“Gotcha.” She nods a little sadly.
“Hey. Noah’s going to be over-the-moon happy about having a niece or nephew. He’ll just be worried about you for a while, until he sees everything’s gonna be fine. It’s… it’s just how he is. He worries about you guys because he loves you so much.”
She nods sadly again. “He sorta sacrificed his teenage years because of us and well, the rest of it too. I hate to be doing this to him.”
“Honey. You’re not doinganythingto him.” I wish I could tell her to let me worry about Noah, but this is her story to tell.
“Will you be there when I tell him? He’s just so much… calmer when you’re around.”
A warmth akin to bliss lodges itself between my ribs. “Of course. Maybe after the wedding?” A night of fun at the King’s family farm will put a lot of things into perspective. “He’ll be more relaxed.”
“So, Sunday?”
“I think so.”
“That’s a good idea.” She worries her bottom lip. “D’you think he’ll be happy I’m staying for now?”
I take her hand again. “Don’t do it to make him happy. Do it because it’s right for you.”
She nods. “Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.” She takes a deep breath, stands up, and looks around. “Willow?”
“Yeah?”
“You have your phone? We lost Muffin again.” She stumbles around in the garden, but this time I don’t panic.
Because since that unforgettable night at the river when Noah real-proposed to me with a shoe, after we spent a good two hours searching and finding the lost puppy, we had them all equipped with GPS sensors attached to their little collars.
Between the vacuum cleaners, which Zach installed a while back and have a tendency to stay stuck under furniture, and the puppies who actively search for the strangest places to getlost, my phone now looks like some kind of spy device. It opens directly on a 3D map of Lilyvale, with symbols and shapes slowly moving around.
Of the three sets of paws, Muffin’s appears to be somewhere behind the barn. “Over here!” I call out to Lane, who comes rushing back up. I click on the icon, and a steady but faint beep sounds. “It seems to be coming from… the pile of leaves?” she says.
I laugh. “Yup, it’s moving.” We carefully move leaves around with our feet, until a furry tail wags. “Do you have terrier in you?” I ask the little guy as I bring him back to his mom. Calla barely gives him a lick.
“I think she’s tired of her teenagers,” I joke. I’m not, though. The puppies are a handful, but they bring more joy than I’d ever imagined. And yes, we named them. Because even if they end up leaving Lilyvale, they will still be ours, in a way.
“Oh yeah. Look at her. She couldn’t care less.” Lane gives Calla a head scratch, and the big dog plops down with a grunt. “Willow?” Lane asks.
“Yes sweetie?”
“Is it okay to be selfishly happy that Noah married you and not what’s-her-face?” She takes me in a big hug. “You’re just the best sister I could ever dream of.”
forty-one
Willow
“Did you book your spa day?” Noah asks me that evening from behind, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck.
His stubble tickles the sensitive part of my neck and I giggle. “I don’t need a spa day,” I say, tilting my head to give him better access.
He tightens his hold on me. “We’ve been through this,” he grunts.
According to Noah, I work too much and need a rest day. Supposedly, the store is doing so well since I started “working my magic” that we’re having a hard time keeping up with inventory. He says I need to step back and recharge.
I settle my hands on his arms, relishing his touch. “But I took the whole day off to go shopping!”
“I know,” he grunts. “With Lane and Ms. Angela and your mom. That sounds even more exhausting than the store. You need some pampering.”
“You pamper me plenty,” I say, sliding a hand up his cheek. I wiggle inside his hold and turn to face him. “I don’t need some fancy, expensive treatments. I have everything I need right here.” I run my nails along his back the way that drives him over the edge.
