part0027

Willa stood at the counter waiting for the coffee to finish. The sun was shining, she had slept well, she wasn’t angry anymore with Nicole for being a pain in her ass, and she was about to—maybe, possibly—embark on a decades overdue love affair with Lee Chandler. She stared down at her right wrist to see the gold bracelet shimmering against her skin and began to believe coming back here had been the best idea of her life.

She poured two travel mugs and walked into the front room. “Rise and shine, Nic,” she greeted, pausing when she saw the sofa empty. She had just come from the bathroom and knew Nic wasn’t in there.

She went back through the kitchen, setting the mugs down, and headed down the hall. She opened the door to Emily’s room slowly, pausing when a rush of cold air whipped past her and whistled down the hall, dissipating in a moment.

She eyed the windows looking for the source of the draft, but they were all closed. Her eyes widened with disbelief when she saw Nicole, white-blond hair splayed across the pillows, sleeping in Emily’s bed. She looked so young and so much like Emily in that moment. Willa rubbed over her heart the pain was so acute.

She stared so long, lost in memories, that she didn’t realize Nicole had stirred, turning over and blinking at her.

“Hey, Will,” Nicole murmured. “You okay?”

Willa blinked. “Yeah, um, yes. Sorry. What are you doing in here?”

Nicole sat up and stretched. “That sofa sucks balls and I really didn’t want to sleep in your parents’ room so…Is it okay?”

“Yes, of course. I’m glad you felt comfortable in here. Did you sleep better?”

“Like the fucking dead,” she blurted and immediately winced. “Sorry.”

Willa waved her off. “I get it. Yes, please, consider this room yours.”

Nicole scanned Willa in her yoga pants, sneakers, and Windbreaker. “You going somewhere?”

“For a walk and I was hoping you would come with me.” She raised her brows in question.

“Uh, yeah, okay. Is there coffee?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Cool.” Nicole hopped out of bed. “Give me a few minutes.”

“I’ll wait outside.” Willa grabbed her coffee and headed out to the front steps.

“Morning.” Chris waved from the front porch next door.

“Hi.” Willa wandered over.

“How was your date?” he asked, smiling slyly.

Willa couldn’t help her silly grin. “It was good.”

“No one smiles like that for good .” He laughed and circled a finger in front of Willa’s face. “That right there—that’s fabulous face. You get some last night?”

“I got enough, for now.”

“Good for you, girl.” Chris held up his coffee mug and tapped it against Willa’s. “Are you off to see her again, already? Not really playing hard to get, huh?”

“I won’t be hard to get if Lee wants me. I was going to take a walk with Nicole. Would you like to join us?”

“Probably not a good idea if you’re looking to make new friends here or reacquaint with old ones. You don’t want to be seen with the community fags.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“That’s reality, girl.”

“Then why come up here at all? I mean, how did you end up here? It’s not in any vacation brochure.”

“Whit is a firefighter in Troy. He’s at work now. We were looking for a nearby place to get the kids out of the city for the summers and keep them out of trouble. The boys are adopted and have had some challenges, but they’ve come a long way—we all have. We checked this place out in the fall when everything was closed up for the season so we didn’t get the full picture and the realtor was less than truthful about the quaint family environment. On paper it seemed ideal and we were at least familiar with the area from following along with the opening of Camp Prism. Imagine our surprise.”

“When you found out you’d be summering in the eighth circle of hell?”

Chris arched a brow. “Dante? Which circle is that?”

“The eighth circle of hell is for the fraudulent—hypocrites, thieves, perjurers, corrupt politicians and false advisors to name a few.”

“Like our realtor.” Chris grinned.

“Yes, probably. I’ve been here two days and I already know this place is far different from the blissful impression I had of it as a child. Of course, that’s not how it ended for me but…”

“Mmm, your father told us about what happened. I’m very sorry about the loss of your sister.” Chris gripped her hand.

“Thank you.” Willa squeezed his. “It was a long time ago.”

Nicole chose that moment to bang out the front door with her coffee in one hand and a Pop-Tart in the other. “I’m ready. Hey,” she greeted Chris.

“Chris, this is my sister, Nicole.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Nicole.”

“You too.” Nicole crammed half her snack in her mouth. “You coming?”

Chris looked between them for a moment. “Sure, why not.” He stood and shouted back through their cabin. “Jay, Kyle I’m going out for a bit. Stay out of trouble.”

“Got it, Dad,” a young voice called back.

“Well, all right,” Chris said. “Let’s shake this place up.”

“So, that big guy you live with?” Nicole asked Chris as they headed down the road toward the water. “Is that your father?”

Willa coughed, coffee dribbling down her chin. “Nicole.”

Chris’s mouth quirked. “If by ‘father’ you mean daddy then, yes, he is.”

Willa recovered from her spluttering to laugh out loud. “The summer is looking up.”

“I’m beginning to think so, too.” Chris grinned at her.

Nicole looked between them. “I don’t get it.”

“Nicole, honey, Whit is my husband of ten years. And just to get it out there, he’s fifty-three and I’m thirty-eight. Next question.”

“What do you do?” Nicole asked, entirely unfazed by her faux pas.

“Corporate accountant and tax attorney,” he replied, sipping his coffee. “Boring as hell but I get to dress really nice on occasion, it pays mad stacks, and I can work from wherever I want most of the time.”

“Cool.” Nicole nodded. “How did you and Whit meet?”

Chris’s face lit up. “The couple in the apartment below me threw a Christmas party and someone hanging out in the kitchen leaned up against the stove and turned it on with their big old booty. It set a stack of table linens and some cabinets on fire.”

“Holy shit,” Nicole exclaimed.

“It was contained quickly and no one was injured, but the surrounding units were evacuated as a precaution and it was pretty much all over for me when Whit came to my door looking like he just stepped off the December page of the firefighters’ calendar.” Chris finished with a dreamy expression.

Willa grinned at him. “He rescued you.”

“In so many ways.”

“That’s sweet,” Nicole agreed.

Willa nudged Nicole. “What’s got into you today?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem, I don’t know, different today,” Willa said as they turned on Lakeshore Road. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were in a good mood.”

“I dunno. I feel pretty good right now. Try not to ruin it.”

Willa blinked at her a moment before laughing. “I’ll do my best.”

“Willa! Hey Willa!”

Willa spun around to see a man jogging up from behind them with two young boys in tow. “David? David Osterhouse?”

He stopped in front of her, smiling hugely. “I heard you were here.” He started to go in for a hug and then stopped, uncertain.

Willa smiled and opened her arms. “Come here.” They embraced quickly. “It’s great to see you. How are you?”

“I’m well. Married to Harmony, if you can believe that.”

“Wow, really? That’s great. Is she up here with you?”

“She is and she’s looking forward to seeing you. She reads all your books and will probably gush all over you and ask you what famous people you know.”

“I’m afraid I’m not that kind of famous. But I know Chris Whittaker, do you?”

“Of course.” He nodded somewhat formally. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Chris returned his nod, barely containing an amused grin.

“And I met your sister the other day.” He smiled at her. “How are you enjoying Forestlands Lake so far?”

“Super,” Nicole replied vaguely.

David gestured to the two boys who looked about twelve and ten and sported matching faux hawks. “These are my sons, Michael and Brian.”

“Hey guys, how are you?” Willa greeted them. “I’m an old friend of your parents.”

“The one whose sister drowned?” the older one asked, earning him a cuff on the back of his head from his father.

“Shut it, Mikey,” David mumbled, getting a snotty glare from his son in return.

Willa straightened and cleared her throat. “Are they named after Brian and Michael Black? You all must have stayed close.”

David’s smile faltered. “Brian and Michael Black were killed in a drunk driving accident almost fifteen years ago.”

“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry. I hadn’t heard that. They were hit by a drunk driver?”

“No.” David shifted from foot to foot. “It was a single car accident. Brian was driving.”

“I see. The loss of young lives is tragic no matter the circumstances. I’m very sorry to hear this.”

“Yeah,” David agreed. “Dawn, Harmony’s sister, you remember her?”

“Of course, I do.”

“She and Brian were engaged to be married. She took it pretty hard. She’s never really moved on. She has the Wilkins’s place now. We were just coming from there. She doesn’t socialize much but she likes to see the boys.”