BOOK 5
Chapter 1
“Hey! Do you want to go to the parade this evening?”
Willow woke up to a text from Richy about Sanibel’s annual banquet parade. It wasn’t the first time she”d heard about the event. Brandi had mentioned it before, but she didn’t go because of all the crazy college kids who visited the island during that time.
Willow wasn’t in the best mood to be around anyone. Mark had left a nasty taste in her mouth the night he came over to talk. Ever since then, she wasn’t feeling like herself. She was paranoid and restless.
“I don’t know, Richy. Now’s not really a good time for me.”
“Aww come on, don’t be such a Debbie Downer. We can get food and watch the float show.”
She knew why he wanted her there. So he didn’t look like a loner in front of the other kids from school. Helping him out wasn’t the problem though, Willow just didn’t feel like being around anyone.
“Sheriff Tommy will be there,” he texted again. “In case you’re worried about anything happening.”
She thought back to their lunch and how much she’d enjoyed herself. It seemed like he was finally opening up to her, and she couldn’t stop thinking about how great he looked in uniform…
“All right. Fine,” she replied. “I’ll meet you there at six. I won’t stay long though. Not much sleep lately. Excuse me if I”m a little grouchy.”
He didn’t care about her grouchiness. All he cared about was having someone at the parade to have his back in case anything went wrong between him and the annoying kids from school. Teenagers could be so ruthless.
Willow lay in bed for a while and stared at the ceiling. All sorts of thoughts swarm through her mind. Charlie. Mark. Monica. Tommy. Charlene. She wondered if Charlene would be at the parade. She hadn’t heard from her since the night they met up, and she still hadn’t told Tommy about it. How was she even supposed to bring that up?
Brandi living right on the beach allowed her to take getting ready nice and slow. The parade was just across the street, and she loved that she didn’t have to look for parking. All she had to do was get up, find something comfortable to walk around in, do her hair, and she was done. Or so she thought.
But thoughts of Tommy came back in to her mind, and immediately she regretted her outfit. She wanted to dress up a little. For him. She opted for a nice sundress that paired with a cute pair of flats. She rarely wore her hair down, but it was time for a change. She really wanted to make an impression tonight. And looking in the mirror, she looked 10 years younger.
By the time she left the cottage, the sun was setting and Richy had already called to find out where she was. She didn’t intend to be late, but getting ready took longer than expected. The detectives were outside their cars when she left too. They followed her up to the parade, but kept their distance so as to not interfere with her plans for the evening.
“Why’d you bring those guys?” Richy squinted when he saw them.
“Are you kidding me?” she laughed. “You think I want them following me everywhere I go?”
“I’m just kidding.” He didn’t joke around much, so it was a nice surprise. “It is pretty annoying, though. Having them follow you everywhere. What if you wanted to do something you didn’t want the cops to know about?”
She gave him a concerned look and ignored his question. She never thought about doing anything illegal, and she didn”t want him thinking about it either. He had enough of a bad influence being around his father.
“Do you come to the parade every year?” she asked as they crept their way deeper into the celebration.
“Yeah,” he said. “Every year since I was five. I used to come with my parents but they stopped coming a few years back. My dad hates all the attention my mom gets while he gets none.”
Typical. Dale, Richy’s dad, was the epitome of a narcissist. Everything had to revolve around him. He got to make all the decisions. No one ever had a say so and if they tried to say anything, he got angry and instilled fear in them the best way he knew how. Willow hated that. She wanted Richy to have a different life but all she could do was make sure he felt understood and heard.
“Should we get a slushy?” she asked. “I haven’t had one in so long. I used to love getting them whenever I went to parades.”
“Sure. I know the best in town.”
She followed him through the crowd of people to a tiny food truck near the water. It was a cute little place. Well designed and ran by some really nice people. The minute they got their cups and she shoveled a large spoonful into her mouth, she nearly fainted at the taste of goodness.
“Wow! This really is good.” She ate the entire cup in a few bites and had to go back for more; that’s how good it was. “I’ve never had one this sweet, but savory. Wow.”
“I told ya,” he chuckled. “I wish they were here year-round. Someone should make a slushie store on the island. I bet they’d get a lot of business.”
“What if you opened up your own business?” she asked. “What would it be?”
“I don’t know,” he laughed nervously. “Maybe something that had to do with true crime. I haven’t thought about it much.”
“Well, it might be something to think about for the future.”
After they finished their slushies, they started their stroll again. Willow loved seeing all the people dressed up in costumes, dancing and having a good time. Most of all, she loved that Richy was having a good time. He deserved it. So did she. In the midst of all her worrying, she realized she didn”t make much time to have fun.
What she called fun was sitting in her robe and watching TV all day. She tried to get out and do things for herself, but it didn’t feel much like fun—hanging out with Monica was fun, and partying with Brandi. But that only happened occasionally. Brandi worked her behind off, and Monica was busy with her own life.
The parade was fun. Just a few hours before, she couldn’t even imagine being around so many people. But the longer she was there, the more she came out of her shell. She even got her face painted and had fried frog legs for the first time.
“Ugh! I can’t believe you made me try those.”
“Oh, come on!” Richy laughed. “They’re not bad at all. Be honest.”
“They weren’t good,” she laughed. “I guess it’s because I know it’s an actual frog leg; it makes me queasy.”
Finally they ran into Tommy. He was sitting in a golf cart near an entryway into the parade. He looked bored out of his mind, and it was an amusing sight to see. Before they got any closer, Willow stopped at a food stand and bought a couple of hot dogs and a coke, just in case. And of course, Richy had something teasing to say about that.
“No way. You’re buying Sheriff Tommy food? Does that mean you two are dating now?”
“What?” She blushed and shooed him away. “No. I”m just being nice. It’s hot out here and I bet he’s hungry. That’s all.”
“Suuure.” He continued to tease her until we got closer to Tommy’s golf cart.
Tommy smiled the moment he saw Willow walking toward him, but it quickly shifted to nervousness. After the run-in with Dale, Willow was also nervous about being seen with Richy. But she wasn’t about to stop the kid from having a good time.
“I got you something.” She handed Tommy the hot dogs and coke. “You looked hangry sitting over here, so I thought I”d be nice.”
“Hangry?” Tommy laughed and exited his golf cart to accept the food she had gotten him. “Thank you, Willow. That was nice of you. And I am a bit hungry. Or hangry, as you say.”
He took a large bite from one of the dogs and nodded his head as if to say how good it was. Willow was sure it was good. It smelled good. But not as good as he did.
“Richy,” he said. “How’s it hanging? You know your old man would have a meltdown if he saw you here with Willow, right?”
“Screw him.” Richy frowned and looked away. “He doesn”t run my life.”
“Hey, he’s still your dad,” Tommy said.
“We’re not gonna ruin our fun talking about Dale,” Willow said. “We’ve had a great time so far and we’re not going to let anything stop that. Richy will be home at a decent time tonight and he won’t get into any trouble. Not with me, at least.”