Chapter 1

“Mom, I don’t see why you feel the need to move all the way to Texas!”  Willow pleaded.

“Honey, I just need to get away from all the memories here.  You father has been dead for over two years now and I need to move on.  I feel like if I don’t leave, then I will forever be stuck in his shadow being in this town.  I have some friends there, and I have the opportunity to run my own business.  Its just something I need to do.”  Lauren explained to her 27- year old daughter.  “Besides, you have your own life now.  You don’t even live with me anymore.  You live a half an hour away and I barely get to see you.”

“I know I don’t get here often mom, but its not like I get a lot of time off from work.  I guess I am just comforted in the fact that if I need to come out here to see you, then I can get here quick.  Texas is so far away from New York!  Besides, why would you want to move out there with all those hicks?  You know what they say ‘There’s only steers and queers in Texas’!”  Willow cried.

“Willow Ashley Fox!  Don’t you dare let me hear you talk like that ever again!  How rude to make such generalizations.  Besides, Texas is full of ‘Southern Gentlemen’, something that might do you some good to find.” 

“Mom, I’m happy enough with Joshua.  I just don’t want you to leave me.”  Willow replied.  She got up from her mother’s kitchen table and walked to the living room and laid on the couch on her stomach, burying her head in the throw pillows.

“Willow, I know we have always been close, and we always will be.  I’m sorry that this upsets you, but its going to happen.”  Lauren said as she sat on the edge of the couch next to her daughter.  “I would love for you and your friends to help me move down there.  Maybe it will help for you to accept this move.”

“Even Joshua can come?”  Willow asked, her voice muffled by the pillows.

“Ha!  That pretty boy pick up any boxes?  He might break a nail.”  Lauren laughed.  “But yes, he is welcome to come with us.  All of your friends are.  I will pay for all of them.”

“Mom, don’t make fun of my boyfriend.  Just because he has a pretty boy image doesn’t mean he won’t help with the move.”  Willow had rolled over to look at her mother.

Lauren looked at her daughter sadly and wiped the tears from her cheeks.  She knew that her moving was going to be hard on her, and on her daughter, but she needed to get out from under the memories that she lived with every day.  She would finally be back with some of her old friends that moved to the nicer climate, not to mention the outstanding opportunity to run her own business.

Lauren was so excited to take over the architecture firm that her uncle had left her in his will.  She had never met him, but he had heard rave reviews of her work through the family and through architectural magazines.  He knew that his business that he had built from the ground up was going to be in good hands with his niece running it.

“You know honey, you could always come and work for me.  From what I hear, the firm needs some new talented architects.”  Lauren told her daughter.

“Yeah right!  When pigs fly mom!  First of all, I don’t want to leave New York.  Second of all, I think we’d kill each other working together.  Besides, I am doing just fine where I am.  My boss has been really impressed with my work lately.”  Willow said. 

“I know, I know.  I just hope you know I’m not doing this to hurt you.  I’m going to miss you too.  Now go round up your friends and tell them to take some vacation time to move your poor, lonely, old mother to the deep south!”  Lauren said as she playfully pushed her daughter off the couch.

One month later

Willow stared out the passenger side window as they drove down a residential street.  The neighborhood seemed a lot more spacious than her mom’s old neighborhood in New York.  The houses were a lot bigger, and the yards stretched endlessly.  It was a lot quieter here, and definitely warmer.  ‘Looks like Mom isn’t going to have it too bad after all, not that I will ever admit that to her.  This place looks like its going to suit her.’  Willow thought as they pulled into a long and winding driveway.

“Here we are!”  Lauren yelled excitedly from the driver’s seat.  She pulled the rental car to the circular part of the driveway in front of the house.  Her own car would be there later in the day when the movers got there, then she would give Willow the rental so that she and her friends could go wherever they needed to.

“Wow Mrs. Fox!  This place is huge and it’s oh so gorgeous!”  shouted Sierra, Willow’s best friend.  “You must have spent a mint on it!”

Lauren laughed.  “Yeah, it was pretty expensive, but I can’t run my own architecture firm and have a dump to live in, now can I?”  She got out of the car and turned to the rest of the people with her.  “Come on, lets go in!”

Sierra followed right behind Lauren, while Willow hung back a little ways to wait for Joshua to get out.  She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the open front door.

“Easy girl!  You’ll pull my arm out of its socket.”  Joshua said to Willow while jerking his arm out of her grasp.  “Damn, its so hot here, it’s a good thing I used my extra strength mousse in my hair this morning.” 

Willow shot Joshua a look of disgust.  “You really are worse than a girl.  Lets just go so we can get inside to the air conditioning.”  She said as she disappeared into the house.

Lauren gave her daughter and the two others a tour of the 5- bedroom house.  Everyone was rightfully impressed with the house, even the snobby Joshua.  He was just happy to be inside where it was cooler, and the weather didn’t affect his hair.

Right after Lauren had finished the tour, the movers arrived and started carrying boxes into the house.  Willow and Sierra went out to the truck and grabbed some boxes to help the movers, while Lauren stayed inside to direct the traffic of where each box was going.

Joshua meanwhile, went out to the car to grab his overnight bag and headed into the house to take a shower.  His hands never touched a box that day.