“Yes, Dad, I’m fine. It was just a misunderstanding. He wants to get married and I don’t. Yes, I know I’ve only known him for a hot minute. That’s why I turned him down.”
“Well, I’m glad you stood up for yourself. But spitfire that you are, you always do.”
“Maybe a little more spit than fire. He was pretty upset when I left. Grabbed my arm.” Willow paused
“I was waiting for you to tell me about that. First some car accident and now this?”
“Who told?”
“Don’t matter. I’m your daddy. I know what I need to know about my girl. You can’t be in better hands, though.”
“Let me guess—Uncle Reggie or Uncle Ted?” She glanced around the bar once more.
“Don’t matter they’re both dads too. They know Davis is good people. Your Uncle Ted called me before he pulled out from the scene letting me know where you were.”
“So, everybody keeps telling me. Is that his last name or first?” Willow removed her glasses and rubbed her left eye.
“Never got around to asking him. Now he’s the kind of man I wouldn’t mind seeing you with.”
“Dad, didn’t we just discover that Kyle wasn’t husband material? Why are you so quick to get me married off with fifty babies hanging off my hip?”
“One or two grands will suffice. You’re not a cat. I don’t need a litter.”
Willow cast a look over her shoulder at the door leading to what she assumed was a kitchen. “He’s tolerating me. He was kind enough to offer some space so that I can document tonight because he lost a friend in the fire.”
“Davis isn’t the type to suffer company lightly. If you get on his nerves, he knows how to call a cab put you out.”
“Wonder how many times he’s done that before?” She said raking a hand through her damp hair
“Lot less than you think, nosy.”
“And you know this how? “Willow heard her father’s usual chuckle when he’d said his piece and was moving on to different topics.
“Trust. The woman he brings to his bed will be his wife. Just don’t pick with the man. Face of an angel but that mouth of yours needs deliverance when you’re tired.”
She smiled into the phone, missing the sound of his laughter and the smell of his cologne. “What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?” she asked. “Can I kidnap you for lunch?”
Will sucked his teeth and sighed. “Fatima asked me to attend some brunch thing at the church. You understand, honey.”
“It’s fine, Dad. How is Fatima these days?” Willow took in a deep breath and tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
“Fatima is Fatima. She asks about you, though. We saw that moving speech you gave at that firemen’s graduation ceremony in DC. Complimented your dress said you were as graceful and as beautiful as ever. I couldn’t agree more.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“She tries, Willie-Girl. Fatima always felt like she had to compete with your mother’s memory. I tell her there is no competition.”
“Well, you’re right about that.”
“Willow. I know you two have had your differences. Kinda hard for her to reach out to this silent wall.”
“When there was something to say Fatima didn’t want to hear it. When I said it, she didn’t like it?” Willow tossed the pen on the legal pad and busied herself with rolling up her sleeves. “She was too busy trying to bleach the place of Mom’s memory; I guess I looked so much like her that I was part of the bleaching process.”
“Honey, don’t. You and your mother are my life. Fatima could never ‘bleach’ you guys out of me or the house as you say.”
Willow sighed. “Dad, I only meant that Mom was...”
“My first love next to you. Now, the bible says there are no husbands and wives in heaven, but I’ll know my Aracyne when I see her.”
“Yeah, Dad. Listen, I best get to work.”
“Okay, I’m free for dinner if you want.”
“I just might take you up on that.”
“Don’t let whatever you saw this evening get into your spirit, baby. Like water on a duck’s back”
“I know. Work the case and let the rest roll off, Dad.” Willow smiled as she looked down at the wallpaper on her phone. The picture of her parents wedding day flashed into view.
“From the moon and down again, Willie-Girl?”
Willow smiled into the phone remembering the nickname her father always called her when she was little. “And around the world and back again. I’ll always love you. ’Night, Dad.” She waited for the phone to go silent before she snapped it shut and kissed the edge of it.
Willow was already completing the first paragraph of her first report when Davis walked out with a tray covered with a dishtowel. She peered over the monitor on her laptop.
“I didn’t know if you were hungry, so I took a chance. If you don’t like any of it, I can take it back.” He pushed the tray onto the table and pulled off the towel. “And here, you strike me as an old-fashioned girl.” He handed her a mug and her mouth fell open.
“Oh my god... how did you know?”
Davis grabbed his own mug and took a sip “I’m sorry, I only had honey in there with a hint of blueberry in it.”
Willow warmed her hands around the mug before huddling in the chair.
Davis put his head down and smiled. “Looks like I hit the nail on the head, ‘Weird.’ Complete with the image I had of you with a milk mustache.”
She took the cuff of her shirt and scrubbed at the lace of milk around her top lip. The spread included fruit salad and turkey sandwiches with pretzel sticks. There was even a bowl with red apple slices and crumbles of blue cheese sitting off to the side.
“Thank you for this. I mean, you went to all of this trouble and you barely know me. We didn’t get off to a great start and—”
“No, we didn’t, which is why I wanted to make up for it. Besides, every princess deserves a welcome home feast. The way those big lugs were treating you on scene any one of them could have been your father. If I had a little more notice, I could have had the cracked crab and... oh wait, you’re allergic, aren’t you?”
“How did you...?”
“You just look like the type.” He recovered with a smile.
She shook her head softly and some of her curls spilled over her shoulder. “And what type might that be?”
“You told me to call you weird.”
They worked in a comfortable silence. Willow finished one of at least five reports that she had to do while Davis went over his books. Every once in a while, he would sit back and watch her work. After they ate, he cleared the table and refreshed their mugs. He fought the urge to smile. In all of his visions of her, he’d never dreamt of her wearing glasses.
“Willow, I wasn’t sure if you needed a refill...” He let his words trail off as he walked back over to the table.
Her laptop was closed, and her hands were stacked neatly on top of one another a portion of her face was hidden in her arm, but exhaustion stamped on what he could see made him weary.
On average if Davis managed to get three hours sleep in a night, he was doing good. Most nights were spent in his recliner waiting for the night to end. He took a sip of warm milk from her cup and sat it aside.
Davis busied himself with counting the bottles of alcohol behind the counter and making a list of what to pull from the cellar when Willow whimpered in her sleep. Davis saw her flinch. He left the bar and went to her. Sweeping an arm under her legs, he lifted her to his chest.
Instinctively she wrapped her arms around his neck. Davis smiled at the feel of her so close as he carried her to the discreet elevator that led to his loft. Once they were upstairs, he moved over to the sofa with every intention of putting her down.
Davis started to lower her to the plush dark chocolate sectional sofa that took up a good portion of his living room area. He felt Willow’s grip tighten and he walked over to the wall of windows that opened to a balcony looking out on the Shadow Bay night skyline.
Cargo ships skimmed the glittering black water from one end of the harbor to the other. Moonlight and starlight mirrored the waves bathing the bay in stardust. The neon sign for the sugar refinery signaled to all who were interested that the nightshift had begun. The clubs on the far side of the docks were dark as if in mourning for the fallen. Davis took in a deep breath filled with the clean fresh scent of her.
Get a grip man. You’ve kept it together this long. Don’t screw this up.
Willow filled his arms just as she had when they were younger. Only now, she fit more securely against him as if her body were expressly made for his. Davis shook his head and caried her back to the sofa. He covered her with the blanket thrown over the back of the sofa and took the chair across from her. And as night faded into a new day, the secrets and answers that kept them both alive all those years fractured into a thousand shades of grey.