Back to Willow

Back to Willow

Mel Veran

5.0
Comment(s)
20K
View
58
Chapters

Twenty-two-year-old and single-mom, Willow, has a busy life between raising a six-year-old, working and finally starting college. She wouldn't be able to do it without her grandmother's help and finally after 7 years of struggling she finally has her life back on track. She's back to fulfilling her dreams and there's nothing she want's more than to show her baby boy that even when life sets you back, you don't give up. But Willow finds herself in a setback when her childhood friend, who lives in the same city she moved to, comes stumbling back onto her life. She wasn't expecting to see him ever again and his presence brings a whole set of memories and secrets that she wanted to keep buried. But their feelings run deep and the unfinished business keeps forcing them to cross each other's paths. Will She be able to stay away or will she give in and tell him the truth?

Chapter 1 New Life

I had already forgotten how hard it is to get a kid up in the early hours of the morning and get him ready. Those were hard long days during my last two years of high school that I sure don't miss.

And yet again, here I am at bloody six in the morning fighting this little devil's bad temper so I can get him to kindergarten before I head to school. It's not high school this time, no. It's college. When I found out about my pregnancy, I was shattered in more ways than one but what cost me the most was the knowledge that my dream to go to college and become a teacher would become impossible.

Well, impossible no more.

I did it. It may be four years later than normal but I still did it and I am so proud of myself. I will be able to show my baby boy that even as a teenage mother I didn't give up on my dream. That his existence encouraged me even more to be a good example to follow.

"Mommy, I don't want to go." He kicks the air with a huff and I roll my eyes at his attitude.

This boy of mine is not a morning kid I kid you not I have received a few hits from his tantrums in the past but I have been relentless in getting him to control his temper, to know it's not ok to hit someone and especially a girl or woman just because he is mad. And he's getting so much better but sometimes he acts without thinking.

Just like someone, I used to know...

"Dylan, what did I tell you about being aggressive just because you don't get what you want? What if you had hit me, huh?"

At my words, he sits up straight and looks at me wide-eyed. I know he does it without meaning to hurt anybody but still, he's too impulsive. I know exactly who he gets it from but I force myself to push those thoughts away.

"No, sorry mommy! I don't want to be bad but I am just so, so sleepy." He buries his head in my chest faking a sob.

Kids these days turn into professional manipulators by the age of five. Thank God I don't fall for it.

"If you had done as I told you to yesterday, you wouldn't be tired right now. Tonight, you'll go to bed earlier," he groans into my chest but makes no move to leave the bed or me. "Come on, let's get you ready. You have your first day of school today and we can't miss it."

"But I don't know anyone in this school." He tilts his head slightly to peek one eye at me.

It's so freaking hard to stay mad at that adorable face, I couldn't even if I wanted to.

"Don't be silly baby, you've spent the last two weeks playing with the next-door girl, Abby. She's your friend already and going to be in your class today."

Dylan straightens up and blushes slightly but keeps what should be a serious expression, one that I just find too cute to take seriously before answering me.

"But she's a girl. The boys will make fun of me for being friends with a girl." He crosses his arms over his chest and huffs.

I just laugh.

"Nonsense Dylan, what did I tell you about this kind of behaviours? Just because other boys like to be mean and take it out on girls it doesn't mean you have to be the same as them to be accepted. Because...?" I prolong the last word to let him finish.

"Because they are in the wrong. You don't hurt or hit girls, not even with a flower," he continues in a monotone voice.

Ever since he started having friends back at Nana's town, where we lived up until recently, I have been trying to teach him to not do what others do or tell him to just because it's cool and especially if it means treating girls poorly. I don't want my son to be a bully, be disrespectful or even worse...

We've moved up to this bigger city - Porto, in Portugal - when I was finally able to enrol into college and this fresh start was everything I had needed and never knew. It was hard at first to have Dylan accept the change but once we got settled and he got to know Abby things have been gradually easier.

I already found a job here, as a waitress in one of the diners downtown. They are flexible with schedules since they are used to hire students often and it couldn't have worked better because it's really close to where I have my classes.

When this opportunity arose Nana didn't even think twice to put her home for sale back in Évora, a small city in the south of the country, and buy one here to move with me and Dylan. Truth be told, I don't know where I would have been if it weren't for her. She stood by me when no one else did and for that, I am forever indebted to her.

"Exactly, and what do you do if other kids taunt you or hurt you?" I ask.

"I defend myself." He puffs his chest and I stifle a laugh; he tries to be tough but he's just too cute at my eyes.

"How so?" I push him, I want to hear him say the correct words.

I want my boy to be good but not too good. I don't want him to take shit from anyone.

"Well, if it's with words I just tell them off but if they hit me, I hit them back." He tries doing what could be a kung-fu move but ends up falling to the mattress on his back.

"No Dylan, you defend yourself and only hit if you really need to." I press. " Got it?"

"But if I can't show off the move uncle Jake taught me, why did I learn them?"

"To defend yourself and no more. Got it?" I press again.

"Yeeesss." He rolls his eyes while dragging the word.

"Good, now go get dressed. Do you need help?"

"No mom, I am a big boy!" He puffs his chest again.

"Ok, I'll be downstairs doing breakfast. Call me if you need help."

Ten minutes after when I am almost done with breakfast Dylan shows up by the kitchen with a lot of energy. The total opposite of the sleepyhead I had just woken up the moment before. This kid is just a ball of energy, I can only imagine when he grows up.

"Mommy, do I look good or what?" He poses in front of me with both hands on his hip, with the latter cocked to the side and a cocky expression on his face.

This kid couldn't be more like him even if I wanted to and it makes my hurt tug. A ton of memories that are buried back in my mind are threatening to be released and dampen my mood early in the morning. That is until I notice how his t-shirt is put inside out and his little jeans are unbuttoned.

I can't control the loud laugh that comes out of me making Dylan frown at my reaction before looking at himself.

"Come here you silly." I motion him to come closer and proceed to take the t-shirt off and put it back correctly and then button his jeans up correctly.

"Thanks, mommy," he chirps and runs off to his seat at the table.

We eat breakfast and I help him so he doesn't get stains on his clothing before taking him to school. There Abby is already waiting for him by the gate and as soon as we exit the car she starts to wave excitedly. Dylan grins at her and prepares to run but hesitates and looks up at me for permission.

I extend my hand, giving the hint that he has to hold my hand. There's a road we have to cross and I won't risk it even though it's right in front of the school and usually, drivers are careful, but you never know these days.

The walk to the gate is quick but not quick enough for my son, it seems. With each step that isn't as fast as he's expecting he tugs on my head, trying to make me go faster. I chuckle silently at his antics and when we finally reach Abby and her mother Dylan lets go of my hand and give Abby a big and tight hug.

My heart melts and reminds me of easier times. Times where I, too, had a best friend like Dylan that would hug me this tight and stand by me for everything. The fact that I no longer have that hurts and has left a big void in my heart, one that even Dylan can't fill. But whatever happened, it gave me what I have today and I wouldn't change my son for anything in this world.

"Good morning," I tell Abby's mom, forcing myself out of my thoughts. She replies kindly with another good morning and we fall into easy conversation about how was the weekend and how excited the kids were for school.

One of the teachers comes outside, letting me know it's time for them to start to go inside and I crouch to Dylan for my hug. He comes without hesitation, hugging me tightly.

"Remember to be good, okay? Voice what you're feeling and be kind baby, I will be back later to pick you up." I kiss him on the cheek as he nods at me before turning back to Abby.

He picks her hand up tangling their fingers together and together they go inside as the teacher accompanies the big group of kids. The sight makes me sigh to try and release some tension. I admit that separating from Dylan gives me anxiety, when he was little, he was my only comfort for my loneliness and when the time came that I had to start to work to help Nana and put him in school, I suffered greatly.

I used to bawl my eyes out every time I left him at school and spent the days on edge, waiting for a call that saying something bad happened or that his father had found about him and taken him. It never happened and slowly, I got used to the temporary time apart.

These next years would be tough though. On top of work, I had college and I am going to have to rely on my Nana a lot, she says she's fine with it and even though she's still totally independent and full of life I feel guilty. This time of her life should be to relax and enjoy and here she is, helping me out get my life straight.

I owe her my life and Dylan's because without her I would have given into the pressure my parents were giving me to get an abortion and even though I was just sixteen years old at the time, I couldn't. It wasn't his fault; it isn't and I couldn't do it.

They threw me out and Nana welcomed me in her hometown without thinking twice, she helped me when my own parents turned their back on me and for that, I am forever grateful. It took me three extra years to finish high school and that is why I am a freshman at college at the age of twenty-two.

Ideal? Of course not, but that's my life and I don't give up on anything. People usually say that if life throws you lemons you do lemonade and that's exactly what I did.

But for now, it's one day at a time and now I really have to go to college.

Continue Reading

You'll also like

His Discarded Gem: Shining In The Ruthless Don's Arms

His Discarded Gem: Shining In The Ruthless Don's Arms

Temple Madison
5.0

For four years, I traced the bullet scar on Chace’s chest, believing it was proof he would bleed to keep me safe. On our anniversary, he told me to wear white because "tonight changes everything." I walked into the gala thinking I was getting a ring. Instead, I stood frozen in the center of the ballroom, drowning in silk, watching him slide his mother's sapphire onto another woman's finger. Karyn Warren. The daughter of a rival family. When I begged him with my eyes to claim me, to save me from the public humiliation, he didn't flinch. He just leaned toward his Underboss, his voice amplified by the silence. "Karyn is for power. Ember is for pleasure. Don't confuse the assets." My heart didn't just break; it incinerated. He expected me to stay as his mistress, threatening to dig up my dead mother’s grave if I refused to play the obedient pet. He thought I was trapped. He thought I had nowhere to go because of my father’s massive gambling debts. He was wrong. With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and texted the one name I was never supposed to use. Keith Mosley. The Don. The monster under Chace's bed. *I am invoking the Blood Oath. My father’s debt. I am ready to pay it.* His reply came three seconds later, buzzing against my palm like a warning. *The price is marriage. You belong to me. Yes or No?* I looked up at Chace, who was laughing with his new fiancée, thinking he owned me. I looked down and typed three letters. *Yes.*

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Sibeal Sallese
5.0

I lay paralyzed on stiff white sheets, a prisoner in my own skin, listening to the rain lash against the window like nails on a coffin. My father, Elmore Franco, didn't even look at my face as he checked his clipboard. He just listened to the steady, monotonous beep of the heart monitor-the only thing proving I was still alive. Without a hint of remorse, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed the Do Not Resuscitate order. My stepmother, Ophelia, stepped out from behind him, wearing my favorite pearl necklace and smelling of cloying perfume. She leaned close to my ear to whisper the truth that turned my blood to ice. "It was the tea, darling. Just like your mother. A slow, tasteless poison." She chuckled as she revealed that my fiancé, Bryce, had a two-year-old son with my sister, Daniela. My inheritance had been funding their secret life for years, and now that the money was secure, I was an inconvenience they were finally scrubbing away. As my father yanked the power cord from the wall, the beeping died, and the darkness swallowed me whole. I was being murdered by my own flesh and blood, used as a bank account until I was no longer needed. I died in that sterile room, drowning in the realization that every person I ever loved was a monster who had been waiting for me to take my last breath. Then, I gasped. I woke up in a luxury hotel suite surrounded by silk sheets, five years in the past-the very morning of my wedding. Next to me lay Basile Delgado, the "Wolf of Wall Street" and my family's most dangerous enemy. In my first life, I ran from this room in a panic and lost everything. This time, I looked at the man who would eventually destroy my father's empire and decided to join him. "I'm not leaving, Basile. Marry me. Right now. Today."

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
5.0

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
4.5

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

The Billionaire's Cold And Bitter Betrayal

The Billionaire's Cold And Bitter Betrayal

Clara Bennett
5.0

I had just survived a private jet crash, my body a map of violet bruises and my lungs still burning from the smoke. I woke up in a sterile hospital room, gasping for my husband's name, only to realize I was completely alone. While I was bleeding in a ditch, my husband, Adam, was on the news smiling at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. When I tracked him down at the hospital's VIP wing, I didn't find a grieving husband. I found him tenderly cradling his ex-girlfriend, Casie, in his arms, his face lit with a protective warmth he had never shown me as he carried her into the maternity ward. The betrayal went deeper than I could have imagined. Adam admitted the affair started on our third anniversary-the night he claimed he was stuck in London for a merger. Back at the manor, his mother had already filled our planned nursery with pink boutique bags for Casie's "little princess." When I demanded a divorce, Adam didn't flinch. He sneered that I was "gutter trash" from a foster home and that I'd be begging on the streets within a week. To trap me, he froze my bank accounts, cancelled my flight, and even called the police to report me for "theft" of company property. I realized then that I wasn't his partner; I was a charity case he had plucked from obscurity to manage his life. To the Hortons, I was just a servant who happened to sleep in the master bedroom, a "resilient" woman meant to endure his abuse in silence while the whole world laughed at the joke that was my marriage. Adam thought stripping me of his money would make me crawl back to him. He was wrong. I walked into his executive suite during his biggest deal of the year and poured a mug of sludge over his original ten-million-dollar contracts. Then, right in front of his board and his mistress, I stripped off every designer thread he had ever paid for until I was standing in nothing but my own silk camisole. "You can keep the clothes, Adam. They're as hollow as you are." I grabbed my passport, turned my back on his billions, and walked out of that glass tower barefoot, bleeding, and finally free.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book