I see the moment Macey remembers. Her whiskey eyes widen, and she sucks in her breath. Her expression matches the panic I felt when I woke up this morning and realized, with a sober mind, what we did last night.
I sit frozen with my hands on the steering wheel, ignoring Dave’s yammering about the route.
Macey’s gaze doesn’t leave mine right away. She stares back at me through the rearview mirror.
“Shit.” She covers her mouth with her hand, the left one.
I stare at the ring on her fourth finger and then return my gaze to hers.
“We can undo this,” I mouth to her. “I promise.”
She nods, and the panic recedes from her face and is replaced by a careful, blank expression. Macey’s practical face.
My shoulders relax. One thing’s for sure—Macey and I are still in sync. Even if no one else can understand, we get each other.
27
Macey
* * *
“Dave and I decided to wait,” Ginny says from my left.
I drag my gaze away from Logan and over to Ginny. “Logan mentioned that. So how come we got married, and you didn’t?”
Ginny shrugs as I force my attention to stay on her and not the man in the front who’s now officially my husband.
“Why?” I whisper as Logan mercifully starts the engine and we leave the parking lot. The faster I get out of this city, the better.
“You mean you don’t remember?” Ginny’s eyes widen. “But you were so supportive!”
“I was supportive about what?” I keep my voice low, nervous that Logan will start pressing me again about what I do and do not remember about last night.
Good Lord.
“I decided if I’m going to get married, I want a real wedding in Texas Hill Country,” Ginny says. “In Darcy, of course. You’ll still be my maiden of honor because my two sisters would just fight over who deserved it more anyway. And you’re my best friend.”
“Of course, I’ll be there for you,” I say as I hug her.
“We’ll have to be quick before I’m showing too bad.” Ginny pauses. “I think beginning of July will work.”
“But that’s so soon!” I say.
She puts her hand on her belly. “July’s halfway to birth. It will have to do.”
I nod. “We’ll make it work. Everything will be perfect.”
Everything except for the fact that I have a so-called wedding band on my left ring finger from a man I shared a solemn vow with to never do this very thing.
The clock on Logan’s dash reads three-thirty a.m. when we finally pull off the I-10 and drive into the rolling Texas hills of Darcy. I glance out at the water tower situated at the top of the tallest hill in town. As we reach Main Street, my gaze follows the sturdy, whitewashed, limestone buildings that make up our downtown, especially the Darcy Museum with its welcome sign stating in big letters?—
Darcy, Texas, A Romantic Towne: Come find your Mr. Darcy
The oversized Jane Austen statue is perched atop the town courthouse where the flag of Great Britain flies right next to those of Texas and the United States of America. In the center of Darcy Square, a giant poster of the Pride and Prejudice original mini-series dangles from the corner building.
My eyes burn with fatigue, and I turn away from the damn romantic fairy tale that dominates our town.
“Gosh, I can smell the cow manure. We must be in Darcy.” Ginny lifts her head up and looks out the window.
