“You look better,” Ellie said.“But you’re still so pale.Come and sit down, I’ll make tea.”
“I’ve told Jade about you and Cooper and Luke,” her mom said.
Willow grimaced.“Now you know why we’re called the weird Westons.”
Jade looked even more confused than before.“I don’t understand.I mean your mom has explained your Irish sixth sense and I understand you feel what your loved ones feel, but I still don’t get why you sent Hunter away?You all live on the ranch, Hunter told me, so I assume you live with everyone else’s feelings and emotions every day?”
“Yes, we do,” Willow nodded.“That’s precisely the point—I can’t add anyone else to that list.It gets to be too much.”
“But why?Do you have a sort of breaking point?”Jade asked.“I’m sorry I’m asking, but I’m trying to understand.”
Willow looked at her mom, but she was also frowning.“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Hunter said you sent him away because you don’t want to feel his pain.But you handle your family’s pain, and I presume all their joys as well.”
“Yes, but…”
“So, what happens when you’re overwhelmed with their emotions?”Jade asked.
“I cry, okay?Is that what you want to know?I cry ugly tears and my heart breaks.I can’t do it for one more person.”
Jade had more questions.“So, it’s something you can switch off?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m trying to understand why you sent Hunter away.”
“No, I can’t just switch if off, which is why it can never work between us.When our brother died… I nearly didn’t make it.”
Jade looked Willow straight in the eye.“But you did and here you are with a sold-out exhibition in a gallery in Seattle.If you can’t switch off what you feel, what’s the point?Won’t you still know what Hunter feels?”
“Well, yeah but…”
Getting up from the table, Jade picked up her bag.“You know, Hunter has always said he’d only get involved with someone when he could have the same connection with that person as the one our parents have.He tried a relationship once before.She turned out to be quite unstable.After that he promised himself he wouldn’t get involved with someone with unresolved issues again.And then he met you—beautiful, talented but with so many unresolved issues.But you’ve sent him away.Again.”Her eyes filled up with tears.“Damn it, he loves you.Do you know how rare it is to find someone who’s had no interest in art whatsoever up until this point, willing to cross state lines to attend an art exhibition because he loves the artist?You’re much stronger than you think, I don’t know if anyone has said that to you, but you should hear it.”Turning on her heel, she lifted a hand.“I know, I’ve said too much.I’m leaving.”
She stormed out of the apartment.For a few moments everyone was silent.
Laura cleared her throat.“What about that ice-cream now?”
“A good idea,” her mom said as everyone chuckled.“Shall we go shopping tomorrow?I noticed a beautiful boutique on my way here.It’s Christmas in ten days’ time, don’t you think we could do with something outrageously red?”
Tuning out their voices Willow poured herself a cup of coffee.The shower had done wonders, but she was still hurting.She wasn’t hurting just for herself, but also for Hunter.
Jade’s words kept running through her mind.Unresolved issues?She was weird, okay, but she didn’t have issues, did she?And okay, yes, she couldn’t switch off what she was feeling, Jade was right.But she wasn’t strong enough, damn it.
It was time to get back home.
Chapter Seventeen
Willow stared atthe new portrait on her easel that she’d just finished.It was Monday morning; she’d been working since the previous night.She’d arrived back home Saturday evening and had fallen into a deep sleep.
When she’d finally woken up the day before it was nearly lunch time.She’d had laundry to do, emails to answer, a studio to clean but instead, she’d found herself in front of her easel, brush and palette ready, not quite sure why she was there.
Within seconds, though her brush had been moving over the canvas and the outline of Hunter’s face had appeared.Painting had always been her way of expressing herself, her feelings and emotions.In the landscapes she loved doing, she poured out her love of the land, the cattle, the mountains, the wide-open spaces.
Problem was, at the moment though, not only was she consumed by her own feelings of heartache and despair, but she also had Hunter’s every emotion to deal with as well.
Sighing, she looked at the face she’d painted.The expression on his face was the one he’d had when they’d made love.He was lying on his elbow, his chest bare, his eyes on someone who was next to him.This was how she would probably always remember him, although Hunter riding his grey was also an image she’d always carry with her.
