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Chapter 5

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WILLOW

I think I would rather have a root canal…

Willow put on a brave face, smiling happily and making small talk with the community this morning at the donut shop. People were coming in, left and right, chatting. She had shaken so many sticky hands in the past two hours that it was staggering. The faces were a blur and to say that she was on sensory overload was an understatement.

“I’m so glad to see you doing well, Judge Rushman,” Alec’s mother said warily, looking at her like she was some trapdoor spider. There was no telling what Alec had shared with his mother, and they hadn’t communicated at all since that day of the photo shoot.

“So, Judge Stomp, if you’re done crushing hearts beneath that chunky heel on your shoe, maybe you should try to work an angle you haven”t thought of, dearie. I thought people claimed you were smart, just, and fair.”

That voice carried over the heads of people with zero hesitation. She was in the middle of shaking a man’s hand, plastered a smile on her face, and tried not to let her panic show as his curious face showed his surprise.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Willow began in a falsetto voice – only to hear Ruth Kendall begin again.

“You know, if I could get one of those hot little firefighters from the Flirt’s Battalion to look at me twice – I sure as heck wouldn’t be here canoodling with half the town when we all know Judge Slimeball Jr. is going to lose. His father has screwed the pooch to more than one person locally, and I’m not the only recipient of the Stevenson warped version of leniency.”

“Excuse me just a moment,” Willow smiled easily and moved to talk to the old woman who was making a scene, taking over the room with her smart mouth and causing havoc. It only took her a second to lean over and whisper to the lady who was sitting there, smirking and had a chiffon scarf wrapped around a head full of curlers. “Could you please give me a little space so I can talk to these good people?”

“What you need to do is shake hands, kiss a few babies, and then park your keister down so a real woman can tell you how to play the game you are currently losing so badly at right now.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You broke that boy’s heart, and he’s never been the same. Well, it’s time you mended things.”

Old, weathered eyes held hers – and Willow swallowed at the knowledge she saw lingering in those depths.

“I’ll take a coffee, black, when you order breakfast for the two of us and decide to join me,” Ruth Kendall began, her voice as lofty as the Queen of England holding court among the peasants. “I’ve got all the time in the world, but your girly-clock is ticking young lady.”

Willow stood up silently, eyes still locked… only to see the old lady hold up a finger, smirking.

“Don’t forget my cruller either. I like to dunk it in my coffee.”

Boy, she sure had some nerve…

“Of course, Mrs. Kendall,” Willow smiled, biting her tongue as the curious side of her burned and flared to life like a match lighting a flame.

“Exactly. If this old dog can learn new tricks, then I know you can too, and maybe we’ll just surprise each other. You might not be the mongrel that is whispered about in town.”

... Mongrel?

There was an uncomfortable chuckle behind her from some of her constituents who overheard the comment, and she plastered on an easy smile.

“We are always learning, aren’t we?” Willow began in a saccharine-like voice and turned to finish saying hello to everyone. It wasn’t thirty minutes later that the donut shop suddenly began to clear. Letting out a deep breath, she smiled at Alec’s mother, who was watching her like a hawk. “Mrs. Beckett, could I get a cruller, two black coffees, and…”

“I should tell you I’m out of donuts,” Alec’s mother hissed in frustration. “If I hadn’t already agreed to this months ago and wasn’t so curious – I would throw you right out on your…”

“Whoa,” Willow hesitated, backing away from the angry woman in shock. Mrs. Beckett had always been smiling, sweet, and kind to her before. This woman was a mama bear who’d been poked with a sharp stick and she was downright angry.

“Ruth…”

“Get a coffee for yourself, Mary,” Mrs. Kendall ordered the other woman pointedly over Willow’s shoulder. “And charge her for a few donuts. I’m hungry now and getting grumpy.”

The wizened old eyes landed on her haughtily.

“And you’re going to pay, sit down, shut up, and learn something today, Chicken Little, or I will bring down your entire world. Do we understand each other? You need me – and did I ever mention that Mayor Winstead is my cousin’s half-sister? I’ve got connections everywhere, and if they aren’t related, I’ve probably slept with half of them. So before you open that pretty yap of yours, remember… donuts are fairly cheap. I could be asking for prime rib.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, Chicken Little. I’m telling you flatly how the world works, and you are about to get schooled… by me.”

Willow pulled her wallet out of her purse and blinked at the total that rang up on the cash register. Four donuts and three cups of coffee were over a hundred bucks? Was this extortion?

She looked at Alec’s mother, who didn’t blink an eye.

“Inflation.”

“Sure,” Willow replied, handing her the card without hesitation. Neither of these women was scared of her title or consequences. Nope. It was truly refreshing, and for the first time in forever, she realized that she was about to discover what a true ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting looked like.

Accepting the tray, Alec’s mother walked past her, nearly spilling the coffee on the tray – and turned the deadbolt on the front door of the donut shop before turning off the ‘Open’ sign.

Willow swallowed.

“Sit your scrawny butt down,” Ruth began regally, and as Willow started to open her mouth, the woman held up a finger. “Nope. You listen this round. Mary, take a seat, and you keep your yap shut for a second, too. You are too close; this is too personal for you.”

“Wait…”

“Nope,” Ruth interrupted once more. “I know more than anyone that there are two sides to every story, but for the rest of us, it’s extremely hard to tell which is right and which is wrong because emotion blurs those lines.”

“I’m not doing this,” Willow sputtered nervously getting up – only to feel a hand jerk down on her arm, pulling her back into the seat.

“You are going to listen because I’m not letting you destroy my Alec again,” his mother snapped, her eyes shining with rage and unshed tears. “He told me to leave you alone, to be nice, and not say anything – but I’m done being nice…”

“Mary!”

“Ruth… You didn’t see him a few months ago.”

“Wait… what?” Willow whispered, suddenly scared. “What happened to Alec?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know…”

“I don’t. What happened a few months ago?”

“You stopped talking to him – again.”

“What? You mean when I texted him? I haven’t reached out again because he asked me to leave him alone!” Willow blurted out uncomfortably. “I don’t owe anyone an explanation – and my relationship, or lack of, is none of your business.”

“When it’s my son – it is my business!”

“Your son is a grown man,” Willow snapped hotly. “A grown man that doesn’t need his Mommy sticking up for him…”

“BOTH OF YOU SIT DOWN AND HUSH UP!”

Ruth’s voice reverberated against the walls and was quickly followed by a disgusted sigh as she looked at the two of them.

“Are you two finished for a moment so I can speak?” Ruth began, pointing at Mary Beckett. “I told you this is too close to home for you. His dad, Alec, all of it. You need to look at things objectively and try to befriend this pit viper…”

“HEY!”

“Because Alec is scared to death, hurting, and doesn’t know how to react to the feelings inside of him. That boy was at my house on Friday for my routine wellness check and spilled his guts.”

Willow’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“And you,” Ruth began openly, pointing her finger in Willow’s face. “I like you, because you remind me of me – so let me tell you that if you push someone too hard… they will break!”

Her voice cracked as her gnarled hand shook.

“There is no undoing the damage that gets done by words tossed casually, hoping someone understands. The brain is a vicious tool; memory warps things over time, and hurt feelings make loved ones into strangers before your very eyes. Trust me on this. I know this fact more than you will ever realize.”

Willow felt her whole being respond to this brutal truth when she realized that Ruth Kendall was talking about her son – the fire chief. Alec already was another person because the old Alec would have cracked some joke or shown up to schmooze his way back into her world if he wanted to be there. The fact that he was opening up, sharing his feelings, and in his mind, she was the ‘bad guy’… well, that really stung deep.

“You need to decide very quickly if you are going to be a withered old crone begging for scraps of attention,” Ruth continued, her voice trembling with intensity and emotion. “Or if you are going to let down those walls and be smart about what you do next.”

Willow looked at the two women, sitting silent for what felt like forever as her mind ticked silently. She wasn’t sure what he’d told them, but somehow, that door that had been slammed shut was quietly being opened a crack to allow her in.

Things might be different now. Alec might have actually moved on, but a part of her still cared for that young, impetuous boy from years ago. She hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings, but she felt so pressured about marriage and had just gotten a full ride on a scholarship to college. Her mother had told her that ‘if it was love, he’d wait for you’… but everything had blown up that night.

Ruth was right. Words tossed easily about hurt more than she would ever admit. She looked at them and swallowed.

“How do I reach him?”

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