Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
There was the sound of a twig snapping behind me, and I turned my head around in surprise.
Nicole stood there. She was wearing a long, dark coat and fancy fur-lined gray boots, totally unsuitable for walking. I guessed she must have come directly from the salon.
I stood and faced her.
She looked at me expressionlessly. “Mrs. Johnson told me you had rolled into town on your own. I knew you’d be here.”
“What is it, Nicole? What is it you want?”
“I want you to help Tiffany.”
I stared at her in disbelief. What was it about her and her daughter? They acted so entitled. As if everyone else just existed to do their bidding.
“She’s not like you. She’s not brave and independent. You’re right, I spoiled her too much when she was young. She won’t make it in the city. Can’t you just take her under your wing? Just help her this once until she finds her own feet. You owe it to her, after you ruined her wedding. She would have gone ahead with marrying Steven and had a nice life if you had not turned up with your shiny new man.”
I stayed silent. She did have a point. If I had not turned up, Tiffany would have married Steven and been content with the idea she had stolen my man, taken what I wanted.
“You know, she lost her baby, right?”
“She told me,” I said slowly. Just a few weeks ago, I would have told her what Rex told me, but I had grown up a lot since the last time I was here. I no longer wanted Tiffany to seek some petty revenge. I just wanted to heal my old wounds and make myself whole again so I could give the best of myself to Rex and Kayden.
“Please, Willow, I’m begging you.”
Whatever I said about Nicole, she did truly love her blood daughters. “All right, I’ll help her…”
“Thank you, Willow—”
“I’ll help her under one condition.”
She stiffened. “What is it?”
“That you answer one question honestly.”
Her relief was palpable. “Of course. What is it?”
“Why did you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you to make you hate me the way you do?”
She turned her face away and looked far into the horizon. I watched her take a deep breath before she turned towards me again. “I didn’t hate you in the beginning. No, then I thought your father loved me, but very quickly I realized he didn’t. He was still in love with your mother. You know, he called her name once, when we were making love. You don’t know what that feels like. Competing with a dead woman. Every fucking night she climbed into bed with us. Oh, how I hated her. And you were a part of her. You even looked like her. Every time he looked at you, you reminded him all over again of her. Every time I looked at you, you reminded me that he did not love me.”
She paused for a few seconds.
“Do you understand now?” she cried suddenly. “Do you understand that there was not enough love left for me. You sucked the last bit out of him. I had a dry husk for a husband.”
“Thank you. Thank you for being so honest,” I whispered.
“So, you’ll help Tiffany?”
“You have my word.”
She lifted her chin, and looked, suddenly haughty, then she turned and left, the snow crunching under her feet.
The tears began rolling down my cheeks then. I sat at my parents’ graves and told them all about Rex and Kayden. My fingers were blue by the time I made it back to the waiting car.
51
WILLOW
I didn’t want to be in the suite on my own, so I went to the bar to have a drink. Someone I went to school with was there with some friends, so I joined them. They wanted to hear all about my life in the big city.
But I didn’t want to impress them.
What Nicole said still rankled in my head. If not for me and tales of my supposedly glamorous life in the city with my new rich boyfriend, Tiffany would have married Steven. Maybe the relationship wouldn’t have lasted, but at least it would have had a chance.
I’d missed lunch and dinner, and two drinks later, I felt so drunk I had to excuse myself and leave. I swayed in the elevator. Incredible how drunk I’d become on two glasses of wine.
Up in the suite, I stumbled across the living area towards the second bedroom and opened the door. It was empty of course, but in my mind I saw him standing at the window looking out at the falling snow. I remembered him turning in the dark to look at me. How unsurprised he had been.
I made it unsteadily over to the window and stood in front of it. It wasn’t snowing. That night had been magical. A wave of loneliness hit me, and I missed Rex with an intensity I’d never felt before. I got into my night shirt and slipped into bed with Kayden’s soft toy gift and my phone.