19. Will
CHAPTER 19
Will
T he longer I’m in Willow Pines, the more I feel at home. I don’t want to go back to the city. With Millie living here, there’s nothing to go back to.
My lease will be renewing in the early summer, and that’s my last tie to the city. If my students still want me to instruct them, we can do it remotely, or I’d be happy to drive into the city every other week.
What if I do stay? Could this be the right time to pursue something between us and see what happens?
Things with Millie are complicated right now, but if I can show her I’m serious about staying, she can learn to trust I won’t leave again. It’s something I need to talk to Grandpa about tomorrow when I go to work. He wanted to have a chat with me about some shop things, and to be honest, I haven’t let myself stew about what he wants to talk about. I have a feeling I know, but I’m afraid to voice it.
Not because I don’t want it but because I don’t want to be wrong.
“Ah, William, I was wondering when you’d pop in.” Miss Jane greets me from behind the cash register. She’s already tapping away on the computer. “It’s on the house.”
“Oh, let me pay,” I insist, reaching into my back pocket to grab my wallet.
But Miss Jane shakes her head.
“Nope, that girl deserves it. And you do too, for helping take care of our Millie.”
I smile at the sentiment. “Thanks, Miss Jane.”
“Yeah, yeah, now get out of the way, you’re holding up the line.”
I chuckle and check behind me. No one is there, she’s joking. Still, I move to the end of the bar and wait for whatever she ordered for us. I put my hands in my pockets and survey the store, taking in the scenery and the people. Most I recognize, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you their names. There are lots of business owners that are meeting together before going in for the day. A few people have computers out, typing like there’s no tomorrow.
I’m starting to remember more about why I loved living in Willow Pines and less about why I wanted to move away so bad. I believe there’s two types of people when it comes to small towns: the ones that want to stay and the ones that want to leave. It was never intentional, but I never thought about living here. I assumed when I turned eighteen, there would be something better for me out there. And in a way, there was. There was a bigger college with more opportunities around the degree I wanted and I did find my way, but it was lonely. Friends came and went, and I found myself alone most of the time.
Even with the few women I did see before Julia, it was never more than a few outings to a bar.
I never wanted someone as much as I wanted Millie. I knew being tied to someone would mean I’d have to move on, forget one of the only people that has made me feel loved.
And it’s not like either of us ever said anything about being anything more, likely because I lived far enough away that our lives were different. I knew I couldn’t pine after her forever.
“Coffee for Will,” the barista says, interrupting my internal distress.
When I get back to the shop, Millie is chatting with a customer at the front desk, so I smile and head to the back to let her finish what she’s doing.
She somehow already managed to clean while I was gone. I’m not surprised, I’m sure she knows her way around this back room with her eyes closed.
“You’re back.” Millie smiles and skips over to me. She wraps her arms around my waist and kisses me like it’s a normal thing for us. Except it’s not. And she quickly steps back and lightly chuckles to herself. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I shouldn’t?—”
“Millie.” I press a palm to her cheek and she lifts her gaze to mine. “It’s okay. Okay?”
She nods, but it’s not convincing.
“Let’s eat breakfast, and we can chat about the spring festival.”
“Yes.” Millie takes a sip of her coffee and digs into the paper bag Miss Jane filled to the brim with pastries. “We need to align on the theme and figure out what to ask each business to do. We could go out next week and talk to them? Maybe?”
“Yes, Grandpa reminded me the theme has always been ‘Spring into Love,’ if you want to keep it the same,” I suggest.
“Well, in that case, I’ll do the flowers. We could add some garland?”
“For decorations, yes, that’s great. And a few statement pieces for the light posts?” Millie nods. “What about a larger build your own bouquet event or something for the adults? And for the kids, we could have them put flowers under a piece of paper and shade over it,” I ask as I take a bite of my pastry.
Millie doesn’t say anything, looking at me like I’m a stranger.
“What?” I ask.
“You surprise me, that's all. ”
And now I’m blushing. “It helps that I’ve been working with kids for the past eight years in the city.”
“The city…yes…” Millie trails off.
Damn, I shouldn’t have mentioned the city because the last thing I need is her thinking about me leaving. I don’t even know what’s going to be happening with that.
“Should we write this somewhere? Do you have a system?” I ask.
Millie grins. “Do I have a system? For planning?” Her smile widens, if that’s even possible, and, not going to lie, I’m slightly nervous.
“Yes…”
“Of course.” Millie practically throws her pastry on the table and stands. She walks over to grab her laptop and brings it back to where we are sitting. “I can duplicate a previous event hub I’ve created. It essentially acts as the home base for what’s done and what needs to be done. We can use this as a way to keep track of all thoughts.”
God, she’s so cute when she’s in business mode.
“Stop staring at me, Will. More ideas, more ideas,” Millie chants.
“Okay, um, the record store can do music.”
“Obviously.” Millie types while I talk.
“We should ask Miss Jane to make scones. Raspberry ones. And some drink specials. Since the event takes place on Main Street, we don’t have to worry about vendor booths.”
“That makes sense…” Millie presses the tip of her pointer finger to her lip as she thinks. “What about Florence’s family wine? We could have a wine table where you could sample them or grab a glass. I could set the flower activities outside instead of inside, as I’ll be running the event.”
Millie types for a few more minutes while we throw out more ideas .
We need to figure out food, but we have some options from local restaurants.
Marketing will need to happen, but word should spread fairly easily since this event takes place every year.
“Okay, we can be done,” Millie says.
“Yeah?” I place a hand on her leg, gripping it gently.
Her eyes drop to our touch. “Yeah, Will. We are more prepared. Thank you.” Her hand covers mine and her fingers move to wrap around my hand.
“For what Mills? I didn’t do much. You’re the brains of this operation.”
She dips her head and raises her brows.
“Well, this morning for starters. And you have a lot of incredible ideas. This is a partnership. You and me. I can’t do this without you.”
“You won’t have to, Mills. I’m here for you.”
She stays silent for a beat, and when she opens her mouth to say something, the front door dings.
I squeeze her leg. “Go take care of it. I need to go run and see Grant anyway. I’ll text you? And we can meet Monday afternoon at Miss Jane’s? I’m busy with the shop tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Millie smiles and is out the door to greet the customer before I do something dumb like kiss her some more for no reason.