by Terri Osburn
“Did you say Jeffrey Hillcrest? The up-and-coming politician from Back Bay? He’s the epitome of old money in this town.” Rebecca opened the papers now, scanning their contents. “Is this for real?”
Jeffrey had hinted at political aspirations while they were dating. Another reason Will hadn’t believed their marriage would work. She could never be a politician’s wife.
“This is very real. But that information leaves with me unless you agree to one small request.” If Rebecca didn’t agree, plan A was dead in the water. Thankfully, the reporter was practically salivating over the papers in her hand.
“You can’t tease me with this and then take it away,” she said. “Is this guy what you were running from?”
“The request is simple,” Will said. “Write another article about me, stating that I came forward to claim my inheritance, then left the country immediately for parts unknown to avoid the media spotlight. Hint that I might be somewhere in South America or Asia. Wherever you want, so long as people believe I’m out of the country.”
Smiling now, Rebecca sat back in her chair. “Why didn’t you give this story to someone else? I can’t be your favorite person right now.”
“You’re hungry. You’re smart enough to do the homework required.” Will raised one brow. “And you owe me.”
With a nod, the reporter stood and offered her hand. “It was nice to meet you, Maria Van Clement. I hear you have a plane to catch for Buenos Aires. You should probably get going so you don’t miss it.”
Will slid her hand into the one offered. “Don’t be silly. A woman with my money never flies commercial.”
“Touché,” Rebecca said with a laugh. When they reached the door, she sobered. “I’ll make sure this guy never gets to you again. Can I ask where you really intend to go?”
Feeling true relief for the first time in longer than she cared to think about, Will said one word.
“Home.”
CHAPTER 26
The small wedding party hovered inside the front door of Anchor Adventures, waiting for what would hopefully be a brief shower to pass. With Will’s departure, Randy was now escorting Kinzie down the aisle, which put Manny on edge. Watching the young man squirm made Randy smile, and he’d had little reason to do so this week.
“Did the radar look like this was moving out?” Beth asked, holding on to Joe and chewing on her bottom lip. “Please tell me this will all be gone by tomorrow.”
“Last I checked, we looked due for a clearing.” Randy didn’t have the heart to answer the second question. According to the forecast, Beth and Joe were going to have a soggy wedding day.
“Relax,” Joe said, even-keeled as always. “Rain or shine, we’re getting married. And that’s all that matters.”
“But—” she began.
Joe set a finger over her lips. “That’s all that matters.”
Beth calmed, smiling into her fiancé’s eyes. “You’re right. That’s all that matters.”
The pair beamed, looking as if everyone else in the room had disappeared. Randy felt as if he were intruding on something personal and wandered off without the couple noticing.
“How you holding up, big guy?” asked Sid, shoving a red, plastic cup into his hand. “Hear anything yet?”
Sid had asked him this question every day. As if it were a given that Will would call or send an e-mail or a smoke signal maybe. Randy wasn’t sure when his sister became such an optimist, but he indulged her mostly because it was the easiest thing to do.
“Not yet. You?” he asked, knowing the answer would be the same.
“Nah.” His sister stared into her cup as he raised his to his lips.
Catching a whiff of the contents, Randy stopped and said, “What the hell is in here?”
“Jack,” she said, as if handing him a cup of straight whiskey at three in the afternoon were normal. “Call it fortification.”
“Call it something I’m not going to drink.” Randy set the cup behind the counter to throw away later. “Tell me you have something less alcoholic in that cup.” He gestured toward the Solo cup in her hand.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to hear as long as you leave me and my cup alone.”
As Sid tilted the plastic for another drink, Lucas appeared, swiping it out of her hand. Ignoring his protesting girlfriend, he said, “Great weather for a wedding, don’t you think?” and placed the cup next to Randy’s. “Any chance we’ll get out there soon? The natives are getting restless, and the preacher has a book club meeting in an hour.”
“Book club?” Randy and Sid said in unison.
“The answer involves hobbits so I didn’t press.” Lucas leaned toward the front window, squinting up at the sky. “Looks like we have a window of opportunity here. Better grab it.”
Within minutes, the small gathering had taken their places on the lower portion of the deck. Joe stood at the front with the preacher, while Sid, Lucas, Randy, Kinzie, and Beth lingered at the back. Tom escorted Patty to their seats in the front row. Instead of a bride’s side and a groom’s side, there would be a sign telling guests to sit wherever they liked, as there were no sides in this union, only one large island family.
That had been Will’s touch, Randy learned. One of many reminders about how much she’d done to make this day special for Beth and Joe. It was a shame she wouldn’t be there to see her efforts come to fruition.
Right. That’s why he wanted her to come back. To see the wedding.
Not because he missed her so bad it felt as if someone had ripped his heart out and mounted it on a pike.
Dragging his brain back to the task at hand, Randy offered an arm to Kinzie and escorted the pretty little baker down the aisle. Manny looked tense until the bridesmaid went her way and Randy joined Joe on the other side. Lucas and Sid were next, and then Beth took the walk by herself.
There had been much discussion about who would give the bride away, but in the end, she’d opted to go it alone, saying she could give herself away and didn’t need any man to do it for her. No one argued after that.
Beth had reached the front row when Sid said, “Ho. Ly. Shit.”
The entire rehearsal looked her way, then followed Sid’s gaze to the upper deck. A tall redhead lingered there, wearing an expensive-looking blue dress and large sunglasses. Sunlight broke through a cloud, glistening off the shiny tan heels.
As they all stared, wondering who would have the nerve to crash Beth and Joe’s rehearsal, the woman removed her sunglasses, revealing familiar blue eyes Randy would know anywhere.
Holy shit was right.
Will wasn’t sure what to do next. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought far beyond this moment. She’d hoped to arrive earlier, to catch Sid and Beth alone first, but she had hit the Friday traffic through the Outer Banks, which added significant time to the drive. Maybe this way was for the best.
This way, she would know if there was a chance for her here. If this family of her heart would let her back into the fold. Not that she wouldn’t have to earn their trust again, but she was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her eyes from straying to Randy. Wearing khakis and a dark blue polo shirt, his eyes bore through her, as if determining if she were real or some twisted product of his imagination. The anger was there, but not the hatred she’d feared. Will took that as an encouraging sign.
Beth said something close to Joe’s ear. He nodded and she walked down the aisle in Will’s direction. Randy moved at the same time, but Joe’s hand on his arm held him in place. Will had no doubt Joe’s actions were in direct response to whatever Beth had whispered.
“Hi,” Beth said, joining Will on the higher deck.
“Hi,” Will said, feeling vulnerable and on the edge of breaking apart. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about the timing.”
“Of when you left or this unexpected return?” Beth asked.
The wind blew a wisp of hair across Will’s face.
She brushed it away as a cloud drifted in front of the sun. “Both,” she replied, her eyes once again going to Randy. He watched her intently, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I panicked. That’s no excuse, but it’s the truth.”
A second passed before Beth asked, “Do I have to call you Maria now?”
A flicker of hope ignited in Will’s chest. “No. I’m still Willow.”
Beth smiled softly. “You don’t look like Willow.”
She looked down at herself, tucking another wind-blown lock behind her ear. “A temporary necessity,” she said. “This is my best effort at going incognito.”
Turning to the wedding party again, Beth said, “I think there are some people down there who want to talk to you. Joe will hold Randy as long as he can, but my guess is that power will run out very soon.”
“Does he hate me?” Will asked.
On a sigh, her friend said, “You hurt him. A lot. But Randy isn’t the kind of man who could hate anyone, especially not the woman he loves.”
Will slid her sunglasses back into place. “I hope you’re right,” she said, stepping toward the parking lot. “I’ll wait for him.”
Will reached her car, then leaned on the front fender to wait. The VW Bus had been replaced by a silver Chevy Malibu. As she now had enough money to buy yachts and ride around in limousines, one new car hadn’t seemed like much of a splurge.
From over her shoulder, she heard Beth yell, “Let him go,” and knew the next few moments would determine the rest of her life.
Randy found Will leaning against the front fender of a shiny new Chevy Malibu, staring at the stone beneath her expensive-looking shoes. She was an heiress now. He needed to remember that. The down-to-earth bartender was long gone. In fact, had never existed.
The woman he’d loved had never existed.
“Why did you come back?” he asked, foregoing a friendly greeting. He wasn’t feeling very friendly at the moment. Even if every nerve ending in his body was screaming out to hold her.
Without looking up, Will said, “Because this is my home.” She removed the sunglasses and met his eye. “And because of you.”
Hands fisted by his sides, Randy ignored her second statement. “Your home is a mansion in Boston,” he said. “That’s what the news says, anyway. The long-lost heiress returned to claim her fortune. Right, Maria?”
“Parsons was my father’s last name,” she said, her voice calm. “My mother started calling me Willow when I was nine years old. It’s been my name ever since.” Pulling away from the car, she added, “Willow Parsons is who I am. Much more than Maria Van Clement will ever be.”
He hadn’t expected there to be a string of truth in the Willow he’d known. Regardless, the woman standing before him might as well have been a stranger. “So you didn’t lie by virtue of a technicality.” Randy nodded. “Convenient.”
“I don’t blame you for being angry,” she said, crossing her arms and clutching the sunglasses against her side. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. What I put in the note was true. That’s something I never wanted to do. If I could go back a week, I’d do things differently. But I can’t.”
She stepped to the car door and reached for the handle. “I’d like to stay for the wedding, but after tomorrow, I’ll leave Anchor for good if that’s what you want.” She stood behind the open door, the light dimmed in her eyes. “My best todays will always be the ones I spent with you.”
The words nearly brought him to his knees. Letting her climb into that car and drive away was the hardest thing Randy had ever done. And quite possibly the stupidest.
Sitting on the balcony of her Anchor Inn hotel room, Will contemplated where she would go next. Boston wasn’t an option, especially since Maria was supposed to be out of the country. Through the family lawyer, she’d learned of a distant cousin with a wife and four kids. Will had always thought the sweeping Victorian where her mother had grown up needed a real family to bring it to life.
She respected the Van Clements enough not to sell the ancestral home, but that didn’t mean she had to live in it herself. Roger Van Clement and his brood had agreed to take up residence, which had solved the dilemma of what to do with a vacant mansion.
Now, what to do with a heartbroken heiress? That was a tougher problem to solve. Will wanted to live on Anchor. Maybe start an accounting business, though the thought of doing everyone’s taxes didn’t sound all that fun anymore. And it seemed after her landlord had learned of her hasty departure from the island, he’d had her cottage emptied and the locks changed.
A bit extreme considering she’d only been gone for five days, but she was currently homeless nonetheless.
There were other islands along the coast. Perhaps she could go find Miss Johnny in Myrtle Beach and learn how to knit.
But the other islands didn’t have Randy. And knitting didn’t sound any more attractive than endless tax forms.
As she let the sadness take over, Will stopped thinking about the future. Stopped trying to be optimistic about some newly invented future. Instead, she closed her eyes and saw Randy. His eyes dark and drawn. The shadows beneath revealing he’d lost sleep since she’d left. The hurt that made his words tight and bitter. He’d ignored the part about her coming back for him. Which she deserved. If she’d cared, if she’d really meant the things she’d said, why had she left him in the first place?
Will had been asking herself that question for days and wasn’t any closer to an answer now than she’d been on that plane flying into Boston on Sunday night. A lifetime alone ingrained certain habits. Certain reactions. Maybe she wouldn’t change any of it. The events of the last week had given Will something back. Not only her life, but herself.
It wasn’t the money that had given her the power. It was her bond with this place. Her love for Randy that made her willing to find a way. Determined even. Whether he ever spoke to her again or not, Randy gave her the gift of strength she’d needed to face her demons. She’d always love him for that.
Tears blurred the moon in the distance. The stars looked like disco lights, spinning as she blinked the moisture away. At least the stars were a good sign. That meant the clouds had cleared, and Beth and Joe might have sunshine for their big day.
Will stepped inside to grab a tissue when a knock sounded at the door and a voice from the other side yelled, “Room service!”
She hadn’t ordered anything from room service, which meant the waiter had the wrong room. Will opened the door to clear up the mistake, but instead of a waiter and cart, she found Randy holding a small white box.
Will froze, unable to speak or even breathe. All she could do was stare at the gorgeous man filling the doorway to her room.
“Can I come in?” he asked. No anger accompanied the request. No tense jaw or heated glare.
“Um…Sure.” Will stepped back, allowing Randy to enter and move past her. The fresh scent of his aftershave was like a punch in the gut. She tucked her hands beneath her armpits to keep from touching him.
Randy set the white box on the counter between the tiny kitchenette and a seating area. Will had splurged and reserved a suite.
“Rooms are nice,” he said, taking in the decor as if this weren’t a moment of great consequence. “Sam did a good job with the place.”
“Yes,” she said, feeling as if she’d been sucked into a weird movie in which nothing made sense. “He seems to know what he’s doing.” Not the best line in the script, but Will was too off balance to make intelligent conversation. “How did you find me?” she asked, her best effort at not asking why he was there.
“Small island,” Randy said. “I was surprised to see you today.” He crossed the room to the open balcony doors. “Nice view.”
If he was trying to confuse her, the man was doing a bang-up job.
“I should have called first,” she said, moving closer, but keeping a good distance between them. “The week was a little crazy, and I didn’t have much chance to stop and think through how to handle this.”
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“I thought about it a lot,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb, his eyes focused on something in the distance. “Nothing about today played out the way I imagined.”
Will could only guess at what he’d imagined. “Should I ask if it was better or worse?”
He finally looked her way. “A little of both. I stopped breathing when I realized it was you. That part I’d expected.”
Still not a clear answer. Will felt as if she were swimming through quicksand, unable to get a grip on anything solid. “Seeing you was wonderful for me,” she said. “Bittersweet, but still wonderful.”
“I wanted to protect you,” he said, stepping onto the balcony. “You were this wounded thing that I could nurture back to health.” Leaning on the railing, he glanced over his shoulder. “I didn’t realize until today that you didn’t need protecting. You were wounded, but when the time came, you took care of yourself.”
“Thanks to you.” Will joined him at the railing. “I took care of myself because I had a reason to fight. You were that reason. You gave me the strength I needed to get my life back, and you deserved more from me than a note.”
Randy turned until his body was facing hers. “It was a pretty good note, though. As far as ‘I’m leaving you’ notes go.”
“You think?” she said, feeling a knot untangling in her chest. “It was a hard note to write. Took me a couple tries.”
Instead of answering, Randy smiled and Will thought he might reach for her. But then he strolled back into the room. “Sid told me once that a woman expected gifts as part of being wooed. Ignoring the fact that Sid is a complete cynic, or possibly because of it, I’ve since decided to take her advice.”
Before Will could wrap her head around the possibility that Randy was talking about wooing her, the man lifted the small white box he’d carried in and held it before her. “This is for you.”