Chapter 23
chapter
twenty-three
On Christmas Eve, Darren touched down in California to golden sunshine and a blue sky. For some reason, he still expected the breath-taking cold to enter his lungs when he stepped out of the airport at Long Beach. It didn’t come, but Layla’s squeal and Logan’s laughter did.
Darren embraced them both and had only taken one step when Logan said, “Farrah showed up yesterday?”
He nodded, a smile coming to his soul though he tried not to be too giddy. But he’d been happier since he’d nearly trampled her yesterday than he had been in a while. He’d told Ben and Rae about it, and then texted Logan right before he’d gone to bed.
He’d lain there for a while, staring up into the darkness, begging God to guide him when it came to Farrah. Give him patience. Compassion. Understanding.
“Well, what did she say?” Logan asked. “We’ve been dyin’ out here, waiting for you to arrive.”
Darren tossed his bag in the back of Logan’s truck. “She apologized.” He looked at his brother and sister-in-law. They’d always supported him, talked with him when he needed it. Heck, it was Layla who had matched him with Farrah. “We’re talking.”
“That’s it?” Layla’s eyebrows rose. “She didn’t say she wanted to get back together or anything?”
“She asked me to help her move, and she invited me to her housewarming party.” Darren waited for her to climb in and slide into the middle of the bench seat. He got in beside her. “She only invited me to the party. I guess I’ll have to go.”
Layla slugged him in the bicep and he chuckled. “Seriously, guys, it’s no big deal.”
Logan snorted. “No big deal. He says it’s no big deal, Lay. I totally believe him. Don’t you?” His brother’s sarcasm coated the cab.
“Oh, yeah,” Layla said, laying it on thick too. “He’s not freaking out or anything.”
“I’m not,” Darren said. “It’s going to be…different this time.”
“How so?” Logan asked, pulling onto the busiest freeway Darren had ever seen. He gripped the armrest and marveled that his brother knew how to navigate this kind of traffic.
“For one, we’re not fighting.”
“Mm hm,” Layla said.
“No, really. We didn’t at all. We just drove around and talked, and then we rode until it was time for dinner.” It had pretty much been the most perfect afternoon Darren had ever experienced, and he hoped he could remember the comfortable hours he’d spent with Farrah forever.
“We barely touched, and well.” He cleared his throat. “She wouldn’t let me kiss her.”
“Goin’ slow,” Logan said. “That’s probably smart.”
Darren’s brain thought so. His heart wanted to press on the accelerator, the same way it had this summer. But he hated how that segment of their relationship had ended, and he wasn’t willing to repeat it.
So if he needed to go slow, as if they’d just met and were getting to know each other, he would.
“I just realized something,” he blurted.
“What?” Logan and Layla said together.
“I have to get to know her again,” he said. “She’s not the same woman I met last fall. Or the one I dated this summer. She’s…changed.”
“So have you,” Layla said, grinning at him.
“I have?”
“Sure,” she said. “You talk more, for one. And you smile more. And you bought a farm and have a completely different life now than you did last fall.”
“So we’re basically starting over.” Darren thought he’d care more than he did. He didn’t need to get married right away.
“You’re coming home, too,” Layla said. “You two belong together. You’ll find your way home together.” She sighed happily and hooked her arm through Darren’s. “Now, I hope you brought your swim trunks, because we’re eating dinner on the beach.”
Darren’s system felt like it was on a yo-yo. Cold, warm, cold. He’d been back in Vermont for three days, but he’d returned to a warm house. Then gone out to cold Steeple Ridge to ride and collect Rambo from the cowboys that had taken care of him while Darren was away.
Back to the warmth of the fireplace, to Rambo sleeping on his feet at night, to hot coffee in the mornings.
But not this morning.
This morning, he was clapping his hands together to keep them warm while he loaded Farrah’s boxes into the back of his truck. She was organized in a purely chaotic event. Each box had been packed, taped, and labeled. All he had to do was go in, grab them, take them out, load them up.
He went from warm, to cold, and back to warm.
By the time she got back with the rental truck, only her furniture remained.
“Sorry,” she said as she climbed down from the cab.
“They wanted to give me this giant one, and said they didn’t have this sized one, and it took forever.
” She swiped her hair off her forehead and flashed him a flustered smile.
“But this is the one you want?” He reached to lift the sliding door in the back.
“Yeah, it should fit everything. I don’t have that much.”
He peered at her. “Farrah, the house is full of furniture.”
“Oh, but I’m not taking it all,” she said, striding back toward the house. “I marked the things I’m taking with an orange tag.”
Darren walked through the house with her, and sure enough, with only a bed, the dresser, two couches, and her dining set, she wasn’t taking everything.
“What are you doing with the rest of this?” he asked. The spare bedroom held furniture she hadn’t tagged. End tables in the living room. A dish cabinet in the kitchen. Her patio furniture in her beautiful backyard.
“Meredith and Denny said I could leave anything I wanted,” Farrah said. “They’re moving from a condo, so they don’t have rooms of furniture. I'm moving to a condo, so I don’t need rooms of furniture.” She glanced around her house, her expression taking on a wistful quality.
“You’re not having second thoughts about moving, are you?” He lifted two dining chairs and paused.
“No,” she said, yanking her attention back to him. “No, it’s only fifteen minutes from the farm, and miles closer to school. I just…I will miss my yard.” She stepped toward him and he set the chairs down to receive her into his embrace.
“You have the farm,” he whispered. “You can do my yard work any time you want.”
She curled into his chest and sighed. “I do love the farm.”
“You can plant anything you want out there,” he said.
“Choose any spot, Farrah. It’s yours.” He couldn’t help the emotion in his words.
They had gone slow. He’d been back in town for four days, and he hadn’t texted her until this morning.
But he liked this soft, strong, sexy person Farrah had become.
He liked that she shared important things with him.
That she had dreams and was working to achieve them.
“Thank you, Darren.” She stepped away and met his gaze. Reaching up, she cupped his face in her palm. “Thank you.”
He gazed back at her, and he liked what he saw. “I like you,” he whispered. “Can we go to dinner in Burlington once we get you moved and settled?”
“You like me?”
He could’ve said dozens of things to emphasize how much. Instead, he just said, “Yes.”
Half a smile flirted with her lips. “I like me too.”
“I’m glad.”
“And you too. I like you too.”
Feeling a bit insane and with his heart pressing on the accelerator, he bent down and skated his lips along her cheek. “So let’s get you moved.”
The housewarming party started at six o’clock, and Darren arrived several hours early. He’d spent Thursday night at dinner with her and followed her home on Friday after her work in the boutique.
One piece at a time, everything was getting unpacked between them. So on Saturday, he couldn’t stand to wait all day to see her. They’d held hands, and laid together on the couch to watch a movie, and shared meals and stories with each other.
He wanted to kiss her.
And today happened to be New Year’s Eve. Whether she’d planned her housewarming party on this holiday or not, Darren wasn’t sure.
He texted her from the parking lot, so when he knocked on her door, she was laughing when she opened it. She wore yoga pants and a blue T-shirt. Her hair looked like she hadn’t washed it yet, but Darren found her downright beautiful.
“Sorry I’m early.” He stepped past her and entered her condo. “You can do whatever you need to. I’ll just hang out.”
She scoffed and closed the door behind him.
“Right. If you’re here, you’re going to work.
” She latched onto his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.
“I’m doing barbecue chicken tonight, and it needs to marinate.
” She glanced over her shoulder. “Then you can take me to lunch. I found a salad bar next to campus I want to try.”
He stood in the kitchen like he didn’t know what any of the tools were. Really, he’d been cooking for himself since he moved to the farm, and he’d become quite adept at putting together a meal.
So he got to work measuring and cutting and putting the chicken in the Crock Pot.
Farrah made baked beans and told him about the campus she’d visited while he was in California.
He listened and asked her questions. Took her to lunch.
Laughed with her when he stepped in an icy puddle and soaked his boots.
Back at her place, he kicked off his shoes and socks so they could dry. They watched a movie in the afternoon, and when six o’clock rolled around, Darren was fast asleep.