Willow
This can’t be happening. No, no, no, no. Why now? Why here? My mind hits a blank, and before I even realise what I was doing, I get up and walk out.
“Willow?” I hear vaguely behind me but don’t register the voice. I haven’t seen Alex since he walked out of the home we shared, claiming that I had been neglecting him as a partner. But I have to admit that seeing him happy with the woman he betrayed me with hurts a lot more than I care to let on.
I feel a tug on my wrist and stop.
“What the hell, Willow?” I hear behind me and turn around, looking straight into the eyes of Reid. As soon as I see the confusion in his blue eyes, the fog lifts from my mind. I blink back the tears in my eyes.
“I’m… I’m sorry about that. Do you mind if we leave?” I ask and see him frown, but he nods and leads me back to his car. I honestly don’t think that I could go back inside after that display.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Reid’s
Willow Building an empire alone is one thing, but building an empire with someone you loved was something else entirely. You strive for the other’s success and knowing you had them in the corner with you meant so much more. A year after his surgery and chemo, we decided to add more rooms to the lake house; two studies and two guest rooms for when the family visits. It cost us a pretty penny, but with the success of my romance novels, and Reid selling the shares in his father’s law firm, we were good for it. I managed to open my own editorial house as well, so now I manage myself and at least four other new authors. My success was growing and so was Reid’s, who had a knack for the business world. Soon after he joined one of the largest marketing firms in Denver did they see a rise in their price on the stock market. Reid started being known as ‘Golden Thumbs’, whatever he touched seemed to multiply in success. I’m so proud of him and e
Willow My head whips to the door, and I take in the sight of the man I deemed my brother before running straight into his arms. Noah knew all the right things to say, and when I told him about what would happen today, he said he would be here for me until I decided to chase him away. “Noah!” I exclaim, wrapping my arms around his neck and taking in the familiar scent of him. I heard the low chuckle in his chest as he held me close, knowing words couldn’t express what I was feeling right now. When he lets go of me, we walk over to the bed I would be sleeping in and sit down, where Noah places his hand over mine. “I thought I used to be a fucking tough rockstar, fighting depression while performing in front of thousands, but what you’re doing blows all that away. You’re an amazing person and an even tougher bird, Specs. I take my hat off to you for what you’re doing, but since I am the only one that can currently see through your bullsh
Willow Okay, I knew this would come; I didn’t know it would come so soon after we just made love. Reid looks at me and cups my cheek, wiping away the tears that had formed even before he told me. T hey discovered another tumour and had no idea if it was cancerous or not, but River would get back to him with the results in a day. If all goes well, they will remove the new tumour and proceed with chemo to eliminate the parts they couldn’t remove. But for now, they didn’t know if it was malignant or benign… the test would reveal that. “I didn’t want to ruin our first Christmas together, especially not after what you did for me. But it felt wrong to hide this from you,” he says while his bottom lip trembled. This was more difficult for him than it was for me, knowing that he just got this happiness and it might be taken away just as quickly. “I understand. Thank you for telling me. I’ll still be by your side, no matter the outcome
Reid How is everything so perfect and yet so devastatingly painful? I sat down opposite the woman who has come to mean so much to me, and she’s chatting away while we’re having lunch as if yesterday’s events didn’t loom over us. She’s decorated my home for Christmas to welcome me back, and she’s cooked for me - how could fate be so cruel as to give me someone like Willow Creed, knowing that I wouldn’t be long for this world? When River came to me this morning, I didn’t expect him to deliver the news he did since they gave me the all-clear on the operation. But he received a call this morning to say that there was an error in one of my MRI scans, and what do you know? They discovered another tumour and is clearly inoperable at this stage. He took some tissue samples this morning and would let me know if it was malignant or benign. But there is an out if it is cancerous, and it comes with radiation treatment and chemo, so that means man
Willow As soon as Reid was out, I left the hospital and made my way back to my condo while driving his car. As much as I wished to stay at his side, I was pretty drained and would do him no good by feeling this way. When I arrive at my condo, I grab a few more items I would need and head back to Reid’s lake house. Yeah, this was my home and all, but the lake house has come to be an important place for me as well. Within the hour, I was back at the lake house and didn’t even bother to shower as I headed straight for the bed. The pillowcases still smelled like him, and before I knew it, I had passed out with nothing but thoughts of Reid on my mind. When I open my eyes the following morning, I reach over to the spot where Reid should be, only to find it unoccupied. I had such a wonderful dream before I woke up, and to not see him beside me crushed my heart a bit. No worries, I suppose; he’s in the hospital and would probably get released
Reid My father is standing in front of me, sobbing his heart out because apparently, he blamed himself for my stroke. River said the same thing, even after I told them it was okay. What’s the point in whining over a death that would have ultimately come? Yes, they pissed me off with what they said, but that didn’t mean that I hated them for it. “You’re not a defective son, Reid. Please don’t ever think that about yourself! I am proud of what you’ve accomplished with your life, but I don’t want you to live your life to please me anymore. When you’re 100%, we can go over what you want to do from now on, okay?” My dad says while gripping my shoulder. I nod and give him a wan smile before he walks away again. My meningioma has grown no larger than my last check-up, so they have prepped me for an operation on the 30th, which was a few days away. I have to admit that I am terrified; even though everything still seems a bit hazy to me, I am still aw