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"Ugh. God, I just got in a row with Travis."
In so many ways, hearing her be normal was such a relief. "Oh, hon, I'm sure whatever it is you guys will figure it out. You're getting married soon."
"Yeah, but he's left me to make all the final decisions. And God, he's just so frustrating—" She stopped midsentence. "Wait, where are you?"
Oh, the question I couldn't actually answer. "Remember, I'm on the work trip with Drake Foster?"
"Oh yeah, the hottie from the office."
I glanced down at my wrists and hands where my thumb knuckles had been scraped up. If only she knew I’d been trying to escape “the hottie from the office” for days.
Drake’s words floated through my head.
"You're okay though, yeah?" I asked Willow.
"Yeah. Honestly, I thought maybe you hadn't called because you were mad about Travis and Massimo.”
My stomach twisted. “I wasn’t happy, obviously.”
“I know. And then the front desk said you'd had to check out for a work emergency and I got the message you'd left for me which said, 'I love you. I'll call you. I have to get back to this work trip.' But Massimo was convinced that someone had taken you. He is a looney tune. I see what you mean now. I don't like him at all."
"You need to stay away from him, Will. He can’t come—"
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed, interrupting me. “I've been dying to talk to you because Caroline wanted to change her bridesmaids dress design to look more like my wedding dress. Can you believe that?”
I bit my tongue, before I let the frustration mount. I was Willow’s sounding board. Always had been. The one she talked to about everything. I needed to try and at least be understanding. But this was important. “Honey, Caroline is annoying. Cut her from the bridesmaids line. But I need you to listen about—”
“What are you talking about? I can't cut her. We're too close to the wedding date.”
“OK fine. Don't cut her but I need you to —”
“Oh, and do you know what? Gran had a conniption when I went to visit her at Shady Oaks and told her Mum was coming to the wedding. She was unhappy. She said that Mum had been really awful to you."
My stomach dropped. Shit. "Gran said that?"
"Yeah, she was actually having a lucid day yesterday. She knew who I was, who Travis was, asked about you and everything."
I smiled at that. "Oh, good. I'm glad she was having a good day."
“I'm just hoping, that she doesn't do anything wild at the wedding. The last thing I want is for her to have an episode. I mean I'm already going to be so stressed out. The last thing I need is for her to take off, or worse, say something really inappropriate.
The truth was unavoidable in that moment.
My sister was selfish.
There were times, where I wondered if I could have done something about this part of Willow. The part that couldn't see beyond her own needs. I wondered how much of it was for me to fix. But my sister was my sister. There were some things she wasn't willing to hear yet.
"It'll all work out. I love you. We'll talk when I get home, yeah?"
"Yeah."
I hung up with her, my heart squeezing. I had to blink rapidly to keep the tears at bay.
"Sweetheart, are you all right?"
Reginald's firm hand on my shoulder had me nodding. "Yeah, just let me send a quick text to Talia." I pulled a face, stuck my tongue out, took a photo, and sent it to Talia with the message, Love you.
When I was done, I went back to the kitchen and found both men had started eating. I handed the phone back to Drake, a part of me hoping that he would let me keep it, but he didn't. Instead, he got up and put it back in the safe as he said, "If you want to talk to your sister again, let me know."
