“I’m not tryin’ to say anything. I’m merely suggesting youmightwanna be honest with your daughter about the circumstances surrounding my departure. Or those circumstancesmightbecome common knowledge for the lovely folks of Havenbrook.”
“How dare you! That’s blackmail!”
Finn finally smiled for the first time in three days. “I know. Isn’t it great?” He clapped his hand on the mayor’s shoulder and directed him toward his car.
“You’ve got until next week.” He opened the door for Dick, pressing hard on his shoulder to guide him inside. With his hands braced on the window frame and hood of the car, Finn leaned into the space of the opened door. “Now, Dick, I don’twantto ruin your career, but I will. I warned you it wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of me this time. Tellin’ Willow before I had a chance to didn’t make me run away.” He stepped back and shut the door. Through the open window, he said, “It’s only gonna make me fight harder.”
With two hard taps to the roof of Dick’s car, Finn turned and strode away, feeling lighter than he had in ten long years, even despite the heaviness of his heart weighing him down.
Willow might’ve been too old to be curled up on the couch with her head in her momma’s lap as they watched a sappy romance on the Hallmark channel, but she didn’t care. For the first few days after she’d said goodbye to Finn, she’d tried to keep her stoic mask in place. Which had been easier said than done, especially after the idiotic show she’d put on at the softball game. If she hadn’t gone up to Finn and kissed the hell out of him for the entire town to see, no one would’ve had anything at all to talk about.
But because she had, the whispers had followed her for days, though nothing was said to her face—it never was. It was all pointed stares and not-so-subtle fingers directed her way when they thought she wasn’t looking.
Well, she’d had about enough of it. And after putting up with it for that long, who could blame her for partaking in some much-needed Momma time? Especially when that Momma time came with chicken and dumplings and warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, her favorite comfort foods.
“How long before Mac gets home, sweetheart?” Momma asked, her fingers trailing through Willow’s hair as they both watched the hero of the movie run through a bus depot, frantically searching for the heroine, inevitably to tell her how sorry he was for royally screwing up.
If only things happened like that in real life.
“Dunno,” she said. “What time is it?” She had no sense of time today. After toughing it out for too many days, she’d finally decided to take a mental health day and called in sick to work—for the first time. Ever. Avery had been shocked but had told Willow not to worry about a thing. That she’d hold down the fort and then would stop by after work if Willow wanted her to.
In fact, all the people she loved had offered that—her best friend, both her sisters, and now her momma. She was damn lucky was what she was. Even if her heart did feel like it’d been put in a blender. Repeatedly.
“A little after four. Think she’ll want some chicken and dumplings? I could get it heatin’ up for y’all for supper.”
“We’ll be fine, Momma. We can heat it up when we’re ready.”
“All right, if you say so.” She continued her soft caresses through Willow’s hair, lifting up pieces here and there. “Sweetheart?”
“Hmm.”
“I’ve been here for hours now. I’m tryin’ not to push, but…”
Willow sighed. She’d hoped she could escape this conversation, though she had no idea what made her so delusional. “But what?”
“Come on now, talk to me. What’s goin’ on with you and Finn?”
“What’s goin’ on, or whatwasgoin’ on? Because they’re two very different things.”
“Now I’m sure that’s not—”
“Did you know?” This part hurt almost as much as knowing Finn had taken the money in the first place. Willow could see this kind of thing coming from her daddy—actually hadn’t been even a bit surprised about it—but from her momma? That’d be a hard pill to swallow.
Her fingers paused in Willow’s hair. “Know what?”
“About the money.”
“The money? What’re you—”
A knock sounded at the front door before it opened, and her daddy poked his head into the space.
“Richard? You can’t be hungry already,” her momma said, a note of exasperation in her tone. “It’s not even five!”
“What?” her father asked as he stepped into the house and shut the door behind him. “Oh no. No, that’s not why I’m here. I, uh…” He shifted on his feet, wiping a hand across his forehead.
Willow furrowed her brow, trying to puzzle out what was happening here. Something wasn’t quite right. She’d never seen her daddy…well…nervous. And that was exactly what he was, shuffling his weight from foot to foot, his gaze darting between her and her momma before flitting off to the side.
“You’re here to what, honey?” Momma asked. She tipped her chin in the direction of the TV where the movie still played on, the hero and heroine wrapped in each other’s arms. Damn, Willow had missed the best part. “Willow and I are just finishin’ this movie, and you interrupted a bit of girl talk. Can it wait?”
