Chapter 19 Willa
WILLA
The quieter part of the venue turned out to be a narrow corridor behind the main floor that led to a fire exit propped open for ventilation.
The music was reduced to a manageable thud through the brick wall beside them.
The night air coming through the gap in the door carried the smell of rain that hadn’t arrived yet.
Willa stood with her back against the wall and looked at Ace.
He looked back at her as if he was still trying to decide if the decision he had made was the right one. His eyes flashed as he stopped negotiating with himself, reached into his shirt, pulled out a small device, held it up briefly, then pushed it into his pocket.
“Is that a wire?” Willa stared at the pocket he’d shoved it into in disbelief.
“It was,” Ace confirmed.
“Who are you working for, Agent McKenna?” Willa smiled teasingly.
“Holt and your mother,” Ace replied, making her brows shoot up.
Willa stared at him for a moment as she absorbed his reply. She looked at the device now sitting in his pocket and thought about how cold and impersonal one phone call had made him at the memorial.
“Holt approached me at the memorial,” Ace explained. “They needed me to get some information from Sienna that they knew she wouldn’t just tell them.”
“You were gathering information on Sienna,” Willa gaped at him. “So you really were spying for Holt and my mother?” She knew she was repeating things like a parrot, but she’d been joking when she’d called him Agent McKenna. Turns out it wasn’t so much of a joke.
“That was the idea,” Ace confirmed. He leaned against the opposite wall with his arms folded and looked at her. “Holt and your mother both feel that something about the case doesn’t feel right.” He paused. “They asked me to get close to Sienna and find out what or if she’s hiding anything.”
Willa was quiet for a moment.
“So you’ve been acting like a complete idiot to me and your other friends,” Willa pointed, “because Holt and my mother asked you to spend time with Sienna to get information.”
“Yes,” Ace said.
“And you couldn’t tell me.” Willa’s brows rose accusingly.
“I promised Holt I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Ace held her gaze steadily. “I’m telling you now because I can’t keep pretending, and I’ve probably gotten everything from Sienna that she’s going to give me anyway.”
“What did you get?” Willa asked.
“That she absolutely hates her mother,” Ace said plainly. “And that’s all I can tell you. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, I understand.” Willa’s eyes narrowed as a thought struck her, and she remembered one of the meetings at the Sandpiper Inn boardroom.
“At one of the meetings Holt and my mother held, I can remember that Mina never trusted Sienna,” she pointed out.
“Even before any of this. She also warned Harvey about staying away from Sienna.” Her frown deepened curiously.
“I’d been meaning to ask Mina why she dislikes and distrusts Sienna so much.
Even to the point that she said she trusted Victoria more. ”
“After speaking to Sienna tonight, I think Mina was right,” Ace said.
“Sienna is the most deliberately controlled person I’ve spent time with in a long time.
Every reaction is managed. Every conversation gets steered back to where she wants it.
” He shook his head. “She’s not a grieving or worried daughter.
In fact, I’d say that Sienna is a woman who got exactly what she wanted and is very pleased about it. ”
Willa looked at him.
“Oh, dear,” Willa said. “So, trouble in your Sienna paradise then?” She couldn’t help but tease him.
“Trust me, being with Sienna is no paradise, and I’m so glad it’s over,” Ace said and snorted. “After my lashing out at her, I doubt she’ll want to talk to me again.”
“Uh, oh.” A thought struck Willa, and she asked. “I hope Sienna didn’t drive you here?” Her eyes widened. “Are you stranded now?”
“No, I drove,” Ace replied. “My car is in the parking lot.” The corner of his mouth moved. “So it’s Sienna without a lift. She’s the one who is stranded.” He grinned. “But I did give Sienna some money for a cab before I walked away from her. My grandmother raised me to be a gentleman after all.”
Willa stared at him, trying not to smile and berating herself for feeling so elated by the fact that Ace had walked out on Sienna.
“Ace. That’s quite rude,” Willa berated him gently. “You should never leave anyone stranded, even if you did give them money for a cab ride home.”
“I know,” Ace agreed, blowing out a breath and running a hand through his hair.
“But, honestly, I couldn’t manage another minute of being there with her, Willa.
” His jaw clenched. “She said something I wasn’t prepared to let go past without a response.
Then I responded, gave her the cab money, and walked away.
” He paused. “While it might have been rude, I’m not particularly sorry about it. ”
“Oh!” Willa said with a nod, wanting to ask what Sienna had said, but she knew she’d never draw that out of Ace. “Well, in that case, I’m glad you walked away from the torture.”
They fell into a companionable silence before Ace suddenly stepped forward, stretched out and took her hand, drawing her closer. Willa didn’t resist, her hands coming up against his chest and staying there.
“There was another reason I left,” Ace said softly, his eyes holding Willas. “I couldn’t stand seeing you with Harvey.”
“I wasn’t with Harvey,” Willa told him. “We’re just friends, and in case you didn’t see it, Harvey has started dating Penny from the flower shop.
” She smiled. “Turns out that Mina is quite wise and good with her observations. She told Harvey that Penny would be a better match for him, and it turns out she was correct.”
“Ah, so he’s dropped his obsession with Sienna then?” Ace asked, pursing his lips with an impressed expression on his face.
“Yes,” Willa said with a nod, her heart beating so wildly as she relaxed into Ace’s arms, which were now wrapped around her, holding her close to him. “I think he’s smitten with Penny, and she obviously adores him.”
“I’m glad and relieved for Harvey on two counts then,” Ace’s eyes shone teasingly.
“Oh?” Willa’s brows rose. “And what are those two reasons?”
“One, that he’s got someone like Penny in his life, and two, that he hasn’t turned his affections toward you,” Ace told her honestly. “Because I’m afraid, as much as he’s an old friend, I’d still have to be quite stern with him about you.”
Willa gave a soft, delighted laugh. She couldn’t help it.
Ace would’ve fought for her, and even though she was a full-grown adult and not a teenager, that still reminded her of a noble knight fighting for his lady.
And what red-blooded woman didn’t want that!
It made her feel like a beautiful lady being honored by a man who loved her.
She swallowed, and her eyes met Ace’s once again.
The butterflies in her stomach went crazy at the look of emotion shining in them.
“I love you, Willa,” Ace murmured, his eyes holding hers. “I can’t keep pretending otherwise. I’ve tried. I’m done trying.”
“Ace,” Willa started but before she could say anything, his lips found hers.
The corridor was quiet. The music came through the wall in a steady, distant pulse, and the night air moved through the propped-open door.
Willa stood in the middle of all of it, her hands against Ace’s chest, and felt twenty years of carefully managed distance dissolve into acceptance of what was inevitable.
When they pulled apart, Ace kept his hands cupped around her face and looked down at her.
“I told you I’d wait,” he said. “And I meant it. But I’m not going to apologize for kissing you. I’ve been wanting to do that for far too long.”
“I don’t want you to apologize for it,” Willa told him honestly. Her voice came out steadier than she’d expected. “I love you too, Ace.” She held his gaze. “I don’t want to wait anymore either. But I need to talk to the kids first. They deserve to hear this from me.”
Ace smiled. It was the real one, the one that reached his eyes and changed his whole face.
“I know,” he said. “Take all the time you need.”
“After seeing them with you yesterday at the memorial,” Willa said, “I don’t think they’re going to object.”
Ace went quiet for a moment. His expression became thoughtful and slightly uncertain as he grappled with something.
“What is it?” Willa asked, her eyes searching his.
“This is going to sound completely crazy,” Ace said, his brow crinkling.
“I can handle crazy,” Willa told him.
“In the cave,” Ace said carefully, “I thought I felt something. Heard something. And then again yesterday at the memorial.” He shook his head, closing his eyes briefly. “Never mind. It’s crazy.”
“No,” Willa said immediately. “Don’t stop. Tell me.” She looked at him steadily. “I think I know what you’re going to say.”
“Is that so?” Ace looked at her curiously.
“In the cave,” Willa said, “I felt Shaun. And then again yesterday.” She held Ace’s eyes. “Am I wrong in saying that I think you felt him, too?”
Ace let out a breath that was half laugh and half something else entirely.
“I thought I heard him say look after them and love them for me.” Ace raised his brows and shook his head.
“That sounds exactly like something Shaun would say,” Willa said with a warm laugh. “He told me it was time to let him go. That you were a good man.”
Ace looked upward for a moment with the expression of someone addressing the air directly.
“Thanks, bud,” he said. “You were the best man I ever knew.”
Willa laughed. She reached up and kissed him, and he pulled her close to kiss her back with the music as a backdrop. The world shrank to just them, and for the first time in years, Willa felt at peace.
They slowly pulled apart and stared at each other for a few moments, basking in their new relationship dynamic.
“I’d better get you back,” Ace told her. “Before your group sends a search party to look for you.”