“You weren’t paying all of that, Dad. Rob’s family was doing the heavy lifting. And Rob and me. Your deposit for the band is coming back. You just happen to not have a mailing address, so I have to get it from the P.O. box and wire it to you,” Darcy says carefully.
“Well, I’m glad that whole big city phase is over. It never really suited you anyway,” her mom goes on. “You can get back to your writing now.”
While her mom might be right, I can almost feel Darcy deflating next to me. She doesn’t need the reminder. My thumb strokes over the top of her thigh to let her know I’ve got her.
“Yeah, who even likes hockey?” her dad adds.
“Kitty dated that one guy when she was in college,” Darcy mumbles, then lifts her eyes from her plate. “And isn’t your cousin on the other side a couple times removed one of the Princes?”
“Oh, pfft,” her mom says, dismissing her with a wave of her hand. “Kitty Gatto is barely your cousin.”
“That’s not what you tell your friends in the RV park when you’re bragging about how your second cousin is a famous comedian on TV—” Darcy cuts off and she drops her fork, pulling her hands into her lap.
A man approaches the group, his eyes fixed on Darcy. He’s handsome, wearing a nice button-down, butter-yellow shorts, and loafers. He carries a bouquet of flowers and smooths a hand through his hair before floating through the gathering like no one else is here.
“No,” Darcy whimpers.
My hand lifts to her waist. “You alright?”
She shakes her head and rises, walking toward the guy. Her voice cracks when she says, “Why are you here?”
Rob. Has to be.
The look on his face says it all: he’s sorry, he realizes what he let go. “I came to bring you home.”
“I am home,” Darcy insists.
A line appears between his brows. I note that his wrinkles aren’t as pronounced as Darcy’s and wonder if maybe she did the worrying for the both of them so he could take it easy.
She lived with that guy. For years. Made love to that guy. She was going to marry him. Have his babies. Kiss him before they went to sleep and before they went to work.
Jealousy flares through me. If someone looked at me the way he’s looking at her right now, I might be convinced.
But just a few hours ago, she had her legs spread for me, letting me feast on her.
“Your home is with me, Darcy. And it hasn’t been the same without you.”
She loved him. He broke her. They have history. Secrets I’ll never know.
Her lower lip wobbles now. “You hurt me.”
Rob nods. “I know, babe. I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t see you the same way anymore. I’m not coming back.”
Rob grasps Darcy’s wrists, trying to pull her close, and nope, I don’t like that. Darcy stiffens and backs away from him. The way his voice gets louder makes my hackles rise. “One problem in as many years as we had? Was it really that bad, or do you just run when things get hard?”
“Don’t touch me,” Darcy says firmly.
I want Darcy to fight her own battles. But I also want her to know I’ve got her. One more wrong move and I will not hesitate to deck him.
Rob licks his upper lip, only letting one of her wrists go. “It’s come to this? You still had a job, Dee. It took a lot of convincing and Cap went to bat for you, but they’re willing to take you back. But you won’t answer your phone?—”
“Because I don’t want to talk to you. You controlled me, Rob.”
“One time!” he whines, throwing up his hand. “One time I do something so we can have a nice future, and you act like this was all the time.”
“You’re not going to understand. You’re going to try to convince me that my feelings are wrong and I’m not doing it. Leave, Rob. Don’t come back.”
