7. Willow
Willow
It’s my first day off this summer, and I have no idea what to do.
Sawyer left a box of cereal out on the counter for my breakfast. His meal choices are still the same as they were before I left.
I guess I can’t say anything, though. There were many mornings over the last few years when I was running to class with a Pop-Tart in my hand.
After I eat a bowl of sugary cereal, I spend the rest of the morning unpacking the clothes I hadn’t gotten around to yet. I finally find my favorite bikini buried under mounds of other clothes. I’m hoping to take Jade to the pool later this week.
By lunchtime, though, I’m bored. So, I get in my car and drive to my favorite thrift store. Sawyer and I used to come here at least once a month when I was growing up. We found some great deals on things we wouldn’t have been able to afford if we hadn’t gotten them second-hand.
I’m pleased to see the shelves are stocked full when I arrive. I’m browsing the book section when my phone rings. A picture of Macy and me from freshman year flashes on the screen.
“Hey!” I answer.
“Hey, yourself! You didn’t text me when you got to Blue Haven. I’ve been sitting here for days thinking you were dead on the side of the road,” Macy says dramatically.
I laugh. “You thought I was dead for days, and today is the first day you thought to call?”
“We don’t need to dig into the details, alright? I called, and that’s what’s important.”
“You’re so right.”
“So, tell me. What have you been doing? I hope it’s more exciting than what I’ve been doing, which is absolutely nothing in case you were wondering,” she says, and I can tell she’s falling backward on her bed just like she used to do in our dorm room.
“It’s only the first week of summer. I’m sure you’ll do something fun soon.”
“Yeah, yeah. Tell me about Blue Haven,” she says.
“Well… I got a job.”
“No way! That was fast. What are you doing? Please tell me it involves you serving milkshakes on roller skates.”
“What? No. Where do you think I live? The 1950s?” I don’t tell her that Blue’s Diner did try the whole roller skate thing at one point, but there were too many accidents, and one waitress fractured her wrist so that was quickly sidelined.
“Just picturing the perfect small town, which is exactly how you describe Blue Haven.”
I chuckle. I’m surprised she’s interpreted all of my bits and pieces about Blue Haven to mean this town is perfect.
I wanted to get out of here as soon as I could, but I suppose this place does have its charm.
“Unfortunately, no roller-skates. I’m a nanny for Sawyer’s best friend.
His daughter is six and staying with him for the summer. He needed someone to watch her.”
“That’s perfect for you! How’s the kid?” she asks.
“She’s great. I’ve only been with her for two days, but we’ve had a blast so far.”
“How’s her dad?”
“Beck is…” I hesitate, unable to bring myself to admit it out loud.
After I pause for too long, Macy nudges me. “Beck is what?”
“Beck is hot.”
She gasps. “What! You have a hot boss? You are living my summer dreams!”
“It’s not like anything could happen. Did you miss the part where he’s my brother’s best friend?”
“Nope. I definitely didn’t miss it. Just didn’t care. You said he’s hot. That’s what matters.”
“Oh, my god. Yeah, well, he’s also the same age as my brother, so no. Not happening.”
She laughs. “Listen, how ’bout I come to town and distract your brother while you take care of his best friend?”
“Absolutely not. Plus, Beck doesn’t see me like that. I’m just Sawyer’s little sister to him.” Although he did check out my ass yesterday, and when he took his shirt off last night, he wanted me to look. It’s almost like he’s teasing me. I just can’t figure out why.
“Well, your mission this summer is to make him change his mind. Make him see the woman you are.”
We burst out laughing at that. “The woman I am? Where’d you hear something like that at?” I ask.
“Girl, I don’t know. It just came to me.”
I’ve moved on to the toy aisle now. I pick up a bracelet-making kit off one of the shelves.
It doesn’t even look like it’s been opened.
I already know Jade is gonna love it. “Listen, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can assure you, nothing is going to happen with Beck and me. When you come to town, you’ll meet him and see. ”
“What exactly will I see?” she asks.
I add a hardly used jumbo box of sidewalk chalk to my pile of goodies. Jade and I can use this in the backyard. Beck has a large concrete pad out back with a grill and a table and chairs. We can move all that out of the way and use it as our canvas.
“You’ll see that Beck is… Beck is all man. And I’m just Willow.”
“Willow Banks. You are so much more than just Willow. Don’t ever let me hear you say that again.
” Macy is my biggest hype woman. Anytime I’ve ever had an ounce of self-doubt, she swoops in and pulls me up.
I love her for that. “And I’ll be the judge of what I see when I’m there.
Speaking of which, I’m thinking about coming at the beginning of July. Tell me what dates work best for you.”
“Ok, I’ll ask Beck what his schedule looks like and get back to you.”
“Yes, I can’t wait to see what his…schedule looks like,” she says, alluding to more than just asking him his schedule.
I roll my eyes even though she can’t see. “Alright. I gotta go. My hands are getting full.”
“Ok, well, call me or text me or send a carrier pigeon. Anything so that I know you haven’t forgotten me!”
“I could never forget you, Mace.”
“Well, obviously.”
We say our goodbyes before I hang up and continue my search for fun things for Jade and me to do. I’m probably buying way too much, but this is fun for me.
After my shopping trip for fun kid activities, I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner when Sawyer gets home.
He promised he’d be home early today since I’m off work.
We’ve barely gotten to spend any time together since I’ve been home.
Our evenings so far have been us plastered in front of the TV, half asleep from our busy days.
“Something smells good,” he says, walking into the kitchen and putting his lunch box down on the table. “Wait, is that… salad? Please don’t tell me you went to college and got all healthy on me.”
“Oh god. It’s not going to kill you to eat a vegetable. Besides, it’s lettuce. Practically zero nutritional value. You’ll be fine,” I tell him.
“If you say so. What are you making?” he asks.
“I found this recipe for chicken Caesar salad tacos,” I tell him. One of my favorite things to do at night is scroll through social media and save recipes I might want to make one day. Since I’m home, he’s going to be my guinea pig for a few of these.
“Uh huh. And what’s wrong with regular tacos?” he asks.
“Nothing. Just trying something different,” I tell him with a side-eyed glance.
“Alright. Alright. You know I’ll eat it.”
“Yes, you will.” When I started teaching myself to cook while I was living here, Sawyer would always be my taste tester. He’d eat it all even if it tasted like absolute ass.
I finish cooking the meat while Sawyer changes out of his work clothes. He comes back in just as I’m putting the food on the table for us.
“What’d you do today?” he asks as he puts the smallest amount of salad on his taco.
Shaking my head, I tell him, “Well, I unpacked a little bit. Then I hit up the thrift store and got some things to do with Jade. I treated myself to lunch in town, and then I came home. Did some laundry. Sat on the couch for a while before I decided to make dinner.”
“Sounds like a productive day.”
“It was.”
“How are things going with Jade and Beck?”
“Fine. Good. Jade is easy to hang out with.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I think Beck is more attractive than he was before I left for college, but I know Sawyer would get upset.
Sawyer has been a great big brother to me, but boys have always been an awkward conversation.
I learned that quickly at fifteen when I tried to tell him a guy in one of my classes told me he liked me.
Sawyer immediately shut down the conversation by saying I was too young to have a boyfriend.
I learned that anything to do with boys would have to be discussed with my friends or their mothers.
I didn’t have a lot of friends, so I mostly just had to keep it all inside.
I’m sure Sawyer assumes that I’ve had boyfriends, or at least I hope he knows that I’m not walking around like a nun. But I’m still nervous to bring boys up with him. Especially since it’s Beck. There’s no way he would handle it well if I admitted that I think Beck is hot.
“Beck has been busy at work, so I only see him when he leaves for work and when he comes home. But I think he’s happy with our arrangement so far,” I say.
Sawyer nods, happy with that answer. “Good. You should be able to save up a good bit of money by the end of the summer.”
I nod. Based on the pay Beck offered me per week, I should have enough for the rest of the study abroad, plus a little spending money.
I’m dying to tell Sawyer about the study abroad.
I don’t like to keep secrets from him, but I also don’t want him to feel bad about not being able to fund my trip.
I’ve decided I’ll tell him closer to the end of the summer.
That way, I’ll hopefully have already met my goal, and there won’t be any need for him to be upset or try to drain his savings to give me more money.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. So, how was your day?” I ask.
Sawyer goes on to tell me about the project he’s working on.
He started up his own contracting company a few years ago.
He only has a few employees, so he’s very hands-on for the projects, which he likes, but he also can’t take on too much work because everyone is working on one job at a time.
I hope that when I’m done with school, and he’s not helping with my tuition anymore, he’ll take the plunge and hire more people to try to expand his company.
After dinner, we each grab an ice cream sandwich from the freezer. Sawyer always keeps a box stashed in there. We end the night by playing a round of Monopoly, where he absolutely slaughters me.
Being back in Blue Haven, back with Sawyer, makes me realize I did actually miss this place. I never thought it’d be possible, but maybe, just maybe, this town isn’t so bad.