Page 49 of Wolf's Chance

“Sooo…” Lily waited until the door was closed when Caleb left carrying some of my paintings. “What the hell, Willow?”

I needed to lie and lie well. “It’s all been a bit?—”

“Sudden? Yeah, you don’t say?” Lily pointed to the other stool across the room. “I sat there today and spoke to you about him, and you said hardly anything. You said that heleft, and now it’s ‘I’m going on a road trip with the guy!’” Rubbing her temples, she looked at me. “Tell me straight, are you or are you not being kidnapped?”

The burst of hysteria escaped before I could control myself. Lily watched as I laughed, and I knew I needed to regain control, but I couldn’t. It was all too much. The door opened and Caleb walked in, looking between me and Lily.

“She’s tired,” he told her. “The ME has really been draining her lately, did she tell you?”

Lily shook her head, looking at me with concern. “She never mentioned it at all.”

“Yeah, she’s been working so hard on these paintings. It’s really one of the reasons I want to help her with this. She needs to rest, really rest, and I know a road trip sounds the exact opposite, but I think once we get there, it’ll be good for her.”

As my hysteria ebbed, I watched in fascination as Caleb wrapped my best friend around his finger.

“You know Willow’s been painting more?” Lily asked dubiously.

“Yeah, of course.” He flashed another smile. “She’s been through about a box of pencils, her studio at home is almostoverflowing with work, and”—he shook his head as he looked over at me—“there’s hardly any food. Even her stash of candy has gone, and it’s not even Alistair’s fault.”

Lily looked at me, stupefied that he knew so much about me, and I couldn’t even tell her it wasn’t how it sounded. Because he made it soundsomuch more than it was, and I was simply lost on what to do next.

Caleb rubbed the back of his head as he looked at Lily, all shy and bashful, and I wanted to throat-punch him. “I know you’re worried I’m some mad stalker or something, but honestly, I’m just a guy who sees someone who needs a break and can help her with that. When Willow said she got a call from a buyer and didn’t have a way to make the meeting, how could I not offer to help her?”

Lily was nodding. “It’s really kind of you.” They both looked at me. One with concern, one with self-satisfied smugness. “And you’re okay with Caleb helping you out like this, Willow?”

I cleared my throat, forcing a wide smile. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Lily looked between the two of us. “Well okay, who am I to intervene in you getting some sales!”

Who indeed, I mused as I watched her high-five my self-proclaimed kidnapper. Who indeed.

THIRTEEN

Willow

We were in my house,packing more paintings and sketchbooks. Lily had handed over her keys to her truck with no questions asked. Well, she asked one question about insurance, and Caleb told her that he had some kind of insurance that insured him for most vehicles if the car owner had comprehensive insurance. I was sure it was bullshit and Lily would see through it, but she didn’t. She told him that wassoconvenient, and I began to question her intelligence, because surely anyone with a brain cell would see exactlyhowconvenient it was.

But I said nothing. She’d given me a hug and a look with too much glee and a very unsubtle head nod to Caleb when she told me tohave fun.

If I kept telling myself the sooner I had answers, the sooner it would all be over, then at some point, it would all be over.

Right?

“You seem…off. Moody.”

Looking up from the box I was putting my sketchbooks in, I gave him what I hoped was a blank look and resumed my work.

“Okay.” Caleb dropped the packing tape with a sigh. “What is it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Well, you haven’t played the dumb card up until now, so I guess it was due?”

Straightening, I glared at him. “Thedumbcard? Really?”

“Look, I told you to lie down, you refused. I told you to rest, and you insist on helping. You know why we’re doing this, so why are you being difficult?”

“I’m not being difficult,” I said through gritted teeth, “I’mhelping.”

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