“This is a difficult situation,” Dr. Saul continued. “And, believe me, Mr. Holmes, I take no pleasure in the thought of losing a student like Liliana. She has been a model Golden Eagle for most of her years at St. Katherine. It’s only these last few months that things have taken a turn.” She directed her attention to Lily. “I wish you would have come to me, Liliana.”
Guilt overwhelmed him as he took in his daughter’s sullen expression. Lily had pulled a few hijinks over the years, but she’d never been a problem child. In fact, compared to most teenagers, she’d been exceptional. Good grades, no back talk, a willingness to pitch in and help Athens with his homework. She even helped with housework outside of the chores she was assigned.
But things had started to change a few months ago. Well before he moved out, Harrison sensed that Lily had known that something wasn’t right between him and Willow. Her attitude had turned snotty, and she’d started spending more time at her friends’ or in her room.
But fighting? He never would have expected this from the sweet girl they’d raised.
Dr. Saul ended the meeting and Lily was allowed to go to her locker to clean it out—in case she wasn’t allowed to return after the testing.
Goodness, his daughter was getting kicked out of school!
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Harrison said as he stood outside the main office with Willow.
“This is our fault,” she whispered. She looked up at him. “You know that, don’t you?”
“No.” Harrison shook his head. “Lily is almost sixteen. She knows better than this. She knows fighting is not how you solve your problems.”
Walking away and not talking wasn’t how you solved them either, but this didn’t seem like the time to bring that up.
“She’s acting out,” Willow argued. “She’s been doing it for weeks, and it has just gotten worse since you left.” She shook her head. “I should have seen something like this coming.”
“How could you?”
“Because she’s my daughter! It’s my job to notice these things, Harrison!”
“Willow—” He reached for her but she took a step back. A knife to his gut couldn’t have hurt any worse than her reaction to his near touch. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and wrapped a vise around his heart.
Willow hugged her upper body, rubbing her arms as if cold. “I should have seen it,” she repeated in a soft murmur. “I’ve noticed her changing. I just didn’t think it would escalate into something like this.” She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “We’re going to have to sit her down and talk to her.”
“That goes without saying,” Harrison pointed out.
She looked up at him. “And we’ll have to really pay close attention to her these next few weeks.”
Her words caused a sickening feeling to immediately settle in his gut. He didn’t have to tell her that it would be difficult to pay close attention to Lily from thousands of miles away next week. Unless…
“Don’t do this, Willow.”
“Harrison, we can’t—”
“No.”
She held her hands out in a plea. “How can you expect me to take off on some last-minute vacation when my daughter is clearly going through issues that we caused?”
“Don’t!” He clamped his hands on her shoulders and locked eyes with her. “I won’t let you use this as an excuse to back out of this trip, Willow. You said it yourself, our separation is the reason she’s acting out. Going to Italy together and figuring out what went wrong between us is exactly what we should do.”
Her head jerked back, accusation flashing in her topaz eyes. “I thought you said this trip wasn’t some magic pill?”
Harrison let go of her shoulders and took a step back. He noticed Lily walking toward them out of the corner of his eye.
“We can finish this later,” he said.
“No, let’s finish it now.” Willow crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me the truth, Harrison, is that the reason you booked this trip? Are you expecting us to go to Italy and miraculously fix everything broken in our marriage?”
He leaned in close and, in a fierce whisper, said, “I already told you I booked this trip a year ago, well before you decided being married to me was the worst fucking thing in the world.”
She flinched and he immediately regretted ever opening his mouth.
“Shit,” he cursed. “I’m sorry.” He ran a hand down his face.
“You’re right,” she murmured. “We can finish this later.”
“Willow.” Her name tore from his throat in a desperate plea.
She took several steps back. “You need to get back to work. And I need to get Lily home.”
“We’re going to talk about this, right? You’re not just going to shut me out?” Harrison hastily asked as Lily approached.
Willow’s gaze darted toward their daughter. “Everyone is coming to the house tomorrow to talk about the kickoff party,” she said in a low tone. “We’ll talk then.”
What else could he say? It’s not as if he could force her to talk to him. And they didn’t need to hash any of this out in front of Lily anyway. His daughter had enough to worry about.
“Okay,” Harrison answered with a simple nod.
But the sinking feeling in his gut told him that everything was definitely not okay.
Chapter Five
As she held the butterfly pose—soles of her feet together and knees spread apart—Willow stared down at her cellphone, eyes focused on the text she’d received a few minutes ago. She read it for what had to be the fifth time in the last sixty seconds and still had no idea how to answer.
No, she definitely knew how she should answer. She just wasn’t ready to type out the words.
Hey! Will be in town next week. Dinner again?
It was an innocent invitation from an old friend, as innocent as the last invite he’d extended. Marcus Ewing undoubtedly had no clue how much anxiety those nine words had whipped up inside her. He had no earthly idea how the aftermath from their last dinner had upended her world. The profound way it had affected her, turning a simple meal between friends into one of those milestones she would likely look back upon decades from now and pinpoint as a watershed moment along her journey through life.
Months later and Willow was still trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. In ways it had changed her for the better, kindling long-buried hopes and dreams she hadn’t thought about in years. But in the same way that night had shone a light on what had been missing, compelling her to question the choices she’d made and invoking an unjust resentment toward her husband and marriage.
So why was she so tempted to say yes?
She set the phone on the floor and covered her face in her hands. “My God, Willow,” she breathed.
Had she not learned anything? She’d spent the past eight months drowning in guilt over the feelings that first dinner had sparked. How could she possibly consider putting herself in that situation again?
Her phone dinged with another text message. It was Marcus again.
Is Harrison in town? Maybe he can join us this time?
Willow released her yoga pose and sat up straight. Would she suffer the same guilt if Harrison was there?
No, probably not. The problem was that she didn’t want Harrison there. His presence would ruin the fantasy. If he joined them, her husband would be a constant reminder that she was nothing more than a suburban housewife.
When she’d had dinner with Marcus eight months ago, she hadn’t felt like a wife and mother. She’d felt like someone with a brain that was good for more than figuring out after-school schedules and putting together weekly shopping lists. There had been little talk of the things that normally occupied her day-to-day existence. Instead, they’d talked about Marcus’s work as a research scientist. He’d sought her advice on how to tackle issues he’d faced in the lab, and engaged her in a discussion about new technologies that were being developed.
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That’s why she was tempted to say yes. It didn’t matter who sat across the table from her. It could be Marcus, or Sonia, or Nyesha, or any of their old college friends who’d attended their group dinner last year. She wanted to experience the feeling of being something other than Harrison’s wife, or Liliana and Athens’s mother again.
Of course, the fact that it was Marcus Ewing asking her out added another sticky layer to the situation, since he was the only one of their group of old college friends who’d seen her naked. She and Marcus had broken up well before she’d even met her husband, but she could tell Harrison wasn’t Marcus’s biggest fan.
None of that mattered because she wasn’t going out to dinner with him or anyone other than her husband. She loved her husband more than air. She loved being a mother to her children. She’d spent the past year contemplating how different her life would be if she’d finished grad school and entered the workplace, but this was the path she’d chosen, and she refused to regret it.
Picking up the phone, Willow replied to her former college mate’s text.
Leaving for our anniversary trip to Rome this weekend! Sorry, not sorry.
She added a smiley face emoji before hitting Send.
It wasn’t until she noticed her expression staring back at her on the phone’s screen that Willow realized she was smiling. With that text she’d made her decision. She and Harrison were going to Italy.
As she rolled up her yoga mat and put it back in the closet, her excitement about finally coming to a decision about the trip gave way to exhaustion over the night to come. In less than an hour her house would be filled to the brim with Holmeses. She soooo was not up for that tonight.
She loved the family she’d married into as much as she loved her blood sisters and mother, but the Holmes clan could be…well…a lot. And after the last twenty-four hours, the thought of a houseful of boisterous Holmeses was enough to make her head hurt.
But she would just have to deal. Because tonight’s gathering was important. They were getting together to discuss last-minute details regarding the kickoff party for the Diane Holmes Foundation. If there was anyone Willow was willing to do anything for, it was Diane Holmes.
“God, how I wish you were still here,” she whispered.
The connection they’d shared went far beyond the typical mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. Diane Holmes opened her arms and accepted Willow from the very first day they’d met. She’d been a confidant and a counselor, willing to listen and offering her opinion with a kindness few people possessed. Having to say goodbye to that gentle soul was, without a doubt, the hardest thing Willow had ever done in her life.
And that was saying a lot, because this life of hers hadn’t always been sunshine and roses.
But those rough times had ended a long time ago. She’d been blessed with a big, nosy, affectionate family that had folded their arms around her and welcomed her into their loving brood. No matter what she was going through personally right now, she owed it to her family to be there for them. For Diane.
Willow showered, then went downstairs to whip up a quick spinach and artichoke dip they could snack on while finishing up the final preparations for the upcoming gala. She was just about to go back upstairs to check on Athens when she heard the click of the front door’s lock disengaging. A moment later, Harrison walked in.
“Hey,” he said, his voice tentative.
“Hey,” Willow answered, hating the way her own voice wavered on the single word. She thought they’d gotten past this tension, but yesterday’s clash in the hallway at St. Katherine’s had given rise to another dose of uncertainty between them.
“I wasn’t expecting you this early. You said you were running late.” His text had come just before Marcus’s.
He held up his phone. “I texted again to say that my meeting had been cancelled.”
“Oh.”
They remained in the foyer. Neither spoke. They didn’t so much as move an inch. They just stood there, staring at each other.
“Well, I—”
“Maybe I can—”
There was a brief knock on the front door before it opened again.
“Hey, hey, hey. What’s up, people?”
Her brother-in-law, Ezra, and his fiancée, Mackenna Arnold, walked in.
“Well, hello, you two” Willow said, breathing a sigh of relief that they’d broken up the awkward moment between herself and Harrison. “I didn’t expect you to make it tonight,” she said to Mack as she greeted her with a hug. “I thought you’d be preparing for your interview with WWL-TV tomorrow.”
“I’ve prepared enough,” Mack said. “I don’t want to come off as too rehearsed.”
“Good idea.”
Mackenna had recently announced her candidacy for mayor of New Orleans after serving two terms on the city council. Early polling had her so far ahead of the rest of the pack that Willow doubted she had to campaign at all, but Mack wasn’t letting up. It was an exciting time for the entire city, but especially for the Holmes clan, who had known Mack since she and Indina roomed together as undergrads.
Ezra handed Harrison a plastic food container. “I found this recipe for buffalo cauliflower bites online. They’re supposed to be a good substitute for hot wings. Figured they were better for Athens.”
Willow’s heart melted like an ice cube in the desert. From the moment they’d learned of his health issues, the entire family had taken an active role in helping Athens get back on track.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the container from Harrison and motioning for everyone to follow her into the kitchen. “He’s doing really well. His last doctor’s appointment was the best he’s had since the pre-diabetes diagnosis.”
The front door opened again and Indina called out, “Where is everyone?”
Moments later, her sister-in-law joined them in the kitchen, accompanied by her new husband. Indina and Griffin had shocked everyone last week when they returned from a work trip in San Francisco with the news that they’d stopped over in Las Vegas and gotten married. Willow was still a bit sad over it. She would have loved to see her in a wedding gown. But her sister-in-law was over-the-moon happy, and that’s all that mattered.
Indina set a shopping bag on the counter and drew a white cardboard cakebox from it.
“I’ve got food,” she announced. “The new caterer put together a sampler box of some of the goodies they’re serving for the gala. Sorry, but I already ate the mini crab cakes. Take it from me, they’re to die for.”
“We should have gone with this company from the beginning,” Ezra said as he lifted a puffed pastry stuffed with some kind of meat from the box.
“It’s those twin girls, right?” Mackenna asked.
“Yep. Tyra and Tomeka of Sassy Sisters Catering,” Indina said. “They have been a dream to work with this past week.” She turned to Harrison. “The price in the quote I showed you? It includes all the table linens and the waitstaff.”
“No way,” Harrison said.
“Did the other caterer expect us to hire our own waitstaff?” Ezra asked.
“Yes, he did,” Indina answered. “Which means Sassy Sisters will cost less than the caterer who skipped out on us, even though they took the job at the very last minute.”
“Let me try this food,” Mack said, reaching into the box. “I’ll have a lot of campaign functions that I’ll need catered.”
“Should we take this into the living room so we can get started?” Willow asked. “Wait, where’s Brooklyn and Reid?”
“I talked to him on my way here,” Indina said. “He was stuck in traffic on the bridge, but that was at least twenty minutes ago. They shouldn’t be too far out. Oh, and Dad won’t make it. His bowling buddies had to change their game because of some tournament at the bowling alley this weekend. He wanted to cancel, but I told him to go. Now that he’s finally going out again, I think it’s important that we all encourage him to get out of the house whenever we can.”
&nbs
p; “I agree,” Willow said. “It’s good for him.”
Clark Holmes may have been seventy according to his birth certificate, but he was still young at heart, as handsome as his three sons, and the picture of health. The last thing Diane would want is for him to wither away, mourning her death for the rest of his life.
Brooklyn and Reid arrived a few minutes later, and they all settled in the living room. They passed around the samples from the caterer while waiting for Brooklyn to set up everything for the big reveal of the commemorative comic book she’d drawn as a keepsake for those attending the comic book-themed gala.
Reid’s new girlfriend, who’d instantly stolen the hearts of everyone in the family, was an aspiring comic book writer and illustrator. She’d created a new character, Dynamo Diane, expressly for the foundation’s kickoff party. The superhero she’d drawn in Diane’s likeness had brought tears to Willow’s eyes when she’d first laid eyes on her.
In her opinion, the foundation, which would work to raise awareness of heart disease in the black community, was the perfect way to honor Diane. The plan was to offer scholarships to young women who wanted to study medicine, and provide health screenings and education about heart disease to those in underserved communities. It touched Willow’s science-loving heart to know that their family would help draw young black girls to STEM-related fields.
“Don’t reveal the comic just yet,” Willow said. “I know Athens will want to see this.”
She went upstairs and knocked on her son’s door before opening it. Even ten-year-old boys needed their privacy, as Willow discovered last week. That reminded her, Athens and Harrison needed to have THE talk. She’d done so with Lily, it was Harrison’s turn.
Thankfully, her son had his face in a comic when she opened his bedroom door.
“Brooklyn is downstairs with a comic book I know you’ll want to see,” she said.
Willow laughed as Athens shot off the bed, whizzing past her on his way downstairs.
She stopped at Lily’s door, debating whether or not to disturb her. Things had been tense since yesterday’s meeting with Dr. Saul. The effort it took not to lash out at her was a test to Willow’s willpower. When she thought about how much Lily had gambled away over a stupid fight—how she would very likely be kicked out of school and how hard it would be for her to get into another good school with a mark on her disciplinary record—she became even more incensed. But she didn’t want Lily to feel left out of tonight’s gathering.
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