Page 35 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

I’d known Willa for years. I’d seen her face. Yet still, I’d missed her.

How had I missed her?

“You weren’t paying attention.”

My head whipped around as Hazel stepped through the lodge’s doors and to my side.

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” I said.

Hazel laughed, her voice rough and hoarse from a thousand too many cigarettes. “You’re back.”

I shrugged. “I was up early. Thought I’d come over and say hello.”

Willa reached the pit and stood in the middle with all the kids situated around her. She was in jeans again, like she had been the other night at the bar. They molded to her firm ass and trim legs, accentuating every curve. The cuffs were rolled up at her ankles, just above her sandals. And she was wearing a red Flathead Summer Camp tee.

Hazel was right. I hadn’t been paying attention. I just hoped that it wasn’t too late because I saw Willa now and wouldn’t be looking away.

“How are you doing?” I asked Hazel as we stood and watched Willa with the kids.

“Good. It’s quiet at home. Too quiet. I was thinking of coming down to the bar tonight to bother you.”

I smiled and threw an arm around her shoulders. “That’d be great.”

She leaned into my side, her arm going behind my back. Her frame was bonier now than I remembered as a kid. She’d gotten frailer these past few years. I’d been happy when she’d decided to stop working at the bar, but I wished she’d slow down even more.

There was no telling her that. Hazel Rhodes did what Hazel Rhodes wanted. Period.

“Have you heard from Thea and Charlie?” I asked.

She nodded. “They called me this morning.”

“Are they having fun?”

“I don’t think so.”

I grinned. “Good.”

Selfish as it was, I didn’t want Thea and Charlie to be having a blast in New York. I wanted them to come home, though I was sure Logan would try and convince them to stay. He’d be a fool not to try, and Logan was no idiot.

“Don’t worry.” Hazel squeezed my hip. “They’ll come home.”

“I hope so.”

I couldn’t imagine them not being here and living with Hazel. As she got older, I worried about her alone in that cottage. But if Thea did stay in New York, I’d make sure Hazel was cared for.

“Are you here to check on me? Or to talk to Willa?” Hazel asked, cutting right to the chase.

I chuckled. “Both?”

She laughed too. “I’m glad you’re finally seeing what’s been in front of you all these years.”

“Me too.”

Maybe it wasn’t that I hadn’t been paying attention. Maybe it was the lonely ache in my chest I hadn’t felt for years making me realize I wanted something more.

“But Jackson?”

I looked down. “Yeah?”