“Are you kidding me? For starters, I’m not easily offended. And honestly, we’ve thought about talking to a child psychologist about it.”
“Is she aggressive?”
“Definitely not. Not in a hurtful way. But the tree costume incident was really just the beginning. Any time there’s a project that both she and Penny are involved in, things…happen. We attributed it to her just not being…you know, graceful, but I have to wonder if there’s more to it.”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm?” Levi repeated. “What the hell does hmm mean?”
“What are you getting all pissy for, Levi?” Natalie demanded. “Hmm means hmm. Stop being difficult.” Then she focused on Willow again. “Don’t mind him. He’s a little over-protective of his nieces.”
“Well, that’s nice…”
“Do you think we should talk to a shrink?”
“Oh, uh…”
“Nat, stop! Willow doesn’t know Olivia. Hell, she doesn’t know you! Why would you ask a complete stranger for advice like this?”
Willow stiffened slightly. She never saw Levi so uptight before and it suddenly made her feel a little uncomfortable. Putting some space between the two of them, she felt her cheeks heat and wished there was someplace she could go to be alone.
The Sullivan siblings continued their heated discussion and Willow caught some movement by the stairs. Slowly, she leaned over and noticed a little girl who had to be around six or seven staring at her. The house was a small Cape Cod, and the staircase was tucked in the corner without much light so she couldn’t quite make out if she was purposely hiding or just maybe being a little nosey about the raised voices.
Natalie stormed off to the kitchen and Levi followed her, and Willow figured she might as well go introduce herself to whichever daughter this was.
“Hi,” she said, walking toward the staircase. “I’m Willow.”
“I’m Livvy.”
“As in Olivia?” Willow asked for clarification, and the girl nodded. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Olivia.”
“Are you Uncle Levi’s girlfriend?”
It was way too complicated to try to explain their relationship, so she simply nodded. “We’re on our way down to Florida and Levi thought it would be fun if we stop and visit. I hope that’s okay.”
“Are you going to Disney World?”
“Oooh…I wish. We’re going to visit my grandmother for her birthday, so no Disney on this trip. But I would love to go! I haven’t been there in years!”
“I want to go, too,” Olivia said. “I want to ride the Frozen ride!”
“What? I didn’t even know there was a Frozen ride!”
Olivia looked up at her with big blue eyes and nodded. “Uh-huh! You ride a boat and everything!”
And as if of one mind, they both started singing Let It Go. Olivia jumped off the step she was on and began to twirl as she sang. She reached out her hand and Willow took it as they both started singing even louder. By the time they got to the final chorus, they each struck a dramatic pose before collapsing on the couch laughing.
“You are so cool, Willow!” Olivia cried. “No one ever sings along with me! Penny says she’s too old to sing any Disney songs, and mom has a terrible voice, so…”
“Hey!”
Willow’s eyes went wide as she turned her head and saw Natalie and Levi standing in the doorway watching them. “Um…”
“Mom! Did you hear us? Willow knows all the words! She even did all the movements Elsa did! Isn’t that cool?”
Willow’s cheeks heated, and she couldn’t believe everyone was looking at her like…like…She looked up and saw Olivia smiling from ear to ear just like Nat and Levi.
“Um…”
“That’s amazing, sweetheart!” Natalie said, hugging her daughter. She looked over at Willow. “That was very impressive! I can’t keep track of all those songs. They are way more complex than the Disney movies from when I was a kid.”
“Willow’s a pro at them,” Levi said, giving her a sly wink. “She admitted that in the car.”
“Really?” Olivia asked. “Do you know the songs from the new Frozen movie?”
Nodding, Willow said, “My girlfriends and I saw that in the movie theaters like three times!”
“Wow! You are so cool!” Olivia declared. “Want to come up to my room and see my Elsa costume?”
“Sure!” Standing, she looked at Levi and Natalie and shrugged. “We’ll be back down in time for dinner. I promise.”
And with Olivia laughing and tugging her hand, Willow followed the girl up the stairs.
“So…this is serious, huh?”
“What’s serious?”
“You and Willow. It’s serious, right?”
Levi sat down at his sister’s kitchen table and groaned.
This so wasn’t a good idea…
“Nat, I explained the situation to you. I’m just helping Willow out with her grandmother. She didn’t want to let her down or have to deal with her folks being judgy toward her. It’s no big deal.”
Placing the spoon down on the counter that she was using to stir the pot of sauce, Natalie turned and smirked at him. “Look, you’re a good guy. We all know that. You’d give anyone the shirt off your back.”
“Right, so…”
“However,” she quickly interrupted, “this is the first time that favor extended to bringing a girl home with you.”
“I’m not bringing her home, Nat. This was just a practical move–a way to save some money on the trip.”
“Why are you so worried about money? The pub’s doing fantastic, you just bought that ridiculous sports car…”
“It’s not ridiculous,” he countered. “It’s just something I kind of always wanted.”
“And you’re looking at buying a house! You’re doing great financially, so why volunteer to sleep on my floor for the night and bring Willow with you?”
Sighing, he rubbed his forehead and tried to stay calm. “Willow was insisting on paying for the trip since I was doing her a favor. She…she thinks I’m a bartender.”
“You are a bartender.”
“No, she thinks that’s all I am. She doesn’t know I own McGee’s.”
“Well, that’s stupid. Why don’t you just tell her and then spring for a hotel with real beds for the
