Second Chance Charmer

by Brighton Walsh

  If only things happened like that in real life.

  “Dunno,” she said. “What time is it?” She had no sense of time today. After toughing it out for too many days, she’d finally decided to take a mental health day and called in sick to work—for the first time. Ever. Avery had been shocked but had told Willow not to worry about a thing. That she’d hold down the fort and then would stop by after work if Willow wanted her to.

  In fact, all the people she loved had offered that—her best friend, both her sisters, and now her momma. She was damn lucky was what she was. Even if her heart did feel like it’d been put in a blender. Repeatedly.

  “A little after four. Think she’ll want some chicken and dumplings? I could get it heatin’ up for y’all for supper.”

  “We’ll be fine, Momma. We can heat it up when we’re ready.”

  “All right, if you say so.” She continued her soft caresses through Willow’s hair, lifting up pieces here and there. “Sweetheart?”

  “Hmm.”

  “I’ve been here for hours now. I’m tryin’ not to push, but…”

  Willow sighed. She’d hoped she could escape this conversation, though she had no idea what made her so delusional. “But what?”

  “Come on now, talk to me. What’s goin’ on with you and Finn?”

  “What’s goin’ on, or what was goin’ on? Because they’re two very different things.”

  “Now I’m sure that’s not—”

  “Did you know?” This part hurt almost as much as knowing Finn had taken the money in the first place. Willow could see this kind of thing coming from her daddy—actually hadn’t been even a bit surprised about it—but from her momma? That’d be a hard pill to swallow.

  Her fingers paused in Willow’s hair. “Know what?”

  “About the money.”

  “The money? What’re you—”

  A knock sounded at the front door before it opened, and her daddy poked his head into the space.

  “Richard? You can’t be hungry already,” her momma said, a note of exasperation in her tone. “It’s not even five!”

  “What?” her father asked as he stepped into the house and shut the door behind him. “Oh no. No, that’s not why I’m here. I, uh…” He shifted on his feet, wiping a hand across his forehead.

  Willow furrowed her brow, trying to puzzle out what was happening here. Something wasn’t quite right. She’d never seen her daddy…well…nervous. And that was exactly what he was, shuffling his weight from foot to foot, his gaze darting between her and her momma before flitting off to the side.

  “You’re here to what, honey?” Momma asked. She tipped her chin in the direction of the TV where the movie still played on, the hero and heroine wrapped in each other’s arms. Damn, Willow had missed the best part. “Willow and I are just finishin’ this movie, and you interrupted a bit of girl talk. Can it wait?”

  He glanced back at the TV before turning to face them once again. “I’m afraid it can’t, darlin’. I really need to speak to Will about…about somethin’ important.”

  Willow sat up, glancing at her momma who shrugged in response to Willow’s unasked question as she pressed pause on the movie. “What is it, Daddy?”

  “Well, see… I…” He cleared his throat, rubbed his hands together. “What happened was…”

  Her momma huffed. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Richard, would you just spit it out already?”

  “Now just hold on. It’s gonna take me a minute to get this out. Just…just bear with me for a bit.” He turned to Willow, his expression more sincere than she’d ever seen. “Will, I just want you to know before I tell you this I…well, when I did this, I thought I was doin’ the right thing. For you.”

  Well, now he was just scaring her. She’d never, not once in all her twenty-eight years, seen her daddy behave this way. So nervous and unsure. So…desperate, almost. He’d already told her about the money, and he’d barely blinked at that. If this was worse than paying her boyfriend off to leave her, well, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know.

  He cleared his throat. “You, ah, you remember when Finn left all those years ago?”

  Her stomach squeezed, clenching in painful memory—both from what had happened back then as well as what had happened just last week. She slid a glance to her momma. It was an unspoken rule in the Haven household that they didn’t really speak of that time in her life. An unspoken rule she’d been quite happy to partake in, because it saved her the humility and hurt of reliving it.

  Looked like it just wasn’t her week.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, he…um, he may have been…coerced to leave like he did. Without word or contact to you.”

  Willow blinked at her daddy for a handful of seconds before she managed, “Excuse me?”

  Her momma, however, was much more eloquent. She narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Does this have somethin’ to do with the money Willow mentioned?”

  “She told you?” he asked, shock evident in his tone.

  Momma pointed a finger in his direction, her jaw tight with anger. “You better start talkin’ real fast, Richard James Haven, because I am this close to losin’ my patience with you.”

  “You have to understand,” he said, hands held up like he was trying to calm a rabid animal, “I thought I was doin’ what was best.”

  “Spit. It. Out.” Momma stood, arms crossed, toe tapping on the floor, glaring Daddy down.

  He looked at them both, inhaled sharply, then said in one breath, “Finn may have been blackmailed to leave town based on a threat of false charges.”

  Willow sucked in a breath at the same time her momma gasped.

  Then, in the scary-calm voice that’d always spelled trouble during Willow’s childhood, her momma asked, “May have been blackmailed? By whom, exactly?”

  Though he didn’t say anything, the look in his eyes spoke volumes, and Willow’s heart cracked open. “Now, I didn’t send him packin’ empty-handed. I wrote him a check. To…to help them get settled. Elsewhere.”

  “And you somehow think that’s better?” Her momma stomped over to her father, hissing under her breath at him, but Willow couldn’t pay attention.

  Her stomach roiled, a hornet’s nest kicked over, and her pulse pounded like a racehorse. The mix of emotions was almost too much to bear. There was overwhelming anger at her daddy, though the shocking part was she…wasn’t shocked. This was exactly like something he’d do—take it upon himself to set things just so, especially when he wasn’t satisfied with the alternative. Especially when his precious Haven reputation was at stake. But more than the anger, there was relief warring with disbelief over the fact that Finn hadn’t left because he’d stopped loving her. Hadn’t, in fact, wanted to leave at all.

  What would’ve become of them if he’d had the chance to stay?

  “Will…” Her daddy sat next to her on the sofa, his features blurring through a sheen of her tears. “If you’ll just give me a chance to explain…”

  She blinked back the tears, though one slipped out, and tried to swallow down the anger she felt for him. Did it pain him so much for her to be happy? Not once, but twice he’d taken it from her. Taken away something so perfect that’d made her the happiest she’d ever been. Had seen to the demise of something wonderful and beautiful, simply because he didn’t like it. “I’m not really sure how you can explain this away, Daddy.”

  “I’m afraid I have to agree with our daughter, Richard. I’m so disappointed in you right now. I can’t believe you did this.”

  “I understand you’re both angry with me. And you have every right to be. But I… I know you may find this hard to believe, but I thought I was doin’ it for your own good. I just want what’s best for you and your sisters.”

  “Your best might not be ours, Daddy.”

  “I—” He cleared his throat and seemed to bite his tongue and take a moment to really think about what he was going to say. First time for everything. “I realize that now. I
just have so much faith in your potential, and I don’t want to see you throw it away.”

  “But I didn’t throw anything away. You did that before I had the chance to.” Willow’s voice caught as she tried hard to halt the tears threatening to spill like a waterfall. She didn’t want to lose it—not in front of her father.

  Thankfully, her momma realized this and ushered Daddy to the door. “Time for you to leave, Richard. While I try to fix this mess you made.” She pushed him out the door. “And don’t you think for a second this conversation is over. When I get home, you and I are going to have words.”

  Willow had already dissolved into tears by the time her momma wrapped her up in her arms, rocking her back and forth and telling her everything would be okay. Now that they knew the truth, everything would be all right.

  Except it wouldn’t. Because, truth or not, Finn had left. The rumor mill was still cranking full time in Havenbrook, and she’d heard just that morning he and Drew had headed back to California.

  Once again leaving Willow behind.

  WILLOW KNEW she shouldn’t take advantage of her daddy’s guilt by continuing to call in sick to work, but three days over the course of five years could hardly be considered abuse of sick days. Besides that, she needed time to process what her daddy had done before she saw him again. And she definitely couldn’t process that on top of all the whispers in town.

  So she’d holed up in her house, her ass making a permanent indent on the couch as she’d watched daytime television and ate her weight in microwave popcorn. She hadn’t even had the desire to paint anything, her half-finished canvas sitting and waiting for her. But she’d started it when things had been good with Finn. Though it was just a painting of the sunset over the field on Old Mill Road, it oozed happiness. Contentment.

  If she touched it right now, she’d ruin it.

  Her front door opened, the smell of Chinese food wafting over to her. She twisted her head to look behind her toward the front door. There stood Mac, Rory, and Avery, one holding dinner, one carrying The Sweet Spot’s signature bright pink box, and the other a stack of movies.

  “Reinforcements have arrived,” Avery said, dumping the movies on the table. She lifted Willow’s legs off the couch and sat down, then draped them over her lap. “And we picked up a stray along the way.” She tipped her chin toward Rory.

  “We’re here to smother you with affection.” Rory walked past Willow, heading into the kitchen with the box of cupcakes.

  “And shitty movies.” Avery patted Willow’s leg.

  “And shittier food.” Mac pulled out a white carton and passed it to Willow. “Kung Pao Chicken—or what passes for Kung Pao Chicken in good old Havenbrook.” She grabbed another carton and passed it to Avery before pulling a third out. “Sweet and sour for the wild child, Ror—”

  Willow glanced up only to find Mac’s mouth dropped open as she stared behind Willow. She turned and looked into the kitchen. Rory stood at the counter, biting into what appeared to be her second cupcake, one liner already discarded on top of the box.

  “What?” she snapped, her mouth full, chocolate icing rimming her lips. “I’m an adult, and if I want to have my dessert first, I can.” Rory made quite a sight, her hair perfectly done, makeup a bit heavier than usual but still subtle, wearing a pretty dress as she inhaled a cupcake. She looked like she was headed for a night out on the town, not a night in with takeout and bad movies.

  “How come you’re all dressed up?” Willow asked.

  “I don’t wanna talk about it.” Rory grabbed the carton Mac held out, then plucked out a piece of chicken with her fingers and popped it into her mouth.

  Willow exchanged a look with Mac. Had their sister been possessed? It was probably nothing, but truth be told, Willow latched on to any small thing that took her mind off the tragedy that was her love life.

  Fortunately, Mac was on the same page. “The girls at home with Sean?” she asked.

  “No. The girls are with the sitter I hired so Sean and I could enjoy a lovely dinner out. But he thought working late would be a better use of his time on our anniversary. Never mind that he’s worked late every damn day for the past two months. Never mind that whenever I’ve called on those late nights, his new assistant, Desiree, has been there too.” She shoved another piece of chicken in her mouth. “Now, can we drop it, please? And will someone put in one of those shitty movies already?”

  Willow’s eyes grew huge, her shock mirrored on Mac’s face. Willow could count on one hand the number of times she’d heard Rory swear. Or talk badly about her husband—come to think of it, Rory had never spoken poorly about Sean. And while Willow certainly didn’t have a lot of experience in marriage woes, in her inexperienced book, skipping your anniversary dinner with your wife to hang around at the office was epic level of douchiness.

  “Hey, Rory?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “You wanna borrow some yoga pants and a shirt?”

  Rory’s shoulders sagged, and she gave the subtlest dip of her chin in acknowledgment. It probably made Willow a horrible sister, but it was nice to know she wasn’t the only one whose love life was imploding. And to see it happening to Perfect Rory? Was there hope for any of them?

  It’d only been a week since Finn had left Havenbrook without a goodbye. Though, could Willow really blame him? She’d told him to get out of her life for good. Hadn’t answered his calls or his texts when he’d tried getting ahold of her. And by the time she’d found out the truth from her daddy, he’d already been gone.

  Only a week, and yet it felt like a lifetime. She’d thought the pain she’d felt when she was younger had been raw and intense, but the truth was it had nothing on what she felt now. Because now, it wasn’t just sadness over his absence. It was regret for not listening to him when he’d tried to tell her—and she had no doubt that was exactly what he’d tried to do. And mourning for a lost love so powerful it could’ve moved mountains.

  Despite wanting to hide away in her house, she’d done the adult thing and had gone back to work. The whispers had stopped, surprisingly. She wasn’t sure what had their attention that was more intriguing than her and Finn, but she wasn’t complaining.

  She’d been home for a couple hours already. Had made herself a gourmet dinner of frozen pasta in a cardboard box. She had all the fixings to make her favorite, but those damn sandwiches were so intertwined with Finn now that she couldn’t stomach them. It turned itself inside out at the thought. So instead, she was the frozen meal queen, at least when Mac wasn’t home to shove something down her throat.

  Her half-finished painting still sat displayed on the easel in the living room since she couldn’t bring herself to complete it, nor could she bring herself to put it away. So that meant she was in her room, on her bed, reading the same paragraph over and over again because she couldn’t concentrate on anything.

  The front door opened and closed, murmured voices filtering up the steps followed by feet pounding the stairs. Avery and Mac stood in her doorway, both looking ready for a night on the town.

  “Will.” Avery looked her up and down, disgust curling her lip. Possibly over the ratty clothes she was wearing. Or possibly over the spilled marinara sauce on said ratty clothes. “What’re you doing.”

  She held up her paperback. “Reading.”

  “Last I checked, you weren’t eighty years old, which means you shouldn’t be reading at eight o’clock on a Friday night.”

  “I don’t know what age has to do with it,” Willow said. “What’s wrong with reading, even on a Friday night?”

  “Absolutely nothing, except you’re on the same damn page you were on this morning.” Mac raised a brow. “Yes, I checked.”

  “Well—”

  “C’mon. Come out with us. The grand opening’s tonight. They’re doin’ two-for-one drinks till nine.”

  Willow’s stomach clenched as overwhelming sadness swept over her. “I…can’t.”

  Avery plucked Willow’s book fr
om her hand, then yanked her up by the arms until she stood next to her bed. “You can and you will. This is the final piece in the square revitalization, and you deserve to see it. You did this, Will. We want to celebrate it with you, and everyone in Havenbrook does too.”

  She looked from her best friend to her sister, both of them imploring her with sincerity in their eyes. They were right, of course. This was what she’d been working on for the past five years. Was what she’d fought with her daddy over—because she believed in what was coming, and in what it could do for the hometown she loved so much.

  “Someone find me something to wear, because I obviously can’t go in this.”

  Avery and Mac exchanged a look, then Avery strode to Willow’s closet and began shuffling through, mumbling about this color matching that. Mac gave Willow a one-armed hug and pulled her close.

  This would hurt. Seeing the business Finn worked so hard on without him there would crack her heart open, no doubt about it. But she wanted to. Wanted to see the outcome of her hard work and determination for the past five years. Wanted, too, to see what he’d been able to accomplish with the odds stacked against him. Especially since he wasn’t there to see it himself.

  BY THE TIME the three of them got to the square, it was packed. Nearly as full as it’d been during the Fourth of July parade. Hundreds of Havenbrook residents convened outside the space as they didn’t seem to be letting anyone inside.

  Willow allowed herself to take it in, really look at it for the first time since the Fourth. The once-peeling paint of the window casings and rotted front door had been replaced. The cracked pavement in front of the building had been repoured. And since she’d last paid attention, a sign now hung above the front door, a white drop cloth draped over it hiding the name they’d finally settled on.

  Mac waved to get someone’s attention, but Willow was focused on the building, where everyone else seemed to be looking. Waiting for…what, she didn’t know. And then Nola’s head popped up over the crowd as she stood on a raised platform directly beneath the covered sign. She brought her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud wolf whistle, quieting the crowd immediately.