Waiting for Willa (Big Sky, #3)(66)

“All I ask is that you don’t let Alex forget about me. Tell him about me. Max, you knew me better than anyone. Share that with him.”

“I promise.”

He reaches out to shake my hand, and I pull him in for a fierce hug.

“I’m going to leave you be,” he says. “No more dreams. I’ll see you later. Much later. But you might see little hints that I’m around from time to time.”

“Good. Because I’ll miss you, man.”

He nods and smiles. “Go. Willa needs you.”

My head is fucking killing me. I feel like I got hit by a freight train.

Someone’s holding my hand. I open my eyes to find Willa next to me, but she’s sitting, not lying in our bed. I’m in a hospital room.

The last thing I remember was skiing, and now…I’m here?

Shit.

Willa opens her eyes and immediately looks up at me. “You’re awake?”

“Hey.” My head is going to split open. “Whisper, okay? Head hurts.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Max, I dreamed about him. About Cary.”

“I did, too.”

She frowns. “Was he looking at you?”

“Yes.”

“I couldn’t see you.”

“I know. But I could see you, and I could hear you, too.”

She swallows and kisses my hand. “He said goodbye, and he asked me to be happy. To live my life, with you, and enjoy it.”

I want to hold her so fucking badly, so I find the bed control and raise my head more, then pat the bed next to me. “Come here.”

She readily complies, gingerly sitting next to me where she can still look at me.

“After you left, he said the same to me,” I say and reach up to brush a piece of hair off her cheek. “He gave us his blessing, Wills.”

“Yeah.”

“He just asked that we don’t let Alex forget him.”

“We won’t,” she promises. “I have a confession.”

“Okay.”

“I almost left. Today, after the accident. I almost ran away from you because the thought of losing you tore me up inside.”

“If you left, I’d follow you and find you.”

“Stalker.”

“No, I love you, and I know you love me, too. You don’t get to leave me, Wills.”

“Back at you. No more scaring me like this.”

“Deal.”

“Are you going to ski again?”

“Oh, yeah.” I grin at her and squeeze her hand. “And maybe, one day, I’ll get you up there, too. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

She nods and then purses her lips as if she’s thinking about something serious.

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

“You’re an intimidating man, Max. What can I possibly give to you that you don’t already have?”

I smile. “A daughter.”

***

“I can’t believe that Jenna and Christian got married on a Wednesday,” Alex says. “I mean, who does that?”

“They wanted to be unique,” Willa says.

“It’s cool that I got to stay home from school so I could go to the wedding.”

The reception is over, and everyone has left, including the crew that came in to clean up.

My sister and Christian got married today, only four days late, exactly the way Jenna wanted. At the property in the park, with a small reception after at my lake house. We’re going to stay here tonight and move back to the farmhouse permanently tomorrow.

“Bubba, we have something to talk to you about,” Willa says as she joins us in the living room, bringing us each a cup of hot cocoa. “How would you feel about Max and me getting married?”

Alex’s head whips around, and he pins me with a hopeful stare. “Did you ask her?”

“I did. I’m sorry, I should have asked you first if it was okay, but I got carried away.”

“Do we have to get rid of Rocky?”

I scowl. “Of course, not. I love Rocky.”

“Focus,” Willa says with a sigh. “We need to know how you feel about this.”

“I think it’s good,” he says, staring at his cocoa. “I have lots of questions, though.”

“Ask all of them,” I say and rub his shoulder. “We’re happy to answer them.”

“Are we gonna move in here?”

“No,” Willa says, and Alex’s face falls in disappointment. “Wait, do you want to live here?”

“There’s a whole movie theater,” he reminds her.

“We plan to build a new house,” I reply. “One that you can help design your own space in.”

“That’s cool,” he says, then gets super serious. “I want to ask Max a question, but I don’t want to make Mom sad.”

“You’re fine, Bubba. What is it?”

He looks up at me nervously. “After the wedding, can I call you Dad? Since you’ll be Mom’s husband and stuff?”

I take a deep breath, my eyes finding Willa’s. She gives me a nod, and I pull Alex into my arms, giving him a big hug.