Page 66 of Wild Love
“Don’t let her push you around, okay?” is all I get back from her.
I clear my throat to cover a laugh. “Okay.”
And with that, Cora spins on her heel to walk away and I saunter toward my sister. When I get close, she doesn’tlook up—just continues using the tip of a twig to draw in the ash.
“What are you drawing?”
She sighs wistfully, lips tipping up ever so slightly. “Hearts.”
I glance down and realize she’s made a repeating pattern of them along that side of the pit.
“You seem calmer.”
Her green eyes move up slowly from the ground and she drops the stick. “Calmer?”
“Looks like I thought wrong.”
She stands and heat splashes across her cheeks. “Of course you thought wrong! How could you not tell me this?”
“The sperm donation part or the kid part?”
“I don’t care what you do with your dick, Ford! But a kid? A niece? What the fuck, man?”
I bite at the inside of my cheek. “You know what went down with Dad. I wanted everything in place before I told anyone the news. I didn’t want to be talked out of helping her.”
“I wouldn’t have talked you out of it.”
“But you’d have told Mom and Dad. You’ve got a big heart but also a big mouth.”
Her arms cross, and she works her jaw. “I don’t know about that?—”
“I don’t owe you an explanation for everything that crops up in my life. Despite what you might think, not everyone is the open book you are. And I’m a grown man, not your kid. I told you all when I was good and ready.”
“But you didn’t tellme. You told Mom. And she’s the onewho told Dad, who eventually told me. And it came up like they thought I already knew! That’s fucking brutal, Ford.”
My throat tightens and guilt lances through me. I got so swept up in Cora. In Rosie. In work. “I’m sorry, Willa. I should have phoned you and told you. You’re right, that wasn’t fair of me.”
She freezes, and I see Cora pad silently up behind her, shaking her head at me.
“What did you just say?” My sister holds a palm up to her ear like she didn’t quite hear me.
“That wasn’t fair?”
A smug smile curves her wide mouth. “No, the other part.”
My molars grind. I know what she’s after. And I’m not sure I’m in a position to deny her right now. “Okay, fine.You’re right.”
Cora huffs out a light laugh and Willa spins to take her niece in for the very first time. Silence descends between the three of us as the two of them watch each other closely.
Cora leans around Willa to look me in the eye. “Way to not let her push you around.”
I scrub my hand over my mouth to cover my smile. “You two are real ballbusters, you know that? Must be hereditary.”
Willa turns back to me with wide eyes and a stunned expression on her face. “Oh, no, Ford. She isallyou.” Her head moves back and forth between us. “Like… you as a tween but make it a girl.”
Cora and I both roll our eyes.
“Truly unreal.” My sister laughs the words out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cora,” she adds, extending her hand. “I’m Willa.”
