Chapter 22 Derek
DEREK
We head back up the mountain after a quiet lunch in town. Darcy kept to herself more than usual and J.B. was lost in her phone during most of the meal.
I tell myself that we’re all tired after a wild couple of days. Everyone enjoys a little silence from time to time.
But now that I’m driving us back to the cabin with J.B. jamming out to her headphones in the back and Darcy sitting beside me, the silence is deafening.
It’s one thing to stay quiet while you’re eating and people-watching. But here in the intimacy of the car, where we only have each other and the empty forest outside the windows, I miss her voice too much.
But I’m also a little afraid to get her talking.
What if she finally tells me she can’t do this anymore, and then she heads straight back to the city?
Before I can think of anything to say, we’re all standing in the snow outside the cabin.
“I want to go see Great-grandpa,” J.B. announces. “And have some hot cocoa.”
“That sounds nice,” Darcy tells her. “I just need to do a few quick things and then I’ll meet you two up there.”
“I have a couple of things to do as well,” I add, realizing that maybe some time actually alone is what Darcy and I really need. “J.B. you can go on if you want. We’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay,” she says, heading down the drive immediately as Darcy and I head up to the front door.
Once we’re inside, I add a little wood to the stove. It seems funny to do it when we’re about to leave, but maybe it’ll be easier to get her talking if she isn’t shivering.
Once it’s crackling, I turn back to find her at the kitchen counter with her laptop. Her eyes are fixed on the screen, but her hands are perfectly still.
Darcy never does that, she’s always scrolling or typing, her fingers moving like dancers. Is she waiting for me? Does she want to talk too?
I might as well get it over with, one way or the other.
“Hey,” I say gently. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she murmurs.
Oh, boy.
I head over to stand behind the laptop so I’m in her line of vision. As I pass her, I see that the screen she has up is for the bus routes between New York City and the Poconos.
My stomach clenches and I will myself to stay calm.
“Darcy, you’re important to me,” I tell her, placing my hands on the counter flanking the laptop. All I want to do is knock it to the floor, but I’m not going to let my temper get the best of me today. “Please tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”
“I heard what you said.”
Her words are so soft I can barely make them out. But I know instantly what she means. This all started when I was talking with Roan.
“So you know I told him the truth about us?” I ask, wanting to be sure.
She gets this really hurt look on her face, and I’m not sure why.
“We weren’t supposed to tell anyone,” she says quickly.
“Oh, so you didn’t tell anyone?” I retort, already knowing the answer.
“Well, I told my sister,” she allows. “But I had to because of the picture.”
“Roan was my best friend in Angel Mountain,” I tell her. “I wanted to tell someone too. What’s the difference?”
I’m still not really sure why I blurted it out to Roan. I guess maybe I thought it would make me feel better to get some of this off my chest. And it wasn’t even the whole truth. I didn’t get to tell him about how I feel whenever Darcy is near.
“Well, you’re not going to bump into my sister around here and have to put on a show, for a start,” she says, her voice pitching up a little. “It feels bad enough to have to lie to all these nice people, but now I don’t even know who knows and who doesn’t. I look like a fool.”
I’m doing my best, but it’s hard to keep my anger in check. The worst part is that I don’t even know who I’m mad at anymore.
“Roan knows,” I explode. “That’s it. Are you happy now?”
“You’re asking me to pretend to be engaged to you,” she says, her voice bell-clear and firm. “Please don’t make me feel cheap by bragging to people that our relationship isn’t real.”
Before I can respond, there’s a little gasp behind her.
I look up to see J.B. standing in the living room, her scarf and gloves in her hand. We didn’t really bundle up for the trip to town earlier. She must have come back for them.
The devastated look on her face tells me that she heard Darcy.
“Oh, J.B.,” Darcy says, the steel gone from her voice, leaving only sadness. “Let us explain.”
But J.B. is already darting back out the front door, slamming it hard behind her.
I’m off like a shot, opening the door again and following her onto the porch.
“Stop,” I yell to J.B., who is taking off down the steps. “I’m sorry you heard that, but I need to explain.”
She stops in the drive and turns back to me, her hands pressed over her ears.
“I can’t do this,” she yells at me. “I need to think.”
She takes off before I can say another word, and I’m standing on the cabin porch in my socks, my heart trying to break free out of my chest to follow her.
When I duck back in for my boots and coat, Darcy has already slipped on her boots. We fasten our coats in silence.
I sense Darcy by my side as I grab for the handle on the front door and I turn to her as she reaches for me. I let myself hope that she’s going to touch me—grab my hand or slide her hand into the crook of my arm to tell me we’re a team.
Instead, she presses my grandmother’s engagement ring into my palm.
“Darcy,” I growl.
“Just go,” she says flatly. “She’s upset. We need to find her.”
She’s right, as usual.
I shove the ring in my pocket and we both fly out the front door and run for the lodge.