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Willow put her hand on mine, and it felt more like a warm breeze than a solid object. “I wish I could. Trust me. I really do. More than anything, I want to be here with you and Emery. But we both know I can’t. You know who is here with you though? Tori.”
What was she trying to say right now? I shook my head to make sure there was no confusion about what Tori was to me. “Tori is just my friend.”
Willow threw her head back in laughter, and it was such a Willow thing to do that it made my heart burst and break all at once. “You seem to have forgotten that I’m always with you, Rosemary. I see everything. Plus,” My heart warmed when Willow put her hand on my chest. “I’m in here. Because of that, I happen to know that someone else is too.”
I shook my head once again. “I can’t do that to you. Not with Tori. I’m not sure how I could be with anyone after you, but it definitely can’t be Tori.”
“Why not?”
I scoffed, because really, how could she even ask me that? The answer was so obvious. “She’s your best friend, Willow.”
“You know, people used to always think Tori and I were sisters. It obviously wasn’t because of looks. It was because our personalities are so similar. You have a type. That’s okay.”
“But it’s Tori.”
Willow laughed once again. “Exactly. It’s perfect. You two know each other so well. You have daughters who are like sisters already. Plus, you’re already living together! You can avoid all of those big, awkward conversations. House—done. Kids—done.”
Now I laughed too. Willow always had that effect on me. “You act like it’s all so simple.”
“Maybe it is. You and Tori complement each other in the same way we did. And most importantly—you bring back that spark in each other that you both lost when you lost me.”
“But what would people say? What would your family say?”
“They’d say all they care about is the two of you being happy. And if they don't, I’ll haunt them.”
I went to playfully shove Willow, then remembered I couldn’t and withdrew my hand. “Come on. Be serious.”
“I am being serious, Rosemary. Do you remember one of the last things I said to you?”
Looking back on that day brought me both joy and pain, but I would never forget one detail even if I tried. “That I’ll always be your greatest love story.”
“What about after that?”
Of course, I remembered what she said after that. They were the last words she ever spoke to me. “You said ‘I hope not’ after I told you that you’d always be mine.”
“Exactly. You deserve your happy ending, Rosemary.”
“You were my happy ending.”
Willow smiled and shook her head. “No, sweetie. You were mine. But you’re still here. Please don’t make the end of me be the end of you.”
“But what about us?” I didn’t want there to be an ending for me and Willow.
“There will always be an us, no matter where you are or who you’re with. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I just…” I couldn’t put into words what I was feeling, because in all honesty, I didn’t know what I was feeling. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m giving you my blessing, Rosemary. What you and Tori have is special. When you find something like that, you don’t let it slip away, no matter how scary it is.” Willow stood from the bed and walked over to my door as if she actually had to use it to leave, but stopped before she did. “By the way, take care of Fern. It took a lot for her to talk to you today. She’s a good kid. She deserves the best life.”
Before I could say anything else, Willow disappeared. I brought my hand to my cheek when the sensation of a kiss touched it, and when I did, I heard whispers of “I love you” floating through the air.
I had no idea what had just happened, but there was one thing I knew. That wasn’t a dream.
Chapter 13
I shot out of bed when I heard a knock on my door. It was really just a light tap, but since I wasn’t expecting it, it shocked me awake. I opened the door to find Tori standing there with a look I couldn’t read. Concern? Trepidation? Confusion? I really had no clue.
She walked right past me as if I wasn’t even there and sat on the edge of my bed. She put her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths as if she was pumping herself up for something. She looked at the ceiling, then down toward her feet, before finally looking at me. “Something really strange happened to me last night. I don’t even know how to say it because you’re going to think I’m completely insane.” She looked back down at her feet as her voice trailed off.
