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After a few seconds, Tori finally cracked a smile. “Okay. I guess it is pretty funny. And luckily, the bride and groom thought so as well. But not everyone would. Hence, needing a new place. The problem is money is a bit tight right now.”
“Is the venue not doing well?” More guilt overtook me. I had been working at the venue when Willow died and stayed for a little bit after, but went back to teaching in the fall of last year when a first-grade position opened at Melsborough Elementary.
“It’s doing great now. We’re finally really getting into things again, but you know how much of a hit we took during COVID. I lost my business partner and a few months later, the whole world shut down. I’m still trying to come back from that. It’s not like I’m drowning, but not having rent to pay has been very helpful. I’m not sure how to work that into my budget, but we also can’t stay there much longer.” Tori sighed and rubbed her head. “I keep trying to ask myself what Willow would tell me to do, because you know she’d have a solution, but I’ve got nothing.” Tori looked up toward the sky and held out her arms. “Now would be a great time to send me a sign, bestie.”
The solution hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew exactly what Willow would do. There was no question in my mind. “You and Bella should move in with me and Emery. It will give you two more space while you save up money to get your own place.”
Tori looked at me as though I was crazy, and honestly, maybe I was. “I can’t do that. I already imposed on you and Willow once. I’m not going to do it again. Especially not with how crazy Bella is right now.”
“You’re not imposing. I promise. It’d actually be nice to have another adult in the house. I know it’s been two years, but I still get lonely without Willow there.” I felt Willow with me everywhere I went, but that still didn’t compare to her physical presence. Even with Emery, the house still felt so quiet when it was just the two of us. I squeezed my eyes shut to try to wipe these thoughts from my head. If I kept thinking like this, I was going to break into tears, and today was supposed to be about celebrating Willow’s life, not grieving that she was gone. I knew for a fact that she wouldn’t want me crying at a picnic table by our old apartment two years after she died. “Plus, just think about how much Bella and Emery would love it. They’d get to spend even more time together.”
Tori chuckled. “Yes, because the three days of preschool and afternoons with Mrs. Stone aren’t nearly enough for them.”
“Hey, next year Bella is moving on to kindergarten without Emery. They have to get all of their time together while they still can.” Since Emery was a year and a half younger than Bella, she would be a year behind her in school.
Tori laughed. “That’s true. How will they ever survive?” After a few seconds, she became serious again. “I don’t know, though. Do you really mean it? I feel like you’re just trying to be nice, and the last thing I want to be to you is a charity case.”
I hated that Tori felt that way. That wasn’t how I saw her at all. I honestly didn’t know how I would have gotten through these past two years without her. She was there for me more than anyone else, and that wasn’t due to lack of effort from all the other people in my life. Tori just went above and beyond. “You’re one of my best friends and honestly part of the reason I’m still breathing. It’s the least I can do.”
“I don’t know.” Tori looked down and ran her gloved hand along the top of the picnic table. After a moment, her eyes went wide and she started to laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me? Did you know she did this?” Tori pointed to the spot she was staring at.
I leaned across the table to see what she was talking about and found Willow Stone was here carved into the top of the table. It was so small that I never would have noticed it if Tori hadn’t pointed it out. I looked up at the sky and whispered, “Thanks, babe,” as an unseasonably warm breeze lightly blew over my skin. When I looked back at Tori, she was still staring down at the words on the table. “You asked her for a sign. I think you found it. I’m pretty sure that’s her telling you that you should listen to me.”
“Fine. We’ll run it past Bella and Emery and if they agree, we’ll move in at some point over the next few months.”
I smiled because I knew I had won. “So, that’s a yes.”
“I’d say we can count on it.” Tori smiled back at me, and it warmed me up from the inside out. “Now let’s get out of here. We have a party to set up.”
Chapter 2
Even with our pit stop, Tori and I were able to have the barn set up just in time for the start of Willow’s memorial party. Not that it took much. In Willow’s honor, we set it up to look like the barn parties we went to in college, which weren’t very pretty. There was a table filled with alcohol and another filled with food. There were also big speakers since Willow would never accept a party without dancing. A banner hung on the wall that said Live Like Willow, a saying that Tori had coined and we all embraced.
The first people to arrive were of course my parents, since not arriving early is as good as being late. Some things never change. Even though I had just been at their house two days earlier for Christmas, my mom still wrapped me in a tight hug. “How are you, sweetie? Are you doing okay?”
Instead of saying anything, my dad put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it tightly. I could tell by the face he was making that he was trying his best not to cry. He had taken Willow’s death much harder than I expected. The man who barely ever sheds a tear sobbed at Willow’s funeral. I think he actually cried more than me, but then again, I had already cried so much by that point, I was numb by the time her funeral was held.
“I’m doing okay. Thank you.” I nodded as I looked around the barn where I first fell in love with my soulmate. “Willow would have loved this. She would use any excuse to throw a party.” I smiled when I thought of her contagious laugh. Sometimes, I swore I could still hear it.
“She certainly would.” My dad smiled, but his body remained stiff.
A few minutes later, Willow’s parents and Phil’s family arrived. Phil set himself up by the bar, assigning himself the duty of making everyone Fantastic Phils, partially because Willow loved them so much and partially to help us forget the real reason we were all getting together. Next to arrive was Lisa and her fiancée, Abigail, as well as Lisa’s parents. I was still greeting all of them when Silas, my fake boyfriend turned best friend, arrived with his husband, Aaron, and their ten-year-old son, Marcus, whom they adopted a month ago after fostering him for a year. After that, the rest of the guests filtered in, including a lot of Willow’s friends from high school and college, as well as her colleagues from when she worked as an Admissions Counselor at East Pine University.
The party was exhausting, so I was happy when the night ended the same way it had the year before, with just me, Tori, Lisa, and Abigail. My parents took both Emery and Bella back to my house for a sleepover and insisted that I crash at the barn for the night instead of trying to walk home.
“So, who’s up for a drinking game?” Lisa asked.
I groaned. That was the last thing I wanted to do right now. “Aren’t we a little old for drinking games?”
Lisa scoffed as if she couldn’t even believe I would ask that. “Come on. That’s ridiculous. You’re thirty-two. You’re not—” Lisa quickly cut herself off and put her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as she stared at me. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I’ve been drinking, and it’s just a saying, but I would never—”
I put my hand up to cut Lisa off. “It’s okay. I get it. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. Plus, we all know Willow would think that slip-up was hilarious.”
Luckily, that comment eased the tension from the room and everyone laughed, Tori’s laugh louder than everyone else. “You’re so right,” she said in between laughter, “That’s totally the type of shit she would have said. God, I miss that girl.”
I clenched my eyes shut to try to keep myself from crying. With the alcohol in my system, I knew if I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. “I miss her, too.”
A hand landed on my back and when I opened my eyes I saw Tori looking at me with a knowing smile. “No tears tonight. Remember? Willow wouldn’t want any of that.”
