Page 27 of The Time It Takes
I snort. “You’re just saying these things because you’re the only person I kept tabs on.”
Well, that isn’t entirely true. I did reach out to—
She scoffs. “Like I gave you a choice otherwise.”
I smile at that. “You’re a very stubborn woman,” I tell her.
“So are you,” she says, lifting a sharp brow.
My mother doesn’t know that we speak so often and so I guess we both have something to feel guilty about. Colleen has always been easier to talk to. She was also always around while my mother on the other hand…wasn’t. The woman hardly holds a judgmental bone in her body. She always wants to know what’s going on with me even if it’s absolutely nothing. So, I tend to indulge her.
“It’s fine with you that I’m staying here?” I ask.
“Absolutely.” She smiles. “Stay as long as you’d like. The buyers can wait.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “But I won’t be here long. I booked a round trip.”
Her face falls to a frown. “Surely you’ll need more time.”
I try hard to keep my face neutral. “For what? I’m just here to get a few things and then I’m catching a flight back to New York. That’s it.”
“And what’s waiting for you there?” She challenges.
I fix her with a stare, but not an answer. I don’t feel like I need to explain myself. I’m not some clueless kid anymore.
“Willow,” she addresses me sternly.
I cross my arms. “Colleen.”
She rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh. She walks toward me slowly and puts a warm hand on my shoulder. “A few nick-nacks aren’t the only thing you came here to collect, and you know it.”
I say nothing as she studies me for a reaction, but I don’t give her one.
Her eyes drop to the floor. “What about closure?” she asks softly.
Alarm slams into me, a dreadful panic etching its way up my throat. “Did you…”
She quickly shakes her head. “No,” she says, looking me over one more time before letting out a breath through her nose. “He doesn’t know you’re here.” She starts to leave but stops and turns to face me. “But he should. Despite what even he may think at the moment, I know my son and he would want to know you’re here. He wants to know you, Willow.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if he didn’t anymore?”
“Are you going to hide from him forever?” she asks tightly and though she tries to mask it, I can tell she’s angry with me for hurting her son. “Yes, perhaps it would be easier that way. But tell me this Willow, can you go your entire life not knowing him anymore?”
I turn away from her and make my way toward the cabinets. She watches as I open one of them and I’m met face-to-face with a box of Cheez-Its.
She continues, “You loved each other so much—”
“Enough,” I whisper, reaching for the box. I can feel her eyes on my back as I say, “I was in love. I was in love with your son—my best friend. I spent my entire life falling in love with him. Paint it however you want, but since that night outside the hospital, only one of us ever stopped.”
I glance at her and don’t miss the confusion on her face. Leaving her with that, I walk back toward the staircase.
Glancing down at the old box of Cheez-Its, I smile to myself. I probably seem like a crazy person. Sometimes I wish I was insane. Maybe life would be better that way—If nothing made sense at all because nothing was meant to.
“And who was that?” I hear her call out behind me.
I’m halfway up the steps when I look at her over my shoulder. “I guess I’m still trying to figure that out.”
I take the steps two at a time and when I reach the top, I don’t go to my room. I walk across the hall, toward the closed bedroom door. I sit down on the floor and lean against the frame before opening the box of Cheez-Its and grabbing a handful.
