Page 56 of Three Little Wishes

“She canceled it. That’s why I told you I was worried they’d somehow heard about Cami. But I’m sure you’re right, and it’s about the silent auction.” She prayed her sister didn’t decide she’d been wrong and send Willow’s nerves into overdrive.

“This isn’t good. Mom never cancels her yoga classes, and what’s with meeting you at the beach? Not her apartment or the restaurant?”

Her sister really had been sleeping when she was talking to her. “She wants to go for a walk.”

“Babe, you buried the lede.” Sage lowered herself onto the front step. “This isn’t good.”

“I’m sorry, but what’s wrong with your mom wanting to go for a walk on the beach with you?” Noah asked, reaching overand removing strands of Willow’s hair from Lucky’s mouth before he took the dog from her.

“It’s our mom’s thing,” Willow said, stealing Lucky back. She needed something to calm her nerves, and she didn’t think cuddling up to a half-naked Noah was a good idea. “If ever she had bad news to share, like when ourbisnonna, great-grandmother, died or when our cousin was going to spend her summers in England, she took us for a walk on the beach.”

“So much for sleeping,” Sage grumbled. “We have about an hour to prepare and get ready.”

“You can’t come.”

“Of course I can. I’m not letting you do this on your own.”

“Mom doesn’t want you there. She told me she wanted to talk to me on my own.”

“She actually said she doesn’t want me there? Because that intimates that she knows I’m here and means they know about Cami. Or it’s possible that she wants to talk to you about me. I wonder—”

“She knows you’re here. I had to tell her. She must’ve heard that I was with Noah and Riley at the pet rescue event yesterday, and when I admitted I’ve been staying here, she got weirdly upset. She made me feel like I was seventeen, and she’d caught me sleeping over at my boyfriend’s, and his parents weren’t home.”

“Or at your boss’s vacation home. The same boss who is closing your beloved Channel 5.”

“That’s it! With everything going on, I totally forgot to tell her Noah’s not closing the station.”

Noah scratched his head. “Uh, Willow, that’s not what I said.”

“I know, I know, and I’ll explain it all to my mom whenI see her. But you have no idea how relieved I am. I’ve been worrying myself sick over nothing.”

“Not exactly nothing,” Sage said, getting up from the step. “We still have to break the news about the teenager from hell.” Her sister nodded at Lucky. “I bet Demon Spawn would love to go for a walk with you and Mom.”

“Don’t listen to her. You’re the best doggy,” Willow said, cuddling and kissing Lucky as her sister walked into the house, closing the door behind her.

“Is this how it’s going to be from now on? You’re going to give your kisses to the dog instead of me?”

“You didn’t act like you wanted me to kiss you last night. You acted like you wanted to strangle me.”

“I admit I was tempted to when I thought you’d orchestrated the whole thing with Lucky.” He raised his hand when she opened her mouth to defend herself. “I knew within a couple minutes that you had nothing to do with it. I was angry at myself and spent the rest of the night kicking my ass for not being there for Riley when she needed me.”

“But in your own way, you were, Noah. For three years, you worked your job and your mother’s so she had more time to spend with Riley.”

“She still put in fifty hours a week, Willow. I should’ve forced the issue. I should’ve given her an ultimatum. If I had, Riley wouldn’t have lost her mother and been forced to live with Billy.”

Willow put Lucky down and moved to sit on Noah’s lap. His arms went around her, and she cupped the side of his face with her hand, stroking his beard-stubbled cheek with her thumb. “Riley wasn’t the only one who lost their mother. Have you even taken time to grieve?”

“I’m not fifteen. I didn’t have to move away from the only home I’ve ever known.” He held her gaze. “She truly believes Billy wants her because of her trust fund. When she said that…” He shook his head.

“Do you think that’s the only reason he wants her?”

“I did threaten to get the trustees to freeze her trust fund and to do an investigation of all expenditures if he didn’t let her stay the summer with me… but no, I don’t believe it. I’d like to think I would’ve fought him for custody if I did. Billy might’ve been a lousy husband and stepfather, but he adored Riley. For the first four years of her life, he raised her. He was a stay-at-home dad, which I admit, in my mind, at the time, validated my opinion that the only reason he was with my mother was for a free ride.”

Willow winced, and he nodded. “Yeah, I know. I could, and can, be an ass.”

“Maybe an overprotective son and big brother.”

“If I was an overprotective brother, I would’ve called Riley at least once a week and checked up on her.” He speared his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know why I didn’t. I meant to, and then between selling off my mother’s personal estate and dissolving the corporation, there never seemed to be enough time in the day.”

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