You’re Still the One (Willow Shade Island #2)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

NOAH BARRETT

I stand at the door and blink, sure I’m hallucinating, but Courtney doesn’t disappear. My brother’s ex just stands there on my front stoop, grinning at me. She looks like Little Miss Muffet in that stupid dress and white gloves. I grit my teeth. Courtney has always brought out the worst in me.

“What are you doing here?” I bark out. I don’t want her ruining my housewarming party.

“I need to talk to Tobias.” She shoves past me and into my house.

“Wait—”

“Tobias,” she calls, cutting me off.

Tobias turns, and the color drains from his face. Kiki, his girlfriend, freezes. My younger brothers, Micah and Levi, exchange a glance like they want to know where the popcorn is.

I try to catch Courtney, but she’s faster than I am, and she runs to Tobias.

“Sweetie.” Courtney grabs hold of his arm like a hawk snatching its prey. “It’s so good to see you.”

Courtney kisses his cheek, and Tobias jerks away from her. Skyler, my five-year-old niece, comes running into the room. Horror fills me. Courtney was never a mother to my niece. She left when Skyler was too young to know her. Courtney drops to her knees and holds her arms out wide. “Skyler! Come to Mo?—”

“No!” Tobias yells, and Skyler comes to a screeching halt. She looks up at Tobias like she’s unsure what she did wrong. Kiki, Skyler’s biological mother, rushes to Skyler and scoops her up.

I finally get over my shock. I grab Courtney’s arms and haul her to the open door. She lets out a shriek.

“Take Skyler to the bedroom,” Tobias commands. Kiki nods and scurries out of the room.

“But I want to see my baby!” Courtney squirms, and I have to wrap both arms around her waist to keep her with me. Courtney neglected Skyler and abandoned her, and I’m not allowing her to hurt her further. Courtney elbows me in the ribs and pain shoots through my side, but I don’t let her go.

Tobias’s face turns bright red. “She’s not your baby. You gave up all rights to her in the divorce.”

Courtney dissolves into tears. “That was a mistake. I miss you, Tobias. I miss our baby. Our family.” Her voice turns desperate and whiney.

“Did you spend all the money you got in the divorce settlement? Is that why you’re back?” Tobias works his jaw.

Courtney shakes her head so hard her platinum blonde hair flies. “That’s not it. I want to start over. I—I miss what we had.”

Tobias sighs. My younger brothers stare at Courtney, their eyes wide. Tobias waves his hand dismissively. “I’m seeing someone. Don’t come back. Noah, take her outside.”

I gladly oblige, dragging her out and shutting the door. Courtney treated my brother like garbage and never cared about Skyler. I’m all too happy to toss her out on her ear. Courtney wiggles away from me. I stand protectively in front of my door, so she doesn’t try going back inside. She huffs and smooths down her frilly dress, her eyes slits of fury. “How dare you manhandle me.”

I shrug. “Just doing my job.” Even off duty, I’m still a cop.

“Stay out of it. This is between me and Tobias.” Her cheeks flush red.

Courtney is such a piece of work. I disliked her when Tobias dated her, and that was quickly justified after seeing how she treated him while they were married. Levi, Micah, and I threw a party when they divorced. I’m shocked to see her back. I never would have expected it.

“You heard him. He’s moved on. He doesn’t want to see you.” I lower my voice as a neighbor kid rides by on his bike. The last thing I want to do is cause a huge scene. I just moved into this neighborhood.

“I really need to talk to him. No one let me talk. That’s not fair.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You need some cheese with that whine?” I say under my breath.

Tears form in her eyes, and I marvel at how she can do that so quickly. What a manipulator. “This is important, Noah. I know you’ve never liked me, but we’re talking about Tobias’s happiness. Your own brother.” Her voice cracks.

I know my brother had a rough time when she left, but he’s much happier now with Kiki than he ever was with Courtney. I shake my head. “How did you even know he was here, anyway?”

“No one was home, so I called the housekeeper.” I stiffen at the way she talks about Violet. None of us have ever thought of her as just a housekeeper. She’s family. Courtney sniffs and looks down at her gloved hands.

“Look, I’ll be honest with you. Tobias is in love with someone else now. You don’t have a shot. It’s best if you leave Willow Shade.”

She frowns as fat tears roll down her cheeks. Amazing. This woman should be in Hollywood. “How can he be with someone else? We had a family together. Our baby girl?—”

“They’re getting married,” I blurt out. My lie shocks me. I did not know I was going to say it.

Her tears dry up instantly, and she seethes. “Married?” Her voice echoes through the neighborhood.

“Yes. So you really should leave.” I wait to see what she’ll say to that.

Courtney folds her arms. “Fine, I’ll leave. But this isn’t over. You can’t keep me from him forever.”

She sashays her way to a silver Mercedes. She gets in and revs the engine before taking off down the street.

“Was that Courtney?”

I turn at the sound of Savannah’s voice, my heart suddenly in my throat. Savannah’s carrying a chocolate pie, her honey-colored hair pulled back, and she looks like a cool breeze on a humid afternoon. She’s wearing a floral dress and a tentative expression.

“Yeah,” I say, shoving a hand through my hair in case struggling with Courtney mussed it up. “I didn’t expect to see her ever again.”

“Why was she here?”

I shake my head. “Trying to get back with Tobias or something. He about lost it when she knelt down and called to Skyler to come to her.”

Savannah’s mouth drops open. “She didn’t!”

The whole town knows what Courtney did to Tobias. I can only imagine what everyone says about her. “Yes. She did.”

“Goodness. How did Skyler take seeing her again?”

My heart hurts for Skyler. If Courtney is back and set on stirring up trouble, Skyler’s going to be used as a pawn in her game. “I don’t think she knows who Courtney is. She was only a year old when Courtney left. Skyler didn’t react to her at all. I hope Courtney just leaves. She could really hurt that little girl.”

Savannah frowns and puts one hand on my forearm. The contact sends a shockwave through me, sending me back to high school when we were dating. I flash back to the night I realized I was falling in love with her.

We were in Centennial Park, acting like crazy teenagers, seeing how far we could jump off the swings. I thought I had won, but when she jumped, she came right at me. I caught her in my arms, and we tumbled to the grass. I stared down at her, breathless. It was the first time I’d ever told a girl I loved her. A week later, she ghosted me.

“I’m so sorry, Noah.” Her voice brings me back to reality. We’re not in the park. We’re not in love. At least, Savannah isn’t. I’m not sure I ever fell out of love with her.

“It’s all right.” I try to get a grip as she lets go of my arm. “Why don’t you come inside?”

Savannah brightens. “I’d love to.”

I open the door and let her in. Micah and Levi are on the couch with Skyler. She’s got a strawberry in each hand, and her lips are red. Tobias is in the kitchen with Kiki, and they look like they’re having a serious discussion, but they stop when they notice us.

Kiki comes into the living room. “Savannah. So good to see you.” She takes the pie from her. “This looks delicious!”

The women go into the kitchen and Tobias comes over to me. He folds his arms. “I take it Courtney left?”

I nod. “Yeah. But I don’t think she’s gone for good.”

“Can I get a restraining order?”

I rub my forehead, knowing Tobias won’t like my answer. “In the eyes of the law, all she did was trespass. I don’t think that’s enough to be granted a restraining order.”

He exhales. “Kiki’s freaked out, and with good reason. We don’t want her near Skyler.”

“I know. If she crosses the line, gets physical with you or Skyler, we can file a restraining order.”

Tobias’s upper lip curls. “So, we have to wait until she hurts my daughter?”

I clench my fists. “I’ll never let that happen.”

Kiki comes into the room and slides her arms around Tobias. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” Tobias gives her a kiss. “Let’s have a party.”

Kiki nods and looks at me. “Can you help Savannah serve up the pie?”

I hide a smile. Kiki’s not very subtle. But I’m freaking out. What do I say to Savannah? I swallow. “Sure.”

I go into the kitchen, and Savannah’s got a drawer open. She glances at me. “Do you have a knife?”

“The drawer to the left.”

“Ah, great.” She pulls out a knife and walks to her pie on the counter. I get out some small plates from the cupboard as she cuts through the pie. My heart beats out a quick rhythm as I try to think of something smooth to say. Something cute. Something…

“Thanks for coming to my housewarming party.” I internally bang my head on the counter. Not smooth or cute. Boring. Good one.

“I’m glad Kiki ran into me. I’m sure she told you I live next door. It’s such a coincidence you bought this place.”

I freeze. Is she being sarcastic? Does she know I bought this place to be near her? She slices through the last cut and turns to me. “Do you have a pie server?”

I breathe out, relieved that she’s not eyeing me suspiciously. I open a drawer and rifle through it, as though I know what I’m looking for. Kiki gave me some kitchen things, but I’m not sure what Savanah wants. “A pie server?”

She smiles and looks over my shoulder. “I don’t think you have one.”

I stare down at the contents of my drawer. “Is that bad? Is there something else you can use?”

She laughs. “I’ll try using a butter knife.”

As she tries lifting out the slices of pie with the awkward knife, I gather up my courage. I can’t ask Savannah out. That’s too forward. We haven’t talked in so long. But I can start the ball rolling.

“I have a favor to ask. It’s no big deal if you want to say no.”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “What is it?”

I swipe my hand over the back of my neck. “I’m such a klutz at decorating, but you’ve got such an artistic eye. Would you help me figure out what I can put on my walls?”

“Sure.” She balances the piece of pie on the knife, but it breaks apart and chocolate pudding falls in a glob onto the dessert plate. “Shoot. I ruined it.”

I grab a fork. “No, you didn’t.” I scoop up a bite of the messed-up piece and shove it into my mouth. “It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It’s delicious.”

She giggles and grabs a fork for herself. “No one will know, right?” she says as she gets a bite.

“I won’t tell a soul.”

We gobble up the pie, laughing together. It’s amazing to be laughing with Savannah again. My eighteen-year-old teen heart is soaring.

After we eat the pie piece and I hide the dish in the dishwasher, Savanah turns to me. “I’m actually glad you’ve moved in next door.”

My heart warms. “Glad?”

“Yes.” She lowers her gaze. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something and haven’t had a chance.”

Sweat breaks out on my palms. “What is it you want to talk about?”