“Not really. I’ll be working—I got a waitressing job in the city—since I need to pay my phone bill now. Plus I want to save up so I don’t have to work as much once school starts.”
“Are you not going away to college?”
“Nope. I’ll be in Chicago. I’d like to get an apartment instead of a dorm if possible though.”
He nodded, eyebrows rising. “Good plan. I always imagined you’d want to go away to school though, not stick around here.”
Willow shrugged, glancing at the floor. “It would have been nice, but I decided to stay close to home. I may still go abroad for a semester or whatever. But enough about me, tell me what’s up with you. Anything new?”
Shaking his head slowly, he replied, “Not really, no. Well,” he amended, gesturing around the room. “Obviously this is new.”
She nodded, her enthusiasm visibly ebbing. “I can’t believe you guys didn’t work it out. Honestly… I wasn’t even sure you’d want to hear from me.”
“I did,” he said, lifting his eyebrows. “I tried. You just—you disappeared. I wasn’t sure if you had changed your mind.”
Her eyes widened. “No, I tried, too, but my parents… they wouldn’t listen to me. They went psycho, they took away my phone and my car, they threatened to take me out of school so I’d have to delay college for a year. They went nuts, and I considered trying to go behind their backs, but… what would I have done if they weren’t bluffing? I didn’t have anywhere else to go or any of my own money. It seemed smartest to roll over, let them think they were winning and start building my escape tunnel with a plastic spoon.”
Ethan cracked a small smile. “Seems like it worked.”
“It took longer than I hoped, but…here I am.”
“Should’ve used a stronger spoon.”
Willow sighed. “See, where were you with solid advice like that when I needed it?”
His smile widened. “Well, I’m glad you reached out. I had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing you again.”
And he’d hated it. Knew it was likely best for both of them—but hated it all the same.
Nodding slightly, Willow said, “I figured as much.” She let a beat pass. “So, do you live here alone then?”
“I do.”
“No girlfriend?”
He shook his head, holding her gaze.
Willow nodded contemplatively, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, not meeting his gaze. “Huh. I hadn’t accounted for that.”
One dark eyebrow rose. “No?”
That time she shook her head. If he didn’t know better, he would say she looked sad.
Offering a light, almost playful frown, he asked, “I’m sorry, were you hoping I had a girlfriend?”
She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “No. Of course I wasn’t hoping you would, but I assumed if you were back on the market… you weren’t on the market for long.”
“Dating hasn’t really made it back on my priority list. I mean, my life is… still pretty complicated. I’m not divorced, we’re separated. The whole… process seems to be paused for right now.”
“Do you think you’ll get back together?”
He didn’t immediately respond. Admitting it aloud seemed like a bad omen…. Then again, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Amanda kicking him out of their house, changing all of the locks, and not allowing him unsupervised visits with his kids could only be bad signs.
“No,” he said after a minute. “I don’t think so.”
A hint of a smile flitted across her face. “Well, that seems less complicated, doesn’t it?”
Ethan shook his head. “We’ve got three kids; it will always be at least a little complicated.”