Page 74 of Three Little Wishes

“I didn’t order you,” Noah defended himself. “I simply said I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“I agree with Noah,” Cami said. She was not a fan of Megan or of her daughter putting herself in a position to get hurt again.

“I do too,” Riley said, coming into the room.

“What is wrong with you people? Have none of you ever made a mistake?” Willow shook her head. “You don’t know Megan like I do. Did she mess up? Of course she did. But everyone deserves a second chance. You don’t throw away a twenty-year friendship, or any relationship for that matter, just because someone did or said something that hurt you.” She walked to the door. “Now I’m going to get ready to go out, and the three of you are just going to have to suck it up.”

Cami stared after Willow, and that flicker of hope that had been there since she’d talked to Hugh got a little bit bigger. Her daughter didn’t throw away friendships or relationships because someone screwed up. She believed in second chances, and that gave Cami hope that Willow would give her one too when she found out she was her mother.

“I’m going with you,” Noah said as he followed Willow out of Cami’s bedroom.

Riley sat on the side of Cami’s bed as the argument continued in the hall.

“You’re not going with me!”

“Fine. I’m driving you, and don’t even think about arguing with me.”

“Fine!”

“I have work to do at the station so I’ll pick you up when you finish your drink.”

“You’ll be waiting all night. After the past couple of days I’ve had, I need more than one drink.”

Riley made aneekface at Cami, and they both winced when a door slammed and Noah swore and another door slammed.

“We can’t let Willow go alone, Cami. You know what Megan’s like.”

“You… we can’t go to a bar, Riley. You’re underage.” She chewed on her thumbnail. “But you’re right. Willow might need backup.” She sounded as if she was ready to party, and when a Rosetti partied, she partied hard. “I’ll go, and you can stay here.”

Riley shook her head. “Are you crazy? I’m not staying here all by myself. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“Noah will kill me if he finds out I took you to a bar, Riley.”

“He’ll never know, and it’s not like I’ll be drinking.”

“Okay, fine.” Cami got off the bed and walked to the door, closing it. “And if we’re really doing this, you need to look twenty-one.”

Cami and her sisters had started sneaking into bars when they were sixteen. She had fond memories of those times, but unlike Cami and her sisters, Riley had led a sheltered life. She was sweetly innocent.

“Maybe we should just stay home. I’m sure Willow will be fine.”

Riley frowned. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting weird.”

Dammit.“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who Noah will strangle if we get caught.”

“He won’t find out. Besides, Willow needs our protection. You know she does. She’s too nice, and she lets people walk all over her. I bet Megan is plotting to embarrass her somehow, and that won’t look good for Willow, not with them trying to sell Channel 5.”

Riley made a strong case for them going, and Cami folded like an accordion.

Twenty minutes later, she was wearing a pair of Willow’sloose dusty-rose pants that had uneven painted black lines and a wide, gathered elastic waistband, paired with a black, scoop-neck tank top. She added a black ball cap over her blond hair to complete her disguise of a seventeen-year-old going on twenty-one.

She’d found a cute off-the-shoulder white ruffled Swiss-dot top for Riley and paired it with a flirty powder-blue skirt decorated in tiny white flowers. Cami had curled Riley’s hair in long, loose waves that framed her face and done her makeup.

She cast an experienced eye over Riley. “If I didn’t know you were fifteen, I’d think you were at least twenty-one. You look gorgeous, Riley.” It was the truth. The kid was stunning.

“It’s the makeup. You’re really good at it, Cami.”

“It’s not. I hardly used any. I just used enough to enhance your incredible bone structure and amazing eyes.” She looked down at Riley’s feet. “But the sneakers have to go.”

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