Test Drive: Road Tripping Series

by Samantha Chase

  “Why must you be so difficult?” The exasperation in her mother’s tone was blatant and obvious. “This is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.”

  “I have a job, Mom.”

  “Oh, please, you babysit and walk dogs, Willow. Those two things combined barely constitute a part-time job. You’re not making enough money to survive on your own. It’s not possible.”

  “The Moores hired me as a full-time nanny for Josh,” she stated. “I’m making a great hourly wage, working thirty-five hours a week, and I’m still walking the dogs. So really, I’m doing just fine! This is exactly the kind of job I was hoping to find.”

  “Since when?” her mother demanded. “This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

  “That’s because you never ask, Mom. You never want to hear what it is that I want, you’re only interested in telling me what you want me to do and how I need to be listening to you and dad and coming to work for you. Well, maybe now you’ll listen. Maybe now you’ll hear me.”

  “This is ridiculous. Maybe your father can talk some sense into you.”

  “No, Mom! Don’t…”

  But she already heard the muffled voices and knew any minute her father would be…

  “What in the world is this your mother is telling me about you being a nanny!”

  “Oh, hey, Dad. How are you?”

  “Don’t how are you to me, missy! I asked you a question!”

  “And I asked you one,” she challenged, picturing him going a little purple and the vein in his neck bulging a big at her insolent tone.

  “I will not have you talking to me this way! I knew dating that bartender was going to cause this! I just knew it!”

  “This isn’t about Levi, Dad. This is about you showing me some respect.”

  “Respect? Respect?! Young lady, maybe you’ve forgotten who is the parent here and who is the child!”

  Go big or go home, Willow…

  Wait. I am home. Does that still apply?

  “Well?” he demanded.

  “Can we please focus on the fact that I am no longer a child?” she said loudly. “I am a grown woman and I fully believe that respect is earned! You do not get it just for being my father and especially when you certainly don’t respect me!”

  “I have had just about enough of this tone from you. You need to apologize!”

  “Um…no. I believe you do.”

  “Willow…”

  “No, I’m serious, Dad. I am an adult and I am perfectly capable of finding my own job and knowing what it is that I want to do with my life! It may have taken me a while, but I have always known what it was that I didn’t want to do! You never listen! No one ever listens!”

  “And I’m done listening now!”

  “Why? Because you’re not getting your way? Because I’m not falling in line with what you want? Well, newsflash, Dad, that’s not how grownups act! You don’t get to run away because you’re not getting what you want!”

  Silence.

  “Now, I’m sorry that you don’t agree with my career choice, but it was never your choice to make. It’s mine. I never should have agreed to study psychology. It was never something I wanted to do. Maybe someday I’ll go back to school and get my degree in early childhood education, but for right now, I’m good. And as my parents, you should be proud of me for following my dreams and for finding a job that excites me!”

  He let out a low, almost sinister laugh that she did not take as a good sign.

  “I get it,” he said quietly, almost menacingly. “I finally figured it out.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You and this nanny thing. Now that you’re dating a guy who owns his own business, he’s taking care of you. Encouraging you to take on a low-demand job you so you’re available whenever he wants to see you.”

  “What in the world are you talking about? Are you drunk right now?”

  “Don’t you dare talk to me like that! I am still your father!”

  “Um…”

  “I guess dating a rich guy who owns a pub so you don’t have to pay your own way works for you. And that makes me ashamed of you. You’re a smart woman, far too smart to be working in such a menial job. But…since your boyfriend owns his own business…”

  “Why do you keep saying that?”

  And then it hit her.

  Levi’s talk with her father back at Gammy’s.

  No doubt he just told her father that to get him off his back. Poor baby. Wait until she told him about this crazy conversation.

  “Uh, yeah, Dad. That’s what it is. Levi owns the pub and makes great money and it was all part of my evil plan to get out of working with you and Mom. You’re a genius.”

  “Willow!”

  “You know what? I think we both need some time to calm down. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye!”

  She hung up and immediately turned the phone off to avoid any immediate callbacks.

  But it also meant Levi couldn’t get through, so…

  She still left it off for a little while.

  Her heart was back to racing again–and hopefully it was just because of nerves and not because she suddenly developed some sort of heart condition or was having a heart attack–but Willow forced herself to go into the kitchen and make herself something for dinner.

  Her appetite wasn’t the best, and she was borderline nauseous, but she knew by the time she was done cooking that she’d feel better.

  Or will have thrown up and need food to fill her empty stomach.

  Either way, she was going to make the shrimp tacos she had planned on making.

  Thirty minutes later, she was sitting at her kitchen table and scrolling through her Instagram feed for entertainment. There wasn’t much going on, but it was always fun to see if Doug the Pug shared anything new or where Popeye the Foodie Dog was eating today. It was a brainless way to pass the time and provided enough smiles to get her through her dinner–which was delicious.

  Once she was done, she thought about going to McGee’s and seeing Levi, but she had a feeling he’d be busy and she was honestly too tired to go and then wait for the pub to close. Instead, she sent him a text to let him know she was thinking about him and would see him tomorrow.

  Although, she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she told him how her father carried on about him owning the bar. Just thinking about it made her chuckle. No wonder her father had changed his tune that day at Gammy’s.

  Yeah, there would be plenty of time to laugh about it tomorrow.

  “Hey, there’s my beautiful girl! This is a surprise!” Levi came around the bar late Friday afternoon. It was only four o’clock and Willow didn’t normally come in until some time after seven. Kissing her, he said, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  She took her seat on her favorite stool at the end of the bar and smiled. “Mr. Moore came home early today, and I figured I’d take advantage of the time to come in and see if maybe we could grab an early dinner together.” Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” he admitted, resting his forehead against hers. “I think I can handle an early dinner. What are you in the mood for?”

  She gave him a sexy smile and hoped they were on the same wavelength. Maybe if they went back to his place–even for a quickie–she could convince him not to come back here tonight and call in sick or something.

  “Food,” he murmured, kissing her.

  So much for being a seductress…

  “In that case, how about some…”

  The sound of a loud crash in the kitchen made them both jump, and Levi immediately turned and excused himself.

  With a sigh, Willow rested her arms on the bar and looked around. There were just a handful of people here to eat and she was the only one sitting at the bar.

  “Hey, Willow! How’s it going?”

  “Hey, Anthony!” She sat up and smiled. “What happened back there?”

  Groaning, he explaine
d, “Dex. Dex is what happened back there. I swear, that guy is a damn mess. I don’t know why Levi keeps him. I mean, I’m all for giving people second chances, but this is like his eighteenth. Levi’s losing money hand over fist because of this. He’s had to restock most of the dishes and glasses. It’s crazy.”

  Levi was losing money?

  “So…uh…Levi’s in charge of hiring and firing?”

  Anthony looked at her funny. “Well, yeah. He’s in charge of everything.”

  She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  Swallowing hard, she said, “Because he’s the…manager?”

  “Willow, Levi owns the place. He’s literally in charge of it all. And he’s a really kick-ass boss–seriously the best guy I’ve ever worked for–but he’s got a soft heart. I know it will kill him to fire Dex. But hopefully, he’ll just rip it off like a band-aid and move on. We need help in the kitchen that aren’t total klutzes.” He chuckled. “Levi’s really a softie when it comes to them. Just like his grandfather was.”

  It was like she could feel the color draining from her face.

  “Hey, Willow? You okay?” he asked, concerned.

  “I…uh…I’m fine.”

  There was yelling coming from the kitchen and Anthony excused himself, leaving Willow beyond hurt and confused.

  Not that Anthony walked away, but because of the revelations.

  Holy crap…the revelations.

  Why would he tell my father the truth and not me?

  It took all of three seconds for Anthony’s words to come back to her.

  Because Levi’s a softie when it comes to klutzes.

  And I am their queen.

  Muttering a curse, Willow slid off the stool and walked out of the pub. There was still a lot of commotion going on in the kitchen and she really didn’t think she could handle talking to Levi right now.

  And definitely not for a while.

  Running out to her car, she pulled up the group text on her phone with Jen and Donna.

  Willow: 9-1-1. Change of plans. Meet me at my place. And someone bring pizza.

  Getting the mess in the kitchen straightened out took far longer than Levi had planned, and when he walked back out to the bar, Willow was gone. He didn’t think anything of it; figured she realized he had some stuff to deal with and he wouldn’t be able to do an early dinner. However, he firmly believed she’d be back at her usual time with the girls.

  But…she didn’t.

  And when he tried calling her, it went right to voicemail.

  It wasn’t like her to get upset over something so trivial or without trying to talk it out with him, but obviously she was more pissed off than he realized.

  Unfortunately, there was no way he could leave the pub tonight. They were shorthanded, the kitchen was a disaster, and Friday nights were notoriously busy.

  Never before had he watched the clock with so much frustration, and once it hit midnight, he was shooing people out the door.

  “You okay, Boss?” Anthony asked. “I mean, I get that you’re still pissed about the whole kitchen incident, but you’ve been a little short with everyone tonight.”

  Raking a hand through his hair, breathe sighed. “Yeah, uh…sorry. I guess I’m distracted. Willow left and I can’t get her on the phone, so I’m worried that something’s up.”

  “She seemed a little confused by what happened earlier.”

  Levi immediately stopped wiping down the bar. “What do you mean?”

  “It was a little weird. She couldn’t understand why you were in charge of so much around here or why you were going to have to fire Dex.”

  “What? At that point, I didn’t know I was firing Dex.”

  Anthony leveled him a stern look. “Dude, really? We both knew that was coming.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Why would you mention that to Willow?”

  He shrugged. “She asked what happened, and we started talking, and it was like she had no idea you owned the place.”

  “You told her I owned the place?” he shouted and knew how crazy he sounded.

  “Well…yeah. I thought she knew. You guys have been hanging out a lot and you’re dating now, so I thought it was common knowledge.”

  The string of curses was out of his mouth before he could stop them. “I need to go. Can you lock up?”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  Running back to his office, Levi grabbed his keys and was sprinting past the bar when Anthony called out to him. “What?”

  “I’m sorry, man. Really. I had no idea she didn’t know.”

  But all Levi could do was wave him off because he had more important matters to attend to.

  The drive to Willow’s apartment took less than fifteen minutes and it wasn’t until he had parked the car that he realized he should have thought a little harder about this plan. He parked in front of her door and wondered just what the hell he was supposed to say. He could apologize, he could swear he’d never lie to her again, but was the damage already done? From everything he knew about her, she was a very forgiving person, but that was with her family. How was she going to be with him?

  He looked toward the door and saw Jen and Donna walking out.

  Shit.

  Maybe it was just a coincidence, but he had a feeling their exiting the apartment at the same time he pulled up was fully planned.

  Okay, do I sit here in the car and wait them out or…

  The two of them came to stand at the hood of his car, arms crossed, and looking all kinds of pissed off.

  Waiting them out? Not an option.

  With a weary sigh, he climbed from the car and forced a smile on his face. “Ladies.”

  “Please, don’t try to be all charming with us,” Donna said loudly. “Because it won’t work!”

  He didn’t think that one word came across as being charming, but…okay.

  “How dare you come here in the middle of the night after what you did!” Jen said, equally loud, and Levi had to wonder if all the neighbors were going to come out and join the discussion.

  And knowing how much everyone in the complex loved Willow, no doubt it would turn into an angry mob instantly.

  Taking a step forward, he decided to keep his voice softer in hopes of them following suit. “Okay, I get it. I screwed up. But I really need to talk to Willow.”

  “Oh, now you want to talk to Willow?” Donna demanded, still loud. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait another seven or eight hours? Maybe another day? Or hey, maybe even another month?” She took a menacing step toward him.

  At least, he imagined she thought she was menacing.

  “Yeah, you had months–lots of months to tell her the truth,” Jen chimed in. “And you thought coming here at this hour was the perfect time? Well…screw you!”

  “Hey, shut up down there!”

  They all turned to see where the voice was coming from, and while Jen yelled back, Levi did his best to get everyone to quiet down. When he reached out and touched Donna’s arm, she smacked him away.

  “You don’t get to come here to our best friend’s home and tell us what to do!” This time she wasn’t quite yelling, but she wasn’t being particularly quiet either.

  “And screw you too, buddy!” Jen shouted to the anonymous voice. “We’ll quiet down when we’re done putting Mr. Lying Liarson in his place!”

  “Um…”

  “In case you didn’t get the reference, she was talking about you.”

  “Uh, yeah. I got that.”

  “Oh, so you know you’re a liar, and yet here we are arguing about it,” Jen said, rejoining the conversation.

  “I didn’t think that was exactly what we were fighting about,” he argued carefully.

  “Don’t try to get us on a technicality, Levi. We’re arguing about you being a liar and everything that goes with it.”

  This was getting him nowhere.

  “If I could just talk to Willow for five minutes…just to apologize…”

  “She d
oesn’t want to talk to you,” Jen stated firmly, arms crossed again. “And even if she did, she wouldn’t believe anything you had to say anymore.”

  “I’d really like to hear that from Willow…”

  “Aren’t you listening?” This coming from Donna. Honestly, it was like watching a tennis match trying to keep up with these two. “You’re not going to get to talk to her tonight. Or any other night until she decides to. Which she won’t. We won’t let her.”

  “Hey, wait…”

  “We can’t totally stop her from talking to him,” Jen said, looking at Donna. “It’s not like we can babysit her twenty-four hours a day.”

  Donna glanced at him and then back to Jen before whispering, “Yeah, I know that, but he doesn’t.” She huffed. “Why would you bring that up with him standing right here?”

  “What? I just think it was a pretty bold statement for you to make and not even a little bit believable.”

  “Oh, I’m not believable? What would you have said then? Go ahead. Tell me what great words of wisdom you would have said to get him to go away.”

  It would be wrong of him to point out that not only could he hear them, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

  At least, not yet.

  He stood by patiently for another minute before he decided to go to the source. Casually, Levi made his move to walk around them only to stop in his tracks.

  Willow had opened her door and was coming toward him.

  “Willow,” he said urgently, going to her. “I’m so sorry. Really. Can we just…”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “I appreciate you stopping by, Levi, but…”

  “No,” he interrupted quickly. “No buts. Please. Just give me five minutes.”

  But she shook her head. “No,” she said sadly. “Not tonight. I just…I can’t.”

  He heard the sadness, the disappointment in her voice, and it gutted him. His first instinct was to go and hold her, hug her, and never let her go, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t get him far and then there’d definitely be an angry mob on him.

  “Just go, Levi,” she whispered. “This is all just too much.”

  “You have to know…I never meant to hurt you. It wasn’t supposed to…”