Page 27 of Honey Bee Library
COLE
I was confused.
What had started out as a really nice morning had shifted fast. Suddenly the shy, blushing Willow who had checked me out when I was shirtless in the kitchen was gone, and the cold, distant Willow I’d met the first time I walked into the diner had returned.
Maybe I was naive to think our relationship had grown. I stupidly thought an intimate conversation over a glass of wine plus her making me breakfast the next morning meant she was finally beginning to trust me. That, perhaps, we could be friends.
Now she was doing everything she could to avoid eye contact with me. And I was starting to wonder if I should just accept that Willow and I would never be more than business partners—no matter how much I wished otherwise.
The silence at the table was palpable. I looked at Maddie, who met my gaze with raised eyebrows. I tipped my head forward as if to signal for her to speak. I needed her to say something to take the pressure off of me. I was becoming fluent in Willow, and I knew she wasn’t interested in talking to me.
“Have you lived here long?” Maddie asked, turning her attention to Willow.
I silently celebrated inside. She’d picked up on my silent cues.
Willow looked over at Maddie. She was mid-chew, so she raised the hand holding her fork to her lips and nodded. “I moved here a year ago,” she said after she’d swallowed.
“Oh? From where?”
Willow’s attention had returned to her plate as she cut off another chunk of French toast. “Dallas,” she said before she took another bite.
“I bet there’s lots of cowboys there,” Maddie said with a soft laugh.
Willow was still chewing, so she just nodded.
Silence fell around us once more.
Maddie met my gaze and I could see her question. She wanted to know what my plans were from here. The truth was, I didn’t know. If it were feasible, I would build a time machine and head back to an hour ago when my relationship with Willow felt different. Now it was like we had taken two giant steps back.
Part of me wanted to return to our business relationship in an effort to make things easier around the diner. The other part just wanted Willow to like me. It was strange, but it was the truth. I’d grown to care what this woman thought about me.
The time to try to engage Willow in further conversation ended when Jasper climbed down from the counter and declared that he was done eating. Willow didn’t miss a beat as she pushed her chair back and stood. She told him to gather his plate as she did the same to her own, and then nodded for him to follow her to the sink.
I could hear the faucet turn on and the sound of dishes being loaded into the dishwasher. Then Jasper’s voice grew quieter as Willow ushered him to their room and shut the door.
Now alone with Maddie, I glanced up to see her studying me as she chewed. Her expression was unreadable, so I turned my focus to my coffee and took a sip. Her gaze hadn’t wavered when I finally set the mug down, and her eyebrows were now raised.
“What?” I asked, the heat of annoyance pricking the back of my neck.
My sharp tone wasn’t lost on Maddie, but she didn’t seem fazed as she shook her head. “Nothing.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re thinking something,” I said as I picked up my fork and waved the tines in her direction. I had a sinking suspicion as to what was rolling around in her mind, but I forced myself not to react until I knew for sure. There was no need to prove her hypothesis.
“Do you…like Willow?” she asked as she sat back in her seat and crossed her arms.
I frowned, not sure what to say. If I was adamant that, no, I didn’t, she would take my reaction as an affirmative. If I said there was a slight possibility that Icouldbe attracted to Willow, she would also take that as an affirmative. No matter what I said, she already knew the answer: Iwasinterested in Willow.
I just shrugged. “I have to work around the woman. I don’t want things to be awkward.”
“Yet, you invited her to stay at your rental home and bought her son clothes and toys.” Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened.
At the mention of the items I had Maddie buy for Jasper, the image of him walking out into the kitchen in those new clothes put a smile on my face. It was a small victory in my relationship with Willow. I couldn’t deny that I liked taking care of them. From the little I knew about her ex, the only conclusion I could draw was that he wasn’t interested in helping out his family. A concept that I could not understand.
“You know my grandmother. You know what she would do to me if she ever found out that I let a single mom spend the night in her office chair.”
However, what I said was only half true. Yes, Gran would be horrified if I didn’t help Willow, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t my only motivation. I wanted to know that Willow was safe. After spending a substantial amount of time around the diner, I knew how much Harmony Island loved her.
She was the heart and soul of Sunny Side. If something happened to her—if she needed to leave—that place would die. And if it did, my plans for finding my mom would die along with it.
