Willa was in love with him and she was to live here … God help us all.
In the back of my mind, I somehow predicted this day would come. Willa liked to play with River's soft spot. This wouldn't be the first time she took advantage of that. The wretched snake was going to strike. Maybe not any time soon, but someday, she undoubtedly would.
"Cara … " River pleaded from behind me with an edge to his voice.
"It's not like that at all, Cara," Willa smoothly replied, her light green eyes flashing like a vile serpent would, deceptive. "I don't blame you for being this way, but that's all in the past now."
Bullshit. I could totally see through her façade. She was still the same double-faced bitch who always blamed me and got me in trouble far more than I could recall. A reformed Willa? Ha fucking ha. River might be buying into her bullshit, but I wasn't easily fooled.
"Girls, please play nice." River nervously cleared his throat before brushing past me so he could begin setting the table. He was getting apprehensive. Something was brewing between us, and he was unsure how to tame the both of us. He cuttingly glanced at me before directing the same sharp glare to Willa, warning us both. "Let's put our differences aside and just calm the fuck down, okay? Just for an hour, reel it in, ladies!"
"Whatever," I huffed as I sat my fuming ass in one of the dining chairs, still unbending yet somehow wielding myself to zip my spite-filled mouth just to appease River. It was like getting a root canal, possibly worse.
I loathed every second of dinner, but I managed to reel in my bitch mode for River's sake. The man was out of his depth when it came to passive-aggressive women goading each other.
Squelching my temper seemed to have tested my resolve, but I coped and behaved so I could properly bide my time until River and I were in the safe confines of the bedroom, and I could counter him with his idiotic decision, even if it was for a limited period of time.
Willa, on the other hand, appeared to know her way around River's home. She was pleasantly cordial and respectful. But each time her eyes landed on River, one could easily tell how she pretty much adored the man still. Love heavily remained silent in those eyes.
Nothing had changed, I knew it deep in my gut. It warned me that she was a threat, and I wasn't going to sit here any longer than I had to and play the polite hostess when all I longed for was to drag her by the hair and throw her out of the door. So, I remained mum, waiting until this whole nightmare was over.
After dinner, I stonily declined Willa's offer for dessert. I didn't want to give her an opportunity to poison me. Seriously, I wouldn't put it past her.
While those two continued on their last course, I took it upon myself to haul my luggage upstairs into River's bedroom. I needed time to breathe and gather my chaotic thoughts, hoping some alone time would give me a new perspective. My relationship with River came first, above all else, and as much I begrudged supporting him, I had to find the wherewithal to accept it. Compromise. A resolution that was bound to test my will.
Feeling beyond rotten, I idly sat at the edge of the bed, picking at the feathers in his goose-down pillow while I scanned River's bedroom, somberly recollecting all the beautiful memories we had made in this sweet, beautiful space.
I took comfort knowing he would choose me, no matter what happened in the future. However, Willa's arrival surely threatened that sentiment. She might not have River's heart, but she had his ear, his trust, and that could prove to be even more dangerous. No matter how much Willa tried to reassure me that she had changed, I knew what she was capable of. She'd do anything to ruin me so she could swoop in and take my place. Because deep in her dark, perverse mind, she thought I did the same to her by taking her place in River's eyes the moment I arrived in Mattie's home.
My brain was depleted, my body ran on fumes, but the moment I heard River shuffling outside the door, all of exhaustion vanished, substituted by great anticipation.
After not seeing each other for weeks on end, this was our worst reunion to date. It was a sobering thought, somehow thawing my icy, bitchy demeanor. Slightly.
"I came back early because I thought it'd be nice to surprise you, but I'm the one's being surprised," I delivered upon hearing him stealthily enter the room.
River let out a forlorn huff of air as he languidly shut the door behind him. "Are we really fighting about this?" Downcast, he was none too pleased about this new development.
Had he warned me, I would've been less dramatic. I was obviously in deep shock upon seeing that wretched bitch after not seeing her for years. River owed me that courtesy at least, and he knew it, too. His forlorn face stated how much he regretted that decision.