“The only one in the family who needed to be embarrassed was Daddy,” Mac said, her temper showing in the reddening of her cheeks.
“Oh, I see.” Willow straightened, her shoulders nearly up to her ears at how rigid she stood. “Speaking up when Daddy’s saying disparaging things about our residents—who werestandin’ right there—and then kissin’ my—” Well. She’d been about to sayboyfriend, but they hadn’t exactly had that conversation. And could someone who was leaving in a few days’ or weeks’ time evenbesomeone’s boyfriend? Forcing that thought away, she swallowed and set down her glass. “Look. It already happened. Can’t do anythin’ to change it, and to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t want to. Daddy had every bit of that talking-to comin’ to him after how he spoke.”
“Well, I don’t know about—”
“She’s right, Rory,” Gran said, lifting a brow when all three girls turned to stare at her, mouths agape. “What? ’Bout time one of you stood up to my jackass son and put him in his place. Was startin’ to think I might not live to see the day, especially after Nat left. And to be honest, I’m a little surprised it came from Will first, but I’m damn glad about it.” She placed her hand over Willow’s on the counter and winked. “Didn’t I tell you gettin’ up to no good would be fun?”
There was a brief bout of silence between the four women, then Mac raised her glass and tapped it against their grandmother’s. “Amen, Gran.”
For a moment, Willow stared at her grandmother, mischief sparkling in her eyes. She thought back to all the times her gran had told her things like that, encouraging her to be a little wild. To have a little fun. Let loose just a tiny bit and see what happened. Had she been encouraging it the whole time? Had she also been doing the same thing to Willow’s sisters? Of that, she wasn’t sure, but one thing was for certain: she was glad she’d finally listened. Standing up to her Daddy had given her a high she’d never before experienced.
Of course, she knew, sure as she knew the sun would set, that her daddy wouldn’t allow her to have the last word. And that conversation, when it came, would be hell on earth.
* * *
After Willow,her sisters, and Gran had finished their lemonade and impromptu chat, they’d headed back toward the square since the fireworks would be going off soon.
When they arrived in the center of town, everyone scattered, Gran going off to find their momma, Rory to wrangle her kids, and Mac to get some free beer. Willow followed her sister’s trail as she strode toward the far side of the square where Finn, Nola, and Drew had set up a little stand outside. The inside space wasn’t quite ready for customers yet, but they’d agreed to host this when Willow had approached them about it. When she’d had the idea, she’d figured it’d be a win-win for them and the town—bringing customers to Finn’s bar while enticing the residents to stay in the square a little longer, maybe spend some money at neighboring businesses.
She’d been right. The line to their counter stretched halfway across the square. Her heart slowed, warmth sweeping through her body as she stood back and just watched. Finn chatted with a few residents as he served beer, a smile spreading across his face as he nodded to someone. Lord, he was handsome. And kind. And giving. And he was hers. For as long as he was in town, he was hers. It wasn’t what she wanted—because what she wanted was everything with him: the white picket fence and two-point-five kids and happily ever after—but it was what she’d been given.
And she was going to take every little bit of it she could.
“See nothing’s changed with you.” Her daddy stood next to her, his gaze fixed where hers had just been.
Looked like the fireworks were starting early.
Willow snapped her spine straight and tightened her jaw. Gave herself a minute to calm down before she did something horrible like tell her daddy to go to hell.
Ignoring the underlying dig her daddy sent her way, she tipped her chin in Finn’s direction. “They got us a good turnout. The parade’s always busy, but once it’s done, half the crowd leaves the square. We got lucky Finn, Drew, and Nola agreed to open up their business to entice the residents to hang around. I’ve spoken with some of the other business owners, and their sales are up thirty percent from last year. That’s—”
Her daddy tsked, shaking his head. “Just as blind as ever.”
Biting her tongue was getting harder than ever, especially after she’d had a taste of letting loose. “I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean. I haven’t been blind to what they could bring to Havenbrook.Youhave.”
So much for diplomacy and tact. But,hell, he just got her so damn mad. And she was done. She was finally,finallydone. Especially today—a day she worked her ass off on for the majority of the year, not to even get agooddamnjobfrom the mayor? She’d had just about enough of that, of giving herself to people and things that didn’t give a damn about her. That just took and took and took—
“You ever ask him why he ran off so fast in the first place?”
The question was so out of the blue, Willow could only stare at her father for a moment. It’d crossed her mind, of course. Had been the single most frequent question that’d arisen while Finn had been gone. She’d been close to asking him that night in the tree house, then he’d kissed her, and, well, she’d lost her nerve.
“No,” she said. “I don’t really see how it has any bearing on the present.”
Her father chuckled under his breath and shook his head. Even though the residents of Havenbrook surrounded them, no one paid them any mind. They were off to the side, tucked against a building, while everyone else gathered around the center of the square, the majority of the people clustered over by Finn’s bar.
“Well, can’t say I didn’t try to stop this from happening. Tried not to let you get played for a fool, but you just kept goin’ straight for it, didn’t you?”
She blew out an exasperated sigh, wanting desperately for her daddy to just get to the point so she could go over and congratulate Finn on his win—both on the baseball diamond and with their soft opening. “What are you talkin’ about?”
Her daddy twisted toward her, his lips turned down like he was concerned. “The money.”
“What money?” Honestly, if he didn’t get to the point, she was going to walk away. Just turn and walk straight over to Finn and ignore her daddy—
“The money I gave him to leave town. Now, I know it wasn’t my best move, honey, and I’m sorry about that. I truly am. But that boy…well, he wasn’t ever good enough for you. Wasn’t ever good enough to be attached to a Haven. Since you were too blind to see it back then, I had to take matters into my own hands. Had to get that boy out of town before y’all did somethin’ you’d come to regret. And youwouldregret it. Of that I have no doubt.” He reached out and gripped her shoulder. “I did it for your own good, you see.”
Her father’s lips were still moving, words coming out of them, his expression proclaimingconcerned parent, but she couldn’t pay attention to what he was saying. Her pulse thrummed too loud in her ears, years’ worth of memories flipping through her mind.
The day she’d woken up and Finn had been gone.
