Chapter 21
I t had been a few days now and Willow would be heading back to Sterling Point. I’m not gone lie, I was dreading the shit, but I was just as happy that she would be coming back to Rose Haven for good. It was crazy how different shit was between when she first got here to now.
I rode silently to her parents’ place since I told her I would make sure she got to the airport. I know her father had initially agreed to take her, but I wanted to be the one who took her. My need for her was increasing the more time I spent with her. I don’t know how the hell I was going to make it the entire time she was gone.
I finally made it to her parents place, so I parked in front of the house instead of the driveway. Willow’s father was outside washing his truck and cleaning the inside. I had to catch my smirk as I thought back to the way I was digging baby out in the backseat. I’m glad he was a man who didn’t play about his car maintenance.
The moment I stepped out of the car, I strolled over to speak. He turned to peer up at me with a smile. I tried to rid my thoughts of all the ways I was fucking his daughter, because if he knew, I’m sure he wouldn’t be this happy to see my ass. I had a daughter, and I didn’t want to think about the way I would have felt.
I reached a hand out to shake his. “Good morning, Mr. Dawson.”
He took my hand willingly and shook it.
“Good morning, and son, I think as many times as I’ve seen you on my front porch, we’ve passed all the formalities. Call me Will. I have to thank you for taking my baby to the airport. I wouldn’t have minded taking her, but this damn truck needed to be cleaned. I like to get a head start on things; not to mention, that child of mine has been driving it and doing who knows what.”
I brought my hand to my mouth briefly, then waved him off with a smile.
“It’s no problem. I can’t say I’m doing it just to help. It’s a bit selfish on my part, too. But I’m glad this is a temporary goodbye rather than a permanent one,” I told him honestly.
“Yeah, she sure as hell made her mother and I happy with that. It’s nice to have our girl back again.”
I nodded with a smile.
“Let me go grab her for you,” he let me know before walking toward the house.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets and followed him to the porch. I waited a few minutes before a woman who was a carbon copy of Willow walked outside. She had the same smile as Willow; their only differences lay in the speckles of freckles across her nose and streaks of gray through her hair. She took me in with intention and a glint of mischief in her eyes.
“My husband has seemed to meet you more times than I can count and this is my first. I’m Anna, Willow’s mother. I have heard your name quite a few times and I have to say, all the chatter was right. You’re very handsome. It’s nice to finally meet you, Benjamin.”
She pulled me into the warmest hug that only mothers and grandmothers seemed to pull off. I hugged her back as Willow walked out talking with her father, who was holding her suitcase.
“So, when are we going to get a formal meeting? I would love to cook dinner and get to know you a little better. Not just the chats and whispers I hear,” her mother said.
My cheeks warmed at her attention. I glanced over at Willow, who shrugged in response.
“I would love that, Mrs. Dawson. Soon as Willow gets settled back here and you have the time, I’ll make sure I’m free. Would it be okay if my daughter comes?” I asked to be sure it was okay.
Her mother’s eyes widened as she gripped her chest then smiled.
“Absolutely! I have been wanting to meet little Ms. Charlie. I hear she is so adorable and sassy.”
I nodded, while reaching out to grab Willow’s bag from her father.
“She is definitely all of that. Thank you. I’ll make sure I get Willow to the airport safely. It was nice meeting you and I’m looking forward to that dinner. See you later, Mr. Dawson, I mean Will.”
Her father chuckled while wrapping his arms around his wife’s midsection before he kissed her cheek. I placed Willow’s bags into the trunk of the car, then walked over to the passenger side to open her door. I waited a moment as she slipped inside, then closed it before strolling around to my side. She rolled down her window and waved wildly at her parents as we drove away.
The ride to the airport wouldn’t be a long one, so I knew I needed to take advantage of all the time we had left.
“Man, when I pulled up, I needed to take a minute. You knew your pops was gone be cleaning his truck out?” I asked with a smirk.
Willow laughed before responding.
“I told him last night that you would be bringing me to the airport, and he never mentioned it. I got up this morning and I saw him pulling out all of his things to clean the truck. My heart dropped to my ass. I was trying to remember if we left anything behind to allude to the fact that we were fucking in there.”
I shook my head and chuckled.
“I bet it was. If only yo pops knew how good his baby was taking dick in the backseat of his truck. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to step foot on y’all sidewalk, let alone the porch.”
She pushed my shoulder with a roll of her eyes and laughed.
“You’re so arrogant,” she said.
I glanced over at her briefly with a lift of my brow and a smirk.
“So, I’m lying, baby? You weren’t on this shit, riding like you had a point to prove?” I asked.
“No lies told. Was my point proven?” she asked.
We reached a red light and as I stopped, I glanced in her direction, then ran my tongue across my lower lip before biting it.
“Hell yeah. I ‘bout need a taste right now,” I told her as I adjusted myself in my jeans.
All this talk about our backseat escapades had my dick bricking up.
“If only we had time,” she responded with a giggle.
“Mmm hmmm. You ready to get back to Sterling Point? I know you made a few friends there.”
Willow glanced away as the light turned green.
“Honestly, I made some friends, but I’m definitely ready to get things handled there and come back home. The thought of going to Sterling Point doesn’t even feel like home to me anymore. It’s just a place at this point,” she responded.
I nodded as we talked about the list of things she wanted to accomplish the moment she got there. Less than twenty minutes later, I was pulling up into the long line of cars of people helping their loved ones get their bags and say goodbye.
I walked around to the trunk to grab her bag, then opened her door. The moment Willow got out, she wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight. I leaned down a bit to place a kiss on her forehead as she tipped her head back to give me full access. Not wasting another second, I leaned in, pressing my lips to hers in a lingering kiss that said everything I wanted to say. A kiss that I hoped let her know I would be waiting with bated breath for her to return.
I pulled back reluctantly, but knowing she needed to go if she was going to make her flight on time.
“You call me if you need me. I’ll make sure I’m by my phone,” I told her.
I leaned in and gave her another quick kiss before finally rolling her bag over to her.
“I will, I’ll call you soon as I make it and when I get settled.”
She smiled then hesitantly grabbed the handle on her bag, almost like she didn’t want to go as much as I didn’t want her to. I watched as she made her way through the airport’s sliding doors before finally getting back in my car. Man, I didn’t realize just how gone I was behind this woman. I had never felt this stressed about a bit of distance. But with Willow, things were different, and I was getting more comfortable with that thought.
* * *
It’s been a few days since Willow had been gone and damn, it felt like weeks. She called me to check in just as she said she would. I could tell she was swamped because usually, by the end of the day, she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Daddy, did you hear me?” Charlie asked.
I glanced down to see her staring up at me with a pout and her nose scrunched. I knew she was beginning to get a little frustrated with me due to the fact that I kept drifting off into my thoughts instead of listening to her. It wasn’t intentional, but lately, I’ve had so much on my mind.
“I’m sorry, baby. What did you say?” I asked.
“Do you like my picture? It’s me and you and Ms. Willow.”
She pointed down at the picture of stick figure people. The only reason I could decipher who was who is because of the clear height difference in the three people. Other than that, these damn sticks could have been anybody. But as her dad, it was my job to hype my baby up to believe she was better than Picasso.
“Man, that’s nice. Can I have it so I can frame it for our new house?” I asked her.
Since Willow was gone, I decided to start looking at houses. With the big contribution Jordan made to my account, I had more than enough to just buy a house straight out, which was my plan. But every house I saw, I kept wanting to call Willow for her input. It was like my mind and heart were on one accord of making sure she had a place in every part of my life.
“Yes! But I want it in my room, since it’s mine.”
I shook my head for effect, causing Charlie to giggle. I glanced up as my mom walked into the room.
“I’m glad you finally responded to my baby girl because I was getting ready to come in here and hurt you, son. You know I don’t play about my Charlie boo.”
I waved her off with a smile. “Come on now, Ma. I’ve just had a few things on my mind, the house?—”
“And Willow,” she interrupted.
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t. She was right. I had grown comfortable being in her presence any time I could. Now that she was physically miles away, my mind had left with her.
“I can’t even deny it if I wanted to. It’s more than just missing her. I want to make sure she can handle everything. Packing up your life and moving isn’t easy, especially to do by yourself. I know she has told me more times than I can count that she wasn’t keeping much. But, it was still a lot to handle by yourself and she doesn’t have to do shit—I mean stuff like that anymore.”
My mother crossed her arms against her chest and just smiled knowingly.
“Son, go pack a bag and catch a flight. You not doing any good here worrying and I’m sure she would be happy to see you.”
I glanced over at Charlie, who was focused on her picture again, now adding clouds inside of a house around the stick figures. I looked back up at my mom.
“I can’t just leave Charlie. You and Pops have been helping me enough by allowing me to stay here. Not to mention, I’ve never been to Sterling Point or Willow’s place, so I wouldn’t know where I’m going to just pop up on her.”
“Benjamin Davis, go pack your bag and gone somewhere. I’ve raised a baby before and I would say, I did a damn good job. The last thing, doesn’t she have a best friend here? I’m sure Shirah will tell you,” she pointed out.
I couldn’t help but smirk. I stood to my full height, towering over her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, then kissed her cheek.
“Thank you. I guess I got a few calls to make.” I told her.
I walked around her and took the stairs a few at a time. I packed as quickly as possible before booking a red eye flight for tonight. After booking my ticket, I called Jordan, who answered out of breath on the third ring.
“What’s up?” he asked.
I could hear his trainer in the back coaching him to keep pushing, so I knew he was working out.
“I need Shirah’s number,” I said, getting straight to the point.
The clanking of weights was loud in the background. Jordan told his trainer to hold up before giving me his undivided attention.
“What you need her number for?” he asked.
“Why yo’ ass got to know everything before you do something? I need to figure out where Willow lives in Sterling Point.”
I grabbed my keys from the dresser, then closed up my suitcase once I looked it over to make sure my toothbrush and soap were inside.
“Aight, hold up wit’ yo’ simp ass.”
I shook my head and waited for a text with her number to come through, only for Jordan to click over with Shirah on the line. He got on my damn nerves sometimes.
“Jordan, you know I’m working, so this better be good,” Shirah said with a pop of her gum.
“Girl, calm yo’ ass down. Benny wanted to ask you something,” he responded.
“Shirah, I just need Willow’s address in Sterling Point. This some shit I could have texted you.”
“Ohh, maybe, but it’s just not as good as hearing you ask me. My girl really got you down bad, huh?” she asked.
This was exactly why I wanted to just shoot her text, but Jordan had to go the extra mile and call.
“If I agree, can I get the address?” I asked.
Jordan and Shirah burst into laughter like I’d said the funniest thing in the world. In a minute, I was hanging up and pulling up on her parents for the shit.
“Maybe,” Shirah said in return, playfully.
“Aight, I’m not fucking with y’all. I’ll pull up on her peoples before I allow y’all to aggravate me. Thanks, but no thanks.”
That caused them to sober up.
“Wait, Benny. I’m just messing with you. I’ll send over the address. Give me your number. I hope my girl knows how lucky she is. I’m sure she will be happy to see you.”
I rattled off my number to her and waited for the text with the address to come through. Once it came, I thanked her, then hung up. I hoped she was right because pulling up unannounced was a big risk. But for her, I would risk any bit of pride I held left.