7. Chapter 7
seven
W illow pulled a lasagna from the oven, slid in some garlic toast, and quickly tossed a Caesar salad, hoping to get dinner on the table before Shane got home so she could warm him up before dropping the bomb.
Was it wrong to bribe Shane with his favourite meal so he’d hear her out?
No.
At least, not as wrong as flirting with Max over the phone had been that morning. But it wasn’t really her fault that he seemed to get a kick out of her attitude. It was her fault that she couldn’t get his voice out of her head. The way it raked up her spine should be illegal. If the whole owning-a-pub thing didn’t work out for him, he could make serious bank narrating erotic novels .
She shook off the thought. She had bigger things to worry about than sexy Max with his sexy voice. Like coming clean to her fiancé about the amount of money she’d had in a secret bank account, and how she was going to use that money to buy a brewery.
In Mapleton.
With Max.
She inwardly cringed. This was going to be tricky.
The door opened, and in walked Shane.
“Hi!” she said in an overbright tone.
He glanced at her and lifted an eyebrow.
Too much. Calm down.
“I made lasagna.”
“Cool,” he said, taking off his boots, dropping his lunch pail, and making his way to the fridge, same as always.
He’d always been one for routines.
She smiled as he passed her, feeling awkward and wondering whether she should give him a hug or a kiss, but he just grabbed a beer and turned toward the bathroom.
She deflated as the bathroom door closed behind him and the shower started running, wishing things were easy as they’d once been, but she shook it off. No sense dwelling. Plus, he’d feel better after he was clean and warm .
She took his lunch pail to the kitchen, finished dinner, set the table, and was sitting waiting for him by the time he came in.
“How was work?” she asked, easing in.
“Work,” he said, sitting at the table next to her and shovelling the food into his mouth.
She waited, wondering whether he was going to ask her how her day was and give her an opening, but no. He looked up at her, found her staring at him, stopped chewing.
“What?” he asked.
“Um,” she looked around. Where to begin? “I was hoping we could talk.”
He huffed an exhausted breath out. “Fine, but you’ll have to make it quick. Kyle and Nikki are coming over.”
“Again?”
He stared at her.
“Okay . . .” she said, bracing herself. “I got a call today—”
“This isn’t going to be about that brewery in Mapleton again, is it?”
Willow pulled in a calming breath. He was so impossible to talk to sometimes. “Well, I’m leading up to that—”
“Because I thought we were done with all that. ”
She waited to see whether he had anything to add before continuing. Being cut off was getting a little annoying. “I know we already decided it was a no, but that was before—”
“I’m not moving there.”
“I’m not asking you to,” she said back, matching the coldness in his voice.
“You’re not going, either.”
Willow reined in her temper. Yelling back and forth never got them anywhere. God, he could be so fucking stubborn. “Can you please just listen to me?”
He dropped his fork, put his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his hands. “Not if you’re gonna go on with this bullshit about uprooting our lives so you can risk everything on some pipe dream that you’re not even capable of, no.”
“Shane . . .” she said, staring to argue, then stopped as his words sunk in.
Not even capable of?
He didn’t believe she could run a brewery? Not even someone else’s brewery? He didn’t even know yet that she wanted to own the business, and he already believed she couldn’t do it.
And that’s when it hit her .
He didn’t believe in her. Maybe if he thought she could do it, he’d have been more open to moving to Mapleton. But he thought she’d fail.
What was even the point of telling him about Max’s offer? He definitely wouldn’t agree.
But he was so wrong.
Sure, she struggled to take control of certain situations, and she could be full of self-doubt from time to time, and the thought of firing someone was enough to send her into a panic. But those were things she could overcome.
She blinked, fighting back tears as she processed how little her fiancé believed in her and thought about all the years stretching ahead of her, going to work day after day, making Doug’s pilsner and picking up Shane’s lunch pail from the floor. It was as if she’d bought a one-way ticket to hell, and now that she was on the train, she couldn’t get off.
What would happen in five years? Would she have kids on this train with her? Ten years?
There was no end in sight.
The brewery in Mapleton was a fucking lifeline, and she was about to pass it at full steam.
She couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t cry,” Shane said, the coldness in his voice still there .
It was more of an order than words of comfort, and something inside her snapped.
“What I was trying to say is that . . . Nana is sick.” Oh fuck. Here we go. The lie came so easily, it almost scared her. As soon as the words were out, it started taking over her mind, taking on a life of its own, forming a complete fabrication that pumped the life back into her.
“Oh,” he said, sitting back. “I thought you wanted to talk about the brewery.”
Willow shook her head, trying to make it believable.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
Yes.
“No,” she said, giving a sniff as if her nose were running.
It wasn’t.
“She has . . .”
A sore throat.
“Pneumonia.”
Shane sat back. “Shit. Is she in the hospital?”
Willow shook her head. “She’s at home, but she needs help.”
Just then, the door opened and Nikki and Kyle came in.
Fuck.
“Mmm, lasagna?” Kyle said .
Willow fought off the panic and kept her head down. What a nightmare.
“What’s going on?” Nikki asked.
“Willow’s nana is sick,” Shane said.
Willow inwardly cringed but covered it up by pulling off the bandage and finishing this off. “I’m going to go stay with her for a while. Help with her housework and groceries and get her to her appointments, stuff like that.”
“For how long?”
Willow turned to Nikki, eyebrows raised, surprised she had piped up before Shane.
“I mean, you’ll be back before my wedding, right?”
She wanted to roll her eyes. Nikki was her best friend, one of her only friends, actually. She loved her and wanted nothing but the best for her, but sometimes, she could be incredibly selfish.
“Yeah, I’ll be back before then.”
She looked over at Shane, whose eyebrows had bunched up. He was so hard to read; she didn’t know whether he was on to her lie or annoyed that she was leaving.
“When are you going to leave? You just got back.”
“Next week,” she said, figuring that would be enough time to tell Max yes, get the ball rolling on the paperwork and financing, and get the supplies she’d need ordered and delivered there. “I won’t be able to get a flight out ’til then.”
Shit. She was going to need to book a flight to Ottawa, not Toronto; otherwise, he would know she hadn’t gone to Nana. And how was she going to get a hotel in Mapleton without giving a credit card? She only had joint accounts with Shane.
She’d have to get a credit card attached to her secret account. Or find somewhere that would take cash.
The thought of sneaking around filled her with a thrill she both loved and hated. She was probably just so desperate for a change of pace from her ordinary life that she didn’t care that she was doing something wrong.
Besides, it wasn’t that wrong. She would rather have caught Shane lying about having a ton of money and starting a secret business than sexting Bunny367.
“Okay, I know how much Nana means to you,” Shane said.
Willow smiled. She got up and hugged him, but it was awkward, as always. They just hadn’t got back to being comfortable with each other. Maybe their relationship could grow if she were happier, and starting this brewery filled her with a joy that she wasn’t sure she’d ever experienced before. It also filled her with some fear and pressure, but it was still better than boredom.
She bent and picked up Barley, hugged him close. “Wanna come with me?” she asked. She’d hated leaving him behind last time, and this was going to be for weeks. Plus, she liked having him around when things got overwhelming.
“Isn’t Nana allergic to Barley?” Shane asked.
Shit.
Think of something, think of something.
“I don’t think you can bring him around her when she’s sick with pneumonia,” Shane said, misinterpreting her look of dismay. “He’ll be fine here.”
Willow looked at Barley, hating that she was going to walk away from him. But she’d come this far, and she couldn’t think of another way out of it.
“Okay,” she said, holding Barley close. “I’m just going to go call Nana, tell her the good news.”
She turned and walked to her bedroom, hugging Barley tight, and knowing that all the lies and the time spent away would be worth it in the end.