Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32
Willow
A month had passed since everything unraveled at the funeral service for Harry. I’d been checking in on Molly often, yet so had the whole town. She was never alone for more than two minutes, and I was thankful for that.
Theo checked in on her the most, and I checked in on him the most. Even though he said he was all right, I still kept an eye on him. Each night, we shared a bed together, and I was getting more and more used to waking up next to him. I knew it was probably time to move on to my next adventure. Back in June, I never even thought I’d be seeing Westin Lake in late September, yet somehow as the leaves were changing, my heart was transforming, too.
I didn’t feel like flying away to the next unwritten chapter of my storybook. I selfishly began to adore my current chapter, and if anything, I wanted to do a reread with Theo over and over and over again.
Theo’s morning forehead kisses and nighttime embraces were my two favorite meals of the day.
It wasn’t until late one Tuesday that I received a call from my sister Yara, saying I should make my way back to Honey Creek. Avery had been admitted to the hospital, and they were talking about having the twins come early. We knew her having twins made it more likely that Avery would have to give birth early, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.
I needed to get back to Honey Creek to make sure my sister and my future nephews were okay. Theo returned to his place after his visit with Molly to find me packing a suitcase.
He raised an eyebrow as he stood in the doorway to my bedroom. “Are you running away because I called you my clementine? Did it freak you out that much?” he semi-joked as he slid his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.
I laughed a little as I zipped up my suitcase. “My sister Avery is having her babies soon. I just need to go back for a while to make sure she’s okay. It’s earlier than planned, which scares me, but it’s all right.”
He walked over to me and kneeled. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re crying.”
“Am I?” I wiped the falling tears from my eyes. “I’m okay.”
“You’re scared.”
I took a breath and nodded. “I’m scared.”
“How far is the drive?”
“About five hours or so.”
“All right. I’ll go pack a bag.”
I raised both my eyebrows. “What? No, Theo. You don’t have to do that. I’ll be all right.”
“It’s already dark outside, you’re overwhelmed, and you’ll be exhausted in five hours. I’ll drive. We can take my truck.”
“Theo, I can’t expect you to—”
“I don’t want you to drive tired and scared. So let me do this, Willow. Let me take care of you.”
I stood from the floor and wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now finish packing, and I’ll do the same.”
We arrived in Honey Creek a little after midnight. We pulled into my dad’s driveway, then Theo put the truck into park. He turned to me and combed his hand through his hair.
I tilted my head. “You look nervous.”
“Nervous? Me? No. Why? It’s not like I’m about to meet your father for the first time and stay at his house.” He scratched at the side of his neck. “Maybe I should get a hotel room for the night.”
I laughed. “There are no hotels in Honey Creek, silly. Now come on, you’re going to be great.” I opened my door and stepped out of the truck, only to turn to find Theo still sitting in his chair. I snapped my fingers. “Hurry before you force my dad to come outside after midnight.”
“I’m already out here,” a voice said from the front porch. Dad walked outside with a big grin on his face.
Without hesitation, I hurried over to him and pretty much leaped into his arms. “Hey, old man.”
“Hey, Little Bird,” he replied, hugging me tightly. “Gosh, I’ve missed you. I’m going to have to start requesting that your sisters give me more and more grandchildren because their births always seem to bring you back into town.”
I chuckled and turned around to introduce Theo, who was now walking over with both of our suitcases in his hands. “Dad, this is Theo. Theo, this is my dad, Michael.”
Theo set the suitcases on the porch, then held his hand out toward Dad. “It’s nice to meet you, Michael.”
“Oh, no need to be so informal. Please, call me Mr. Kingsley,” Dad said. I pinched my dad’s arm. He yipped a little. “Or Michael is fine.”
“Mr. K-kingsley works, t-t-too,” Theo stuttered.
I smiled. The poor boy was so nervous.
“Don’t you dare call him that.” I nudged Theo’s arm. “Dad’s just teasing you a little.”
“Yeah, just a little joking around,” Dad agreed. He placed his hands on his hips. “So, Theo…where do you plan to stay while you’re in town?”
“ Dad !” I shouted, seeing all the color drain from Theo’s face. I grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to me. “He’s kidding. He has an odd sense of humor.”
Theo nodded, too flustered to say anything else.
We all walked into the house, and Theo carried the suitcases into the room we’d share.
Dad wasn’t far behind. He stood in the doorframe, wearing his slippers and robe, with his arms crossed. “It’s pretty late, so I think we should converse and get to know each other a bit more in the morning. Theo, do you hunt?”
“No, sir, I don’t,” Theo replied.
Did he just call my father sir ?
That was comical. I hadn’t ever heard anyone call my dad sir before. It seemed so…professional.
“That’s okay. I can still show you my impressive gun collection come morning,” Dad replied before walking off. “Night, you two. Don’t do anything that would make God frown at you in that room of yours.”
I laughed a little and told Dad good night before I closed the bedroom door behind me. Theo stared at me as if we’d just witnessed the scariest person alive. “Don’t tell me his empty threats got to you,” I teased. “You look terrified.”
“Why didn’t you tell me your father was the size of an NFL linebacker?”
I shrugged. “He’s just Dad to me.”
“He could murder me with his bare hands.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true,” I said as I unpacked my suitcase. Theo still stared at me with terror in his eyes. “Don’t worry,” I exclaimed. “He likes you.”
“He likes me? How could you tell? That interaction was the complete opposite of a person liking me.”
“He called you by your name, though.”
Theo arched an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what?”
“My dad. He called you Theo.”
“That is…my name…yes…”
“My dad doesn’t call people he dislikes by their names. Well, at least not men who are dating his daughters. For years, he called Yara’s ex-husband by the wrong name. Same with Avery’s ex-fiancé.”
“And he calls their new partners by their actual names?”
“Uh-huh.”
That made a small smirk appear on his face. “Hell yeah. I’m Theo.”
“Yeah, you are, but don’t get cocky about it. You could be a Leroy in a heartbeat.”
“Noted.” He then moved to the bed and began to build a pillow fort down the middle.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we don’t touch during the night.”
“Um, why aren’t we touching?”
“Because we can’t do anything that God or Michael Kingsley might frown upon.”
I laughed. “That was a joke.”
“Not taking any chances,” he said, taking off his clothes so he could change into his pajamas. “I’m not trying to be a Leroy by noon.”
After putting our pajamas on, I shut off the light, and we hopped into bed. Like a scared child, Theo stayed on his side of the bed while I hugged my pillow on my side.
I bit my bottom lip. “Hey, Mr. Grump?”
“Yeah?”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if I started making moaning noises?”
Theo sat up straight in bed as if he were a dead body rising from a gravesite. He pointed a stern finger my way. “ Don’t you dare ,” he whispered.
“Ohhh, yeah! Yeah, right there!” I called out, moaning dramatically. “I love that, Theo!”
With haste, he tossed the pillow barrier to the side of the room and then straddled me. He placed one hand over my mouth, and I giggled as I wiggled around, trying to get from under his hold. He pinned one hand above my head. “ Shhh !” he ordered, but I continued anytime I was able to slip my mouth from beneath the palm of his hand.
“ Harder, harder, hard— ” I started shouting, but before I could get the words out, the bedroom door flung open, and all I saw was Dad standing in the doorframe, with his big, broad frame.
Theo was right, he did look like a linebacker.
Dad’s eyes shot daggers straight to Theo, the straddling man.
Theo’s eyes widened with fear.
Rightfully so.