Page 55 of Holding On To Good

She wiped her damp palms down the front of her shorts. Her stomach twisted, but in a fun change of pace from her day so far, it wasn’t with the need to puke.

All she wanted was to put last night behind her. But that wouldn’t happen until she apologized.

Then could she forget. All of it, every stupid, drunken comment. Every touch and horrible, awful, bad decision.

But in order to apologize, she had to get out of her car.

Her hand settled on the gearshift, her right foot pressing on the brake, ready for her to put her car into drive and take off down the street.

Guess her subconscious mind wasn’t all that keen about her facing Urban at this particular point in time. Then again, her subconscious mind wasn’t the most trustworthy of allies, what with the way it was always working against her, whispering lies in her head.

One more sip of champagne won’t hurt.

You are a great singer! Adele’s got nothing on you!

Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him.

That last one had really gotten her into a mess.

No way was she letting that crazy bitch run the show anymore.

Turning off the ignition, she left her key fob in the console then got out of her SUV. Slammed the door shut. Shoulders back, head high, she marched up the walk.

Stepping up to the porch, the sound of Guns ’n Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” reached her. She frowned. Urban must be out back. Looking up at the front door, she shrugged, then switched direction and headed around the side of the house.

Bella ran down the driveway toward her, past Urban’s truck, Verity’s car and Toby’s Jeep, barking joyously.

Willow smiled and dropped to a crouch to give the dog some love. “Hi, pretty girl.” Bella licked her chin and Willow laughed, leaned back. “I love you, too.” She scrubbed both hands over Bella’s head, held it there to look into the dog’s soft brown eyes. “Yes, I do. You’re such a good girl, aren’t you?”

“Hi, Willow,” Ian said as he ran around the corner.

Her smile widening, she straightened. “Hey, bud. Been gambling again?”

Ian looked up at her and frowned in his serious way. “Excuse me?”

The kid had manners, she’d give his mother that. More so than Katarina had, that was for sure. Then again, when you looked like a walking sex dream, you didn’t need to be polite.

A truth Katarina Caputo no doubt lived by.

Willow gestured to Ian’s skinny, bare chest. “You lost your shirt,” she said, explaining her joke. “It’s something people say when they gamble and lose more than they can afford.”

“I ran through the sprinkler.”

“Ah. That makes more sense.”

“Ready or not,” a female voice called, and boy and dog both whirled around to look behind them. “Here I come!”

“I have to hide,” Ian told Willow, his eyes wide, cheeks flushed, as if this was a new, unexpected development and he hadn’t, moments before, been involved in a game of hide-and-seek.

He did a full three-sixty turn, taking in his options, then darted behind the rhododendron next to the house as Verity came around the back corner.

“Willow,” Verity said, running over to give her a big hug. “I missed you!”

“You saw me two nights ago,” Willow pointed out, breathing in the scent of Verity’s coconut sunscreen as she hugged her back.

“I saw you but I didn’t get to talk to you.”

“Well, the next time you graduate, stick around after long enough to converse with your friends and family instead of taking off to the land of teenage debauchery.”

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