Page 37 of Back to Willow

Surely, itcan’tbe.

Stealing a glance at my kid to make sure he is still where he should be, I consider it real quick. I once believed this man only had bitterness in him, and yet today, I’m seeing a whole other persona in front of me. Still, having him watch over Dylan, as much as it’d help me, I don’t know if I trust him enough.

“I mean, I can fix you a table in five minutes probably, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“There’s no need. He seems like a laid-back kid; I don’t mind it at all.”

His words seem honest, making me feel torn, but as I look around and see the number of people still unattended, I give in. A nod is all he needs to head over to the booth and say something to Dylan. A second later, my son smiles, and Professor Adell sits down across from him.

With that thought still swimming in the back of my mind, praying that this won’t come back to bite me in the ass later, I focus on work and tend to the customers that are waiting to pay. It’s only when I am finally caught up that I realise I haven’t asked the professor what he wants.

Turning in their direction, I stop once I catch a glance of them. It’s so surprising that it has me blinking several times just to make sure it’s true.

He’s already eating a burger, but that’s not what surprises me. He’s talking animatedly with Dylan while feeding him fries once in a while. My kid is thoroughly entertained and munches whatever is given to him, despite having had dinner already.

They’re both gesturing a whole lot and laughing alternately between themselves. It’s the first time I’ve seen my son connect this easily with someone who isn’t family or a kid his age. Though it isn’t really surprising; my boy is the opposite of me. A social creature. But watching them warms my heart.

At least until my brain is invaded by his little weak voice, asking for his dad.

Is this what it would look like?

The two parallel images make me shudder. Neither of these possibilities are exactly welcome in my mind. In the end, both get him taken away from me. And that is something I wouldn’t recover from.

Still, watching Dylan and my professor together feels like a slap on my face. It’s an upfront show of how much I have robbed him.Or them.

But Ihadto.

And I can only hope that he’ll understand, someday...

“Seems like he’s good with kids,” Shilah comments behind me, startling me.

With a defeated sigh, I turn to look at her. “I wouldn’t know. He’s never been nice to me, so I was reluctant to let him watch over him, but I guess...”

“Well, look how well that turned out. Sometimes, fate works in weird ways.” She winks at me.

Automatically, the thought brings me back to Liam, and I visibly wince. It works weird alright. After leaving when I was young, the prospect of seeing him again was one chance in ten million. Still, we were able to choose the same city to study and live in without trying to. I mentally snort at the thought before a memory of when we were sixteen washes over me.

“Your dad will be fuming when he finds out,” I muttered.

“Let him, Lo. You know damn well I don’t need no private colleges; public ones are even more prestigious in our country, and you know it.” He shrugged unaffectedly. “Besides, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me into his side.

I loved the warmth of his voice and his dedication to staying with me through college as long as there was a medicine program. I didn’t want to be away from him either, but this would have turned into a big problem. His parents only tolerated me because they were friends with mine, but deep down, I knew they didn’t like me.

I could see it by the way they looked at me like I wasn’t good enough. Sure, I was a quiet and shy girl with good grades, but I wasn’t a genius nor the most beautiful girl around. And I struggled with numbers a lot; if it weren’t for Liam, I would’ve failed math every time.

But Liam was adamant to stay close to me. Truthfully? That was all I wanted, too. I had been in love with him, my best friend, forever. I couldn’t even remember when it started; it probably was love at first sight.

His parents were pushy with him about his studies and grades. They wanted him to be the best and go to the best college there was out there. They’d send him off to Oxford if they could, especially since Mason, Liam’s older brother, refused to go to college and started working right away.

But every time I mentioned it to Liam, he shrugged me off.

“But still.” I looked at our intertwined hands, avoiding eye contact. “You’re giving up a dream college for me. I don’t want you to miss out on anything.”

“Lo,” he called, and when I didn’t look up, he gently pushed my chin up with his free hand, making me look up at him. “That’s their dream, not mine. My dream is to be a fucking good doctor with you by my side. It doesn’t matter where I decide to study.”

I blushed at his words.

“And,” he insisted. “I am not worried about that yet. We still have two years to decide and plan on which college we go to together.” He squeezed my cheeks.

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