Page 46 of The Archer and his Rosebud

“Not everyone, just my bossy sister.”

“Yeah, yeah. If it weren’t for my favorite nephews I’d know nothing about your life. Which, speaking of…”Oh great, here we go again.“Tell me about Willa and Clementine. Cute name, by the way. You’d think the girl was from the south.”

The girl. Just like Ma.“Why are you asking me? Haven’t your nephews told you everything?”

“They sure seem to love her, especially Eli. What I want to know is, does my brother?”

I blow out a deep breath, the complication of what I’m feeling heavy. “Paige.”

“Talk to me, Arch. What’s going on up there? Momma is all worried you’re trying to make up for the past. Fill in for this poor girl and be a father to a child who doesn’t have one. I know how painful it was that you missed out on so much time with the boys, especially with Eli, but you can’t fix that hurt helping Willa.”

“I’m not trying to fix things—”

“No? How about reliving your past? Are you up for that?”

“What in the hell does that mean?”

“She’s twenty. How do you know she’s not another Leah? Another scared girl who takes advantage of a man who would drop anything to help others no matter the cost to himself.”

I scratch at my two day old scruff and groan. “We’re not havingthatconversation again.”

Paige sighs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… look, we’re just worried. You have a good heart. You’re one of the best men I know, and this girl would be stupid not to see it, but she’s so young. Are you sure she’s in the same place as you?”

Why are we having this conversation? “You’re talking like there’s something between us.”

“Because I know you. You wouldn’t be in her life the way you are if you didn’t care about her.” I hate when she’s right. “And Nolan tells me she’s very pretty.”

My teeth sink into my bottom lip, a vision of a fresh-faced, messy updo-ed Willa drifts in. “What else does he say?”

“That she makes you happy.”

Right again. “Fine, I like her. It did start as friendship. She needed someone, and I had the time to offer her, but now…”

“Now you have feelings, and you don’t know where you stand with her?”

Damn, three for three. “Do I wait it out? Let her make a move if she wants? God, I’m supposed to be looking for a house, my six-month lease is up soon, and I put it off because if I move I’m not here to see her every day and help them. Plus, she still talks about possibly moving back to Michigan.” I scrub my hand over my face. “For the first time sinceeverythingI see myself moving forward. I want the life I should have had with Leah.”

Paige curses under her breath. “It’s hard not to hate her, Arch. If she wasn’t their mother.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.”

“But you can’t use this girl to bandage your wounds or fill-in for the life you lost. You have to think, do you love the idea of that life? Or the idea of that life with this girl. She’s not a replacement Leah.”

“She’s not a replacement or a do over. Leah doesn’t hold a candle to the kind of person Willa is. She’s…” a possibility.

“Is this girl good enough for you? For Nolan and Eli?”

“I think so. She’s smart, Paige. She’s incredibly independent. She never would have asked for help. I forced the issue. She met a guy and screwed up, but who am I to judge that one. We sit in silence perfectly.”

“Yeah?”

“So perfect.” It’s been fifteen years since Gran doled out her wisdom about true love. She told Paige and me that the perfect partner was someone you could sit with in silence, but when they leave the room you miss them, because they resonate in your soul even in silence. “I knew Leah most of my life and we never sat in silence well.”

Paige releases what Leah would call a dreamy sigh. “ I guess you know what you have to do.”

“I do?”

“Talk to her. Find out where she stands. She’s in college, she just had a baby. I’m sure she’s confused as hell about her future. You’ll never know if you don’t ask, and you can’t put your life on hold forever.”

---