His hand is steady as he lays it over mine, and the frenzied look in his eyes disappears.
And just like that, I relax. Logan will never push me to do anything I’m not ready for. He never has. I trust him implicitly. With my body and with my heart.
I smile at him. “Nothing’s changed on my end, Mr. Darcy.”
But before he can answer me—
“Excuse me, everyone!” From the front of the room, Daddy taps a spoon to the glass of water he’s holding and then grabs the microphone George hands him from behind the bar. “Macey—I mean, Mrs. Darcy—come sit up at the bar and face the crowd.” My father gestures to two stools next to him. “Mr. Darcy, you too.”
“This can’t be good.” I stand up reluctantly and follow Logan to the barstools.
“Frederick Woodholm Haskins, Darcy’s founder, couldn’t make his sweet Vivian happy,” Daddy says into the mic. “Why don’t you two newlyweds tell the fine people of Darcy your opinions on the pillars and perils of marriage?”
“Sweet Vivian, my ass,” I mumble.
Daddy thrusts the microphone into my face. “What’s that, darlin’?”
“I’m just saying that Vivian was less sweet and a whole lot salty if you ask me.”
“As well she should have been,” Mama says from her position next to Daddy. “A woman scorned may not look pretty, but at least she’s fighting.”
Daddy winces as the loud sound of women clapping in the crowd drowns out Mama’s next sentence.
I move to stand. “Can we go now?”
But Daddy shakes his head at me and puts up a hand to try to silence the room. “One pillar and one peril for marriage, Mrs. Darcy. Give the room your answers.”
I squirm as the spotlight returns to me. “I plead the fifth.”
Mama sighs before she grabs the microphone out of Daddy’s hand and walks over to Logan so she can hold it in front of his mouth. “Mr. Darcy, maybe you should go first. What do you think is a pillar in a good marriage?”
“Um, love?” Logan says, looking as uncomfortable as I feel. “I guess the kind of love where you’d do anything for her.”
“And a peril?” Mama asks Logan.
There’s an awkward beat of silence before—
“Real life,” Logan finally says in a voice so low I have to strain to hear him.
“Fascinating,” Mama says. “What about you, Mace?”
I reach over and grab the microphone out of my mother’s hand.
“My pillar would be acceptance, flaws and all.”
“And a peril?” Mama asks.
I swallow. “Logan said it very well. I feel the same as him.”
I turn to Logan and whisper, “I think we’ve done our duty here. Meet me outside.”
I walk through the crowd and grab the bag of clothes off my chair that Ginny packed for me. And then I keep walking, past the tables of staring eyes.
As I exit The Cowherd, the warm night air hits my skin.
I stop on the front porch of the bar to wait for Logan, but when I hear my father calling for me, I take off down Main Street.
I’m not exactly dressed for a night stroll, but I’ve got a tank top and cut-offs in my bag. I just have to find a place to change.
