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I inhale deeply to prepare myself, then walk around to my side, catching Seth as he waves his phone in the air, telling me to check mine. I consider ignoring him, but take a peek at the last second.
Seth: Don’t let the contract stuff distract you. Concentrate on Willow.
I almost laugh because now that Willow’s in front of me, I couldn’t care less about any of that. But I give him a wave anyway, hoping to ease his mind.
When I’m settled in my truck, I don’t waste any time, grabbing Willow’s headrest and turning to look out the rear window, catching sight of her body stiffening. I hate that my close proximity does that to her now, instead of making her melt. If only we could go back to that place.
We travel in complete silence until I pull into the parking lot of a quiet beach I often visit. As expected, there are no other cars here, so I park as close as possible to the sand, ensuring Willow gets a good view of the waves.
While this spot has become a sort of sanctuary for me of late, this time, I came for her, knowing she’s probably never spent time listening to the sounds of the ocean.
Willow gasps when she looks up from staring at her hands, and her eyes light up before she jumps out of the truck, walking straight to the sand.
“Wow,” she whispers, completely lost in the moment as I reach her, causing my chest to tighten. This is how we should be spending our time together. I should be showing Willow around, introducing her to my life. Not bringing her here to essentially end any chance I have with her.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I say, referring to both our views.
“It is. Pippa took me to the pier yesterday, but this is magic.”
Not magic enough to fix things, I’ll bet.
And here goes.
“I didn’t know you were coming that day,” I say quickly as the air rushes from my lungs. “Tate told me he was meeting some girl, and I was just there so he didn’t get bored while waiting.”
Willow’s eyes flash to mine, and any hint of happiness she had disappears in an instant.
Her loose-fitting tee blows around in the wind, causing the neck to fall from her shoulder and my gaze to lock on her bare skin as I swallow a lump in my throat.
“I’d seen you around town before,” I add, clenching my fist so I don’t reach out and touch her. “I didn’t know who you were, only that you weren’t from Mossman Hills. I’d guessed that you were probably from Hepburn, and it turns out, I was right.”
“I don’t need all the minor details,” Willow says like I’m boring her, even though her throat bobs.I see everything, Willow. You can’t hide.
“Got it.” I nod. “To the point.”I can do this.“On the mountain, we spent a bit of time together while Tate and Jade chatted, but then they had some kind of argument.” Willow’s eyes widen but she blinks quickly to hide it, letting me continue without a word. “Jade grabbed you and ran. She was so frantic that I took off after you, with Tate following close behind me.” I pause for a second, knowing I now have a decision to make—either give her the full truth, or leave her with enough for closure, minus the heartbreak—and it only takes one look in her eyes to decide on the latter.
“When we caught up, you and Jade were in a heated discussion. It looked like you were trying to step away, but she wasn’t letting you go.”
Willow’s brow furrows as her gaze drops to her hands, once again squeezing her fingers together.
My stomach knots to an uncomfortable level, but I keep going, because she deserves to know more.
“Tate called out and I rushed to stop her, but as I did, she—”
“She fell,” Willow says, cutting me off. “We both did. And you could only catch me.”
I nod, taking the easy way out, letting her believe her own words even though that’s not exactly what happened.
Willow shakes her head, finally allowing her feelings to come to the surface. “I knew you hadn’t done anything on purpose, but I just couldn’t figure out how we ended up close enough to the edge to fall.” She pauses before her eyes meet mine. “Why not come forward if it was an accident?” she asks, and it’s a valid question, but one that I can’t give an honest answer to. “Why make it look like you weren’t even there? What if I’d remembered all along?”
“We had planned to come forward,” I say, and it’s not exactly a lie. At least, I was prepared to after I thought things through. We wouldn’t have had a choice if Willow had spoken to the police. “But since you couldn’t remember anything, we left it alone.”
Willow shakes her head again, this time with a frown as she looks to the sand. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Of course it doesn’t, because there’s more to it.
She looks up again and my eyes lock with hers, the hurt in her expression breaking me. But what’s worse is that I know the whole truth will likely shatter her beyond repair…and I can’t bring myself to do that to her.
Because it wasn’t me that caused Jade to fall that day. And it’s going to destroy her when she finds out the truth.
