Page 210 of Holding On To Good

Willow took a step toward her kitchen only to pause, one foot lifted, when Miranda knocked on the door.

And knocked.

And knocked some more.

Someone couldn’t take a hint.

No surprise. Miranda never gave in easily.

And she’d never had a problem going after what she wanted.

Doubtful that type of Can-Do, Will-Do spirit and I want what I want and I’ll mow down anyone to get it arrogance disintegrated just because she’d married an asshole.

Even when they’d been kids, Willow couldn’t help but admire Miranda’s moxie.

Secretly.

And with no little amount of animosity.

And maybe just a touch of envy.

It wasn’t that Willow lacked confidence.

Just courage.

You want to be a fucking coward? That’s on you. But I’m moving forward. With or without you.

Urban’s words, as they’d done hundreds, thousands of times since she walked out on him, floated through her mind.

And like she’d done hundreds, thousands of times since she’d walked out on him, she shoved them aside.

She couldn’t allow herself to remember the things he’d said. It hurt too much.

Couldn’t dwell on the choices she’d made. Couldn’t let any of her doubts rise to the surface. Had to keep them buried deep inside where they couldn’t make her question those choices.

Where they couldn’t make her start to think that maybe, just maybe, she’d made a mistake.

That Urban wasn’t the only one who was in the wrong.

The knocking stopped. She shut her eyes in relief.

Then about jumped out of her skin and had coffee splashing onto the back of her hand when the doorbell rang.

Three times.

Well, now Miranda she was just being an asshole.

Willow yanked the door open, but only one inch because despite it having been half a lifetime ago, the scars of high school remained and yes, she could absolutely hear her mother, her sister and her therapist—who she hadn’t seen nearly enough in the past year—telling her she needed to work on letting the past go.

She heard them. She just chose to ignore them.

“I don’t know where he is,” she said.

Didn’t know where Urban was or what he was doing. Had no idea if he’d gone through on his threat to call Lincoln Black and start the dissolution of their partnership. If he’d told their employees that they were splitting up J&K.

She hadn’t seen him, hadn’t heard from him in six days. It was the longest they’d gone without talking to each other since those awful weeks after he’d asked her to be his girl in high school and she’d turned him down.

She missed him. So much it was like a physical ache. Like a piece of herself was missing.

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