Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cece arrived at The Bee’s Knees ten minutes early and immediately wished she hadn’t.
She paused just inside the door, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light as she got the lay of the land. It was busy, but that wasn’t anything new. It was a popular spot and, technically, neutral ground. A safe place. She conducted a lot of interviews here for that reason.
But today, it felt like a stage. One Darcy Lane was already on.
Darcy was seated at a table near one of the front windows. Cece had to wonder if that was on purpose because she wanted to be seen. That felt like something Darcy would do.
Her posture was relaxed, her sunglasses pushed up into her hair as if she’d been there long enough to forget she’d put them on. A glass of iced tea sat in front of her, a condensation ring forming on the tabletop.
And beside her, angled just slightly toward Darcy and laughing at something Darcy had said, sat Gigi DeLuca.
Cece stopped short.
Of course she’s here, Cece thought. Of course.
Darcy looked up first. Her gaze landed on Cece and stayed there, a small smile forming as though she’d been waiting for this exact moment. Gigi followed her line of sight and lit up instantly.
“Cece!” Gigi called, waving. “Over here!”
There was no pretending Cece hadn’t seen them. No backing out gracefully now, not that she would have. She was committed to this interview. She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and walked over, her expression pleasant, professional, and, she hoped, friendly.
“Hi, Gigi,” Cece said, then turned to Darcy. “Ms. Lane.”
“Call me Darcy, please,” Darcy said smoothly, standing to greet her.
She was in a Lilly Pulitzer sheath dress of navy, pink, and white.
The joyous print didn’t suit her at all.
“I’m so glad you could make it. I hope you don’t mind that Gigi’s here.
We ran into each other and thought it would be nice to have lunch together. ”
Ran into each other, Cece repeated internally. At a scheduled interview. At a specific time. At a specific table. She didn’t believe a word of that.
“Of course,” Cece said. She pulled out the chair across from them and sat, placing her bag on the empty chair beside it. “I didn’t realize this was a group lunch.” She got her phone out, ready to record the audio.
“Oh, I won’t stay,” Gigi said at once, even as she made no move to leave. “I just thought I’d say hello. Darcy and I were chatting.”
Darcy smiled, forearms resting lightly on the edge of the table. “Gigi’s been such a wonderful welcoming committee. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I’m so glad we’ve become friends.”
Gigi beamed. “Well, we take care of our own around here.”
Cece nodded, filing that away.
A server appeared, menus in hand. Cece ordered water and the house salad with chicken, keeping it simple.
Darcy didn’t need a menu. She ordered the lemon chicken and asked for another iced tea.
Gigi followed Darcy’s lead, ordering the exact same thing, obviously forgetting that she was supposed to be leaving.
As the server left, Darcy leaned back slightly, studying Cece with obvious interest. “You’re even more composed in person than I expected,” she said. “It’s impressive. But I imagine as a journalist, you have to keep yourself collected no matter the circumstance.”
“Thank you,” Cece replied, not quite sure what Darcy meant by that. “Comes with years of experience, I suppose.”
“I imagine it does,” Darcy said. “Just like journalism has a way of teaching you how to keep your reactions private.”
There it was.
Cece felt the impact of the words, exactly as Darcy had intended, no doubt. She met Darcy’s gaze without blinking. “Did you think otherwise? That I might be biased in some way?”
Darcy’s mouth opened, then closed again. She laughed. “No, of course not.”
But it was too late. Cece had ruffled her feathers. She gave herself points for maintaining her composure and immediately felt a kinship with Paige, who’d already been Darcy’s target.
Gigi glanced between them, clearly sensing she didn’t quite understand something. “You two sound very serious,” she said with a laugh. “I had no idea this interview was going to be so…intense.”
“Neither did I,” Cece said. “My goal is just to introduce Darcy to the community. Let people get to know her.”
Darcy’s smile widened, just a touch. “And I’m always happy to be known.”
Cece believed that. What she didn’t believe was that Darcy had shown up with Gigi by accident. She picked her phone up and showed them the screen where the recording app was ready to go. “You don’t mind if I record, do you? It’s standard for all the interviews I do.”
“Go right ahead,” Darcy said, still watching Cece with an almost unsettling gaze.
Cece turned the recording app on, opened her notebook, clicked her pen, and let her professional instincts take over. Whatever Darcy Lane thought she was going to accomplish, Cece was going to do her best not to take the bait.
She glanced down at her notebook, then back up at Darcy. “Why don’t we start with something simple,” she said. “What brought you to the Colony?”
Darcy folded her hands loosely on the table.
“I was ready for a change,” she said. “Atlanta, where I moved from, had become too loud. Too hectic. It was hard to feel productive there.” She tipped her head slightly.
“I wanted somewhere smaller. Somewhere with less chaos. Communities like this tend to be more organized. I like that. Organization is…” She gave an odd smile. “Invigorating.”
Cece nodded, jotting a few words down even though she didn’t really need to. “Community is a common reason people give,” she said. “Was there anything specific about the Colony that appealed to you?”
Darcy’s gaze slid, just briefly, toward the window. The smile softened, turned more inward. “I liked the idea of a place where so many people know each other,” she said. “Where reputations are a kind of currency. It saves time.”
Cece’s pen paused. “That’s an interesting way to put it,” she said coolly. “Saves time in what way?”
Darcy looked back at her then, gaze sharp and assessing. For a second, it felt like she was deciding how honest to be. Or how careful.
“Well,” Darcy began, voice lowering just a touch. “When you come into a community like this, people are already established. You don’t have to guess who holds influence. Or who people listen to. Or who—”
“Oh!” Gigi said suddenly, leaning forward. “That’s so true. I was just saying the same thing to Darcy earlier. You can tell immediately who the movers and shakers are. Like Paige, for instance. Everyone knows her.”
Cece kept her face neutral, but inside, she felt the interview’s momentum come to a crashing halt. She could have sworn Darcy had been about to say something revealing.
Darcy’s expression reset, the thoughtful look replaced by a polite smile. “Exactly,” she said. “It’s easy to acclimate when you know the hierarchy.”
Cece put her pen to the paper again and jotted something she didn’t intend to use, just to keep the rhythm moving. “And how has the adjustment been so far?” she asked. “Have you found it welcoming?”
“Very,” Darcy said. “People here love to engage. They’re very curious. It’s been easy to meet the right ones.”
Gigi laughed. “You make it sound like a networking event.”
“In some ways, it is,” Darcy said, cutting her eyes at Gigi ever so slightly. Maybe wishing she hadn’t allowed her to stay.
Cece smiled, professional and pleasant, even as she made a mental note. That made two of them wishing Gigi had left. They’d been right there. One step from something deeper. And Gigi, whether by instinct or design, had again stepped squarely in the way.
Cece wasn’t sure if Darcy had intended to reveal more or if that had been bait. Either way, the opportunity had passed. For now.
The food arrived, but Cece wasn’t that hungry. She took a bite of her salad anyway, because Darcy and Gigi had their forks in hand.
She swallowed and turned the page in her notebook. “Let’s talk about what you’re hoping to get involved with here,” she said. “Any groups or activities catching your interest yet?”
Darcy’s gaze flicked to Gigi, then back to Cece. “Oh,” she said. “I have a few ideas.”
Cece kept her posture open, her expression curious without being overly eager. “Ideas like what?” she asked. “For social events? Volunteering? Something else?”
Darcy cut a piece of chicken into several small bites with slow, deliberate movements. “What’s important to me is building connections,” she said. “That’s the word everyone uses, isn’t it? But I think most people mean finding comfort or familiarity. I’m more interested in momentum.”
Cece ate a cherry tomato and tilted her head slightly. What was this woman getting at? She talked in word salads, like she was deliberately trying not to reveal anything. “Momentum how?”
Darcy looked at her again, really looked this time.
“There’s an assumption here that everyone arrives with the same goals,” she said.
“That we’re all here to wind down. Reflect.
Sit on the porch and watch the sunset.” A faint smile touched her mouth.
“There’s a time and place for that, but some of us aren’t finished living yet. ”
Cece made a small note, though her attention was fully on Darcy. “So you see the Colony as…a beginning, not an ending.”
“Exactly.” Darcy’s smile widened, just enough to suggest satisfaction. She gestured with her empty fork. “There’s a lot of social capital concentrated in one place here. Women with money, time, experience, and influence.” She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “That’s not something to waste.”
Gigi nodded eagerly as she stabbed at a slice of cucumber. “I said the same thing! There’s so much potential if people would just stop doing the same old things.”
Cece’s pen stilled again. She ignored Gigi. “And what does that look like to you?” she asked Darcy. “Not wasting it, I mean.”
Darcy hesitated a beat too long to be casual. Then she said, “It looks like creating something new. A space where women don’t have to fit into roles they didn’t choose. Where they can be…deliberate about what comes next.”
“Is that what this new group is about?” Cece asked, keeping her tone neutral. “The one that’s taking place at the Community Hall? The one Gigi reserved the room for?”
Briefly, Cece thought Darcy might get up and leave.
Then Darcy met her gaze head-on. For the first time since Cece had arrived, there was no smile at all.
“I suppose you could say that,” she said.
“It’ll be informal at first, so that those who are interested can have a chance to get to know each other.
From there, we’ll get organized. See what needs tackling. That kind of thing.”
“And the goal?” Cece pressed.
Darcy pierced a chunk of chicken and lifted it. “To see who’s paying attention,” she said. “And who isn’t.” She put the chicken in her mouth and chewed.
There it was.
Cece nodded slowly, as if that answer made perfect sense, which it didn’t. Not exactly. Even so, her instincts lit up like a warning system. This wasn’t a book club. This wasn’t a support group. This was some kind of mechanism for change, but what kind of change?
It was clear Darcy wanted followers. That’s how it felt to Cece. But for what purpose?
Before Cece could ask that question, Gigi laughed lightly. “Darcy makes it sound so serious. It’s really just women getting together to talk.”
Darcy’s smile returned, smooth as ever. “All important things start as conversations,” she said. “Don’t they?”
Cece went back to her salad, thinking hard about what Darcy might be up to. “Yes,” she said. “They do.”