THIRTY-NINE
DARCY
I’mon Aunt Sally’s porch when the commotion behind me makes me turn.
Jake’s shaking out his hand and Rob is doubled over. And from that position, he runs at Jake. He coughs as Rob’s head makes contact with his stomach, but Rob’s too weak to actually pick Jake up.
“You don’t want to fuck with me,” Jake warns. “Leave now and we won’t call the cops.”
“You hit me!” Rob shouts.
“And you stalked Darcy. How the fuck did you know to come here?”
I have the same question, and I meet Rob’s eyes over Jake’s shoulder, waiting for a response. “Bri posted pictures this morning. And I knew the barbecue would be here today.”
When Jake looks back for my reaction, Rob sucker punches him. I gasp, hands covering my mouth. Jake winces, but straightens his face quickly before turning back around and making quick work of popping Rob again and wrestling him to the ground. He pins him on his stomach and holds his hands behind his back. “You still want to stick around for the cops, or do you give?”
“Darcy,” Rob moans. “This is all a misunderstanding.”
“She doesn’t even like roses, you asshat,” Jake snarls.
I feel like I should intervene before Jake gets carried away.
I cross the lawn and crouch at Rob’s side. “Leave, Rob. It’s over.”
“It’s really over?” he asks.
“It’s really over.”
He nods and I gesture for Jake to get up. Sally tries to usher Jake toward the house, but he shakes her off, joining Maggie and my dad to stand around me. Nice that my dad finally decides to join the party now that the punches have been thrown. I never knew how much I just wanted someone to go to bat for me until this moment. Jake stands up for me, whether it’s to my ex or to some demon I fight inside myself.
God, I want to hug him.
Slowly, Rob gets up, presses the heel of his hand against where Jake punched him, and tips his head to the side. His eyes are so sad moving over my face, and I can’t help but feel a little bad for him. He thought he’d be walking out of here the hero—the guy who got the girl. But he isn’t.
He thought he’d be welcomed back with open arms, that my family would take him back. But they didn’t.
“I wish you could forgive me,” he says, nibbling his lower lip.
“I’m sorry that I can’t.”
He nods. “I know you think I don’t, but I really do love you, Darcy. If this is it, I wish you the best.”
My mind reels thinking back to minutes ago when he was mocking me for working for my family. “Okay. Drive safe.”
“Actually, I’ve been in the car all day. Mind if I use your restroom?”
Maggie simpers. “There’s a gas station right before the highway, hun.” At the same time, my dad barks out a “no.”
Maggie puts her arm around me as Rob gets in his car that’s far too fancy for a gravel road and drives away. Sally pulls Jake into the house, this time with a towel full of ice pressed to his cheek. I feel shell-shocked, unsure whether to follow Jake, stay right here, or melt into the ground somehow.
“You were brave,” Maggie says, patting my back.
I shake my head watching the dust settle on the road in Rob’s wake. “He doesn’t even realize what an asshole he is. I feel sorry for him.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to marry him,” Maggie says. “Or even have him in your life.”
I swallow hard. “I just feel really stupid.”
