Chapter 23
Willow
The days had passed quickly, and Willow knew she needed to focus on her business, but her mind was on two things.
The first – Lucas – was very self-explanatory.
Things between them had gotten pretty hot, but yet again, he seemed to be ignoring her.
She had popped into The Diner a few times, hoping to have a chat, but each time Lucas was too busy or distracted and he couldn’t maintain eye contact with her.
He clearly regretted what had happened between them and he just couldn’t bring himself to tell her. All she wanted to do was talk things over with him, but he obviously didn’t want to be anywhere near her and was doing everything he could to avoid her.
She was getting really sick of this hot-and-cold treatment!
On top of that, Jake had called last night with his latest news.
‘I’m doing a collaboration tomorrow with Alex Rose,’ he had told her breezily. ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for for months.’
‘Oh yeah, sounds great,’ Willow had replied, trying to sound vague. The truth was, she was painfully aware that Jake was moving on and she wasn’t and that frustrated her.
Why should he be having all the fun?
Willow knew she should be happy for him and in many ways, she was; it was his continued lack of interest in her that upset her. He had stopped asking her how the wagon was doing, or even asking how she was, and when she had told him about Eric’s fall, he had been particularly dismissive.
‘So what – the guy has been drinking again! What do you want me to do about it?’
‘I don’t know – call him maybe? Check in.’ Willow remembered what Lucas had said and added, ‘He’s not well, Jake.’
Jake had scoffed at that point. ‘Yeah, not well in the head. Will, I’ve got a lot going on at the moment. I really don’t need to be listening to my dad’s drunken ramblings, OK! I don’t need your help.’
It was at that point that something had snapped inside of Willow. What was she doing here? This ‘break’ wasn’t working. He was still messaging her all the time but not even listening to her when he did. The lines between them were still so clouded and it wasn’t helping matters.
And was it even right to be continuing this relationship, broken or not, knowing full well her mind and heart were falling for someone else?
‘I’m sorry, Jake. I can’t do this anymore,’ she said finally.
‘What? What do you mean?’
‘This – us, whatever us is right now. I think it would be best if we put an end to it now.’ She sighed softly. ‘This break isn’t working. I need something more final.’
‘You’re actually breaking up with me?’ She heard the rasp in his voice. ‘Is that what you’re doing?’
‘Yes, yes I am.’
He sucked in a breath. Part of her wondered if he was annoyed that she had made the decision, had taken control, rather than being upset that they were over.
‘I’m real sorry about this, Willow. I hope you will rethink. I really do,’ he said finally. ‘Maybe you just need some time? I wonder if you’re actually losing your mind out there!’
And then he had ended the call. Leaving Willow wondering if she really knew him at all. Had he ever believed in her?
Thinking of Jake now was hard. She felt a mixture of sadness and relief which was confusing, especially when other things in her life were going well and Sapphire’s campaign was clearly having an impact on her business. It was Saturday now, and the wagon was buzzing with customers.
All she could do was focus on the now. Anything else was too upsetting and stressful. She had to believe she was doing the right thing.
Macguire was standing next to the wagon drinking his favorite iced matcha; he seemed to be enjoying chatting to everyone in the line and telling them how amazing Willow’s drinks were.
‘I should employ you as my PR person,’ Willow joked. ‘You’re helping keep the customers happy.’
‘It’s nice to see it so busy; you really deserve this,’ Macguire said. ‘Unlike The Diner. It’s dead in there, and Lucas is in the worst mood ever, which isn’t helping. I didn’t want to stay in there. You could cut the tension with a knife.’
‘When is he actually happy?’ Willow muttered, shaking her head.
The frustrating thing was that if Lucas had been a bit nicer to her this week, she would have done all she could to encourage people into The Diner. Now she didn’t see the point. He clearly didn’t like her. Why should she make the effort?
Another customer threw his empty drink into the bin.
‘I came over from the Ridge to try this,’ he told her. ‘It’s delicious. I’ll definitely be back.’
Willow pushed away her thoughts. She had to enjoy this moment. She took a photo of her long line and posted it online with the hashtag #happymatchaday.
Within minutes key influencers were sharing her post. Sapphire sent a green heart emoji, and Esmae sent her an excited message.
It’s looking so good, Willow. And Sapphire’s posts were fire! I’ve already told Jed to book some time in the summer. We are coming to the mountains!
Maybe, despite Willow’s worries, things would be OK after all.
Maybe it really was time to swear off men for a while – they were just too complicated!
Willow continued to be swamped with customers, but with the help of Tommy, she was able to keep the line moving along nicely. The warm spring weather was clearly helping as everyone seemed eager to try an iced matcha.
Everyone except Lucas.
Willow glanced over at The Diner, the sinking feeling in her gut not going away.
The building looked empty. She wondered how he was doing. Was he OK?
‘It’s not been a good day for him.’
She looked up. Rachel was there, being served by Tommy. She was dressed brightly in purple today and her ponytail was high and swishing back and forth as she spoke. She smiled stiffly in Willow’s direction; it wasn’t exactly friendly, but it wasn’t unfriendly either.
‘I think he was hoping for more customers,’ she continued. ‘You know what with it being—’
‘Damn! We’re out of ice!’ Tommy interrupted, looking at Willow in panic. ‘Everyone is ordering iced drinks today. What are we going to do?’
Rachel took her chocolate matcha and slurped it slowly. ‘Lucas has ice,’ she suggested sweetly. ‘Maybe he can help? I shouldn’t even be here you know, but I saw the line and couldn’t resist. Luc could really learn a thing or two from you.’
‘You think?’
Willow’s gaze flicked back over to The Diner. The unsettled feeling returned.
Would he help?
And could she really bring herself to ask?
In the end, she had no choice. Iced matchas didn’t work without the fundamental ingredient of ice and it was what everyone seemed to want in this warm sunshine.
Willow didn’t want to risk annoying people so early on in her operations.
She knew the ten-minute walk to the store would be risky too – she needed the ice now.
‘That was really nice, Willow,’ Rachel said, discarding her empty drink. ‘Maybe I was wrong about this business of yours.’
‘Thanks,’ Willow said, trying to keep the panic from her voice. ‘Are you going back to The Diner? Maybe you could ask Lucas for me—’
‘No can do.’ Rachel held up her hands. ‘Greg and I are booked in for a game. Blood on the Clocktower. It’s very good; you should join us one day?’
The invitation didn’t sound that sincere. Rachel adjusted her ponytail.
‘Anyway, if it’s anything like the books, you have to go into The Diner yourself.’
‘I’m sorry?’
Rachel’s eyes glinted. ‘You go in and ask for ice. It’s an excuse to strike up conversation. The irony is the ice will produce heat and the two of you will be thrust together.’ She smirked. ‘It’s so cliché, but clichés work.’
‘There is no heat,’ Willow muttered, clambering out of the van. ‘There’s nothing …’
Just a sulky, grumpy immature man and a woman with a lack of frozen water.
That was all.
As expected, The Diner was quiet when Willow walked in.
A sad song that she vaguely recognized was playing on the jukebox and added to the overall ambiance of the place.
It wasn’t exactly upbeat. Willow quickly scanned the room.
As usual, old Ernie was eating in the far corner, but this time he was chatting to Mia.
Macguire was in here now with his laptop out, making some phone calls, and Adam was sitting by himself, scanning his phone.
Apart from that, it was pretty empty. There was no sign of Lucas. Janice was cleaning tables and singing softly along to the music. Willow approached her.
‘Hey!’
Janice looked up and as usual smiled warmly. ‘Hey!’ she replied. ‘Is my boy helping in the van? If not, I’ll come out there and have a word!’
‘He’s been great! Honestly. I think I’m going to ask him to help most Saturdays now if they all prove to be this busy.’
‘That’s good.’ Janice stood up. Her smile slipped away. ‘I only wish we could say the same here.’
Willow glanced at the counter. For the first time, she noticed that there were some decorations strung up near the cash register and the photo of Mel and Lucas had been moved to sit next to it.
‘Is something different going on today?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, it’s—’
Janice was interrupted by Lucas crashing out of the backroom.
‘What was that?’ he asked, swiping his hair back from his face. He looked very hot and bothered. ‘Have I missed something?’
‘I was just telling Willow about today,’ Janice said. ‘It’s such a shame—’
‘Today is nothing!’ Lucas snapped. ‘There’s no reason to be upset about anything.’
He swiped the photo to one side and pulled a face.
Willow felt unsettled. There was something definitely off in the air, but she couldn’t work out what.
Lucas looked more upset than ever, and Janice was now busying herself again with cleaning.
The song clicked over on the jukebox. It was another sad ballad by a country singer.
Mel loved country music, Willow remembered. A wave of sadness swept over her. ‘Luc, are you OK?’
His eyes found hers. There was pain there, pure pain, but also something deeper and darker.