Page 14 of Three Little Wishes

Naomi held her back. “Today you’re going to. Now stop smiling and waving at him like you’ve been stranded in the desert for a week and he’s a cool drink of water and answer your phone.”

“I’m not waving and smiling at him like that. I’m being warm and welcoming,” she said, despite having a feeling Naomi was right. Willow dialed down her smile to friendly and went to answer her phone. At the name on the screen, her body froze. “It’s my aunt.”

“Huh, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe there is something to this positivity thing.”

“What do you mean?”

Naomi lifted her hand to the man getting out of his car. Willow hadn’t thought Noah could look any more handsome than he had the night before in his navy suit but seeing him now in black pants and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his dark hair messy, aviators shielding his eyes, and stubble shadowing his chiseled jaw, she knew she’d been wrong. Seriously wrong. Noah Elliot was off-the-charts gorgeous.

“Elliot’s here, and your aunt’s actually calling you back,” Naomi said.

Despite being in hot-guy heaven, Willow didn’t miss the uncharacteristically hopeful note in her friend’s voice. “Right,” she said, and answered her phone.

Naomi, Veronica, and everyone else at the station needed her to make this play. Somehow, someway, she’d make it up to her family. “Hi, Zia Camilla,” she said as Noah walked toward them with a long, loose-limbed stride, an amused smile tugging on his lips. Everything about him screamed cool and confident. A far cry from the nerdy boy she remembered.

She returned her attention to her phone when a woman said, “Willow, it’s Gail. Your aunt’s assistant.”

“Hi, Gail. Since you’re the one calling, I take it my aunt isn’t interested in talking to me.” Willow didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

“No. It’s not that. I’d just told her you’d called when she was hit by an e-bike.”

Willow gasped. “Oh no, is she okay?”

“She’s in the hospital. She has a concussion, a pretty serious one, and her arm is broken.”

Willow briefly closed her eyes before asking the question she was pretty sure she knew the answer to. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? She was upset when you told her I’d called and walked in front of the e-bike.”

“No. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. I should’ve waited to tell her. It surprised her. She was distracted by the news, not paying attention to what was going on around her.”

It was kind of Gail to take the blame but they both knew it was Willow’s fault. If she hadn’t called her aunt out of the blue, she wouldn’t be in the hospital.

Gail continued, her voice almost a whisper. “I realize Cami and your family are estranged but one of you has to come to New York. Your aunt has amnesia, Willow. She doesn’t know me. She’s asking for her mother and her sisters.”

In the background, Willow heard a woman shouting for a phone. “That’s her asking for the phone, isn’t it?”

“More like demanding. Just a sec. Cami, I told you to give me a minute. I just need to finish this call, and then I’ll give you your phone.”

“No! Please, don’t give her the phone and don’t call my family. I’ll handle it. I’ll, um, I’ll come to New York.”

She didn’t have a car or money for a plane ticket or probably even enough to cover bus fare, but she’d find a way. She had to. This was on her. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“Thank goodness,” Gail said, sounding as if Willow couldn’t get there fast enough for her.

After they said their goodbyes, Willow disconnected and stared at her phone.

“Willow, is everything all right?” Noah asked at the same time Naomi did.

There was nothing good about what had happened to her aunt, but something good might come out of it, Willow thought, lifting her gaze to Noah. He was heading back to New York this morning, and she needed a ride. It was a five-hour drive. Five hours in which he’d be stuck with her in a car and unable to escape. There was the added bonus of not having to call her sister to ask for a ride. She just hoped Gail didn’t expect her to pay Camilla’s hospital bill because then she’d have no choice but to call Sage and tell her what she’d done.

Willow explained what had happened to her aunt, leaving out that it was because of Willow that she’d wound up in the hospital. She’d tell Naomi later but it wasn’t something Noah needed to know. “So it looks like I’m going to New York.”She held her breath, hoping Noah would offer instead of her having to ask.

“How? On your scooter?” Naomi asked since she knew the state of Willow’s finances. Unlike Megan and the Beaches, neither Naomi nor Veronica encouraged her to live beyond her means. They were happy to do stuff that didn’t cost anything. In fact, they encouraged it.

No doubt cluing in to the opportunity this presented, Naomi looked at Noah and said, “You’re going back to New York this morning, aren’t you? You could give our girl a ride, couldn’t you?”

“You don’t have a car?” he asked, a familiar sardonic edge in his voice.

Willow hid her disappointment by forcing a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I can figure something out.”

---