Chapter 18 Willow
“Bachelor party. Next Saturday. I’ll round up the guys. You just show up,” Silas states, slapping his oldest brother’s back.
Wilder, Rose, Silas, Wes, Noah, and Charlie stayed back after everyone left to help clean up.
Dallas wipes a platter dry and hands it to Rose. “You can give it up, bro, everyone in this room knows this isn’t real.”
“The way I see it, you’re still getting married,” Wilder adds. “Which means the wedding will be real. And every real wedding calls for a real bachelor party.” The two younger brothers high-five each other.
Dallas grunts. “You all enjoy yourselves. I’ll pass.”
Charlie gasps. “If y’all are having one, then Willow gets one too.” She raises her hand, still barely meeting the height of most men in the room. “I call planning Willow’s.”
Rose glares at the blonde. “Put your hand down, I called dibs on this years ago.”
I purse my lips. My instinct is to turn this down the way Dallas did. But, instead, my stomach fizzes with excitement because when will I ever get to enjoy something like this again? One carefree night with new friends, and Rose, in a new town I’ve yet to explore.
I smile. “I’m in.”
Charlie and Rose cheer.
“You’re in?” Dallas asks, his voice low but prominent.
I lift a shoulder. “Wilder makes a good point. We are getting married. It may be temporary, but why not enjoy the perks of this phony matrimony?”
The guys roar in the background but I can’t make it out because Dallas is watching me like he can’t figure me out. One more thing to add to the list of things we’ll need to discuss when everyone leaves.
The first being the kiss behind the stairs.
“Fine,” he grits. “I’m in too.” He turns a lazy gaze to his brothers and Noah. “But it can’t be the same night as the girls. Someone needs to stay home with Ellie.”
I lift a finger. “I agree. I’d want Ginger to come too, so we won’t have a sitter.”
Dallas meets my eyes for a brief moment—and I don’t linger long enough to make out his unreadable expression. All I caught was a faint crack in his armor.
“We can get on board with that.” Charlie nods at Rose like they’re keeping a mental list.
My eyes flick back to Dallas. His eyes are trained on me, soft, smiling. A moment of shared understanding passes between us.
This sense of union, friendship . . . family. For a sliver of a second, it’s almost like this whole thing is real.
This might not be new to him. But it’s an entirely foreign concept to me. Being surrounded by people who show up, plan parties, fight for each other.
“We could make it the following week,” Charlie says, looking at her phone. Her husband stands next to her, his phone out too.
“Fine,” Noah says. “But you need to come up with a wedding date soon.” He flips his phone to me and Dallas. “I’ve got a feeling the first hearing will be set soon. We’d be in a better position if you and Willow made it official before then.”
And just like that—we’re back to all-business. And it’s just as well.
No one leaves until the kitchen is spotless. But eventually, Noah, Charlie, and Wes head out while the brothers share a cocktail on the back porch. Rose and I are sitting at the kitchen island with cups of tea.
I stare through the kitchen windows to the back porch, which is basically pointless since it’s pitch-black outside and I’m staring at my own reflection.
Rose glances back. “It’s unfair, isn’t it? We can’t see a single thing through those windows, but they can see us.”
“Wonder what they’re talking about,” I muse.
She sips her tea. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe that kiss you two shared this evening.”
I laugh. “They are not talking about that. And how’d you hear about that anyway? You were with Ellie.”
She shakes her head. “Caught you when I was upstairs. Was going to come down, but then Dallas started his speech and I started crying and it was a mess.”
I swallow.
His speech tore at me too, in ways I hadn’t imagined it would. He’s so gruff and grumpy, it’s hard to imagine him loving anyone so much. It’s hard to imagine any man loving someone so hard.
He built a home for Millie brick by brick, exactly where and how she wanted it. He gave up his job, family obligations, and probably loving ever again because of it.
Not until that speech did I really consider what he went through. How badly he’s been hurting.
The high from our kiss quickly melted away. The desire to do it again, and again, and again, faded too.
It would be selfish.
And wrong.
To go after a man whose heart is still broken. Who’s never imagined kissing—much less marrying—anyone else.
“It was for show,” I say.
Her brows perk. “Well, that’s just not true, and I’m offended you think I’d buy that.”
I glance away. “Well, the next one will be,” I tell her, an unwelcome disappointment coiling in my chest. That quiet unease the moment Dallas broke our kiss—then told a room full of people that I wasn’t the one.
Of course I’m not.
And I don’t want to be.
Another pang of heaviness settles. It’s deep and almost bruising. The kind you know is going to take a while to heal.
“Neither one of us is looking for love right now,” I add as a reminder to both Rose and myself.
She pouts. “You’re right about that. But you can’t blame me for daydreaming about how it would be if circumstances were different. It would be perfect, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t know about that . . .” I wave her off as I push down the bubbly feeling in my stomach at the idea of Dallas and me. “I’m a city girl. I’ve got . . . dreams. Ones that don’t involve dive bars and lousy tips. I want to play, sing, record, make my own brand of music for people who get it.”
Rose watches me with a quiet wonder, even though she’s heard all this before. “And a commitment to stay single, apparently.”
“Not forever. Just until I get myself settled. Get my career going. You can’t figure any of that stuff out when you’re tied down.”
She shrugs. “I did.”
“I’m not you. After Eric, I realized where my focus needs to be right now—and it’s on me. What I need, and how and when I’m going to get it.” My tone is sharper than usual and it’s almost like I’m reprimanding myself. Like I’ve forgotten all this.
She smiles softly but it’s laced with concern. “Honey, I know. But now you’re four years closer to that life goal of taking care of yourself first. So, why not move up the romance timeline too?”
I frown. “What?”
“Your money, Willow. You’re getting married. Which means your inheritance will be released.”
Chills run down my spine and I shake my head. “No, no, I don’t think this counts. I’d have to—” I try to think of the stipulations. And I can’t think of any. “Surely there has to be some kind of provision that I’d need to stay married for—no, it doesn’t matter. I’ve made up my mind. I’m waiting.”
She laughs. “Willow, what is the matter with you? Just ask Dallas to stay married for however long it is and that’s it.”
My eyes bulge. “No. No, I’m not even contacting the lawyer about it. I’ll wait until I’m twenty-eight. This is to help him and Ellie, not me.”
“Why can’t it be both?”
I try to think of a valid reason, knowing Rose won’t drop it until she gets one.
“I know this won’t make sense, but I chose to stay for a father and a little girl who’s been kept from him her whole life.
For a chance for them to be together. Dallas is a good man—he deserves this time with her, to raise her.
To catch up on the relationship they should have been building all along.
Taking this money would feel like . . . cheating myself—cheating my grandmother. I won’t do it.”
Rose leans back with a breath. “Wow, I never looked at it that way. I’m sorry.”
“No, please don’t be. I guess I’ve kind of set my mind about it in my head, so I haven’t even considered claiming my grandmother’s money.”
“So I take it you’ll be keeping this wedding a secret from your mother? Because once that woman finds out—”
I sigh. “Noah asked about family—to make it look as real as possible.”
Rose winces. “I doubt she’ll see your view on this.”
“She’s going to have to.”
Rose glances back as the brothers’ laughter carries through the door.
She turns back to me. “I know it feels like you’re failing if you give in. Like it’s some endless cycle of falling in love and getting hurt that you’re trapped in.”
My heart sinks. Way to hit it on the nose.
“And while I’m proud of you for choosing you first . . . I’m afraid you might miss out on what could be your happiest years.”
I want to burst into tears, because I know she’s right.
And I felt it in an overwhelming wave when he kissed me tonight.
The way he stood by my side, burning with protection.
The way our hands found each other’s when our eyes were on the crowd.
The way he held my gaze, searched my eyes when I was spiraling over the possibility of losing Ellie.
I do want him.
More than I should.
And much more than I can help.
Everything in me is ready to let go and give in. But my best friend is forgetting one frightfully important thing here.
“Rose.” My voice cracks. “I can’t fall for a man who still belongs to someone else.”
I hear Dallas downstairs as he shuts the front door after walking our guests out. I sit back on the soft pink velvet chair in Ellie’s room—where I escaped after saying goodnight to everyone.
Admitting I want him wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be. It’s what came directly after that packed the bigger punch.
Can I really have him?
And am I willing to risk getting hurt finding out?
My heart pounds when I hear him coming up the stairs and down the hall. Stopping somewhere near my room, then making his way down to Ellie’s. The door creaks open slowly. And he finds me on the other side of her nightlight.
I look up at him, feeling restless. “I don’t think she’s moved all night,” I whisper.
A grin slips out with a soft exhale. “She had quite an exciting night.”