I hated that Willow was giving him a second of her time, but she didn’t know the snake that lived within that man. She was as clueless and free as she could be.
“The talk of the town?” Willow questioned. “Little ole me?”
Peter snickered and shook his head with a sinister grin. “You sure are a little thing, aren’t you?”
For fuck’s sake.
Please spare her, you fucking sleazeball.
It took everything in my power not to roll my eyes. I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. Peter knew how to get under my skin, so I had to learn how not to showcase when he had.
“We were just leaving,” I replied dryly, nodding in Willow’s direction.
“Without an introduction, cuz?” Peter asked, patting his hand on my shoulder with his wide, pearly smile that his parents paid for. He knew I hated when he touched me. That was why he did it.
“Cuz? Are you two cousins?” Willow asked with a level of intrigue. Her right eyebrow lifted as the sunlight touched her raised cheeks.
Peter beamed with fake pride. “Sure are.”
“Oh. Lovely. I’m Willow,” she said, offering Peter her hand.
That pissed me off, too.
It pissed me off even more when he took her hand and shook it. He held on a little too long, if you asked me.
I needed to get back to my boat.
I’d been around people for too long.
“Peter,” he replied as he slid his hands into his sweatpants pockets. “So where’s your boyfriend, Willow?”
Give me a fucking break. What a stupid fucking line.
“I don’t know. Haven’t met him yet.” She then turned to me and tilted her head. “You two look so different.”
“Thank you,” Peter and I said in unison.
Willow laughed.
That sound made me a little less pissed off.
“Like I said, we were on our way out. Food’s getting cold,” I cut in.
Peter ignored me, which wasn’t uncommon for him. He ignored pretty much everyone unless he thought he had the chance of getting laid. That was why it was so bothersome how his eyes were glued to Willow.
“How long are you in town, Willow?” he asked her, raking his hand through his brown hair.
“For the summer.”
Peter flicked his thumb over his nose. “You have nothing you’re waiting to return to?”
“No. I kind of live in the concept that you’re always exactly where you’re supposed to be. I’m in no rush with life,” she replied. “I allow it to move me as it wishes.”
Peter smirked. It was ugly. “Speaking of moving…do you like dancing?”
“I love it,” she said.
“Well, if life moves you, tonight there’s a dance party down at the Barnhouse celebrating the start of summer. I’d love to take you as my plus-one. I would invite my cousin here, but I know he’s not much of a dancer or partier for that.” He patted me on the back. I considered slugging him. “But if you’re interested, I can pick you up around nine tonight.”
Willow bit her bottom lip and glanced my way. “You don’t dance?”
I gave her a blank stare, feeling a knot forming in my gut.
She knew my answer.
Willow frowned, but it only lasted for a split second before she turned back toward Peter. “A party sounds fun. I’m staying with Theo if you want to scoop me up from his place.”
“Scoop you up, I will do.” He tipped an invisible hat toward Willow before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “I’ll see you later on.” He took a puff of the cigarette, then blew a cloud of smoke in my face. What a dick. “I’ll see ya later, cuz.”
With that, he scurried away like the roach he was.
Willow looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “Cousins, huh?”
“We aren’t close.”
“Yes.” She began to walk over to my truck. “I know.”
“How do you know?”
“You might not know this about me, but I’m a professional at reading a person’s body language.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Sure is. And do you know what your body language read during that whole exchange?”
“What’s that?” I asked as I opened the passenger door for her to climb inside.
“‘Piss off, Peter,’” she said without a moment’s hesitation.
Well.
I guessed I didn’t have as much of a poker face as I thought.
I shut her door and then walked over to mine. I climbed into the truck and put it into drive. The whole time, I could feel Willow’s eyes on me.
“I don’t have to go tonight if it makes you uncomfortable. I just love meeting people, and dancing is my favorite pastime.”
“Why would it make me uncomfortable?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “You just seemed bothered by Peter, and I don’t want to go against my roomie for the summer.”
“I don’t care what you do with your life.”
“Yes…okay…” She kept staring. The unease of it kept building.
“You don’t owe me your loyalty or anything. We aren’t friends. Just because I don’t like my cousin doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.”
“I do play favorites when it comes to the man who saved me from drowning, though,” she said.
I smiled.
It slipped out.
She smiled, too.
I accidentally liked it.
“I like when you do that. I like your smile, Theo,” she softly stated.
“I don’t do it much.” I knew I had a resting bitch face. The whole damn town knew.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I think that’s why it’s special.” She wiggled around in her seat and fiddled with her hands. I swore that woman couldn’t stand still if her life depended on it. “I think you and me started off on the wrong foot.”
“You started off on no feet. You were floating.”
“Still…rocky beginning. Since we’ll be spending a lot of time together, I was thinking maybe we can work toward being more…friendly with one another.”
“I’m not that kind of person.”
“Friendly?”
“Yeah.”
“Molly and Harry say differently. They said you have a heart of gold.”
“That’s grandparents for you. Delusional fools.”
She laughed, and her nose wrinkled up in a cute sort of way.
“You know, people in town talk about you,” she said, shifting the conversation. I didn’t appreciate the subject change because the topic was still me.
“Of course they do. All people do in this town is talk.”
“A few told me they felt bad I had to stay with you. They said you’re an asshole.”
“I am an asshole.”
She tilted her head questionably. “Is that so?”
“That is so.”
She crossed her arms. “Oh, Theo…” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I glanced over at her. “For what?”
She shrugged her shoulders with a slight shake of her head. “For whatever it was that made you…you.”
She said it with so much gentleness that it made my skin crawl.
She kept staring at me with her smile, and I couldn’t help but grumble some more.
“Willow, you’re being weird,” I said.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “It’s kind of my thing.” That smile stretched. “What do you think you were in a past life, Theo?”
For fuck’s sake.
“Willow,” I muttered.
“I was an oak tree,” she continued as if she didn’t just say the most bizarre thing. “I think I was based in Montana, but it’s hard to say. You know trees, they don’t really know states, just dirt.”
Fucking hell, I was talking to the oddest human being to ever exist.
I blinked a few times at her but didn’t say a word.
Unfortunately, she continued to say many things. “I only say that because I believe in reincarnation, and with that, I believe we get to pick how we come back into the world because, as spirits, it’s like a buffet of opportunities and lifestyles we can partake in. I chose to be a big, giant oak tree because I wanted to see what it felt like to be grounded for hundreds of years. And this go-round, I decided to come in and be a free spirit because I wanted to see what it felt like to be free and floaty. So I guess I’m just wondering why you chose to be”—she waved her hands in my direction—“ this .”
“ This ?” I echoed.
“Yeah, this. You know.” She leaned in and whispered, “ Grumpy .”
I huffed. “I don’t believe in reincarnation.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” Her voice dropped more. “Do you want to know a secret?”
“No. I don’t.”
She smiled.
I frowned.
“I think you and I were friends in another lifetime,” she said so knowingly. “Maybe even lovers for a short time.”
“Hmph,” I replied. I leaned in closer. “Willow?”
“Yes?” she breathed.
“Are you high right now?”
“No. Of course not.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I saw you get brownies from Matt Turner in town earlier.”
“Yeah. He said only eat one at a time, but I ate three because they were delicious.”
Oh, hell.
Willow was stoned.
“You ate three brownies from Matt Turner?” I asked, a bit stunned that she was still awake at all. As I looked her way, her eyes were definitely fading quickly, though. “Willow. Those were weed brownies.”
“Weed brownies?” She gasped, sitting up straighter. “No way.” She narrowed her eyes even more. “Is that why I believe in reincarnation?”
“I don’t know why you believe what you believe, but if you ate that many brownies from Matt Turner, then you’ll believe in unicorns soon, too.”
“I already believe in unicorns.” She giggled. It sounded like heaven soaked in joy. Disgusting. She then tossed her hands over her face as if realization just set in. “Oh my gosh, I’m high!”
I chuckled a little. “Yes, you are.”
“Oh my gosh.” She glanced around. “Don’t let people know that I’m high, Theo. That’s so embarrassing.”
“Just ride it out.”
“Ride it out?!” Her voice boomed, filling the space of my truck. “ I ate four brownies! ”
“You said three.”
“I know, but I didn’t want you to think I was greedy, so I said three, but really, it was four.”
Oh.
Damn.
“That’s a lot of weed brownies,” I said.
“Can people die from being too high?” she asked, completely solemn, which made me laugh again. She placed a hand on my forearm. “Theo, I’m being serious. Am I dying? Oh my gosh, I can feel my eyeballs.” She gasped, covering her eyes with her hands.
“You can’t feel your eyeballs, Willow.”
“I can. I feel them.” She started mumbling in her hands like a weirdo, then she dropped her hands into her lap. “You know what sounds good? A vegan pizza.”
“A vegan pizza never sounds good.”
“Yes, it does. With pepperoni!”
“I hate to break it to you, but pepperoni isn’t vegan.”
She pursed her lips together, seemingly falling into deep thought. “Oh yeah.” She giggled some more, slumping back against her seat. I hated that I didn’t hate the sound as much as I should’ve. “Are you high, too?”
“I’m not high, too.”
“Why aren’t you high?”
“I didn’t eat Matt Turner’s brownies.”
“Why didn’t you stop me from eating Matt Turner’s brownies?”
I shrugged. “I figured you knew what type of brownies you were eating when you took them from a guy like Matt Turner.”
“Oh.” She pouted. That was sort of cute, too. “Am I dying, Theo?”
“You’re not dying, Willow.”
Her pout deepened. “Do I annoy you?”
“Yes, but don’t take it personally. All people annoy me.”
She laughed. “You sound like my brother-in-law. He hates people, too.”
“Sounds like a smart man.”
She kept staring at me, and I noticed as I kept my eyes on the road.
“It’s rude to stare.”
“Sorry, can’t help it.” She continued to fiddle with her fingers. “You know what?”
“I bet you’ll tell me.”
“One day, we’re going to be friends, Theo. I just know it.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
She blew air into her cheeks like a chipmunk.
Christ, this woman would be the death of me if she had her way.
I brushed a thumb against my nose as one recurring thought shot through my head. “Peter’s an asshole,” I blurted out.
She tilted her head toward me. “I thought you were the asshole.”
“I am,” I replied. “But I’m a different kind of asshole. He’s…” I took a deep breath, thinking about my cousin and the jerk he’d been. He’s a real asshole type of asshole, not just an asshole like me. “Just be careful around him, all right?”
“Oh…” Her voice dipped low, and a sweet grin found her. “It sounds like you care about my well-being.”
“I don’t.”
“Right, right.” She nodded dramatically. “Because you’re an asshole.”
“Correct. A total dick.”
She smiled and turned to look out the window. “Theo?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really freaking high.”
I smirked when she wasn’t looking.
Fucking fairy.
When we got home, Willow trailed me into the house. I grabbed a few beer cans from the fridge and tossed on a sweatshirt.
“Do you want to eat dinner together?” she asked, following me around like a damn puppy who wanted love.
“Nah,” I replied, opening the back door. “Going fishing.”
“I have some free time before the party tonight,” she expressed.
“Okay?” I didn’t know why she told me that because I didn’t care.
She stepped closer to me. “Can I go fishing with you?”
“No.” I shook my head, and I felt her frown without even looking at her. I glanced over my shoulder and grimaced. “Willow?”
“Yes?”
“You can have my cookies in the fridge. Sober up before the party.”
“And then I can go fishing with you?” she asked with hope in her eyes.
“Nope.”
After fishing for less than an hour, I’d received a text message from Peter asking me where Willow was. He said he’d shown up at the house and there was no answer. I sat in the middle of the lake, wanting nothing more than to be left alone. I’d also wished that Peter wouldn’t text me. The only reason his number wasn’t blocked was because if something happened to his son, Jensen, I’d want to know. Otherwise, I’d tell him to fuck all the way off.
I read his message repeatedly but didn’t reply.
She’s fine , I told myself, looking in the direction of my place. She’s a grown-up.
That was putting it nicely, though. She was hardly an adult when it came to her livelihood, and she lived as if she wasn’t terrified of death. Diving naked off cliffs in the middle of the night. Eating random brownies from strangers. Considering dates with fucking Peter.
Willow was the definition of childlike, just like Grandma. That stressed me out more than anything. It was like having a toddler who had to touch everything and talk to everyone. I bet Grandma put PaPa through the wringer when they were younger. Whenever I asked if Grandma was a handful for PaPa, he’d smile and shrug. “What can I say? She’s my vibrant rainbow.”
I wasn’t one for much color in my life. I liked my neutrals.
I kept staring at the house.
I’d hardly caught any fish.
She’s fine. She’s good. She’s an independent woman.
“Dammit,” I muttered once before packing things up to head back toward the house to check on the problem child. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fish in peace while wondering if she was okay. Sure, I was an asshole, but I wasn’t a massive asshole. Just a regular ole asshole.
Besides, Grandma would murder me if anything happened to Willow. Then she’d bring me back to life to murder me again.
After docking the boat, I headed inside and called out her name. “Willow. You all right?” I asked, walking through the space. I moved through the house, checked her bedroom, and when I saw she wasn’t in there, a tinge of panic filled the pit of my stomach.
She didn’t go wandering in the woods by herself high, did she?
I wouldn’t put it past the freaking fairy. She was probably hugging trees and talking to frogs. Little Snow White.
Right before I went into a full-blown panic, I glanced down at the floor and saw a trail.
A trail of cookie crumbs.
Following the trail of crumbs, I ended up outside my guest bathroom. I took a breath and knocked. “Willow? You good?” I heard movement, and the anxiety building in my chest began to settle down. Yet she still didn’t respond. “Willow?”
“Yes?” she whispered.
“You good?”
No response.
I stood taller. “Can I come in?”
A long pause before she replied, “Sure.”
As I turned the doorknob, I glanced across the bathroom space and saw Willow sitting in the bathtub with the container of cookies in her hands, a bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos in her lap, and bloodshot eyes.
I almost cracked a smile at the ridiculousness of it all.
She frowned slightly toward me and whispered again, “I actually had five brownies, and I think I’m dying.”
A smile was cracked.
This fucking woman.
I moved toward her and kneeled so we were at eye level. “You’re not dying, Willow.”
“Yeah, no. I am. I checked my Apple Watch, and it says my heart rate stopped.”
I arched an eyebrow, lifted her arms, and glanced at her wrists. “Willow?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not wearing an Apple Watch.”
She nodded. “I know, silly. It’s right here.” She put down the cookie container and then picked up her watch, which was not on her body. “See? It says I don’t have a heart rate.”
“I think that’s because it has to be on your wrist.”
She parted her lips and narrowed her eyes. “No. That’s not how watches work. But don’t worry, I called the ambulance. They’ll bring me back to life. Is it hot in here? It’s so hot in here,” she said, grabbing a handful of her shirt and fanning it.
I didn’t respond to the heat commentary because I was more concerned with the other thing she said. “You didn’t really call…” Before I could finish, I heard sirens.
For fuck’s sake.
I should’ve stayed on the lake.
“Willow. You called the ambulance?” I asked, stunned.
She tossed her hands up in the air, baffled by my puzzled expression. “Well, yeah, Theo. I don’t have a heartbeat.”
I grumbled and cussed under my breath before taking her hands into mine and placing her hands against her chest. “You feel that, Willow?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes. What’s that?”
“Your heartbeat.”
“My heartbeat?” she questioned, surprised. “I have a heartbeat?”
I smiled even though I didn’t want to. “You have a heartbeat.”
Her eyes glassed over as if I’d told her the pathway to Narnia. “I have a heartbeat.”
Before I could reply, my doorbell rang. I told her to stay, but she was only half listening. She was much more interested in those new heartbeats she’d discovered.
As I reached the front door, I opened it to see Stacy and Ralph standing there with their bags of equipment from their ambulance truck. They graduated a few years before me and were both decent people. I just didn’t have much energy to deal with humans after a certain hour of the day. That hour being eight in the morning.
“Hey, Theo. We got a call about an issue,” Stacy said, checking her phone. “Something about missing heartbeats from the new girl in town.”
I raked my hand through my hair and shook my head. “There was a misunderstanding. Willow hung out with Matt Turner, and he gave her five brownies. And she ate all of them.”
Ralph’s eyes widened. “She ate five of Matt’s brownies? How is she still standing?”
“I wouldn’t say standing, exactly,” I replied. “Come on in. I’ll show you to her so you can check her out and wrap this up.”
We walked toward the bathroom, and the second we stepped inside, we were staring at a sleeping Willow, covered in Doritos and cookie crumbs, with a chip resting between her lips.
Stacy and Ralph crossed their arms and stared in amazement.
“I remember my first Matt Turner brownie. I thought my legs were made of Jell-O,” Stacy said.
“I ate a twenty-piece bucket of chicken and dipped the wings in Kool-Aid,” Ralph replied. “All right. Since you seem all good here, we’ll head out. It’s been a busy night for you Langfords, huh?”
I arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
Stacy’s face dropped slightly, and she shook her head. “Molly said she’d tell you. We figured you knew.”
“Knew what?” I asked.
The two glanced at one another and hesitated. Ralph cleared his throat. “Harry’s fine. It was just a fall. They’re at home. We were called out to check on him, but he’s—”
Before they finished, I darted out of the bathroom. I grabbed my keys and got in my truck, then sped down the street to my grandparents’ house.
Without an invite, I burst through the front door to find my grandparents in the living room, watching the evening news. They turned to me instantly and looked at me as if I were a madman.
I tossed my hands in the air. “What the hell?!”