Page 104 of The Reno
“Yes, you are.”
“Willa,” I moaned. “I just need you to tell me everything is okay. Everything is fine and normal. Nothing has changed.”
Willa nodded. “I can tell you that. But it won’t make it the truth.” Willa patted the sofa next to her. “Come on, tell me what’s got you so stressed.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
“I like him. A lot.”
“Yep, that much is obvious.”
“Stop it. I like him. And we… we’ve been doing some stuff. We kissed. Amongst other things.”
Willa snorted. “That much is obvious, too.”
I could feel my cheeks burn. “No, it isn’t. No one knows.”
“Babes,” Willa said. “Liam looks like the cat that got the cream when he looks at you. Like you’re edible. It’s ridiculous.”
“You’rebeing ridiculous,” I said childishly. “And I do like him, and I know he likes me. But I’m moving back, you know that.” I raised my hands. “I mean, I’ve got a month left.”
“Two weeks,” Willa said, inspecting her nails.
“No, four weeks.”
Willa glanced up. “Two. Think about it.”
Oh. It was my birthday tomorrow.
“Fuck,” I shouted.
How had it gone that quickly?
Liam was almost done installing the boring white tiles in the bathroom, but the kitchen was nowhere near finished. I’d haveto move back soon.
“Indeed. So what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean? I have no choice. I’ve got to come back to work.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. I need to come back because you need me.” I glanced at Willa. “Right?”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t need the help at work.” Willa bit her lip. “But my dad is becoming a bit more involved with the day-to-day of Horizon.”
I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. It was Willa’s worst nightmare. Willa had a great relationship with her dad but was overly eager to please him. It would have been a low point to ask for his help. Or worse, he interfered after discovering how bad the situation was.
Willa downed the last of her wine.
“I’m sorry, Wills.”
“It’s a good thing. Dad and I will strategise a new approach to keeping existing clients, at the very least.” Willa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I can help. I want to help.”
“How?” Willa cocked an eyebrow. “Are you going to hand out more chewed gum? Maybe this time, you could do used tissues, too.”
I gave her a flat look. “Cow.”
