Page 23 of Three Little Wishes

Willow swore under her breath, murmuring, “Sorry”when Noah glanced her way. Flipping Megan was going to ruin everything. Willow hadn’t been scheduled to work at the restaurant the night before, so she hadn’t needed to come up with an excuse as to why she needed the night off. Her mom and grandmother didn’t have time to watch Willow’s dinner-hour weather reports, and it wasn’t as if anyone who did would say anything. Lucy the Lobster was delivering the weather, and that was all anyone cared about.

“Who did you say sorry to? Are you with someone?”

“I am, so if you don’t mind, I’ll talk to you when I get home.” Willow heard Megan breathing over the line.

Noah interrupted Robyn, who was relaying an issue with one of the lawyers of a company in negotiations to buy a block of Bennett Broadcasting’s holdings, with a “He what?” that was one decimal shy of a bellow.

Willow stared at him, stunned, and then realized she hadn’t disconnected from Megan. “Okay. Gotta go. Bye.”

She wasn’t fast enough, and she knew this because Megan screeched in her ear. “I knew it! You’re with Noah.”

“So what if I am?”

“Really? You ruin my sale, and that’s all you have to say?” Megan blew a gusty breath over the line. “Honestly, I don’t know why I’m friends with you. You can’t take it that I’m successful, can you?”

“Please tell me you’re not actually accusing me of sabotaging the sale of the beach house because I’m jealous of you?” Willow whispered, partly because she was stunned by the accusation and partly because she didn’t want Noah to hear her.

“Robyn, I need to take care of something. I’ll call you back.”

Willow closed her eyes, praying he wasn’t disconnecting from Robyn because he’d heard her. She knew her prayers had gone unanswered when Noah said, “Willow, put Megan on speaker.”

Willow waved her hand, mouthing,It’s fineonly for Megan to continue ranting in her ear. “That’s exactly what I’m accusing you of. I’ve made top real estate agent of the year for two years running, and you’re a part-time weather girl who runs around in a lobster costume. Of course you’re jealous of me.”

“You do it or I will,” Noah said.

Willow’s shoulders rose and fell on a sigh, and then she reluctantly did what he asked. “Megan, you’re on—”

“Don’t try and deny it, Willow. I should’ve dumped your sorry ass after the fiasco with the house flip. Everyone warned me not to go into business with you, but did I listen? No. I did not.”

Noah raised an eyebrow as if asking Willow if she wanted to respond but she was so shocked she didn’t know what to say.

Obviously taking her stunned silence as permission to intervene, he said, “Megan, this is Noah Elliot. I heard one side of your conversation with Willow, and you seem to be under the mistaken impression that she was the reason I paused the sale of the beach house.”

“Ah, hi, Noah. No. I…” Megan blew out another of her put-upon breaths before saying, “I’m sorry, Willow, but I can’t cover for you any longer. Noah deserves to know the truth.”

Willow frowned. “The truth?”

“Yes. He deserves to know that there’snothingyou wouldn’t do to keep him from closing the station. She wanted me to stall the sale of the beach house and of the building on MainStreet to give her time to change your mind about closing Channel 5, Noah.”

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know, Megan. And to be honest with you, I find Willow’s loyalty to her coworkers and to Channel 5 admirable.”

“You do?” Willow blurted.

He smiled. “I do.”

“Another man falls to the Rosetti charms,” Megan muttered before adding, “Well, good luck with that, Noah. Willow is known as one of the Heartbreakers of Sunshine Bay for a reason. None of her relationships, and let me tell you, she’s had many, last more than a few weeks. But hey, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it while it lasts. I hear she’s good in bed.”

Without looking at Noah—she didn’t want to see his reaction—Willow took the phone off speaker and brought it to her ear. “What the hell was that?”

“The truth.”

“No. It wasn’t the truth, Megan. It was you behaving true to form when something doesn’t go your way. You owe me an apology, a big one, a humongous one, and until I get it, I don’t want to talk to you.” She disconnected, barely restraining herself from throwing the phone at the windshield.

She glanced at Noah. “I’m sorry you—”

He held up a finger, and she realized he was waiting for a call to connect. His jaw was tight, his expression blank, and when a woman answered, “Cape Cod Realty,” his voice was as cold as ice. “This is Noah Elliot. Put me through to your boss.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, Mr. Elliot.”

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