Secret Confessions: Sydney Housewives--Willow Page 4

  Seb wanted to date her. And wasn’t that exactly what she wanted, too? But he also wanted to thrash out the whole excruciating business of him sleeping with her mother and she absolutely did not want to go there. At all. Ever.

  Even if she did now accept the whole thing had been a mistake, it didn’t mean she wanted to discuss it with him. A shudder wracked her body and she finally focused on the gift he’d given her. Numbly she pulled the ribbons and wrapping paper off and opened up the box.

  Her breath caught in her throat. It was an exquisitely detailed dragon, a flawless match for the phoenix he had given her at Christmas.

  She pulled it from the box and stared at it. The dragon and phoenix, the perfect balance of yang and yin, bestowed good luck and harmony in marriage. A chill inched along her spine. Was that what Seb wanted—marriage?

  Her gaze snagged on the curlicue base. It was hauntingly similar to the base her phoenix stood on. But as she stared through the hazy sheen of tears that filled her eyes, the decorative curls seemed to twist with mystic intent.

  She blinked and her gaze sharpened. What the fuck? She ran into her office and placed the mythical creatures next to each other. And then she placed the dragon behind the phoenix.

  Shock speared through her. The curlicues became more than decoration when seen together. For the first time she saw the cursive Ws interwoven on her phoenix—why hadn’t she seen them before? But more than that, now the phoenix was completed by her companion the dragon, the aligned calligraphy spelled out two words.

  Willow and Seb.

  For endless moments she stared, spellbound. And the longer she stared at those interwoven Ws the more an eerie certainty snaked through her.

  She pulled out Seb’s three books and placed them on her desk. With a deep breath she opened the first one to the dedication.

  Always on my mind, W

  She swallowed and checked his second book.

  Always in my heart, W

  She held her breath and checked his latest, even though she knew what it said.

  Always yours, W

  Each W was the same elaborate cursive that had been used on the phoenix and dragon. He hadn’t dedicated his books to his legion of fans. He hadn’t signed off with W for Wallis.

  He had dedicated them to her. Willow.

  Her phone went and she grabbed it, heart pounding. Seb had changed his mind. He was coming back so they could talk this through properly. But it was Sienna, and her bubbly voice made no sense as Willow listened to her friend. Except it reminded her they were supposed to be meeting in an hour for their usual fortnightly pre-Diamond Dinner beautification regime at their favourite exclusive salon.

  “I can’t make it to Phillipe’s.” The words blurted before she even realised she’d made the decision.

  “What?” Sienna sounded confused. “Are you sick? Are you cancelling the dinner?”

  The sun would implode before any of the women would cancel a Double D.

  “No, I’m fine.” Willow left her office. She needed to get dressed. “There’s something I have to do this morning, Sienna. I’ll tell you about it later. Wish me luck.”

  Five minutes later as she grabbed her keys, Mrs Duval appeared in the doorway to the drawing room. “The florist has just arrived, madam.”

  How had she forgotten the florist always arrived at precisely this time when it was Willow’s turn to host? She gripped her car keys and they cut into her palm. Seriously, why did she always feel the need to hover over the florist? The arrangements were always perfect.

  She took a deep breath. She could lie to Mrs D but there was no point. Her housekeeper would need to be dead not to know how things had been between Willow and Seb over the last three days.

  “I need to speak to Seb before he catches his plane.”

  Mrs D nodded, as serene as ever. “Then you’d better leave now. And don’t worry about tonight. Everything will be perfect, as always.”

  Of course it would. The dinner was important and she loved catching up with the girls, but did she really need to stress out about it so much whenever it was her turn? She’d known half the women for all her life. No one would die if her nails weren’t freshly manicured tonight.

  Only one thing mattered right now. And that was telling Seb she’d been a complete idiot and hoping he’d give her another chance.

  ***

  Everything conspired against her. The traffic was foul, the lights were red and when she finally found a parking space at Sydney Airport she was a seething mess of nerves.

  She looked awful. And she had no emergency make-up handy to try and hide behind.

  “Fuck, shit.” She gripped the steering wheel for a couple of moments and attempted to calm her mind. And screw up her courage. Suppose Seb didn’t want to give her another chance? He’d been trying to win her over for years, if his book dedications were anything to go by. Why hadn’t he said anything earlier? Why had she been so obstinately blind?

  With a final ruffle of her hair she made her way to Departures. It wasn’t likely she’d catch him before he went through Customs, but she hadn’t come this far to let a little thing like that stop her.

  And then, unbelievably, she saw him just leaving the check-in for his flight.

  She froze in her tracks. As if in slow motion, she watched him pause and then turn around. For endless seconds they just stared at each other across the busy terminal before both moved at once.

  Oh God, it was definitely a good sign. It had to be. But her stomach pitched and she had the urgent need to use the bathroom. She’d never been so nervous about anything before in her life.

  “Willow?” There was a note of disbelief in his voice, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for tonight?”

  She cleared her throat. “There’s plenty of time before the girls arrive. But I wanted to catch you before you left.”

  “I think we’ve said everything.”

  He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. She didn’t blame him. She took a deep breath and plunged into the deep end. “I’m sorry. You’re right. We do need to talk about what happened nine years ago.”

  “Why?”

  Why? She resisted the urge to squirm on the spot and instead gripped her fingers together for added courage. “Because it stands in the way of us having a future together.”

  He didn’t answer straight away, which was unnerving. Finally he folded his arms in a classic posture of defence. “Do we have a future together?”

  She thought of the phoenix and dragon he’d specially commissioned. Of the significance behind the gifts. She remembered all the times during the last three years when Seb had been there for her. And didn’t want to think of a future he didn’t share with her.

  “I hope so.” She chanced taking a step towards him. He didn’t retreat. “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted, Seb. The last three days have been the best days of my life.”

  “I want it all, Willow.” There was no softening of his features. “I don’t want to be your bit on the side, the one you’re ashamed to be seen with in public. Can you handle that?”

  She gripped his arm and shook him. “Yes. I want all that and more. I don’t care about what happened all those years ago. And just for the record, I’ve never been ashamed to be seen with you. I’ve just been ashamed of my own stupid hang-ups. The truth is I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  He pulled her into his arms so suddenly she gasped. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.” His voice was muffled against her hair. He gave a half laugh and released her just enough so he could look into her eyes. “I fell so hard for you that first day we met. I even introduced myself as Seb, when everyone else called me Wallis, just because I wanted something different with you. When I found out who you were—fuck, it just about killed me. Even though I finished things with Amber as soon as you left, I couldn’t face seeing you again even though I couldn’t get you out of my head.�
�

  Wait. He had finished things with her mother? She stared at up him, frowning. “But I thought she ended it with you, a week later.” That’s what her mother had told her. So dreadfully immature, she’d sniffed, despite the fact that since Willow’s dad had remarried a girl half his age, all of Amber’s hook ups had been in their early twenties.

  Seb shrugged. “Look, I might have been a clueless dick back then, but there was no way I could carry on seeing her after I’d met you. Amber getting me fired from the job was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. It made me focus on something I never would’ve before.”

  Willow felt her face heat. Her mother had got Seb fired just because he had dumped her?

  “I’m so sorry. I had no idea she did that.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He gave her a contemplative look. “Haven’t you ever wondered why I wrote my first book?”

  “Hmm, because you’re a brilliant writer?”

  “Yeah, that’s a given.” He laughed and tugged gently on her hair. “It was you who inspired me. That day we talked you were so interested in everything that I’d always taken for granted. I’d never really thought twice about my mum’s clairvoyant gifts or our alternate lifestyle. You made me see it through fresh eyes.”

  His revelation enchanted her. “You mean I was your muse?”

  “You could say that. Never thought it would all take off the way it did, though. Funny how things turn out.”

  She didn’t want to have to wait a couple of weeks to see Seb again. She wanted to get him alone and show him just how much she loved him. But his flight was imminent, and she had the Double D’s tonight.

  Inspiration struck.

  “I’m coming to your book launch. I’ll catch the first flight I can to New York tomorrow.”

  He gave his wicked smile, the one that turned her inside out and caused her heart to sigh. “Okay. We can look for engagement rings in Manhattan over the weekend.”

  She wound her arms around his neck, relishing the way he held her tight. “You have to ask me first, Sebastian Wallis.”

  “Remind me to do that when you arrive.”

  She laughed and reluctantly let go of him. “Have a safe flight.”

  As she turned and walked away he called her name. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

  “I love you,” he said.

  ***

  Sienna was the first to arrive that night. Willow had texted her earlier that day so she knew the basics, but there was nothing like sharing juicy gossip in person.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me the minute you and Seb slept together.” Sienna fluffed up her immaculate blonde hair and gave Willow a fierce glare. But since they’d known each other all their lives, Sienna’s fierce glares didn’t bother Willow in the slightest.

  “I didn’t get the chance. I was a bit tied up.”

  Sienna choked on her drink and Willow laughed. It was fantastic to be able to talk about just how much she loved Seb. Sure, Sienna had always known, but it had always been a taboo subject, an unspoken secret between them.

  Mrs Duval ushered in Lana and Nella, Sienna’s stepmother. The two women, along with Amber, and Virginia and Darla’s mothers, were the founding members of the Double D Club. And while Willow had never worried that the reserved Nella would gossip about her to Amber, she’d always harboured the fear that the outspoken Lana would.

  Oddly, she realised she no longer cared what Lana might or might not tell her mother.

  “I won’t breathe a word,” Sienna whispered, widening her eyes and tipping her glass in the direction of the two older women. But as they all air kissed each other and Nella and Lana complimented her on the perfect flower arrangements, Willow realised she didn’t want to keep her relationship with Seb a secret.

  Why should she? They were going to get married. Every time she thought about that, which was often, warmth infused her entire body and she couldn’t help smiling to herself.

  “I have an announcement,” she said, when there was a lull in the conversation. If her mother’s friends were shocked she was going to marry Amber’s former toy boy, that was their problem. Not hers. “Sebastian Wallis and I are engaged.”

  She wasn’t sure what reaction she expected. But Nella actually smiled. “That’s wonderful, Willow. I’m so happy for you both.”

  “It’s about time,” Lana said. “That boy’s been in love with you for years.”

  She didn’t need their approval. She didn’t need anyone’s approval. But it felt good to know she had it, regardless.

  Darla and Virginia arrived and as Willow raised her hand in greeting she saw Darla grab a glass from a waiter. Going by the pained expression on Virginia’s face and the way Darla downed half her cocktail in one long swallow, it looked as though her latest date hadn’t gone too well.

  “How did things go with the latest Mr Right?” Sienna asked, as soon as the other women joined them. Much as Willow wanted to share her good news with her friends, she didn’t want to rub Darla’s nose in it while she was still so pissed off with her ex.

  Darla gave a delicate shudder. “I didn’t think it could be possible, but this one was even vainer than Julian.”

  “Wow.” Willow couldn’t believe the bad luck Darla was having with men lately. “That takes some doing.”

  “I should have known the night was going to be a disaster when he stopped to admire his reflection in the glass doors as we entered the restaurant.” Darla finished her cocktail. “Can you believe he actually asked for a table by the huge wall mirror? He couldn’t stop looking at himself all night. He even checked his teeth on the cutlery between each course.”

  From the corner of her eye she saw Camilla had arrived, and was hovering by the drawing room door looking lost and slightly overwhelmed. “I’ll be right back,” she said to the others before making her way across the room.

  Six months ago, when her godfather Drake told her he was getting married, Willow had been staggered. Drake was a confirmed bachelor and her dad’s best friend, outside of his A-list Hollywood circle. And when she’d discovered Drake’s bride was younger than herself, she’d been speechless.

  Her mother, despite never having met Camilla, considered her a grubby little gold-digger. Come to think of it so did Jorja. But Drake had asked her to keep an eye on his young bride, and although at first Willow had seen that as a grisly duty, it hadn’t taken long before she realised her mother had entirely the wrong impression.

  “Hi Camilla. Come in. Would you like a cocktail?”

  “Oh, hi Willow. Yes, thanks.” Camilla took a glass from the passing waiter and sipped, her glance darting around the room. “Everything looks lovely. You all make it seem so easy.”

  Willow smiled at the compliment, but then saw the nervous look Camilla shot her and comprehension dawned. The next Double D would be Camilla’s first time as hostess.

  “You’ll be fine, Camilla. The trick is to delegate.” She laughed, because she and Seb were getting engaged and she couldn’t help herself. She had the mad urge to give the whole world big squishy hugs. “But listen. If you want any help just give me a call.”

  “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  “You won’t. If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have suggested it. In fact if you don’t want my help you’re going to have to physically kick me out of your house.”

  Camilla looked as if she didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified by the prospect. Willow linked her arm through the younger woman’s. “Come and chat to Nella and Lana. They’re amazing when it comes to organising things.”

  You’ve just finished Willow in the Escape Publishing Secret Confessions: Sydney Housewives continuity. I hope you enjoyed it!

  If you’d like to know more about this series, there is a reading order page at the beginning of this book, or you can visit the Escape Publishing website, www.escapepublishing.com.au.

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