Chapter Five
You made us change locations at the last minute, Will, and Noah’s not even here,” Naomi grumbled as she pulled her truck into the lot, her gaze moving from a man fishing off the large granite rocks that jutted into the bay to a windsurfer pulling her board into the sheltered cove.
“He’ll be here,” Willow said with a confidence she didn’t feel. She glanced at her phone, wondering if she’d seem desperate if she texted Noah again.
They’d exchanged numbers the night before. Right after he’d squashed her hopes and dreams and made Megan’s come true. No matter how convincing Willow had thought her arguments were, Noah hadn’t been swayed. She’d seen a hint of Mercedes Man when he refused to even consider selling the station instead of closing it, laying out the reasons why that wasn’t going to happen in a brisk, taciturn manner. Even though his reasons made sense and were based on facts, it had been disappointing to say the least.
He must’ve sensed her distress, reaching out and touching her hand, his gaze apologetic. It was nothing personal. Business was business. Of course Megan assured him he had nothing to apologize for. She was beyond thrilled when he signed the paperwork for the listings at the table while Willow looked on.
But Megan’s smile had disappeared when they were getting up to leave and Noah had asked Willow for her number. He had business in Boston in a couple of weeks and suggested they catch up over drinks. Willow jumped on the opportunity but she didn’t have a couple of weeks.
So she’d invited him to meet her at Hidden Cove this morning in hopes the memories inspired by their special place would succeed where she had failed. Or, at the very least, convince him to give her another day of his time to make her case. She’d used the excuse that he had to drive past Hidden Cove on his way out of town anyway. He hadn’t said yes but he also hadn’t said no. He’d told her he’d touch base with her that morning.
She’d woken Naomi up at the crack of dawn to tell her about the location change, and then she’d texted Noah a couple of hours later, hoping her offer to pick up their favorite s’more doughnuts from O Holey Glazed would be enough of an enticement. He hadn’t responded yet.
Naomi reached into the back seat of her truck, grabbing her camera case and a bag. “And since he isn’t here, you can wear your costume so Veronica and Don aren’t fielding complaints the entire day.” She tossed the bag to Willow.
“He’ll be here. I’m sure of it. But on the off chance he doesn’t come, I bet he’ll watch my weather report now that he knows it’s me. And since he will, I’ll be reporting it as professional weatherperson me, not Lucy.” She tossed the bag and costume into the back seat.
“Did you not hear one thing he said to you last night? Because unless you repeated an entirely different conversation to me and Veronica at the butt crack of dawn, there is nothing you can do or say that will change his mind. Even if he gave you a week to do it.”
“I guess you missed the part where he told me I could convince him to do anything.”
“When you were fifteen!”
“So? I haven’t changed. I’m still me.”
“You’re right. You haven’t changed. But I can guarantee with his pedigree and position at Bennett Broadcasting, Noah Elliot is nothing like the boy you used to know, Will.” Naomi reached into the back seat, grabbed the bag, and tossed it to Willow before opening the driver-side door.
Willow’s shoulders slumped as she reluctantly got out of the truck and dumped the costume onto the passenger seat. Naomi was probably right. She’d always been a good judge of character.
They’d been friends since grade school but she hadn’t been part of Willow’s high school crew. She hadn’t wanted to be, and no matter how often Willow tried to include her, she wouldn’t give in. She’d hadn’t been a fan of Willow’s friends, especially Megan.
If Naomi hadn’t been at her grandmother’s, Willow wouldn’t have been friendless that summer. She probably wouldn’t have met Noah. But maybe that would’ve been a good thing. She wouldn’t have gotten her hopes up that he’d show this morning and that she’d have a chance of changing his mind. It didn’t matter that the odds were stacked against her. All she’d ever needed was a smidgen of hope to believe anything was possible.
Willow took one last look at her phone. Noah still hadn’t responded, and there was no sign of his car on the road to Hidden Cove. With a dejected sigh, she stepped into the costume, pulling it over the cute pink sundress she’d worn in hopes of winning Noah over.
The bag of s’more doughnuts sitting on the console made her feel like a fool, and she quickly closed the door, stomping around the hood to Naomi’s side. “You’re as big a downer as you were at fifteen.”
Naomi beeped the lock on her key fob and slung an arm over Willow’s shoulders. “I prefer to think of myself as a realist, and face it, babe. Sometimes you need someone to pull your head out of the clouds.”
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see him when he asked for my number or mentioned getting drinks,” Willow said as they walked down to the rocks where they were filming her weather report.
“You always do this, Will. You think everyone’s like you, sweet, kind, and loyal, but they’re not. People suck.”
Naomi had her reasons for having felt that way in the past. Her family had disowned her when she’d come out during senior year of high school. But there was something in her voice that made Willow look at her more closely. “Are you okay?”
She shrugged. “I applied for a position at WNBC in New York. If I get the job, Veronica told me she won’t be coming with me.”
This was exactly what Willow had been afraid of. Nothing would be the same for any of them if the station closed. She reached for Naomi’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t give up yet. Not on the station or Veronica.”
At the low purr of an engine, Willow whipped her head around, barely restraining herself from jumping up and down as a familiar black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot. “I told you he’d come!”
Naomi shook her head. “Seriously, babe. When will you ever learn to play it cool?”
“Never.” She grinned and was about to run over and greet Noah when her cell phone rang.
Naomi held her back. “Today you’re going to. Now stop smiling and waving at him like you’ve been stranded in the desert for a week and he’s a cool drink of water and answer your phone.”
“I’m not waving and smiling at him like that. I’m being warm and welcoming,” she said, despite having a feeling Naomi was right. Willow dialed down her smile to friendly and went to answer her phone. At the name on the screen, her body froze. “It’s my aunt.”
“Huh, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe there is something to this positivity thing.”
“What do you mean?”
Naomi lifted her hand to the man getting out of his car. Willow hadn’t thought Noah could look any more handsome than he had the night before in his navy suit but seeing him now in black pants and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his dark hair messy, aviators shielding his eyes, and stubble shadowing his chiseled jaw, she knew she’d been wrong. Seriously wrong. Noah Elliot was off-the-charts gorgeous.
“Elliot’s here, and your aunt’s actually calling you back,” Naomi said.
Despite being in hot-guy heaven, Willow didn’t miss the uncharacteristically hopeful note in her friend’s voice. “Right,” she said, and answered her phone.
Naomi, Veronica, and everyone else at the station needed her to make this play. Somehow, someway, she’d make it up to her family. “Hi, Zia Camilla,” she said as Noah walked toward them with a long, loose-limbed stride, an amused smile tugging on his lips. Everything about him screamed cool and confident. A far cry from the nerdy boy she remembered.
She returned her attention to her phone when a woman said, “Willow, it’s Gail. Your aunt’s assistant.”
“Hi, Gail. Since you’re the one calling, I take it my aunt isn’t interested in talking to me.” Willow didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
“No. It’s not that. I’d just told her you’d called when she was hit by an e-bike.”
Willow gasped. “Oh no, is she okay?”
“She’s in the hospital. She has a concussion, a pretty serious one, and her arm is broken.”
Willow briefly closed her eyes before asking the question she was pretty sure she knew the answer to. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? She was upset when you told her I’d called and walked in front of the e-bike.”
“No. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. I should’ve waited to tell her. It surprised her. She was distracted by the news, not paying attention to what was going on around her.”
It was kind of Gail to take the blame but they both knew it was Willow’s fault. If she hadn’t called her aunt out of the blue, she wouldn’t be in the hospital.
Gail continued, her voice almost a whisper. “I realize Cami and your family are estranged but one of you has to come to New York. Your aunt has amnesia, Willow. She doesn’t know me. She’s asking for her mother and her sisters.”
In the background, Willow heard a woman shouting for a phone. “That’s her asking for the phone, isn’t it?”
“More like demanding. Just a sec. Cami, I told you to give me a minute. I just need to finish this call, and then I’ll give you your phone.”
“No! Please, don’t give her the phone and don’t call my family. I’ll handle it. I’ll, um, I’ll come to New York.”
She didn’t have a car or money for a plane ticket or probably even enough to cover bus fare, but she’d find a way. She had to. This was on her. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”
“Thank goodness,” Gail said, sounding as if Willow couldn’t get there fast enough for her.
After they said their goodbyes, Willow disconnected and stared at her phone.
“Willow, is everything all right?” Noah asked at the same time Naomi did.
There was nothing good about what had happened to her aunt, but something good might come out of it, Willow thought, lifting her gaze to Noah. He was heading back to New York this morning, and she needed a ride. It was a five-hour drive. Five hours in which he’d be stuck with her in a car and unable to escape. There was the added bonus of not having to call her sister to ask for a ride. She just hoped Gail didn’t expect her to pay Camilla’s hospital bill because then she’d have no choice but to call Sage and tell her what she’d done.
Willow explained what had happened to her aunt, leaving out that it was because of Willow that she’d wound up in the hospital. She’d tell Naomi later but it wasn’t something Noah needed to know. “So it looks like I’m going to New York.” She held her breath, hoping Noah would offer instead of her having to ask.
“How? On your scooter?” Naomi asked since she knew the state of Willow’s finances. Unlike Megan and the Beaches, neither Naomi nor Veronica encouraged her to live beyond her means. They were happy to do stuff that didn’t cost anything. In fact, they encouraged it.
No doubt cluing in to the opportunity this presented, Naomi looked at Noah and said, “You’re going back to New York this morning, aren’t you? You could give our girl a ride, couldn’t you?”
“You don’t have a car?” he asked, a familiar sardonic edge in his voice.
Willow hid her disappointment by forcing a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I can figure something out.”
Noah dragged his hand through his hair. “It’s fine. I’ll give you a ride but I’d like to be on the road within the hour.”
They didn’t get on the road in an hour. If they were lucky, they’d be on the road by two that afternoon.
The filming at the rocks hadn’t exactly gone according to plan. Or, as Naomi explained to Noah after Willow’s up-close-and-personal encounter with the deep blue sea, it had gone as it usually did whenever Willow was involved.
It had started off okay. In fact, better than okay. Willow had been beyond happy with how well it had gone. She was seconds from wrapping up and warning herself not to do a happy dance as soon as she signed off when the fisherman, who they later learned had never fished before but had agreed to be interviewed by Willow and then remain in the background, caught a fish.
He could barely contain his excitement, and Willow had clapped and cheered along with him. She hadn’t cared if she looked unprofessional jumping up and down on the rocks, she was thrilled for him and got caught up in his happiness.
He’d had reason to be happy. He’d caught a blue fish, a big one, as in two feet long. Willow also knew it had to weigh at least fifteen pounds because, while reeling it in, the novice fisherman tried to swing it onto the rocks and hit Willow in the face with the fish instead, causing her to stumble and fall backward into the water.
The only positive thing to come out of it was that she’d gotten to hear Noah laugh again. The same deep, rumbly laugh she remembered from that long-ago summer. Except that when it came from the tall and exceptionally gorgeous man that Noah had become, she’d had an entirely different reaction.
She hadn’t laughed herself silly as she had when she was fifteen. Nope, she’d gotten all hot and bothered. And when Noah had pulled her from the water, her body ending up pressed against his, she’d wondered if he knew. If her face hadn’t given her away, she had a feeling her breathy “Thank you” had.
So that had been part of the delay. Noah went back to the hotel, showered, and changed, and Willow did the same at her place. Only she took longer because she had to help Naomi dry off the truck’s seat and floor and listen to her complain about it smelling like fish.
When Noah met Willow back at the station an hour later, Don got hold of him, locking him in his office for another two hours while Willow convinced Veronica to cover for her when she was in New York. Convincing Veronica took less than a minute. She’d been dying for the opportunity to get on camera.
The rest of Willow’s time was spent fielding suggestions about what to do with the five uninterrupted hours she had with Noah in the car. The longer she sat there waiting for him, the more outrageous the suggestions became. The one thing everyone agreed on was that this was the perfect opportunity to change Noah’s mind, and they were counting on her to do it.
Which brought them to now.
“I promise, it’ll take me two minutes at most,” Willow said as Noah pulled alongside the curb in front of her rental. She’d gotten distracted helping Naomi clean her truck and had forgotten to pack a bag. She’d be in New York for at least two days.
Noah gave her a look that made her grin, and before she could remind herself that they weren’t fifteen and best friends anymore, she launched herself across the console and kissed his cheek.
“Promise.” She then launched herself out of the car before she did anything stupid. Or more stupid than kissing his cheek.
She ran up the steps, opened her door, smiled, waved at Noah, and then hurried into the two-bedroom house. She took the stairs two at a time and raced into her bedroom, wincing at her unmade bed, the clothes on the floor, and the empty boxes scattered around the room.
Grabbing a duffel bag from her closet, she walked to the dresser and pulled out drawers, pawing through the meager contents. Apparently, most of her underwear and nightwear were residing on the floor instead of in the drawer. She looked at the piles and, feeling overwhelmed, headed for the bathroom instead.
It was as messy as her bedroom but at least what she needed was sitting on the counter and the ledge of the bathtub. She swept her makeup into the cosmetic bag and tossed it into the duffel. As she turned to grab her shampoo, body wash, and hair products, she realized she needed to put them in a ziplock bag or the clothes she eventually packed would get wet. By the time she’d hunted down ziplock bags in her kitchen that was filled with half-packed boxes, she’d not only made a bigger mess, she’d gone over her promised two minutes by at least eighteen.
And she knew this because while kneeling on the floor in her bedroom, separating clean clothes from dirty ones in an effort to tidy up in case her landlord dropped by while she was away, she heard Noah yell into her house, “Willow, it’s been twenty minutes. What are you…?” His voice trailed off before he finished his question.
She tossed the clothes from the clean pile on the floor into the duffel bag. “I’m coming!” she yelled, jumping up from the floor and running out of her bedroom.
She was attempting to zip the overstuffed duffel bag as she reached the stairs to see Noah standing in the entrance, staring into the living room.
“I’m moving,” she said in an effort to excuse the disaster he’d walked into.
He didn’t acknowledge her, and she wondered what had captured his attention. Following his gaze, she looked at the painting on the wall and smiled. Her mom had gifted her the painting on Willow’s twenty-first birthday.
Willow hadn’t been in the mood for celebrating. She’d had a messy breakup with a man she’d thought was her one true love. In a family of cynics, she’d been a romantic. But he’d crushed her heart, destroyed her confidence, and made her feel like crap about herself and her life choices.
The painting was her mother’s way of showing Willow how she saw her and how she wanted Willow to see herself. She’d titled it The Heart of You. In the painting, Willow lay on her stomach in the sand, her naked body gleaming golden in the sunlight, a pink floral scarf draped over her behind.
She looked as if she’d been caught midlaugh, her head thrown back in abandon, her blue eyes the same color as the ocean in the background, dancing with delight, her face lit up with happiness. The painting had become Willow’s touchstone, a way back to herself.
“My mom painted it,” she said as she walked down the stairs. “She’s an incredible artist.”
His eyes came to her. “She had an incredible subject.”
Her cheeks warmed at not just his compliment but also how he looked at her when he gave it. Flustered by the intensity of his gaze and her reaction to it, she murmured, “Thank you” and then lifted her chin at the door. “We should probably get going.”
He nodded, his gaze moving over the living room and kitchen. He shuddered.
“Hey, it’s not that bad,” she said, nudging him with her duffel bag. “I have a lot to pack, and I’m working.”
He lifted an eyebrow at the clothes escaping from her bag. “It took you twenty minutes to pack an overnight bag.”
“Sorry.” She winced, shoving the leg of her jeans and the sleeve of her blouse into the duffel. “I had to sort through my clothes, and then I got worried my landlord would come in to check on things while I was away, and I tried tidying up a bit.” She closed the door behind them and locked it.
“Unless there’s an emergency, your landlord can’t enter your home without your consent, Willow.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, following him across the lawn to the car.
He held the car door open for her. “Positive. Did you not read your lease agreement?”
“Uh, no.” She thought better of telling him she didn’t have one.
Noah’s gaze roamed her face, and whatever he saw made him shake his head. “You don’t have a lease agreement.”
“It’s a small town. I’ve known my landlord since I was in grade school,” she said instead of lying outright or telling him he’d surmised correctly.
“So what, you shook hands on it?” He sighed. “Of course you did.” He closed her door and rounded the hood of the car.
Since he looked as if he planned on continuing the conversation when he got behind the wheel, she was relieved when his cell phone rang.
He looked at the screen, frowned, then connected the call. “Mrs. D, what’s the—no, I’m not driving. Mrs. D, just spit it out.” His face went blank as he listened to the woman on the other end.
From his blank expression, Willow wasn’t sure whether he was bored or angry, but he cleared it up when he said in a voice coated in ice, “No, I do not want to talk to her. I’ll deal with her when I get home.”
He ended the call, started the car, and pulled onto the road. Eyes straight ahead, he said, “You’re staying with me tonight. I’ll bring you to the hospital in the morning.”
If not for his ice-cold voice, Willow might’ve shouted, “Yippee!” She hadn’t been looking forward to spending the night sleeping on a chair at the hospital anyway.
“Okay,” she said slowly, afraid to anger him further. “And why am I staying with you?”
“To keep me from strangling my sister.”