“Please think before you say something like that again, Colton.” Blythe didn’t often take that stern, unhappy tone with Colton; not that she’d ever have to, usually. But Darcy appreciated hearing it. Blythe then cleared her throat, sharply. “But… you two aren’t…”
“No!” Darcy and Emerson simultaneously, firmly cut her off.
Perhaps Emerson wasn’t her sister; they didn’t have the same kind of emotional cornerstones – the issues, really – she and Blythe shared, that was for sure. But she loved her in the same kind of way, and always had. She’d only found out Emerson didn’t identify as straight after Darcy had confessed to her, into their twenties.
“Um… so… Darcy?” Emerson prompted, very clearly wanting the attention off of her.
Which, really, had been the purpose of her call, so Darcy was happy to jump in. “Right, back to me. Uh. It’s Juliet. And she’s in Nashville right now, so I’m going to pick her up. And she’s goingto help with the party prep, so – really – I’m ultimately helping by bringing another set of hands.”
“Juliet? Juliet Jacobs?” Blythe groaned. “That fuckingobsessionthis summer. I knew you were way too fixated.”
“I was not,” she defended, frowning as she finished getting dressed and went out into the living room on her renewed mission to do a quick clean up. “We weren’t sleeping together, then.”
“Oh, I know,” Blythe assured. “You think I didn’t know you were genuinely,deeplypissed? I’m just saying – it went deeper than anything I’ve ever seen from you. Deeper than what happened in high school or anything like that.”
Darcy frowned. She’d kind of thought it had been similar, at the time. It felt the same, anyway. Being picked on. But, “Well, Juliet was doing it on the world stage.”
“Yeah, but–” Blythe cut herself off. “So, she’s coming here?”
“Just for the day, yeah.”
“Well, when it comes to this revelation, I had no idea,” Colton swore.
She snorted. “I’ll be there in a little while.”
“With Juliet,” Blythe tacked on.
“Yes. With Juliet.”
It was onlywhen she came to a stop down the street from Juliet’s hotel that she actually doubted this.
They’d never spent the day together.
They’d never spent time with other people.
They didn’tnothave sex.
What, Juliet was going to come over to Blythe’s house and string popcorn with her?! What was that about?
Then she saw Juliet walking down the street toward her, wearing a cream-colored cable knit sweater and jeans and cowboy boots and an inscrutable look on her face that gave nothing away. For all Darcy knew, she was having the same question about what they were doing and why they were doing it that she was.
But Juliet didn’t pause.
So, this was happening.
Chapter Twenty-Three
What the hellwas she evendoing here?
Juliet had asked herself the same question over and over again as she’d waited for Darcy to come and get her. In a red pickup truck, of all things.
She’d reached for her phone multiple times in the last two hours, preparing herself to tell Darcy to forget about it. Tell Darcy she, actually, needed to prepare for her final show tomorrow. Tell Darcy to get real, because she didn’t want to go to Blythe’s home and decorate or whatever.
But she didn’t. Even when she’d picked her phone up, at the ready, she didn’t.
She was curious. The thought rolled around in her mind, somewhat forcefully. She was justcurious.
Curious about where Darcy came from. About how Darcy spent her time. She wasn’t going totell thatto Darcy, but it didn’t change the truth. She certainly wouldn’t tell Darcy she’d looked Pineford up multiple times, long before they’d started hooking up when doing recon to figure out whoDarcy Kincaidreally was.
