Page 91 of Three Little Wishes

“What?” Megan shrieked.

Sage breathed in through her nostrils and then briefed Megan on the situation, as only Sage could do. Bluntly, with no emotion. Just the facts in bullet points. Willow wished she could be more like her sister. She didn’t care if she was technically her cousin. She’d always be her sister.

Megan fanned herself with both of her hands. “This is too much to take in. How do you deal with this?”

“By pulling on your big-girl panties. And if you’re going to add to the drama, you need to leave because we have all the drama our family can deal with right now,” Sage told Megan.

Willow sighed. “Sage.”

Megan waved her off. “No. She’s right. You and your family got me through my divorce, and I’m going to get you and your family through this. And just saying, she’s right about Noah. He adores you. You just have to give him time.”

“You and Sage weren’t here. You didn’t hear him.”

“We’ll sort the Noah situation out later,” Sage said. “Because right now we have bigger things to deal with.”

Megan’s eyes widened. “There’s more?”

“Yeah. Mom mentioned Noah said he was calling the police to reopen the investigation into his uncle’s accident. I made a few calls, and it looks like he did. I imagine we’ll begetting a visit from Sunshine Bay’s finest in the next couple of hours. Now, everyone to the table. We hash things out so that when the cops arrive, we present a united front.”

There was a knock on the front door of the restaurant. Bruno walked to the table with two golden-brown Margherita pizzas and put them down. “I’ll send whoever it is away.”

Cami looked at the pizzas and burst into tears. Willow walked over and hugged her. “Riley will forgive you. It might take time, but she will.”

“I don’t deserve her forgiveness, or Noah’s. Everything they said was true. I don’t deserve yours either.”

“Why don’t you deserve mine? I’ve had a beautiful life. You gave me to my mom. I’ve had a family who loves and supports me. It’s you who’ve missed out, Cami. You’ve paid for your mistakes a thousand times over. Maybe it’s time for you to forgive yourself.” She straightened and looked her mother in the eye. “And it’s time for you to forgive your sister.”

“You weren’t there. You don’t know what we went through when she took you from us. You don’t understand—” her mother began before Willow cut her off.

Actually, Willow finally understood a lot of things. She understood why she’d panicked at the thought of leaving her family and Sunshine Bay. She also could understand how traumatic it must’ve been for her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt when Cami had taken her. But Cami had paid a price far greater than any of them.

“Twenty-five years, Mom. Twenty-five years without her family. You were there, you heard her, you have a better understanding why she left me. You know what she was dealing with. And as awful as it must’ve been for you, I think, deepdown, you understand why she took me when I was a little girl. You need to forgive her, and you need to forgive her now.”

“Willow, it’s okay. I understand how Gia feels,” Cami said.

“Willow’s right,” Carmen said. “I won’t be here forever. I want my family with me, all my girls. I want everyone to get along. I want to be a family again.”

“Okay, Ma.” Gia nodded and got up from her chair. She walked over to Cami and gave her a hug. “I forgive you. But just so you know, I’m Willow’s mom, and I don’t like sharing.”

Cami laughed through a sob. “Tell me about it.” She wiped away her tears and said to Willow, “Your mother was like a little squirrel. She had all these secret hiding places in her room.”

“Yeah, because you and Eva stole my stuff all the time.”

Cami and Gia argued back and forth, but it was the normal arguing between sisters, and Willow’s heart lightened just a bit. She glanced at her grandmother, who was chuckling. She caught Willow looking at her and mouthed,It’ll be okay.

And then Megan said what Willow was thinking: “The Rosettis are back together again. Watch out, Sunshine Bay!”

Okay, so she could’ve done without the last part. Willow moved away from Cami to take a seat, turning as Bruno returned from getting rid of whoever had been knocking on the front door. Only he hadn’t gotten rid of them. Naomi and Veronica followed behind him.

Naomi looked around the table, frowning. “Will, what’s going on?”

“What are you guys doing here?” Willow asked.

“We thought you and Noah were having dinner here tonight, and we came to share the good news.” Veronica glanced around the restaurant. “Where is he?”

Willow nodded at her sister. “You’re up.”

Sage gave her aseriously?look, but then took pity on her and gave Naomi and Veronica the lowdown, Sage style. Willow took a seat, unable to block out the memory of Noah’s voice or his expression, devoid of love. Her reaction to the memory must’ve shown on her face. Naomi and Veronica both hugged her, and then they surprised her by hugging Cami.

---