Chapter 13
DARCY
“Have you slept at all since the big reveal?”
I shrugged before I said, “A little. I had three grooming appointments this morning, so I had Crow drop me off at my place so I could shower and get ready. I helped Tansy open the store and then went home to take a nap once I was done.”
“You could have rescheduled, but I’m sort of glad you didn’t.”
“Yesterday was a big day —”
“I heard about that,” Emerald interrupted.
“I thought it sounded like a good idea to come in and talk about, well, everything.”
“More than just a surprise visit from a fu —” Emerald cleared her throat and smiled before she said, “You go ahead and start wherever you like.”
“Remember how I said I wasn’t going to date for a year?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I told Crow I loved him last night.”
Emerald didn’t show any outward reaction at all as she asked, “Did you give him contextual clues about what type of love it is you feel for him?”
“I didn’t realize I said it out loud, but it was something to the effect of he was the best man I’d ever met, and I was in love with him.”
“Let me frame it differently.” Emerald leaned forward and raised her eyebrows before she asked, “Do you love him like a best friend or like you want to wake up beside him for the rest of your life?”
“Both?”
“Was this before or after the surprise arrival of the little girl?”
“You know she’s not biologically his, right?”
“Look at me, Darcy, and compare my appearance to Crow’s. Do we look like we should be related?”
I laughed as I shook my head, and Emerald said, “Yet, we’re cousins in every sense of the word - the only thing missing is shared DNA. If Crow is allowed to keep her with him, there won’t be any references to biology or anything of the sort. He’ll be her dad and she’ll be his daughter. Period.”
“I think that would be the very best thing,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes.
“What would your father have done if there had been an unexpected child dropped into his orbit?”
I raised my eyebrows and said, “He knew that we were his daughters and didn’t pay attention to us unless we were bothering him in some way. He would have shooed an additional child away like a pesky fly and then gone on about his business like it was any other day.”
“He sounds lovely.”
I burst out laughing before I said, “You know, I think that I’ve been searching in all the wrong places for a man who would treat me with the respect and dignity that I should have come to expect from having a good relationship with my father.”
Emerald cackled with laughter before she asked, “Since you’ve come to that realization on your own, I’m not sure why you need me.”
“You helped!”
“I’d like to think so, but I’d also like to keep up our sessions.
Emotional neglect by a parent is a wound that doesn’t heal quickly or neatly, even though you can see the problems it has caused in the past. Now that you have identified how it affected you, it’s time to work on the different facets of your life that you’ve let that trauma control.
That includes your relationship with men and how you will adjust to being with a man who doesn’t treat you badly. ”
“But Dad never treated me badly. He didn’t hit me or anything.”
“Wounds from words and being overlooked and disregarded take longer to heal than bruises from a physical injury, Darcy. The relationship you have with your sisters and that you had with your mother and grandmother before they passed helped you understand the importance of surrounding yourself with love and support. You and I are going to work to get you to the point that you believe you can receive that same kind of love and support from men and only seek out the ones who are willing and capable of giving it.”
“The fact that my father is trying to sue me right now but hasn’t even reached out to ask how I’m doing since I’ve been gone may be a good place to start.”
“Once again, you’re headed in the right direction. Luckily, we’ve got plenty of time to sort that out as well as other things that may pop up along the way.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Do you think that Crow is only interested in me because he’s a caretaker?
He protected Brighten when she needed him and put his life on hold for her and Griffin, and he’s willing to change the trajectory of his entire life again to become a father to a little girl he just met.
Is the spark between us just because he can tell I need him and he wants to take care of me or because he genuinely loves me? ”
“Understanding just how worthy you are of love is going to be one of the first things we tackle, my friend.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, I did. I’ve known Crow since he was just a boy, and yes, he is a born caretaker.
But he doesn’t throw around words like ‘I love you’ like they’re sprinkles on a cupcake.
The longer you know him and the more you get to know the men in his family - immediate, extended, and chosen, it will be easier for you to understand why he takes those words so seriously and how choosing the right woman to say them to has always been of utmost importance to him. ”
“Like his mom and dad.”
“And his brother and Brighten, his grandparents, aunts and uncles, family friends, and all the rest of us, Darcy. We were shown stellar examples of genuine and meaningful love, and I have a feeling that if you give the man half a chance, Crow will show them to you.”
◆◆◆
As soon as I walked out onto the porch of Emerald’s office, I could hear children laughing and squealing. By the time I got to the sidewalk, there were kids and dogs surrounding me, and with all of them talking at once, I couldn’t understand a thing anyone was saying.
Suddenly, Koda’s sister, Scoot, whistled so loudly that neighbors six blocks away probably heard it, and all of the kids went silent. She pointed at Griffin, who was holding Yakko, and ordered, “Talk.”
Surprisingly, Lyric, Ruthie, Simon, Koda, who was holding Wakko, and Tristan were completely silent while Griffin explained, “Dot got away and ran off. Now she’s scared and alone and we can’t rescue her.”
“Oh, no! Where did she go?”
All of the kids pointed toward a neighbor’s house before Griff said, “She’s by the porch. Can you see her?”
“I sure can. Go get her!”
“We can’t. That lady calls the police on us if we’re even on her sidewalk,” Koda explained.
Scoot’s service dogs were sitting patiently on either side of her and looked up when she said, “That’s the bad lady. She’ll cook us in a pot if she ever catches us.”
“And then she’ll pick her teeth with our toe bones!” Ruthie added.
Lyric looked traumatized at the thought before she added, “She yells really loud and makes my ears hurt.”
Scoot, who was deaf but wearing hearing aids, giggled before she said, “Not mine.”
“I’m not supposed to stop in front of her house, because when she talks to me, Holly gets really mad,” Simon explained.
“I thought maybe I should go get Dot since the lady doesn’t know me, but Koda said she has her whole yard booby-trapped and I might die,” Tristan explained.
Apparently, this neighbor was the live version of the boogeyman, but I was willing to risk her wrath to rescue Dot, who was probably terrified.
“If you step on her grass, she’ll lose her shit!” Koda yelled. “Watch for trip wires!”
“Don’t get too close, Darcy! There’s a monster under her porch, and it will eat you,” Griffin chimed in.
“She took my umbrella! Can you make her give it back?” Ruthie asked.
“My favorite soccer ball too!” Simon added eagerly. “Can you get it while you’re there?”
“Don’t let her drag you into the house,” Ruthie warned.
“She’ll cook you up for dinner!” Lyric added. She shuddered before she whispered in horror, “With vegetables.”
“I think I’ll be fine, you guys,” I told them, very proud of myself for keeping a straight face.
Even though Simon and Ruthie weren’t as afraid of my imminent death as they were excited about potentially getting back some of their possessions, their warnings were all so earnest. I looked again and saw that Dot was still cowering in the corner of the flower bed next to the woman’s porch.
Because the kids were being so dramatic, I couldn’t help but think of the movies where there was one standout hero, willing to risk life and limb for the greater good.
Apparently, that was my role today. So, with that in mind, I pasted a serious expression on my face before I hissed, “I’m going in! ”
“Your necklace is pretty,” Lyric announced, ruining my dramatic announcement. “Can I have it?”
“No, sweetheart. It’s my favorite.”
“She means when you’re dead,” Scoot clarified.
Keeping a straight face wasn’t an option this time. I barked out a laugh before I answered, “Yes, Lyric. When I die, you can have this necklace.”
“Thank you.”
She looked so sweet and innocent that it was almost easy to ignore that she might be plotting my death for a piece of jewelry.
“She’s my duncle’s girlfriend, so if she dies, I get to decide who can have what,” Griffin announced.
“You guys, nothing’s gonna happen to me. I’m just going to walk over and get Dot. I’ll be back in just a second, okay?”
“We should take cover so we won’t get guts all over us when she explodes,” Simon announced.
“Ew. Right,” Scoot agreed as he took off for Emerald’s porch.
“We can hide up there. Emerald will protect us!” Ruthie announced as she followed Scoot. “Let’s go.”
Koda looked solemn as he put his hands together, gave me a small bow, and said, “May the force be with you.”
All of the kids took off, and I heard one of Scoot’s dogs sigh before it stood up and trotted after her.
I took in the lawn before me and chided myself when I realized I was scanning it for trip wires.
It’s not like the woman was going to burst out of the front door and hex me or something, and regardless of their warnings, I was pretty sure she wasn’t interested in making me into stew either.