Page 74 of Balancing Act

“Will do. They won’t allow me to ride with you, but I’ll follow along behind, so I’m there to bust heads if I think they’re taking too long.”

“Appreciate ya.”

Noah gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I’m going to wave the driver down so he’ll know where to come. Keep an eye on those pups for me, would you?”

“I’ll do that. And Tannehill? If Willow’s kids don’t want the girl dog with the white fiddle on her face, she’s the one I’ll take. She’s a feisty little thing.”

“Noted. I’ll check with Willow and keep you posted.”

The EMTs didn’t take long to get Gage loaded intothe ambulance and headed to the hospital. Noah scrolled through the contacts list on Gage’s phone, looking for Zach’s number. When the call went to voice mail, he hesitated.

Noah knew that the Throckmorton father and son had a rocky roller coaster of a relationship. Gage had spoken about it more than once while they’d worked on the fence. Apparently, Zach and his dad had all but come to blows this past weekend over a misunderstanding about something to do with a bid Zach’s construction company had made for a local project in which Gage had an interest. It stood to reason that Zach might not want to talk to his dad today, but leaving a “there’s been a medical emergency” voice mail wasn’t cool.

Noah disconnected the call and dialed the number from his own phone. Zach answered on the second ring. “Independence Construction. Zach Throckmorton speaking.”

“Zach, this is Noah Tannehill. I’m calling about your dad.” By the time he finished his conversation with Zach, he had his workshop locked, and his keys in his hand.

He arrived at the hospital no more than ten minutes behind the ambulance that had brought Gage in and sat down to wait.

Chapter Ten

WILLOW HAD PROMISED HERSELFshe wouldn’t cry. She’d done all right in that regard during her mother’s time in New Mexico, but now that the moment of truth was here, she could no longer hold back the tears. She was a wreck.

Which was why she had to come clean with her mother tonight. About Andy. About everything. Because she needed her mother like she’d never needed her before.Heaven help me.

Since Andy was at the center of everything, Willow had brought a trifle for dessert. It was a subtle bit of personal symbolism. He was a trifle, a trivial thing at this point. He was of no consequence.

Yeah, right. Willow swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks. Dead and buried and still throwing hand grenades into her life.

“Honey, talk to me.” Genevieve grabbed another tissue and handed it to Willow.

“I’m trying. It’s hard.” Willow needed to ease into thistale, so she removed the dessert from her mother’s refrigerator and set the trifle in the center of the table. As she spooned crisis-worthy-sized portions onto dessert plates for her mother and herself, she tried to explain. “I need to say this first, or it will get lost, and it’s too important to get lost. I need to start with an apology, Mom. I’m sorry I got into such a snit over your initial dislike of Andy and then used it as a wedge to come between us. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Genevieve shut her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they glowed with approval, gratitude, and happiness.I should have said this years ago.Willow handed a dessert plate to her mother.

“Oh, honey. I made my share of mistakes, too. Of course I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me, too. Honestly, I think we went through some normal family growing pains. It’s especially challenging when the first child in a family gets married, because you’ve never done it before. It’s hard not to make mistakes the first time around. I wish I’d done many things differently when you and Andy got together.”

Willow took a fortifying bite of chocolate. If not for the AJ part of this, she could have stopped right here. Her mother always had been one to accept an honest apology and generously extend her forgiving heart. But Willow’s guiding word this year waslisten, and she was listening to her own heart tonight.

She couldn’t skip straight to theMom, I need youstuff. Her mother deserved to hear the words.

Besides, Willow hadn’t had enough chocolate to say the most brutal stuff yet. “The apology is only part of it, Mom. Before you left on your New Mexico trip, I told you that I wanted to clear the air, so I need to tell you everything.”

“Okay.” Genevieve nodded encouragingly.

“It’s a bit of a list,” Willow warned.

Genevieve gestured toward their dessert plates. “Which is why you brought Death by Chocolate. I understand. Get on with it, child.”

“Yep. Okay, here goes. Number one on the hit parade—I was divorcing Andy. The day he died, I told him I wanted him to leave.”

Her mother dropped her dessert spoon. “You what?”

“I told Andy I wanted a divorce.”

“Oh, Willow.” Genevieve covered her mouth with her hands. “Why?”

“Where do I start? Remember that Leonardo DiCaprio movie where he plays a con man who forges checks and pretends to be a pilot?”

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