Page 2 of Willow Vale

“What about Sally’s? Hey, Birdie! You guys hiring by any chance?” Desi hollered over her shoulder, resting her arm atop the booth. The movement made her pin straight red hair dance around her shoulders.

I stared flatly at my best friend who I’d known since we were in elementary school, unsurprised that her first instinct was to announce that I was a jobless loser. Her emerald eyes were gleaming with determination though, so I had to appreciate that she was committed to help me find a new job.

Desiree Boone was not a woman who gave up easily or let anyone else give up when things got tough. It was one ofthe reasons I loved her so much. She never letmegive up no matter how many times I wanted to in the past.

I looked around the diner, relieved to see that there was only one other person there. Mrs. McKinley—who always sat in the corner of the diner drinking from a steaming mug of coffee—was working on a crossword puzzle with a frown on her face. Unsurprised but equally annoyed that Desi was disrupting her peaceful morning.

Just like old times.

I cast the surly woman an apologetic glance when she narrowed her eyes at us like she always did ever since we were teenagers.

The retro style booths lining the walls and windows were the same color as the front door of Sally’s Diner—pink.The only thing that wasn’t pink were the plates, the black and white checkered tiles on the floor, and a single white streak running down the center of the booths. Nearly all the framed retro-styled posters on the walls had some shade of pink too. The owner of Sally’s Diner sure loved her pink.

Our waitress, Birdie, chimed as she made her way over to refill Mrs. McKinley’s mug again. “Sorry, hon. Seasonal positions were already filled by a couple of students coming back to town.”

I gave Desi a pointed glance that said,I told you so.

The panic I’d been feeling all morning revs back up and the tears caused by my frustration sting the back of my eyes. I blew out a breath, looking out onto the street as people trailed up and down the sidewalks.

A gentle hand reaches across the table and lands atop mine.

“I hate seeing you like this,” Desi said gently. Now that I was on the verge of bawling my eyes out, there was no doubtthat she knew I was feeling as helpless as I did four years ago when River came into my life and I stepped up to raise him.

The sound of my cellphone chiming announced an incoming text, and I checked the screen. Only to see that it was from the last person I wanted to talk to right now. Desi noticed my mood taking another drastic turn when her gaze shifted to my phone, but before she could say anything I flipped it over and ignored the next round of texts my mother was bound to send in rapid succession. Like clockwork.

I didn’t talk to my mother. At least, I tried not to.

She didn’t live in Willow Vale anymore, but she visited every now and then when she felt like it. Sometimes, we would go months without talking or seeing each other, and I felt these swirls of emotions all at once. They went from relief to worry to anxiety—all of them filling my head until it started pounding. An incessant drumroll begging to meet its abrupt end before some eye-opening revelation made my entire world come to a screeching halt.

Because that was what inevitably happened wherever my mother was concerned.

Until she needed something again.

Irene was hardly a responsible parent when I was a kid. Sometimes I think it was a miracle I survived into adulthood. If anything, I’d started training to become a parent when I was ten years old, cleaning her up after she had a weeklong bender with her friends and showed up reeking of whatever stained her clothes. Wondering and worrying about where she was when she didn’t show up after a few days.

“Lila?” The sound of Desi’s concerned voice forced me out of any thoughts surrounding Irene North.

I blew out a breath and exercised my usual optimistic tone when shit hits the fan, “It’s okay. I just need to dig deeper. Someone in town is bound to hire eventually. Rent’s not dueuntil next month and I still have some money saved up. It’ll be okay.”

“I can always lend you?—”

“No,” I cut her off before she could offer.

I didn’t want to ask Desi for money. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I relied on my best friend for money. Or anyone else for that matter. I made it this far on my own since I was a teenager, and I did the same when I was twenty and took River in after Irene wandered off. I could do this on my own too. I had to do this on my own.

“You know I love you, Desi. But no, thank you. I’ll figure it out.”

“I have no doubt that you will,” she said before muttering under her breath despite knowing I can hear her perfectly, “Even if you’re as stubborn as a mule sometimes.” She tapped her index finger against her lips, her red nail polish gleaming. Then, her eyes widened like she’d just been struck by a sudden epiphany. “Actually, I think I have a job in mind for you.”

“Okay, what is it?”

She asked with a sly grin stretching across her lips, and I knew that look could only mean trouble. “Do you have any experience bartending?”

I blinked. Any other job and I would have jumped at the opportunity. I was desperate enough to take anything at this point.

Except for that.

“Absolutely not.”

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