Chapter 21
Willow
Willow was trying to stay positive; after all, that was part of her new self-care mantra – look after herself, not focus on the negatives and take each day at a time.
But it was much harder to maintain when business was this slow.
And it was even harder to maintain when it was clearly obvious that Lucas had been avoiding her since their trip to the Falls last weekend.
Four days had passed – sometimes she swore he ran into the backroom as soon as she walked into The Diner, just so that Mia or Janice would have to serve her.
It was weird. And annoying.
Maybe that kiss had been a mistake. After all, he had been so quiet afterwards, barely talking to her after it happened.
Willow had tried so hard to act casual and upbeat when Mia had appeared, because she knew Lucas liked to be private about things.
But now, she had a horrible feeling he regretted that it happened.
And that was a shame because the kiss had been so good.
The fact was she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it – how natural his mouth had felt against hers, how firm and strong his body had been, how just those few moments entwined together had melted her.
His touch had been so gentle, she could only imagine what it would be like to have him explore her body further.
The thought of that was driving her crazy.
But that was all she could do – think, because Lucas sure as hell didn’t seem to want to reenact it. Maybe he had only ever wanted to be friends?
She supposed she should be happy – after all, she was only on a break with Jake. The last thing she needed was the complication of developing feelings for someone else.
Also, she had to focus on the up and down nature of her business. Some days were busier than others. Today was certainly an ‘other’. A horrible, wet Thursday afternoon, where nobody was tempted by one of her iced matchas, or hot options.
Willow sighed as she tried not to let her mood spiral. Everything would turn out alright in the end, it had to. As her grandma used to say, ‘what’s meant for you, won’t pass you by’.
And right now, she had to believe that.
‘Sapphire’s post went live an hour ago. It’s already got loads of likes,’ Mia said, holding up her phone as if Willow hadn’t studied it herself a million times over already. ‘It’s bound to have an impact. She’s said such lovely things about Honey Springs.’
Mia was sitting at one of the small tables that Willow had purchased from an elderly lady on the other side of town.
She now had two mismatched sets of tables and chairs for almost nothing, but it made a difference for the customers to have somewhere to sit.
Lucas had reluctantly agreed to store them overnight in The Diner’s garage.
Willow’s next plan was to find another set and paint them, so they matched, and maybe get some parasols for better weather.
Mia was now playing the video that Sapphire had uploaded. Her rich, sweet voice filled the air as she talked excitedly about visiting a ‘little mountain resort that time has forgotten’.
‘She makes us sound a little backward,’ Mia muttered. ‘But at least she points out how pretty it is here. And calming.’
‘She has and that’s great – but she barely mentioned the wagon,’ Willow replied. ‘It was like a fleeting mention. I mean, that was her whole point of coming. And The Diner was totally ignored.’
‘I guess that’s what Lucas gets for not calling her.’
‘That’s what Lucas gets for being so moody …’ Willow muttered and then she remembered that Mia was there and inwardly cursed. ‘I’m sorry, Mia, I didn’t mean that.’
‘No, you’re right. He is moody. And grumpy,’ Mia mused. ‘In fact, he seems to be worse than ever. I don’t know what’s got into him lately.’
‘At least her post about the town is good.’ Willow sighed. ‘She talks a lot about how cute and cozy it is. That might attract new folk, right?’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Mia looked hopeful. ‘Cute and cozy is what people are looking for. Who wants loud and brash, hey?’
They both laughed. Willow was glad she had Mia here for company, although she appreciated it was only short term.
Mia was already busy job hunting as her temporary role had ended in New York anyway.
On a positive note, she had told Willow she planned to stick around for a while and was in no hurry to return to the city.
‘Have you told Lucas yet, about your plans?’ Willow asked her.
Mia shook her head. ‘Not yet, but I will. I just don’t want to get into a big thing about what happened with me and Joshua. He won’t understand.’
‘Haven’t you told him what happened yet?’
Mia was playing with one of her bangles. She looked more delicate today, especially without her makeup. Her porcelain skin reminded Willow of the dolls that her grandma collected but Willow was never allowed to play with.
‘Not yet. I don’t want to worry him. It’s kind of complicated between me and Joshua. We were together a long time. I think he has a way of getting in my head, you know?’ She put her phone down and frowned. ‘I need to keep away, stay distracted – for my own good.’
‘Lucas would understand that though.’
‘Yeah, of course he would, but he’d go into overprotective brother mode. I’ve played this all down. Told him that we are cooling off anyway. The truth is, I don’t want to go back to the city because I don’t want to be tempted by him.’
‘Makes sense.’ Willow replied. ‘Since when have relationships ever been straightforward?’
‘Talking about that, how are things with you and Jake? Are you still talking?’
Willow pulled a face. ‘Yeah, if anything our break hasn’t stopped that. I think he likes to know what I’m up to and he likes me to know how well he’s doing. I guess it’s making me wonder if it’s normal—’
Mia visibly flinched. ‘He’s still keeping control then?’
‘Maybe a little.’ Willow shrugged. ‘I dunno. I get the impression with Jake that it would be OK for him to move on, but he wouldn’t like it if I did. Not that that is likely to happen around here anyway.’
Mia looked at her quizzically and opened her mouth as if to say more but was interrupted by a small group of teenage girls. They looked like they had just jumped off the bus from high school. One waved her phone in Willow’s direction.
‘Hey, is this where we get matchas from? We saw a mention on Sapphire’s post.’
Mia nudged Willow with a grin. ‘Looks like your tiny mention is already working out,’ she said enthusiastically. ‘Let’s hope this is the start of something good.’
Sales continued to trickle throughout that day.
So much so that Mia left Willow to continue her job hunting.
There were a few new faces at the wagon, including some who had come over from the Ridge and beyond, which just showed the reach that Sapphire had and also the power of social media when it worked.
Following orders from Toby’s recent nagging texts (of which there were many), Willow took some photos of her growing line and some smiling people holding up their iced matchas.
Perhaps there can be a balance, she decided, between the online world and living in the now. She was certainly happy, however, to only dip her toe back into social media occasionally.
Toby’s reports back about the Noix Noir campaign made her feel exhausted for him and she was sure her heart started to beat a little faster just thinking about it.
No, she did not miss that crazy high-speed life.
Not when she could stand here and take deep gulps of fresh, clean air while using the sight of the mountains to steady and calm her. She belonged here.
It was right.
As she served another customer a strawberry iced drink, her gaze drifted towards The Diner.
She only wished somebody else believed that too.
Willow was just starting to shut the wagon, when she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up, startled, surprised that anyone else would be here so late in the day.
She certainly wasn’t expecting to come face to face with Eric. He stood in front of her, a slightly hunched figure still dressed in his shabby lumberjack jacket.
His cheeks were so ruddy and red, they looked sore. He stared at her with watery eyes, blinking hard.
‘I thought it was you, the other night in the bar. I wanted to approach you, but …’
He didn’t finish his words and instead simply shook his head sadly.
‘Eric, it’s lovely to see you,’ Willow replied brightly, immediately feeling guilty that she hadn’t acknowledged him yet.
How bad was that of her? All she could do now was lie to spare his feelings.
She could hardly tell him Jake warned her to stay away.
‘I didn’t see you! I’m so sorry, I guess I was wrapped up in my own world. ’
His eyes were still fixed on hers; they seemed to soften a little, but even from here Willow could smell the liquor on him. It was pretty strong.
‘Is my boy with you?’ he asked. ‘Only I hoped … I guess I’ve not heard from him in a while.’
Willow shifted on the spot, feeling uncomfortable.
In the early days after they moved to Seattle, Jake had called his dad quite regularly – but this had soon reduced over time.
Jake said he found it too hard, too depressing to talk to his dad when he was in bad shape.
He phoned his mom separately instead and Willow noticed he rarely asked after anyone else.
It was like he was trying to forget the problems were there and instead block them out.
‘Jake is still in Seattle. He’s busy with work,’ Willow explained gently. ‘I’ll ask him to call you though.’
‘Yeah, you do that …’ His smile was brittle as he moved to turn away again. ‘But I doubt he’ll bother. That boy has always been the same …’
‘What do you mean?’ she called after him.
But Eric had already staggered away, clearly not prepared to disclose anything further to her that day.