‘You were jealous of our friendship. You did everything you could to move me away from him. And you were jealous that Lucas had a loving family, that he had Mel—’
‘This is bullcrap, Willow.’
‘I don’t think it is,’ she replied coolly. ‘I always knew who you were really, Jake, but I chose to ignore it. That was my mistake. I’m not making it again.’
Jake had picked up his phone. ‘I don’t have time for this, Will. If you want to throw away the chance to be back with me that’s up to you. There are plenty of girls on here who would love the opportunity. Alex for one. I’ve only been resisting her because I thought we still had a chance—’
‘She’s welcome to you, Jake,’ Willow said, standing up. ‘I just wish it hadn’t taken me so long to realize it.’
There was only one person she wanted now. And he seemed to be the one person avoiding her.
This was a clean-up operation that only Willow could fix.
Willow rushed to The Diner. She wished she hadn’t taken so long to do so, but the past few days had been so blurry and confusing. She tried calling him on the way, but the phone went to voicemail.
‘Lucas,’ she blurted. ‘We really need to talk. Please call me.’
She muscled past the volunteers and workers who were helping clear a route outside The Diner. She could see the bright colors of her wagon nestled behind the building and felt a pang of regret. Had all this been her fault? If she hadn’t come back here to set up the matcha business, none of this would have happened. She would never have pulled Lucas into her mess.
And she would still have been unhappy in Seattle, following a dream that had never been hers to begin with.
She walked into The Diner, and the familiar scent of coffee and cinnamon immediately made her want to smile. She could see Janice serving some volunteers coffee at the counter. Mia was sitting at a table with Adam. There was no sign of Lucas.
She walked over to Mia. Mia nodded as she approached.
‘Hey,’ Willow said softly. ‘I was hoping to catch up with your brother?’
Mia’s expression was grave; she glanced over briefly at Adam and then sighed. ‘He’s gone away for while. I think he needed to get his head straight.’
Willow tried to bite back her frustration. She should have come to find him sooner. ‘When did he go?’
‘This morning,’ Mia said quietly. ‘And don’t ask me where; I really don’t know. He’s in bad shape, Willow. I’ve not seen him like this since Mom died.’
Willow sat heavily on the chair between Mia and Adam. ‘It’s me. I hurt him. I didn’t mean to. Everything was so confusing and messed up when Jake came back. But I know what I want now.’
Mia leaned forward. ‘Willow, you know my brother is crazy about you, right? This situation with Jake is tearing him up. Jake drove you apart before, didn’t he?’
‘I didn’t mean for that to happen though.’
‘Perhaps you didn’t – I mean, you were just a kid, right? But you knew how awful Jake was to him, didn’t you?’
‘I knew Jake teased him sometimes,’ Willow said sheepishly. ‘He did to loads of people. It was just his character.’
Adam snorted. ‘He sounds delightful.’
Willow glared at him. ‘At the time, I thought he was just being funny; you know like the popular kid. Everyone treated him the same.’
‘I don’t think you realized how bad things were for Luc, though,’ Mia said quietly. ‘Jake was doing stuff to him when you weren’t there. Giving him grief at football practice and times like that. Pushing him around. Luc was a lot skinnier then; he couldn’t stick up for himself. It was like Jake had a real problem with him; he wouldn’t let up.’
Willow felt sickness wash over her. How had she notseen what Jake was doing to Lucas? Was she as bad as Jake? How had she let Lucas drift away from her so easily?
‘Sounds to me that Jake was jealous that you two used to be close,’ Adam mused.
Willow nodded slowly. ‘Jake always made sure I was with him all the time. I didn’t have time for anything else.’
Mia sighed. ‘Jake destroyed your friendship and took away any hope Lucas had for you two to be together. And now it’s happening all over again.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Willow insisted. ‘It’s Lucas I want to be with, Mia. I know that now. But I need your help.’
