When Willow came into the foyer, she was greeted by several friends she hadn’t even noticed in the audience. She was hugged and kissed on the cheeks, and congratulated on her performance. Of course the petticoat incident was a great hit. Although Willow loved the praise, and under normal circumstances would have wanted to speak to these people for longer, today she had one thing on her mind; finding Tyler.
He waited until she was finally alone.
“Quite the fan club,” he said smiling.
“Tyler, so you came,” Willow said unable to mask her joy.
He bowed. “Of course. I’d like you to meet my brother Jesse and his fine young lady, Jamie.” Willow shook the hand of a man who was exactly like Tyler, only missing the goatee. Jamie hugged her and congratulated her on her performance. Next came Kyle, who shook her hand. Then a couple, Wyatt and Jess who laughed, and smiled and shook her hand, and finally she was introduced to Ryan. He said that tonight was one of her better performances.
Willow was amazed at how all the men looked similar. They were all broad shouldered, with the same eyes. The eyes were the really weird bit, they looked golden. When she commented on this everyone just laughed.
“Well, Jesse here is my brother,” Tyler said, “And Wyatt there is my cousin. So we’re all kinda related.”
“It is a strong gene they say,” Jess told her with a rueful smile. “So have you been in the theatre long?”
Willow nodded. “Since I was nine.”
“You have a lovely voice,” Jamie said. She had her hand in Jesse’s and they seemed very much in love. For a moment Willow was almost jealous.
Willow led them all over to the bar in the corner of the foyer and poured them drinks. She’d cover the tab she said, but Tyler flatly refused, and handed the money over to Pete the barman. They stayed late, talking and laughing all together like a huge family. Willow looked around for Rosemary, feeling the lack of her sister quite acutely, but Rose wasn’t there. Well she was her own person, Willow conceded, and let it go.
The conversation turned to Tyler’s plans for the farm.
“I understand you’re also interested in the Sawyer farm?” Wyatt asked. He had dark brown hair with natural highlights. Willow guessed he worked outdoors a lot.
“Yeah we are. My Aunt Vanessa wants to expand this franchise. You know offer Old West cuisine and a themed hotel,” Willow said. “I know it sounds lame, but it’s her retirement fund. She can’t put on a corset and petticoat, and strut her stuff on stage for ever. Eventually you have to find some other means of income.”
“Well Tyler here wants to open up a camp for teens,” Ryan, a tall man with black hair, said.
“You know the kids from Sun Valley need it,” Tyler said.
“Would it only be for kids from Sun Valley?” Willow asked.
“Yeah, at first I think so,” Tyler said nodding. “We have a lot of trouble teens out that way, and this would be a place for us to try and help them.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” Willow said.
Despite herself she could see the old Sawyer place as a camp. With a bit of money invested and some honest hard work, it could be great. She chided herself. Tyler and his friends, no matter how wonderful, were the enemy. She and Aunt Vanessa wanted the land too. She couldn’t afford to go soft. Yet in the dim light of the foyer, with only his friends around, she found herself liking his idea, and genuinely hoping he got the farm. There was no denying that she was drawn to him. He seemed to be feeling something similar, because she kept catching him staring at her.
The conversation turned again from topic to topic, and eventually everyone decided to call it a night. Tyler was the last to say goodbye. He took her hands in his and held them for a while.
“This was really nice, talking to you,” he said.
Willow looked up into those impossible eyes and smiled, “I had fun.”
“Come for coffee with me,” Tyler said. “I’m sure we could find an all-night diner somewhere.”
Willow really wanted to, but her busy day was creeping up on her, and she really just wanted to sleep. So she shook her head.
“Tyler, I would love to, but I’m beat,” she said smiling sadly. “You have my number, call me tomorrow and we can meet up. If you’re free that is?”
He smiled then and kissed the backs of her hands. It was a strange gesture, familiar and yet not. Willow wasn’t sure what to do with it. So she smiled back and hugged him. That was a mistake. Getting so close to him sent shivers through her whole body. Being this close to him for any time was clearly going to impede her judgement, so Willow pulled out of the hug. Then as he got into his truck and drove off she stood waving, until he was out of sight.
It took a moment to lock up the theatre and walk down the path to the house she shared with Rosemary and Aunt Vanessa. It was a little cottage, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen light was still on when she made her way up the steps.
Aunt Vanessa was sitting at the table, a cup of chamomile in her hands. She said she needed it to get to sleep. She had her hair in curlers and her face looked oddly colorless without its usual layer of makeup.
“You had some adoring fans tonight,” she said as Willow came in.
“It was Tyler and his friends,” Willow said. “You know the guys who helped us today?”
“Oh right,” Aunt Vanessa said. She nodded and drained her mug. “Well I’m done and off to bed. You know where Rose is?”
Willow shook her head.
“Oh well, hopefully she took a key this time,” Aunt Vanessa said and stood up, put her cup in the sink and with her slippers making a hushing sound on the tiles, she shuffled off to bed.
Willow sat at the table. She had a lot going on in her mind, not least of which was an action replay of each look she had shared with Tyler. The hug featured hugely, and made her heart race each time she thought about it.
The kitchen door opened suddenly and Willow jumped in her seat.
“You’re edgy,” Rosemary said as she stepped into the kitchen. Willow looked up and realized that Rose was hand in hand with a man. He was tall and slim, but with muscle. That was obvious in the way he moved. His face was thin and he had a look about him. Oh, he was handsome with his firm jaw, slim nose and black hair. But one look was all it took for Willow to decide she didn’t like him.
“Willow this is Dave. Dave this is my sister Willow,” Rosemary said beaming. “Dave came to both shows today.”
“Is that a fact?” Willow asked thinking that it was desperate to say the least.
“Pleased to meet you,” Dave said and shook Willow’s hand. She nodded curtly. A feeling rose in her stomach at his touch. It was almost revulsion but not quite. Willow put it down to her being so tired. All she wanted was bed.
“You look like you’re falling asleep there,” Rosemary said looking concerned.
“You know, I am,” Willow admitted, ‘’I’m going to bed. It was nice to meet you, Dave. Perhaps next time I won’t be dead on my feet. We’ve had a long and very eventful day.” Then she turned to Rosemary who was filling the kettle. “Rose, don’t forget we have another busy day tomorrow.”
“I won’t,’ Rosemary said pulling mugs down from the cupboard.
Willow gave up, and standing up, went to the bathroom. She washed her face properly, brushed her long hair and tied it into pigtail plaits, something she had learnt to do as a child, to stop her curly hair tangling itself up during the night, and hopped into bed. She was so exhausted that although Tyler’s gorgeous face floated in front of her, offering basket loads of imaginary kisses, she drifted off to sleep.