Page 111 of Back to Willow

I bring the bill to another table and clean one that had just cleared out when Dylan comes running to me.

“Mummy,” he whines, tugging on my leg. A clear request for me to crouch down, and I do. “I need to go potty,” he whispers to my ear.

Oh, man. The diner is still in full swing right now. Oh god.

Don’t panic.

“Can you wait a couple of minutes?” He nods. “Let me settle things here, and I’ll take you, okay?”

“Dylan?” Liam calls from behind me, making me turn to look at them both.

“Liam!” Dylan screeches, running up to him and jumping straight onto his chest.

With a “humpf”muttered on impact, Liam closes his arms around him, a content smile on his face with his eyes shut tight.

I decide to approach them slowly, to try and not let Dylan take too much of their time, but I slow my pace to a stop when I notice Johanna’s adoring expression while looking at Liam.

I put myself between them.

It hurts.I don’t know why, but it does...

Still, I shouldn’t have and I need to correct this.

“Dylan, let Liam and Jo eat in peace, baby. Go back to your table. I’ll help you back in a minute, please,” I plead.

This is already beyond awkward, having everyone here, it's affecting me.

I’m on edge.

To help with the circus, Liam looks at me with a big frown, accentuating, even more, his confused expression.

“He can stay here with me. You’re working, who’s taking care of him?” Liam asks.

“Arthur!” Dylan chirps animatedly.

Great.

“My, uh, professor happened to stop by for dinner and saw me struggling. He, uh, offered to look out for him,” I stutter throughout the entire speech, even though it’s not necessarily a lie.

“Professor Prick?” Johanna asks, surprised.

Yeah, I had the same reaction back then...

“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve taken him.” Liam’s frown deepens.

He thinks I don’t trust him.

I do.

If there was someone in my life I’d trust unconditionally besides my brother, it’s him.

“I didn’t have time. I was already picking him up from school when Shilah asked me to come here right away. And it’s not his first rodeo, so I just came here. Em, it’s a force of habit.”

My explanation softens his expression, helping him understand that it wasn’t anything against him, but still, it feels like I’m walking on thin ice.

Realising the amount of time I’m spending here with them I snap out of my panic and turn my attention to Dylan.

“Baby, go back to Arthur. Let me just hurry up so I can go and help you,” I mutter to him.

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