Her Second Chance Family (Contemporary Romance)

by Holly Jacobs

  He shook his head. “My house is only a few miles from here. She’s got a bike?”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Audrey told him. But she knew what his follow-up question would be.

  “Clinton has a bike?”

  Audrey nodded.

  “She could have used that, or walked,” he said.

  It was true. Willow wasn’t a biker, but she had no doubt she could jump on Clinton’s bike and be at Sawyer’s in short order. “But how would she have gotten all her booty home if she was on a bike or even walking?”

  “Maybe she went with whoever was with her when she broke into my house.”

  Audrey knew he still believed Willow hadn’t acted alone. “She could have, but what did she say when you asked her?”

  “She denied it, obviously.”

  “Well, there you go, then.” Audrey knew from his tone that Sawyer didn’t believe Willow, but she did. “If she said she didn’t do it...”

  “Audrey, it can’t be that simple. She’s got a record. She was in the neighborhood. She knew my neighbors were gone for the week. I’m a banker, not a lawyer, but even I could make a case for it.”

  “But she said she didn’t do it. She’s smart. You even said so. Would a smart person break into a house in your neighborhood? She’d have to know she’d be the first one to be suspected.”

  That one stumped him. Finally, he said, “Maybe she hasn’t changed as much as I thought.”

  “She said she didn’t do it,” Audrey repeated. “You know, after your house, she confessed right away. She told the cops that she’d broken in. And in almost the six months she’s lived with me, she’s gotten annoyed, mad even. She’s complained. She’s hollered that we’re all up way too early and muttered hundreds of time that she doesn’t understand us. But. She. Has. Never. Lied. To. Us. To me,” she added.

  “Maybe she just saved that for me.” There was bitterness in his voice. Or maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe it was hurt. Maybe it hurt him to think that Willow would lie to him.

  And suddenly some of her anger faded. She patted his hand as she got up. “Wait here.” She went up the stairs and there was Willow, suitcase packed, sitting on her bed. “Did you do it?”

  “What do you want me to say?” Willow asked. There was resignation in her voice.

  “The truth, Willow. Did you break into Sawyer’s neighbors’ place?”

  Willow’s face was expressionless as she shook her head. “No.”

  “Did you tell someone that you’d picked up their mail for Mrs. Wilson last Monday and that you knew the family was on vacation?” Audrey asked.

  “No,” Willow said. There was no anger in the response. She didn’t bristle at the thought of being suspected.

  No, what Audrey saw was resignation. Sitting there, her suitcase packed, Willow expected to be blamed and sent away.

  Her heart broke a bit at the thought of Willow’s pain. But she asked one last question. “Do you think it could be the person who broke into Sawyer’s with you?”

  Willow didn’t answer that one.

  If she were telling a lie about breaking into Sawyer’s neighbors’ house, then another lie wouldn’t be a hardship. But Willow didn’t lie.

  “Would you tell me who it was?” Audrey asked softly.

  “No.”

  “But it wasn’t you.” This time she wasn’t asking; she was stating because she knew. She knew in her gut that Willow didn’t do it.

  She also knew that Willow probably did know who’d done it.

  When you were a kid, there was a code...you don’t rat on other kids.

  Even when one of the kids in a foster home stole her mom’s picture, Audrey had never told.

  When something happened in school, everyone might know who did it, but no one ever told the teachers.

  “It wasn’t me,” Willow said softly. She stood. “I’m ready whenever someone from social services gets here. Before I go, I want to thank you. You were nice to me. You never treated me like a burden or a job.”

  “That’s because you’ve never been either of those things to me. You’re part of my family, Willow. And if you say you didn’t do it, then you didn’t do it. You’re not going anywhere unless you want to.”

  Standing next to her packed suitcase, Willow gave way to tears. She sank to the floor, her body heaving with great, rasping cries. Audrey sank down next to her and wrapped Willow in her arms, holding her, crooning softly, “We love you, Willow. You’re a part of our family. And we’ll stand by you.” Over and over she said the words until Willow’s sobs eased.

  “I’m sure the police are going to want to talk to you and you do have to talk to them. And I think you should tell them who was with you at Sawyer’s...”

  “I never admitted anyone was with me,” she said, her voice muffled against Audrey’s shoulder.

  “But you never denied you had help. I’m not asking who was with you again, but I hope you realize what you should do about that. I know I’ve talked about making amends...”

  “Balancing my karma,” Willow said.

  Audrey smiled. “Yes. But maybe I should have talked about doing what’s right. You haven’t lied, and you’re making amends, but there’s also doing what’s right. Everything we do and don’t do has an impact on the people around us.”

  “You said I can’t control what other people do,” Willow said. “I’m not my brother’s keeper and all that.”

  “No, you aren’t and you can’t. But, Willow, is it right to know who did this and not say anything?”

  “I don’t know who broke into Sawyer’s neighbors’ house.”

  Again, Audrey noted that Willow was careful how she phrased things. “But you have your suspicions. And you do know who was with you when you broke into Sawyer’s. By not telling, you’re not only letting them hurt other people, you’re not giving them a chance to make amends, too.”

  Willow didn’t say anything.

  “You’ll just have to think about that and decide what the right thing is to do. I’m not going to ask you again who was with you. But I know you didn’t do this. I believe you. And even if you had done it, you wouldn’t be packing that suitcase. You’re mine.”

  Audrey didn’t think she could have explained it to someone if she tried. But as soon as she’d met Clinton she’d known he was hers. Same thing with Bea. And now with Willow. They were hers and she was theirs.

  And Sawyer? a small voice whispered in her head.

  She might have started to believe he was hers, but she would have been wrong.

  She shouldn’t have let herself get involved with him. But hindsight was twenty-twenty. She was going to refocus and remember that the kids and work were her priority. She couldn’t afford to get distracted again.

  She hugged Willow one more time. “You’re part of my family. And family doesn’t abandon family. So you unpack that suitcase and, when you’re done, put it up in the attic. You’re not leaving.”

  “I might not have a choice,” Willow said. “Sawyer thinks I did it. Mrs. Wilson thinks I did it. I’m sure my probation officer and the cops will think so, too.”

  “But you didn’t do it. The truth will win out.” Audrey forced herself to believe that.

  Willow snorted. “Only in this rainbow world you live in. The rest of us live in a place where things don’t always work out. We make mistakes and then spend the rest of our lives paying for them.”

  “I understand, in fact, I know exactly what you mean.” She got up and pulled Willow to her feet. “Unpack that suitcase. I’m going to go talk to Sawyer.”

  “Tell him I didn’t do it, but I don’t blame him at all for suspecting me.”

  Audrey nodded and started for the door, and as she reached the hallway she heard Willow add, “And tell him I said thank you for everything.�
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  There was a sense of finality in Willow’s words, but Audrey refused to think of Willow leaving because of this.

  Audrey went back downstairs.

  “So?” Sawyer asked. “If she confesses and tells us where the Mellons’ things are, I’ll try to talk them into not pressing charges.”

  “She didn’t do it,” Audrey stated flatly. Before he said a word, she could see that he didn’t believe her. That he didn’t believe Willow.

  “You can’t be that naive.” His voice was tinged with frustration.

  “Yes, I absolutely can be. Sawyer, she said she didn’t do it.”

  “She broke into my house,” he pointed out.

  Audrey didn’t know how to explain. “Yes, and she admitted to it. She’s gone out of her way to make it right.”

  He shook his head and sighed. “The cops will be coming over to talk to her.”

  “I expect they will,” Audrey agreed. Willow might have said she wasn’t angry at Sawyer, but Audrey was. She was very, very angry.

  “If she gets caught with any of their stuff...”

  “She won’t.” Audrey felt a complete certainty. It didn’t make sense, and she knew there was no way she’d ever be able to explain it to Sawyer.

  “What if you’re wrong?” he asked. “What if she did it?”

  Audrey considered his question. “If I’m wrong and Willow did do it? Then I’ll forgive her and we’ll go on from there. But she didn’t.”

  “I can’t be like you,” he said.

  “I don’t expect you to be,” she assured him.

  “About our date on...”

  “Take someone else, Sawyer. I can’t see you anymore.”

  “Audrey, I’ll try to forgive her,” he said.

  “Willow doesn’t need your forgiveness. She needs you in her corner. She needs you to believe her when she says she didn’t do it. If you can’t do that, then it’s best that we say goodbye now.”

  “I don’t want to say goodbye now, or ever.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  Audrey was careful not to kiss him back. She didn’t fight the kiss or pull away. If she was honest, she wanted this one last taste of Sawyer Williams. She wanted it as a memory to take out and savor when she missed him. She knew she would miss him and she wanted to remember him.

  “Please, Audrey.”

  Audrey hadn’t known, much less dated, Sawyer for long, but for the first time, she’d met someone she could see herself with in a month’s time, in a year’s...maybe even forever.

  “If it were just me, I’d say yes. I’d tell you that we’d figure it out. But Willow has to come first. You don’t understand what it’s like to never have that. To never know that you have people in your corner no matter what. Willow has already packed her suitcase.”

  Audrey felt the tears well in her eyes, but she was determined to get through this without crying. She blinked hard, pushing them back. “Willow needs me. She needs this family. She needs a sense of security. She needs our love. I never want this to happen again. She has to believe in her heart that she’s ours. I don’t want her pulling out that stupid suitcase every time she makes a mistake. Did you know that it has a secret compartment because everywhere she’s gone people have stolen her things?”

  “I’m sure...”

  “Don’t. You can’t imagine what it’s like to get shuffled from house to house but never find a home. Well, I can, and I won’t let that happen to Willow. She has me behind her. She has my trust. She has my love,” she added softly. “And she’s my priority. So are Clinton and Bea. And I’m sorry, but that means I can’t see you anymore.”

  “Audrey...” he started.

  But she kept on speaking. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get the kids and fill them in and Maggie on what’s been happening.”

  She didn’t wait for him to get back to his car. She didn’t want that image of him walking away to be her last one of him.

  So she crossed the lawn to reach Maggie’s.

  “Goodbye, Sawyer,” she said under her breath.

  She’d made her decision.

  * * *

  SAWYER WATCHED AUDREY head for Maggie May’s house. She didn’t turn around.

  He knew she wouldn’t.

  She felt she had to choose and she chose Willow and the kids.

  She was circling the family wagons...and he was on the outside.

  He couldn’t decide which of them was the fool. Audrey for believing Willow, or him for not at least giving Willow the benefit of the doubt in order to keep Audrey.

  He glanced up and saw the curtain at one of the windows move.

  He thought about Willow looking out at him. Willow packing her suitcase with its secret compartment.

  Willow swearing she hadn’t broken into the Mellons’.

  What if she was telling the truth? What if he’d just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him because he couldn’t believe this girl? And he wasn’t talking about just losing Audrey. He was talking about losing all of them.

  Audrey and the kids filled some hole in his life he hadn’t even known was there.

  When he pulled into his drive, Mrs. Wilson came running across the street at a speed that couldn’t be healthy for her. “So?” she said as soon as she was in earshot.

  “Willow said she didn’t do it,” he told her.

  “Did she say who broke into your house with her?”

  “No.”

  Mrs. Wilson nodded, as if that made perfect sense to her. “So what did you do?”

  “What could I do? I’d called Audrey and I waited for her. I told her what happened, then she went upstairs to talk to Willow.”

  “And?” his older neighbor pressed.

  “Willow said she didn’t do it and Audrey believed her.” He didn’t add, Then she practically said don’t let the door hit you in the ass when you leave.

  “But you don’t believe Willow?” Mrs. Wilson asked.

  “How could I?” He wanted to. God knew he wanted to. But given Willow’s history, he couldn’t. Audrey might believe that you could love someone into the person you wanted them to be, but he wasn’t sure that was true.

  “I don’t know,” Mrs. Wilson said slowly. “Willow didn’t lie to you or the cops before.”

  “She was caught red-handed. There was no room for lying.”

  “And then she worked to make restitution she didn’t have to make.”

  “She worked because Audrey insisted she balance her karma.” Even as he said the words, he realized he was selling Willow short. He was sure that’s how it had started. But somewhere along the line, she’d changed, and paying back meant something to her.

  Or maybe she’d come every week to scope out the neighborhood and find her next target.

  Mrs. Wilson gave him the same kind of look Audrey had. One that said she was disappointed in him. “Sawyer, you know Audrey better than I do, so correct me if I’m wrong, but... Audrey’s smart, right?”

  “Yes, she’s smart, but too trusting. She thinks she can love Willow straight.”

  “It seems to be going well so far. That girl never misses a visit and always works her butt off. She doesn’t lollygag around. She does a better job for me than the lawn service we’d both been using. I saw her at your pool party. She took a dinner plate down to her little sister so she didn’t have to get out of the pool. And she’s been telling me about Audrey’s new volunteer project. She’s been helping clear that lot, and even if she won’t admit it, I think she’s genuinely excited about the project. And she’s going to the animal rescue with Austen. She also reads,” she added with a defiant voice, as if the fact that Willow was into books was all the recommendation anyone should need. “All in all, I see a lovely, hardworking girl.”
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br />   “Who thinks it’s okay to steal,” he said, more as a reminder to himself than as an argument against Mrs. Wilson.

  His neighbor shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “You believe her.” It was an accusation. Because if Mrs. Wilson, who hardly knew Willow, believed in her, what did that say about him?

  Mrs. Wilson paused, as if coming to a decision. “Until I see any proof to the contrary, I believe that I do. And I intend to still have her over to mow on Mondays.”

  “The neighbors won’t like seeing her in the neighborhood.”

  Mrs. Wilson snorted. “When the neighbors start paying my mortgage and my taxes, they might have a say, but until then I don’t give a flying fig what they like.”

  Sawyer had never heard her so agitated.

  She turned around and went back across the street.

  There was nothing for Sawyer to do but return to his house and wonder how something that had been going so right had suddenly gone so wrong.

  * * *

  WILLOW WANTED TO listen to Audrey and unpack, but even if Audrey believed her, Willow wasn’t sure the cops would.

  So instead of unpacking, she simply pulled the huge, avocado-green suitcase off the bed, left it packed and slid it underneath again.

  Then she put her head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling until Audrey called her down for dinner.

  They all just sat down to dinner without saying much of anything. Audrey had made this quinoa vegetable salad. Willow imagined if Sawyer was here they’d both give each other a secret look. But he wasn’t and the salad tasted like sawdust, though Willow forced herself to eat it.

  The silence at the normally loud table was deafening. Willow had to assume that Audrey had told the kids. She was sure they thought she did it. She didn’t know what else she could do to prove she didn’t.

  She jumped when someone knocked on the door. Her stomach sank.

  “I’ll get it,” Audrey said.

  She came back with the cops.

  Well, one cop.

  “Sorry to interrupt your dinner, ma’am,” he said all nice and polite to Audrey. He was a younger guy and Willow didn’t like how he was looking at Audrey. Like he might like her if she gave him half a chance. “I’m Trooper Stevens and...”