“You’re gaslighting me. This is what Jonah warned me about.” Her eyes are wide and crazy.
“He warned you about me?”
“He was jealous.” She raises a fluttering hand to her forehead. “He could tell that I’m so deeply in love with you. I think—I think—” She leans up to me. “I think we’re soulmates.”
I stand frozen solid, even with the warm jacket, as she grabs my shoulder and my jaw and kisses me noisily, moaning.
“Um,” I stammer. “I really do think that’s—oh, shit.”
Willow stands at the end of my grandmother’s walkway and stares me down. She looks hurt. “I just had to drop this off.”
“Willow—”
She doesn’t respond, just dumps the bag and flees.
15
WILLOW
Oh. My. God. Why did I think he was attracted to me?
I pace around the stall. Call Josie again. No answer. Crap.
I’m so stupid. Of course a guy like him wants Taylor Grace. Sex with crazy girls is amazing, right? A guy with a body like that and a huge bank account—he doesn’t want to deal with a girl who lives at her grandmother’s house, has no savings, and has a certifiably insane ex-best friend.
Though the crazy part certainly doesn’t seem to dissuade him.
“Ugh, I can’t believe I tried to invite him over to basically live with me. That’s so thirsty. He must have thought I was such a weirdo. I misread signals—that’s what I always do. I misread signals. I miss red flags.”
“Willow, there you are.”
I flinch.
“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” Taylor Grace smiles. “Oh, Willow,” she says with fake friendliness. “I just wanted to check in, see how you were doing. I feel like all this”—she waves her arm—“business stuff has really come between our friendship.And I just want you to know”—she grabs my arm—“that I really value your friendship. Why don’t we go get dinner later? Just us girls. Get drinks and apps. We can gossip about guys. I have to tell you about Hughes,” she drawls. “I cannot wait for my divorce to be finalized.”
Ah, there it is. She knows he rejected me, and she wants to gloat. It’s crappy because part of me still wants to go hang out with her. When Taylor Grace is on, she’s funny and smart. But it’s hiding a cesspit of crazy.
“I have to run this shop.”
“Right, right,” she says sympathetically. “I forgot, you do need the money, don’t you?”
I have whiplash. My head hurts from grinding my teeth.
“And you need the distraction. I see Josie’s gone back to her old ways.”
“What?”
“I think she just really doesn’t want to be your friend anymore. I mean, she and Lydia are spending so much time together. I was talking to Hollis about it earlier. She agrees with me. She’s worried Josie is being really callous with your feelings.” Taylor Grace nods sagely.
Hollis and Taylor Grace… They’ve been in cahoots this whole time. The realization is sudden, clear. They both teamed up to kill Jonah, probably out of jealousy. Taylor Grace is crazy, and maybe Hollis is too. I don’t know.
“I saw her and Lydia out with their children. She has such a cute little baby. Did you ever want to get married and have children?” Taylor Grace says in that syrupy, passive-aggressive way.
“I—I don’t know anymore.”
“Probably for the best. All Lydia talks about are those stupid children. They’re terrible too. So dirty. But everyone is all, ‘Oh, poor Lydia with her three children, one on the way. What canwe do to make Lydia’s life easier?’ Why don’t my parents ever do anything for me? No one does anything for me.”
Like put myself in debt to makeyourdreams of a Christmas café a reality? Like that?I want to scream.
