Mia snorted. ‘This is definitely a dead relationship, girl.’
Willow didn’t reply. It felt better to unload, and she was relieved that Mia didn’t seem to think she was some kind of rude bitch. Adding to it was the complication of Lucas. She still felt confused by her feelings towards him. Why had she felt so jealous when he had gone off with Sapphire? Lucas was so rude and standoffish with her; she didn’t understand why he was featuring in her thoughts so much. Really, she should feel like she used to, like a friend towards him.
But something had shifted inside her. She was seeing Lucas in a different light, and it felt odd and weirdly unsettling.
It had to be because she was missing Jake. She was diverting her true feelings onto Lucas.
‘You look lost in thought,’ Mia said, nudging her. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I’m having man trouble too.’
‘Really?’ Willow noticed that Mia’s expression had changed; she was looking more thoughtful.
‘Yeah, really. I haven’t told Luc though, so keep it to yourself for now,’ she whispered. ‘He’ll just get all mad. He never particularly liked Joshua anyway.’
‘Weren’t you together a long time?’
She nodded. ‘Yeah, a few years. I moved to New York with him after Mom died … It seemed like the right thing to do, and it was for the most part. Joshua is successful, funny and ambitious, and everyone loves him – you know the type.’
Willow thought of Jake and nodded. He sounded familiar.
‘Anyway,’ Mia continued breezily. ‘It turned out everyone really did love him, including my best friend, Gina. It’s such a cliché. I caught her in bed with him last week.’
‘Oh, Mia,’ Willow gasped. ‘What are you going to do?’
Mia shrugged. ‘I dunno. We had our whole lives planned out, now I don’t know what to do. I guess I’ll just crash here. I don’t think I ever want to be with a man again …’
‘The way things are going I’m not sure I want to be with anyone either …’
‘Hey, maybe we can open up our own inn – become rivals to the spinster Parker twins. We can be the new bitter, twisted, evil women in town …’
The two of them burst into laughter, just as Lucas came back in. His dark glare swept over them both. Willow found herself sinking back in her seat, suddenly self-conscious and feeling a bit silly.
And then Mia suggested that she should come with them on a trip to the Falls. For Willow, this was perfect. A chance to get away for a while, to take her mind off Jake. An opportunity to remind herself how beautiful Honey Springs really was. She had put off visiting the Falls until she had time to really enjoy them, so this seemed as good a time as any.
She glanced up at Lucas again and saw that he looked anything but happy.
In fact, he seemed positively miserable.
‘I’m so glad we’re doing this,’ Mia said as they set off down the track that curled behind The Diner towards the Falls.‘Do you remember when we were kids? You two were always coming down here and you wouldn’t let me come with you.’
‘That’s because you were annoying,’ Lucas muttered. ‘Not much has changed, to be honest.’
‘Lucas!’ Willow said. ‘You were not annoying, Mia! We just liked doing things by ourselves. We thought we were super special or something.’
Lucas turned to her and nodded, smiling a little. It was the first time his face had softened all day. Most of the morning, he had been complaining that it was too cold, that he wasn’t in the mood and that the women were talking too much. Willow had longed to talk to him more, to probe him on how he felt about Sapphire – but she quickly decided now was not the time.
‘Yeah,’ he said wistfully. ‘We really did think that, didn’t we …’
‘You were both so annoying,’ Mia mused, pulling a face. ‘Always in corners giggling together or running off to play games that I couldn’t be a part of.’
‘We were young.’ Willow laughed. ‘Although, we were best friends, weren’t we, Lucas?’
He nodded; his cheeks had colored a little. ‘Yeah, the best …’
‘I don’t even know what happened. I guess once we got to high school, we found other friend groups …’
Willow had expected Lucas to finish the sentence for her, or at least agree with what she had said, but instead he went quiet again and stared off into the distance. She sighed inwardly; it was so difficult having these conversations, but she was also having trouble remembering why their relationship had slipped away. How had they both let thathappen so easily. After all, they had been close. How had it been so easy for that bond to break?
Mia slipped her arm through Willow’s. ‘That’s enough of the reminiscing for now. I don’t want to be left behind again. Let’s focus on the here and now, OK?’
