Page 17 of Three Little Wishes

The only place left where she’d feel close to her mom was the beach house on Sunshine Bay. They’d gone a few times when Riley was younger but her mom had spent all her summers there as a kid. Staying at the beach house on Sunshine Bay was the first item on Riley’s wish list. Now she just had to convince Noah not to send her back to LA and to let her spend the rest of the summer at the beach house… with him.That was the second item on her list. Her brother was the only real family she had left.

She reached for the plate of cookies Mrs. D had left on the coffee table for her. She loved her brother’s housekeeper and wished she could’ve stuck around so Riley would have support when Noah came home but it was getting late, and Mrs. D’s husband had called three times, wondering when she’d be home.

At the sound of the penthouse door opening, Riley’s hand froze over the plate of cookies. She scrambled back onto the couch, tucking herself into the corner. The excuses—lies—she’d come up with emptied out of her head now that Noah was here. She thought about pretending she was sleeping to put off facing her no-doubt-angry brother.

She heard a woman’s voice and cringed. She’d met plenty of the women her brother had dated in the past. He had a type—models and socialites. Beautiful women who had no interest in getting to know his little sister. As super smart as her brother was, he didn’t make very good choices when it came to the women he dated. Then again, they’d never lasted longer than a few weeks so maybe he didn’t care, as long as they looked good on his arm. Except she didn’t think Noah cared about that either. But what did she know?

A woman rounded the corner and blinked. Then her lips lifted in a smile, a wide, dazzling smile that made Riley feel like crying. She blinked to ward off the tears gathering in her eyes—how weird was that?—and tried offering one of her own. Her smile wobbled when her brother came into view.

The woman must’ve noticed because she turned on Noah and lightly swatted his chest. Riley’s eyes went wide. She didn’t know anyone who would dare swat her brother whenhe was angry, and he very obviously was. Most of the time people would run in the opposite direction.

“Noah, stop looking at her like that. You’re scaring her.”

Her brother looked down his nose at the lady—she was tall but Noah was way taller—and raised an eyebrow.

The woman rolled her eyes and laughed. Laughed!

Riley held her breath, waiting for her brother to explode. He didn’t. Instead, he did something as shocking as Riley’s urge to cry. He smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, more like a twitch of his lips. Still, Riley gawked at him with her mouth hanging open.

His gaze moved to her, and he rolled his eyes. She might’ve laughed if he didn’t follow up his eye roll with a raised finger, pointing it at her. “I have a call to make, and when I’m done, you have some explaining to do, Riley.”

She gave a jerky nod. “Noah,” she called when he turned to walk away.

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Please don’t call Billy.”

The woman stared at Noah’s retreating back and shook her head. “All that man does is work,” she said as she walked toward Riley.

She was beautiful, like way more beautiful than any of the women her brother had dated in the past. She had long, wavy blond hair and blue eyes that sparkled. She didn’t dress anything like her brother’s previous girlfriends. She wore pink sneakers with faded jeans and a sheer, flowy, floral top over a camisole instead of a tight, revealing dress and sky-high heels.

“Hi, Riley. I’m Willow,” she said, extending her hand.

Riley shook it, thinking her name was cool, just like her. “Hi,” she said. Then she asked, even though it was probablyrude, but she couldn’t help it because she was curious, “Are you my brother’s girlfriend?”

Willow grinned, taking a seat beside Riley on the couch. “No.” Then she added, maybe because Riley’s disappointment showed on her face, “But we were friends a long time ago, when we were fifteen. We met at Hidden Cove on Sunshine Bay. We were pretty much inseparable for three weeks that summer.”

Riley gasped. They’d known each other when they were the same age as her! “Do you live in Sunshine Bay or just vacation there?”

“I live there.” She waved a hand in the direction of the study. “I actually work at Channel 5. I’m a weathergirl, or I should say weatherperson.”

“That’s so cool!”

Willow wrinkled her nose. “Between you and me, I’m not a very good weatherperson.”

“I don’t believe you. I bet you’re really good at it.” She couldn’t imagine Willow being bad at anything she did.

“Aw, thanks, honey.” She gave Riley a hug.

Riley froze. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged her. Her throat began to tickle and the backs of her eyes burned.

Willow pulled away. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to help myself. I’m affectionate but I need to remember that not everyone is.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t mind.”

Willow’s gaze roamed her face, and her smile faltered. Riley didn’t think she believed her and was going to explain her reaction. But she kind of didn’t want to because she was afraid she might cry if she told Willow no one had hugged her since her mom’s funeral.

Willow reached in her back pocket and pulled out her phone, entering a passcode. “Trust me. You’ll believe me after you see this. Here, watch.” She pressed Start.

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