“I had to escape. Chris cornered me in my dressing room, blackmailing me to accept his proposal tonight.”
I blink at her.
“What?”
"I know, it's crazy. It's...I don't know. It's a lot. I didn’t know what to do, except I knew I needed to get here, to you, so we could try to figure out the next steps together."
“You couldn’t have called anyone? Told me?”
She lifts a single shoulder.
“The only person I knew I could trust is you, Leo. It’s only you. Gabe helped me get into the car, but I didn't tell him why. I couldn’t bring my phone because I think Jackie had been accessing it, and I didn’t want her to know where I was until I knew for sure what my plan was.”
“Did you have to smash the phone?” I ask. “You could have texted me, then turned it off. I didn’t know what was happening until Jefferson called not long before you got here.” She bites her lip, looking at me nervously.
“I admit, I was a bit rash when I threw my phone.” My phone rings, still in her hand. “Why is Hallie calling you?” I look down at my phone where Hallie’s name is flashing on the screen, and despite the chaos, I can't help but smile.
“Because I called Jesse and told him you were missing. Hallie heard, and I was on the phone with her trying to get the cavalry together to try and find you when you showed up here.” Shesmiles, eyes going soft, before she lifts my phone and taps theacceptbutton.
“Hey, Hal, it’s me. Yeah, I know. I know. I promise, I will fill you in on everything. I’m sorry I stressed you out, but I haven’t seen Leo in a few weeks, and he’s about to show me just how much he missed me.” There’s a moment of silence from Willa, but there'snotsilence on the other end while Hallie laughs loudly. Without a goodbye, Willa hangs up, then tosses my phone to the couch, followed by her clutch, before her hands wrap around my neck again.
“Ready to show me just how much you missed me, or are you still mad I disappeared for all of an hour and a half?” She’s light as air, smiling wide despite what I already know was a long and emotional afternoon, and it makes me fall for her just a little bit more.
“If you eventhinkabout doing that again, I’m taking you into my room and putting you over my knee until you see reason.”
Her eyes flare, and she lets me go before stepping back from me.
“Not exactly the threat you think it is, bud,” she whispers. “Maybe I should get a preview of just that.”
“Willa—” I start, but she keeps stepping backward down the hall towards the bedroom.
“Come on, Leo. It’s been a long three weeks. I need you.”
Who am I to argue with that?
So I follow her towards our room. She grins then, turning to face the hallway, but her steps falter when she sees a light on in the room that, up until recently, I hadn’t started renovating. She looks over her shoulder at me, eyes intrigued.
“What is that?”
My heart races.
“It’s not ready,” I warn, trying to beat her there, but I know it’s no use, something she proves when she ignores me, movingmore quickly to the room I’ve been working on while she was going. The guest room was finished just a few days after she headed back to the city, though I made it seem like it was taking me a long time. With my need to keep myself busy while she was gone, I moved on to something else.
My days without her felt so damn long, the house empty without her wide smiles and her gentle teasing, and I needed something—anything—to keep myself busy while she was gone. She calls this place home, but I wanted to make ither home, and I knew for that to happen, she needed her own space. Somewhere to escape to, to write, to feel inspired, to work. Over the summer, she enjoyed writing a bit outside, on the back patio or on the porch swing, but when inspiration hit hard, she wanted to be alone while she created her art, something I always tried my best to give her. But with the house still under construction, there weren’t many options.
I knew that if we were designing this space together, she would choose things that she thought I would also appreciate, paints and accents and decor that would not fit her girlish heart, things she thoughtIwould enjoy. While I couldn’t anticipate all of her dreams for her ideal music and room, I had an ace in my pocket to help me plan. Hallie helped me figure out Pinterest and find Willa’s home decor boards, specifically the ones labeled "music/office."
There, she saved spaces that were filled with light yellows, blues, and greens. Each one gave the same vibe of sunshine and spring and summer and things that felt so purely Willa from the moment I saw them, and I knew those were the spaces she wanted, the ones that made her feel inspired.
The ones she needed.
The kind I needed to create for her.
I used those as the starting point, with Hallie, Nat, and Wren helping where they could, and the guys helping with any of thehard stuff, like installing bookshelves, redoing the lighting, or adding an additional window for extra light. Still, everything, whether she realized it or not, is something she chose: wall paint and accents, lighting and runs, wall decor, even the wallpaper on the back wall was something she picked out.
But of course, the most important part is the light wood desk in the center of the room, my first fully custom piece of furniture, something that my dad showed me how to do, but I never actually did myself. I thought about buying her something cool and vintage, but for some reason, I decided to try to do it myself. I’m glad I did, because it fits the room so perfectly, and I can’t help but feel like some ghost of my father helped me finish it. It’s all curves and heavy wood, the grain of the wood popping beneath the stain she chose when I texted her last week, pretending I was stripping and refinishing the dining room table, and even I have to admit it looks absolutely perfect in this room.
“What is this?” she asks, looking around, voice soft.
