Page 53 of Forever Player

“So why did you come back?” she asks. “Sorry, I know I’m being nosy. I just remember how much you hated this place.”

“You aren’t wrong. I thought I hated this place but I think I just hated my house.” I snicker.

Lucy’s lips turn down. “I’m sorry, I heard about your dad passing.”

“Thanks. I had a strained relationship with him. He wasn’t the easiest man, you know?” I say because I am still having issues finding peace where he is concerned.

“I remember. We did have lots of sleepovers back in the day because you didn’t want to be home,” she reminds.

“Thank you for always being there for me, Lucy. I feel bad that I didn’t stay in touch better,” I confess. Maylee becomes fussy so I turn her on her back and place a toy that has lights and music above her.

“Don’t be sorry. I understood. The two of us had very different experiences growing up in this town,” she says.

Isn’t that the truth. Lucy’s parents got along well. There were so hospitable and kind to me.

“Yeah, we did,” I agree. “How are your parents?”

“There doing well. Mom crochets, Dad watches television most days. They are getting old but can’t complain,” she says. Smith walks up to her and climbs on the couch, then he climbs into her lap. She barely has room to hold him with her belly poking out so much, but he doesn’t care and starts to sweetly caress her face. “He’s getting tired, but I want to keep him up. We just got rid of his morning naps. How’s your mom?” she asks.

“You know how Helen is.”

I don’t need to say anything else because Lucy understands. Mom was never really the doting kind.

“How is Casper?” I ask. “You’ve got a gorgeous home, Lucy.”

She laughs. “Casper is good. He’s busy running the distillery.”

“That is very cool.”

“Yeah, we’ve opened an area to the public. We started it last year, it’s his new project. He’s thinking of expanding the concept to some locations in Nashville.”

“That’s very exciting.”

“I saw you with your baby daddy at the fair. We were on the other side and I was sitting on a bench, or else I would’ve come to say hello. These days walking puts crazy amounts of pressure on my bladder.”

“Oh, I hear that,” I reply, remembering my own ninth month of pregnancy. “Brett is good.”

“Good?” she says wide-eyed. “Willow, that man was adorable with your little girl and he’s easy on the eyes too.”

“He’s a professional hockey player. He comes from Michigan. Small-town life is new to him.”

“How long is he staying for?” she asks.

“He’s leaving soon,” I reply. “Has to get back to work. It’s the middle of the hockey season.”

“You Heatons were always about hockey,” she says.

“My dad and my brothers were, that’s true. My good friend was working for the Rangers, that’s kind of how I met Brett,” I say.

“Are you two together?” she asks. I don’t find her questions invasive because Lucy doesn’t have a bad bone in her body. She was always there for me when we were younger.

“We are not,” I say, and it sounds so choppy and wrong to my ears.

“Really? I saw that kiss, Willow Heaton,” she laughs conspiratorially.

I blush. “That was very out of character for me.”

“Oh, I know,” she agrees. “That’s why I had to ask.”

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