Chapter 1 #2
Darcy looked straight ahead now, eyes on the television screen that was playing some daytime talk show where a very cheerful woman was making a smoothie that was the color of something Paige hadn’t seen since her daughter had been a baby.
“They’re lovely people,” Darcy said. “But you know what I’ve noticed about people in this place?”
Paige waited.
Darcy’s voice dropped just slightly. “They’re also very protective.”
Paige kept walking. “Protective of what?”
Darcy turned her head, smile still in place. “Each other.”
Paige’s pulse thudded suddenly. What was that supposed to mean? This woman was full of…something. Paige kept her voice bright. “It’s a good community.”
“It is.” Darcy’s eyes gleamed with a calculating light. “Communities are fascinating. They have rules. Spoken and unspoken. Everyone pretends the latter don’t exist, but they do.”
Paige wondered if Darcy was talking about the book club. Paige thought about the women and their loyalty. The way they rallied together when someone needed support. The way they held each other up.
Darcy continued, her tone conversational. “I imagine you’re one of the rule-makers.”
Paige’s lips curved slightly. “Not me.”
Darcy gave a little hum, clearly not convinced. “You’re the one everyone listens to.”
Paige stared straight ahead, doing her best to keep her breathing even. “People listen to who they want to listen to.”
“Maybe, but people trust you.” Darcy’s voice softened on that word. “That’s a powerful thing, Paige Wheeler.”
Paige was quiet for a beat. Then, feeling a little fed up, she said, “Do you have a point, Darcy Lane?”
Darcy laughed again, that light sound with no real humor in it. “Oh, I like you even more now.”
Paige didn’t respond because she was liking Darcy less.
Darcy’s treadmill pace increased, matching Paige’s more closely. “My point is, people here think they know you. They certainly talk about you as if they do.”
Paige’s throat went dry. She grabbed her water bottle and took a long drink. She was not enjoying this conversation, but she had another mile to go. She should have hit the beach instead, but today was leg day and she needed to be here.
Darcy kept talking, as if Paige wanted to know more. “They know what you show them. The polished version you share on TikTok. The version that makes them feel hopeful. The version that sells them a dream.”
Paige’s hand moved toward her phone without thinking. She caught herself and wrapped her fingers around the rail instead. Her voice came out calm. “The only things I sell are pans.” So far. But that would change if the deal with Luminelle came through.
“You sell aspiration,” Darcy said. “And everyone knows influence is the best version of currency.”
The muscles in Paige’s jaw tightened.
Darcy’s smile was unwavering. “I mean no shade. You’re very good at what you do.”
Paige made a choice. She could keep standing here, letting Darcy circle her like a shark in designer activewear. Or she could cut to the heart of it.
And that was much more her style.
Paige looked at Darcy. “If you have something you want to say, just say it. Plainly.”
Darcy blinked, as if Paige had surprised her. Then her smile turned almost fond. “Plainly,” Darcy repeated. “All right.
“I watched your videos last night,” she said. “I went back farther than most people do. I don’t usually binge, but…” She waved a hand. “I got curious.”
Paige’s spine went rigid, but she tried to keep her face composed. “A lot of people watch my videos. That’s what they’re there for.”
Darcy nodded. “Yes. But most people watch and move on. They like your hair, your look, your confidence. They want your advice. They want your routines. They want to believe a life can be rebuilt just as neatly as yours.”
Paige didn’t speak. She couldn’t.
Darcy leaned slightly closer, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret that wasn’t meant for anyone else at the fitness center. “I’m not most people.”
A shiver of anxiety went through Paige. This woman was strange and vaguely threatening. At least that’s how Paige was feeling. Vaguely threatened.
Darcy’s eyes were sharp now, smile still in place like a mask. “You talk a lot about truth,” she said. “About rebuilding. And about not letting the past define you.”
Paige heard the echo of her own words in Darcy’s tone. She had said those things.
Then Darcy said, softly, “But you don’t talk about what happened before the divorce. What caused it.”
Paige’s vision narrowed, just slightly, as if the room had shifted. She didn’t falter, but something inside her went cold.
“Because that’s private,” Paige said. Her voice sounded even and unbothered. She hoped it sounded that way to Darcy, too.
Darcy’s smile widened, pleased. “Exactly.”
Paige lifted her chin. She was done with this conversation. She didn’t owe this woman anything. She didn’t owe anyone the details of the pain she’d been through. She had shared what she chose to share. She had rebuilt her life on her own terms and it was going to stay that way.
It was time to cool down and get off the treadmill.
But as she reached for the treadmill’s controls, Darcy leaned in again. “Private is another word for hidden.”
Paige’s jaw clenched. Now she was mad. And done being polite. “Watch yourself.”
Darcy’s eyes glittered. “Or what?”
Paige kept walking as she turned her head fully now, gaze steady and direct. “Or you’ll find out that I’m not the kind of woman you can corner.”
For the first time, Darcy’s smile flickered.
Not because of fear, exactly. More like recognition.
As if she suddenly understood that there was a spine beneath Paige’s polish.
Then the smile snapped back into place, brighter than before.
“Good,” Darcy said. “People who give up too easily are no fun at all.”
Paige stared at her, unblinking. What on earth was Darcy up to? Who did this woman think she was?
Darcy’s treadmill beeped as she slowed it down.
She stepped off with effortless grace, not even winded, and reached for her water bottle.
Before she walked away, Darcy hesitated.
“You should be careful,” she murmured. “The people here might be protective but that doesn’t mean you’re the one they want to protect. ”
Paige barely stifled a snort.
“See you around, Paige Wheeler.” Darcy smiled like they’d just discussed the weather, then she strolled toward the exit, hair swinging, posture perfect, like she hadn’t just set Paige’s day on fire.
Paige stayed on the treadmill. Her legs kept moving, but her mind was already working, sorting and filing and building a plan.
Darcy Lane. A new resident who’d watched her videos and had opinions about what Paige did and didn’t say. Who seemed to know something about Paige’s divorce.
Paige felt something stir in her chest. Anger, for sure, but also something else. That old familiar heat of humiliation. The kind she’d promised herself she would never feel again.
Her phone buzzed in the cup holder. Paige stared at it for half a second before tapping the screen. She had a notification about a new comment on one of her older videos. The one where she’d talked about moving to the Colony and choosing to put herself first.
The username was unfamiliar and there was no profile picture, just a gray silhouette. The comment read: We should chat. I’m closer than you think.
Paige’s fingers tightened around the phone. It had to be Darcy, but Paige didn’t look around wildly. She didn’t panic. She wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her rattled.
She simply took a long breath, slowed the treadmill to a walk, and stepped off with calm, deliberate precision. She might not be the kind of woman who suffered fools, but she was absolutely the kind of woman who handled problems before they grew teeth.
She went to the leg-press machine, carrying on with her day as planned. She was not going to let Darcy get under her skin or ruin her routine. But she was absolutely going to take action.
She glanced at the time. Soon.