Page 26 of The Problem with Falling
She tilted her head questionably. “Is that so?”
“That is so.”
She crossed her arms. “Oh, Theo…” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I glanced over at her. “For what?”
She shrugged her shoulders with a slight shake of her head. “For whatever it was that made you…you.”
She said it with so much gentleness that it made my skin crawl.
She kept staring at me with her smile, and I couldn’t help but grumble some more.
“Willow, you’re being weird,” I said.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “It’s kind of my thing.” That smile stretched. “What do you think you were in a past life, Theo?”
For fuck’s sake.
“Willow,” I muttered.
“I was an oak tree,” she continued as if she didn’t just say the most bizarre thing. “I think I was based in Montana, but it’s hard to say. You know trees, they don’t really know states, just dirt.”
Fucking hell, I was talking to the oddest human being to ever exist.
I blinked a few times at her but didn’t say a word.
Unfortunately, she continued to say many things. “I only say that because I believe in reincarnation, and with that, I believe we get to pick how we come back into the world because, as spirits, it’s like a buffet of opportunities and lifestyles we can partake in. I chose to be a big, giant oak tree because I wanted to see what it felt like to be grounded for hundreds of years. And this go-round, I decided to come in and be a free spirit because I wanted to see what it felt like to be free and floaty. So I guess I’m just wondering why you chose to be”—she waved her hands in my direction—“this.”
“This?” I echoed.
“Yeah, this. You know.” She leaned in and whispered, “Grumpy.”
I huffed. “I don’t believe in reincarnation.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” Her voice dropped more. “Do you want to know a secret?”
“No. I don’t.”
She smiled.
I frowned.
“I think you and I were friends in another lifetime,” she said so knowingly. “Maybe even lovers for a short time.”
“Hmph,” I replied. I leaned in closer. “Willow?”
“Yes?” she breathed.
“Are you high right now?”
“No. Of course not.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I saw you get brownies from Matt Turner in town earlier.”
“Yeah. He said only eat one at a time, but I ate three because they were delicious.”
Oh, hell.
