Dare to Stay (Dare Nation 4)

From her tone of voice, Bella meant her words, and Willow didn’t blame her and she sighed. “I understand. I’m just sad for you.”

“I’ll be okay. Now you eat.”

With a smile at Bella’s insistence, Willow finished her meal, realizing as she ate just how hungry she was. Once full, she gathered her plate and utensils and walked to the sink and, over Bella’s objections, began rinsing and cleaning up.

“So I watched the game yesterday,” Bella said as Willow finished and wiped her hands on a dishtowel.

Willow wasn’t surprised Bella had viewed the game without her husband being around. They were a football family through and through and had instilled that love of the game in Willow.

Rejoining Bella at the table, she said, “It was a good game. A win.”

Bella smiled. “I also saw the press conference introducing the new doctor streamed on the team’s website. Very interesting choice. Don’t you think?”

Willow’s gaze shot to Bella’s. “Don’t go there.” She didn’t want to think about Braden and the things he made her feel.

“You’re defensive, which is exactly why we should go there. How has it been working with him?” Bella stared at Willow until she squirmed in her seat.

She twisted her hands together and forced a smile. “It’s been okay. No problem.”

“R-i-g-h-t. That’s why you’re wringing your hands together. Your nerves are so completely obvious.”

Willow unclasped her fingers that now ached. “I’m serious. It’s been fine. If you count getting stuck with adjoining rooms in Denver fine.”

Bella’s green eyes opened wide. “What?”

Though Willow hadn’t planned to discuss kissing Braden with anyone, she sat with the closest thing to a mother she’d ever had and knew she needed someone to listen.

She cleared her throat. “So the rooms were a fluke. But Saturday night he knocked and brought in a room-service cart with my favorite dessert.”

Bella’s gaze softened. “That was nice.”

“It’s easy to offer up a sweet gesture. It won’t make me forget how easily he left.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Oh, sweetie.” She grasped Willow’s hand and squeezed tight. “You have abandonment issues and rightly so. We don’t have to get into the whys or what happened to you. Not now. But I hope one day we can dig into things, because you need to get the pain out. Was Braden wrong? Absolutely. But what does he say now?”

“Before or after we kissed?” Willow asked.

Bella leaned on the table, her eyes opened wide, her surprised expression speaking for itself.

“Umm, yes. He says he wishes he’d handled things differently. But that doesn’t matter. The very fact that he did it means I can’t trust him to stick around.” And she didn’t plan on giving him the opportunity to repeat the past.

“Hmm. Now for an even harder question. What about Cole?”

Willow sighed. “I need to end things with him. It’s the right thing to do.”

“And Braden?”

She shook her head. “I can’t let myself go there.”

“Something tells me Braden doesn’t agree.” Patting Willow’s hand, she offered her a smile. “Good luck talking to Cole and dealing with Braden.”

“Thanks.” Willow rose from her seat. “I should get going. I have to be up early, as usual.”

Bella stood and walked with Willow to the door. “Oh! I’m going to my sister’s this year for Thanksgiving, and you’re more than welcome to join me and I hope you will. Kathy would love to see you.”

Willow forced a smile. She didn’t know how she felt about being with another big family for the holiday. She was used to a small gathering with Bella and Peter or being alone. “I’ll let you know. Thank you and thank Kathy for the invitation.” Leaning over, she kissed Bella’s cheek. “I loved catching up.”

“Same here. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She walked out to her car, climbed inside, and headed home, needing a good night’s sleep, because from Cole to Braden, tomorrow would definitely be a difficult day.

* * *

Braden followed the directions to the health center, making a series of right and left turns that took him deeper into the center of the city, Hudson in the passenger seat. They left the luxury area of South Beach and headed downtown, the scenery changing. More dilapidated buildings, more depressed neighborhoods, more people in need of good medical care. He pulled his SUV into the parking lot and cut the engine.

“I’m glad we finally have a chance to check things out here,” Hudson said, stretching his legs out in front of him at the same time moving his seat back for comfort, a little late considering they’d been in the car for twenty minutes.

“Tuesday is game planning. It’s the only free time we do have. Cole and Marshall can handle any injury issues that come up today.” As the sun hit the windshield at an awkward angle, Braden adjusted his sunglasses and put the visor down.