Page 29 of Three Little Wishes

“You’re not an idiot. What you are is a woman who sees the best in people, is loyal, perhaps to a fault, and trusts that the people she cares about are as good and kind as she is.”

“Ugh, you make me sound like a cross between someone who walks around wearing rose-colored glasses and a doormat. I’m not a pushover, you know.”

“You weren’t a pushover when you were fifteen, and within the past twenty-four hours, you’ve demonstrated you haven’t changed. Several times, as a matter of fact.” He once againtapped her phone. “So what are you going to do about your landlord?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I thought maybe you could call him and go all lawyerly on hisculo?”

His lips twitched. “Culo?”

“Ass.”

He smiled. “I have a better idea. You call him and go all Willow Rosetti on hisculo.”

With some coaching from Noah, that’s exactly what she did. And Noah had been right. Megan had called her uncle and told him to kick her out. Total mean girl move, and Willow planned to have it out with her, just not today.

She disconnected the call, wishing that she had a landline. Stabbing her finger on the End button wasn’t nearly as satisfying as slamming the phone in Mr. Lowell’s ear would’ve been.

Noah leaned against the boxes he’d begun piling in a corner of the living room when she’d started her call with her landlord. In the time she’d been on the phone, he’d cleared the floor of boxes. She felt as if she could finally breathe again.

His arms crossed over his broad chest, he grinned. “You didn’t just kick hisculo. You stomped on it.”

“I so did,” she said, grinning back at him as she got up off the couch.

“No celebratory dance?”

“Only if you join me,” she teased, walking toward him.

He shook his head. “I don’t dance.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t not dance. Everyone dances. And I know you can because I spent an entire day teaching you that summer,” she said, bringing up the song they’d danced to on her phone. It was Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.”

She turned up the volume and set the phone on the nearest box, holding out her hand as the lyrics filled the room. “Remember?”

He nodded, surprising her by taking her hand and drawing her into his arms. “Of course I remember. You changedlovedtoliked.”

She smiled at the memory. “I thought you were going to run off when the song started playing.”

“I nearly did. But I wasn’t about to waste an opportunity to get you in my arms, even if I was terrified I’d mess up and step on your toes.”

She leaned back. “You wanted to get me in your arms?”

“I was fifteen, you were beautiful, and I had a crush on you, Willow. Of course I wanted to get you in my arms.”

She stared at him. “You did not have a crush on me. I would’ve known if you did. We were friends, best friends, and I was far from beautiful. I had clown hair.”

His lips lifted at the corners. “You did, but I still thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world.” He angled his head. “You must’ve known how I felt. I kissed you, and it was definitely not a forgettable kiss.”

Despite being shocked that Noah had had feelings for her back then, Willow laughed. “It was a memorable kiss.” His braces had gotten caught on her bottom lip. “No one I kissed before or after you has left such a lasting impression.”

“I should hope not. I made you bleed. But in my defense, you weren’t just the first girl I had a crush on or I had danced with. You were the first girl I kissed.”

He lifted his hand from her waist and brought it to her mouth, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth over her bottom lip. “I’m glad I didn’t leave a scar.”

“Is that why you didn’t come back to Hidden Cove on your last day?”

“I was embarrassed. Mortified, actually. But no, my grandfather had a heart attack a few hours after I got back. We left the beach house right away and never came back. At least I didn’t. Life changed after my grandfather died, and not for the better.”

“I’m so sorry, Noah. I wish I had known. I wish we’d found a way to keep in touch. I missed you.”

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