Rush in where others might walk cautiously.
She moved the candy into the storage box to carry it to the park tomorrow, letting herself drift into a quiet daydream.Someday, she’d have her own happily ever after, just like Rhomi.With the kind of guy she could rely on, and who also wouldn’t mind that her brother tended to lurk like an overprotective shadow.She wanted a future with a guy—love and laughter and family dinners.
But with Cruz camping on her couch, the idea of bringing a guy home—even for coffee—felt impossible.
“Darce?”
She dropped the bag of strawberry hard candies into the box and looked at Cruz.“Yeah?”
“I called your name like four times.You okay?”
“Yeah, just thinking.About Rhomi finding her forever guy.”
He grimaced a little.“I’m going to work.I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night.”
“You too.”
He squeezed her arm as he walked by and she smiled.She followed and locked the door when he was gone.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and called Reagan.
“Did you get the baby bingo cards?”she asked when Reagan answered.
“Hello to you too.”
“Sorry.Hi, Reagan!”she said over-the-top cheerfully.
“Hi, Darcy.And yes, I did.And I got a travel mug and gift card for the winner.”
“Love it.We’ll have a ball tomorrow.”
“It’s going to be amazing,” Reagan said.“Rhomi is definitely going to cry when she sees it all.”
“Happy tears for our bestie.Tomorrow’s going to be so much fun.”
“I’ll see you at the park at one,” Reagan said.“Remember Rhomi said to meet Mercer at the employee parking lot and that the guard at the lot would know we were coming.”
“Gotcha.See ya then!”
She ended the call with a smile on her face.Then she debated on eating dinner or double-checking her list for tomorrow, and decided once her stomach grumbled, that dinner should be first.
Tomorrow was going to be amazing.
Her best friend was starting an incredible new chapter of her life, and Darcy was tickled to be part of the fun.
Darcy couldn’t shake the flutter in her chest, a sense that tomorrow held more than colorful balloons and sweet cupcakes.
What thatsomething morewas, Darcy didn’t know.But hope bloomed inside her all the same.
Ford put on the blinker to turn into the Amazing Adventures Safari Park on Saturday afternoon.Avi and Fallon were in the second-row bench seat of the truck, Fallon practically buzzing with excitement at seeing her mom and sister.
Ford’s thoughts were churning in his head, his stallion letting out curious whistles as they drew closer to the park.
Hanging a left, he drove to the security booth that blocked off the employee lot.At one time, it had merely been a booth with a wooden security bar to stop people from getting to the employee lot and the gate in the high stone wall around the park.But now, after an attack from another shifter group, the employee lot had been fully fenced, with the security booth staffed by a member of the park’s security team to let in those allowed to pass.
“Oh hey, Ford,” Justus, one of the bear shifters, said from the open booth window.“Seneca told me you guys were coming in today.How’s things at the farm?”
