“I’m the girl who picked up a very lost, vulnerable Willa Ames walking home in the dark and got her to her grandmother’s safely. Not surprising her ride fucked that up.” She then backed up her car and drove around my truck without waiting on a response to her news.

I didn’t like the idea that Willa had been in her car listening to her lies. However, I was a little relieved that Willa was safely home. Brady and I had both fucked that up. I wasn’t sure just yet what the hell had happened back at the field. But I was going to find out.

“Go home,” I yelled at the red Mustang.

Riley held her arm out the window and shot me a bird. Classy.

I wanted to talk to Willa tonight, but I didn’t have her cell number and I couldn’t call Ms. Ames’s historic landline. I’d have to wait until tomorrow. At least I knew she was safely inside. I just didn’t like thinking about what crazy Riley Young could have possibly said to her.

Riley was the biggest mistake of my life. God I wish she’d stayed gone.

I climbed back in my truck, picked up my phone, and dialed Brady. He’d been looking for Willa too.

“You find her?” he answered, sounding as panicked as I had felt.

“Yeah, she’s home,” I snapped, still annoyed he’d lost her.

“How’d she get there?”

“She got a motherfucking ride.”

He paused. I guess he was waiting on me to tell him who gave her one, but he was going to have to ask if he wanted to know.

“Who?” His question was almost cautious. Like he expected this to be unpleasant.

“Riley,” I spat out as if the word alone made me sick.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Yeah.”

“Riley say anything to her?”

“I wouldn’t know. Wasn’t Willa I talked to. It was Riley. I cut her off as she was leaving the property.”

Another muttered curse from Brady.

We sat there in silence for a few moments. Riley had almost ruined my brother’s life. What she’d done was unforgivable. Evil. Vindictive.

“You gonna talk to Willa tonight?” Brady finally asked.

“How you expect me to do that? Go knock on the damn door and explain this shit to Ms. Ames?”

“Good point.”

Hell yeah it was a good point.

“I’ll let you know what she says after I talk to her tomorrow.”

He paused, then: “Okay.”

Ending the call, I tossed the phone in the cup holder, then headed to the house. A place I hated as much as I hated Riley Young.

She Was a Lot Like You

CHAPTER 20

WILLA

One would expect the wood to be more rotten after years of nonuse. But with paid workers to keep up the Lawton property, the old tree house was in good condition, with no overgrown weeds to crawl over in order to climb the steps. The area looked freshly tended to. That made it even more sad to me.

If the tree house had been forgotten and falling apart from the wear and tear of the weather, I’d have understood its emptiness. It would have been sad too, of course, but not as sad. The lonely tree house, ready for children to play in and build dreams, was empty. Like a beautiful rosebush no one saw or noticed.

I slipped my book into the front of my shorts, because it was too big to fit in my pocket, and climbed the well cared for steps toward the clubhouse where I’d first met my childhood best friends. The familiar smell of the old live oak that housed the Lawton boys’ tree house met my nose, and I paused for a moment to inhale. A safer time in my life. One where dark memories didn’t haunt me. That was what this represented now. The easy friendships we had had back then were gone now. We’d lost those along with our innocence of youth. Being here reminded me of what I’d been taken away from and how painful that had been.

I climbed the rest of the way and walked into the cabin, complete with a roof that was cone shaped and once reminded me of a castle. Or the tower a princess was locked inside. Pulling out my book, I set it on the wooden bench that was still there. The bean bags were gone now. I was sure they didn’t weather well with time. All that was left inside was either made of wood or metal. No toys in boxes or jars with frogs we’d caught lined the shelves.

Turning slowly, I took it all in. This was a time in my life I cherished. It made me happy. Now this place was empty and incomplete without laughter. I sat down on the bench and picked up my book.

“I missed you,” I whispered to the walls surrounding me. “It’s good to be back.”

It sounded silly to be talking to a wooden structure, but it felt right. Like those pieces of lumber understood and recognized me. I liked the idea of that. Besides, I was alone and could sound as ridiculous as I wanted to.

The worn book in my hands smelled of old paper and libraries. I loved that smell. It had gotten me through the past six months. The only escape I had had was inside pages much like these. Pulling my legs up underneath me, I began to read the words and allow the fiction to lead me into another place. One with problems that weren’t mine but made me less alone just the same.

I had a chance to find me again. To heal and restore my nonna’s trust in me. If I kept my head down, and preferably in a book, I could do just that. Wanting more kisses from Brady Higgens wasn’t a step in the right direction. I didn’t have time for that. I needed to focus on fixing me.

I got lost within the words, time ticked by, and my brain closed out my surroundings. That was the way it always worked when I read a book. It was because of this that I didn’t hear the noise of someone climbing the ladder to join me.