‘Of course, I don’t.’ She smiled back.
In fact, it felt just right.
Chapter 20
Lucas
‘What do you mean you’ve forgotten how much you love it here?’ Willow asked. ‘You were only here yesterday!’
Mia had already left them, pulling a sarcastic ‘oh, so you want to be alone’ kind of face before striding off down the windy trail that led towards Honey Pot Lake.
‘Yeah, I know.’ Lucas was finding it hard to look at Willow, so instead, he focused on a distant spot across the water. Was that a hawk or a falcon? He wasn’t sure. ‘I meant, I’d forgotten how nice it was to be here with you. We had some special times here, didn’t we?’
Willow didn’t reply for a beat and then said quietly, ‘Well yeah, I guess so. But we were just kids then, weren’t we?’
‘Kids that liked to mess around.’
‘Do you think the old fishing cabin is still there? Where we used to hide out?’ she asked suddenly, her eyes widening. ‘I mean, it’s been a while. I’m guessing the storms would’ve ruined most of it. It was never that strong.’
‘I think it’s fine. It was always well protected by the trees. I used to use it sometimes even when we were no longer friends.’
‘You did?’ Willow sounded surprised. ‘I guess I assumed we had both left it to rot away.’
‘It’s a nice place to chill and get away from stuff. I didn’t want it to go to waste.’ Lucas shrugged. ‘I didn’t go much though and I haven’t been there in ages.’
‘So, it’s still there now?’
Lucas was already heading in that direction. ‘Come on – let’s take a look.’
They started walking again. Willow was peering this way and that as if she couldn’t recall where the old cabin had been.
Lucas could’ve tried to make out that he didn’t remember where their cabin had been either, that he was too cool to be worried about a tiny little detail like that. The truth was, he had visited it more than a bit, long after he and Willow had drifted apart. For a while, he had even tried to maintain it, maybe in the hopes that she might return one day, without Jake, and want things to be back to how they used to be.
He still remembered the day she told him Jake had asked her out. She had been so excited and giggly, which wasn’t like her at all and it had unnerved him somewhat. They had been at the cabin then, eating Oreos and trying to decide if they could fish in the rapids. It had all been so innocent and fun, and then suddenly, she had dropped that bombshell on him. Jake had asked her out. She was going to date Jake. Lucas hadn’t said anything because what would be the point? Willow was his best friend. He loved her as fiercely as he loved anyone and all he wanted was for her to be happy. If he had told her how unhappy her news had made him that would have only brought her down too.
And sitting there with him that day, giggling about the good-looking boy wanting to be with her, Willow had been so happy and hopeful, like it was the best thing that had happened to her. In that moment, Lucas realized that hewould never be enough. He would always be her geeky, shy friend that made up silly games with her and tried to pick her up when she was feeling sad.
He would never be a Jake.
So, he stayed quiet. Just like he always did and just prayed that she would work it all out for them both in the end. That eventually she would find her way back to him.
Except she didn’t.
Willow nudged him in the ribs. ‘What’re you thinking about?’
‘I’m thinking I’m hungry,’ he lied.
Willow pulled off her backpack and rummaged through it as they walked. ‘There is some food in here. Mia packed it for us. But it doesn’t look like a great selection, to be honest. I guess she was rushing.’
‘We can eat at the camp.’ He smiled shyly. ‘Like we used to.’
‘Are there Oreos in here? Oooh, there should be Oreos. Do you remember we always bought them? It was like tradition or something.’
The memory pierced his heart. He managed to keep his smile fixed in place and not fall to pieces in front of her. He would buy Oreos every time, knowing how much she liked them. He never once told her that he couldn’t stand them.
‘Oh, I remember.’ He pointed. ‘Look, can you see?’
Willow’s gaze shifted and he saw her expression soften. Right there in the cluster of firs was the place that had been theirs for so long. A fallen branch had provided a makeshift gateway of sorts and in time they had collected more branches to build a semi barricade around the place. The cabin itself was squat and small, with a broken window, open doorway and rickety-looking iron roof. There waslittle inside – two wooden chairs and a stubby old table – but it had been theirs. A place to share secrets.
