Page 75 of Honey Bee Library
Me: Miami. When are you coming back?
Liam: Just waiting on something. Probably fly back tonight.
I frowned. Waiting on something? What did that mean? And then I shook my head. When it came to Liam, it could mean anything. That man was impulsive and unpredictable.
Liam: Saw Bethany last night. Trying to figure out why you left before you talked to her.
I could feel the color drain from my face at his words. With all this moping about Willow, I’d managed to forget about seeing my mom at the diner. I’d managed to forget the only reason I’d gone to Harmony in the first place.
I scrubbed my hand down my face and sighed. I’d spent so much time and energy trying to help Gran remember, yet I’d allowed myself to get distracted. I’d walked away from my mom without confronting her because I was already dealing with the fallout between Willow and me. Had I resisted Willow and stuck to my original plan from the beginning, I would have been prepared to confront my mom, tell her about Gran, and ask her to come to Miami to visit.
Then I could have wrapped up my time in Harmony and walked away without all of this baggage.
I was an idiot.
Me: Yeah? How did that go? Did you say something to her?
Liam sent a laughing emoji.
Liam: Didn’t need to. Your woman took care of telling her off.
My entire body froze. What? I shifted until I was sitting straight up against the couch. I stared down at my phone, reading Liam’s text over and over again in the hope that, maybe, I’d skipped over a few words.
But on my eighth re-read, nothing changed.
Your woman took care of telling her off.
Me: She’s not my woman.
Which was the truth. Willow was not my anything.
Liam: Really? That’s strange. I’ve never seen someone defend another person like that unless they were romantically involved.
Hmm.
Me: What did she look like? Maybe we’re talking about two different people.
Liam: The girl who owns the diner. Willow? After I told her that your mom was sitting behind us, she marched right over and let her have it. Told her that she left a great guy and how she could never imagine leaving her kid. It was epic.
I frowned. Why would Willow do that? I thought she was done with me. I thought that…she didn’t care. Why would she defend me like that?
Me: Oh.
I didn’t know what else to text. I had so many questions, but I also knew that going down this rabbit hole wasn’t going to help me forget Willow. The best thing I could do for my sanity was just move the conversation forward.
Me: I’m gonna get ready to go see Gran this morning. Let me know as soon as you get to Miami and we’ll grab a drink.
I set my phone on my chest before I slunk down against the couch and rested my head on the back once more. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander for a moment before I realized that if I didn’t get up and be productive, I was going to drive myself insane.
Texting Liam hadn’t been the distraction I needed. Now, my head was full of even more thoughts and questions about Willow. I needed to focus on getting out of my house and doing things.
I stood and headed into my bedroom. I set my phone down on the bathroom vanity and started the shower warming. Once steam had filled the room, I stripped out of my clothes and stepped in under the hot water, where I lathered myself in soap.
Now clean, I flipped the water off, wrapped a towel around my waist, and stepped out of the shower. The bathmat under my feet was soft and warm as I stood in front of the mirror and towel-dried my hair.
After I shaved, I patted my skin with some aftershave and then headed into my closet to get dressed. I settled on a dark blue t-shirt and jeans. I was going to see Gran this afternoon and then come back home to dress before heading to Obsidian for the night. I’d been ignoring my business, and now that Willow and I were officially over, it was time to focus on returning to normal.
I stopped by Sam’s Floral Shop on my way to see Gran to pick her up a bouquet of daisies. They were her favorite flowers—even if she didn’t remember that they were her favorite. When I got to Seabreeze Memory Lodge, I found a parking spot near the front and turned off my car.
