The Selling Point

by Marci Bolden

“Come on.” Jade laughed gently and pulled her toward the door. “You find us a table, and I’ll stand in line.”

  As soon as they were inside, Jade asked what Darby and Taylor wanted and then headed toward the end of the line while Darby sank down at a sticky table in the corner. Within moments, Taylor straddled the chair across from her. She looked around the little ice cream shop as if assessing the situation. She always liked to scan the area around her before settling in. Jade thought it was because Taylor was naturally suspicious of everyone, but Darby thought Taylor wanted to make sure nobody was paying too much attention to her. Not that she could be missed when they were in Harper’s. Sitting against the pink, mint, and turquoise décor, she stood out like an undertaker at a circus.

  “What happened?” Taylor asked.

  Darby didn’t use the same pouty face and voice she did with Jade. Taylor didn’t have the same maternal sympathy. She’d tell Darby to knock it off and spit it out. “Un-Do is getting so many comments.”

  “And?”

  “And my phone keeps dinging. Constantly. I can’t get any peace.”

  Taylor widened her eyes. “Well…I can see how that would get to you. Have you tried, oh maybe…turning off the notifications for a while?” she asked sarcastically. “Because you can do that, Darby. With the press of a button.”

  “I know,” Darby muttered as she took note of where Jade was in line. Darby needed sympathy, not logic. Taylor wasn’t good at sympathy.

  “Why do you need notifications on your phone anyway?” Taylor continued with her annoying sensibility. “Take the app off your phone and only deal with customers during your work hours…which you can set because it’s your business.”

  “Yeah, I could do that,” Darby said flatly. Part of her wanted to stomp her stiletto and tell Taylor to stop trying to fix everything and feel sorry for her, but like pouting, tantrums wouldn’t work with Taylor, either.

  Taylor lifted her dark brows and waited for several seconds. “So. Why don’t you do that now so you can enjoy your ice cream instead of sitting there looking like you’re going to break down?”

  “Because.”

  “Because?” Taylor drawled out.

  Darby’s eyes lit when a teenager dressed in a pastel uniform and paper hat called Jade’s name and she accepted a tray being slid across the counter. With Jade at the table, Darby might get a little support for her emotional distress rather than Taylor’s attempt at solving the problem. She needed pity and ice cream.

  As Jade was doling out their orders, Darby’s phone chimed with the annoying ding to notify her of a new comment.

  “Do you see?” Darby asked Jade because Taylor would simply tell her to ignore it. Darby pulled the glitter-covered device from her bag and pressed her fingertip to the sensor to unlock the screen. “This never stops.”

  “Turn it off,” Taylor repeated, pulling her sundae closer to her.

  Darby ignored her as she opened the administrative page to her online shops. As soon as she saw the notification had been a sale at Un-Do, she checked the shop app and gasped. Okay. Having a sale rather than another comment about her or her shop made things a little bit better.

  “What’s wrong?” Taylor asked.

  “Nothing. I mean.” She stared unbelieving at the unexpected number of sales on her site, taking a few seconds to process the information. After a day of nothing but comments—some funny and some malicious—she had actually made a sale. “Someone bought five dresses.”

  Jade sat next to Darby and leaned over to peek at her screen. “Really? That’s great.”

  “Holy shit.” Taylor sounded genuine in her excitement. “That’s amazing.”

  “It is,” Darby said. “It really is.” Suddenly, her gloomy mood faded and the weight that had been pushing her spirits down lifted. She’d made a sale. And a really good one too. Just like that, with that one notification, she felt vindicated in her shop and her sales pitch. “What did I tell you?” She beamed across the table at Taylor. “What did I tell you? Noah Joplin saved my life. I should send him flowers.”

  “Enough,” Taylor stated. “Put the phone away and eat your ice cream.”

  “But…” Darby started.

  “Ice cream,” Taylor stated.

  Before Darby could dig into the bowl filled with a whipped cream and syrup–covered treat, her phone dinged again, and she opened the app. “Do you see that? I made another sale.”

  Jade stopped lifting a bite of frozen yogurt to her mouth. Jade’s battle with cancer had turned her into a health nut, and she only ate frozen vanilla yogurt with almond slivers. However, Darby was certain Jade would add one of the shop’s sweet syrups someday. Maybe even colorful sprinkles. “Honey, I never thought I’d say this, but you need to stop working for a few minutes. Your ice cream is melting.”

  “Speaking of melting,” Taylor said in that singsong voice she used right before teasing someone—it was a toss-up who it might be. “I drove by Liam’s shop earlier and noticed someone’s car there.”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “I was buying a snack.”

  “And you couldn’t pick that up at the grocery store like a normal person?” Darby asked. “You had to go to Liam’s store?”

  “He has the kind of juice I like.”

  “I bet he does,” Darby muttered, causing Jade to gasp.

  Taylor laughed and then winked at Darby. “Wonder why he keeps her favorite juice in stock. Think he’s using that to lure her into his sexy little web?”

  “Stop,” Jade stated firmly. “I am still—”

  Taylor cut Jade off as she repeated the overused excuse. “—finding your footing—”

  Darby slipped in to finish. “—as a single woman.”

  Jade gave each of them a quick side-eye, making the point that she wasn’t amused. Jade’s kids were in college. She had years of practice with that side-eye thing, and she used it like a master. Darby’s mom had used that same warning for years.

  Darby’s mom had passed away weeks after Darby’s eighteenth birthday. Though she was an adult, she still had a lot of growing to do that her mom should have been there to see her through. She hadn’t realized how much she missed those subtle acts until Jade had come into her life. Sure, Darby was an adult and didn’t need maternal reproach, but coming from Jade, the slight shade made Darby feel loved. Even though Jade was only a few years older than Darby, whenever she did that maternal thing, Darby felt warmth in her heart. She felt loved. And she loved that about her friend.

  “In other news,” Jade said, “look at us. In a few weeks, it will be one year since we met.”

  Darby’s eyes lit. Jade and Taylor really had become Darby’s best friends. They spent so much time together that Darby almost had forgotten what life was like before them.

  Soon after she’d changed her look, Darby had quit waiting tables and worked up the courage to leave her hometown of Chammont Point for the first time. With her newfound confidence, she thought she’d see the world, but every time life tripped her up—which happened way too often—Darby ended up back in the little town where she’d grown up. She never planned to stay here for long, but the previous summer had once again changed her. The three of them had instantly become an unbreakable trio. Their friendship was something Darby had never experienced before, and she couldn’t imagine ever leaving them.

  Now that she had two amazing friends, she didn’t mind the little lake town nearly as much. In fact, she’d come to find the same comfort living in the tiny cove as she’d found in her clothing.

  “Can we go out on a date?” Darby asked. “Like a friendship anniversary date?”

  “I was thinking we should do something fun to celebrate,” Jade said. “We can dress up and go someplace fancy for dinner. Maybe a nice steakhouse or something.”

  “No,” Taylor stated. “I’m not dressing up. I don’t even have anything to wear to a nice burger joint, let alone someplace fancy. We’ll have a cookout or something.”

  “We always have co
okouts,” Darby challenged. “This is special.”

  “No,” Taylor stated more firmly. She heaved a loud breath before following up with a softer tone, “I don’t want to, Darby. That’s not fun for me. I don’t like doing stuff like that.”

  “You don’t have to dress up, then.” Darby looked to Jade for backup. “Please. We need to do something to celebrate our friendiversary. This is important.”

  “We should at least have dinner at La Cocina,” Jade said.

  Darby frowned. “We eat at La Cocina at least once a week.”

  “Which makes it our place,” Taylor pointed out. “Where better to celebrate our friendship than at our place?”

  “Well, I’m dressing up,” Darby announced. “This is probably the only relationship I’ll ever have that lasts long enough to celebrate anniversaries. You could at least wear slacks or something other than cargo pants.”

  “I like cargo pants,” Taylor said. “Gives me lots of places to hide weapons.”

  “Why do you need to hide weapons when you can simply pull the stick out of your ass?” Jade asked with a straight face.

  Darby rolled her head back and let out a whooping laugh.

  This. This was exactly what she needed to take her mind off her businesses.

  “Oh my gosh,” someone said, approaching the table. “Are you the Un-Do lady?”

  Darby stopped laughing, shocked at being recognized. “Uh, yeah.”

  The woman held her hand up as if waiting for a high five, which Darby hesitantly gave her. “I thought so! I saw you on Noah Joplin’s show. You are so funny, and your site is awesome. I love it!”

  “Oh,” Darby said and sat taller. Holy crap! Someone had recognized her? From her online shop? Her spirits lifted as she smiled more widely. This must have been what it was like to be Julia Roberts! “Thank you so much,” Darby said, adding extra sweetness to her words. She didn’t want to get a reputation for being cold to her fans.

  “I sat up laughing my ass off half the night,” the woman continued, talking fast around her big grin. “I think I read every single description you listed. The little tidbits you share about why the weddings were cancelled are hilarious.”

  “I’m glad you like them,” Darby said with that extra superstar effort. “You are so sweet.”

  “Hey, don’t listen to the haters,” the woman said before backing up a step. “Your shop is amazing. I wanted you to know that.”

  Darby waved at the woman before she walked away. However, her smile faltered when she looked at Jade and Taylor. Neither of them seemed at all impressed that Darby had experienced her first genuine moment of being a celebrity. “What?”

  Taylor narrowed her eyes at Darby, looking as angry as Darby had ever seen. Her heart dropped as she thought her friend was about to cuss her out for something.

  “Can I help you?” Taylor demanded.

  Darby opened her mouth but before she could speak, Taylor pushed her ice cream aside, looking like she was about to fight. Finally, Darby realized Taylor wasn’t talking to her. She turned and spotted several people staring at her. They didn’t look thrilled about seeing Darby there. They didn’t seem excited to meet her. However, with Taylor staring them down, they looked away.

  Only then did Darby glance around Harper’s and notice there were several people staring her way. The woman who had all but announced to the world who Darby was had brought attention to her… A lot of attention to her.

  Suddenly Darby recalled the comments on the page. The “haters” that the woman had mentioned. People mocking her clothes, her hair, her makeup. Suddenly, she didn’t feel like a celebrity. She felt like a pariah. An outcast. Like she didn’t belong.

  Like the nerd sitting alone at the lunch table in the high school cafeteria.

  Swallowing hard, she pushed her ice cream away too. “I should go.”

  “Don’t,” Jade said.

  Darby barely heard her. She was on her feet and out the door in a heartbeat.

  Three

  Darby was staring out at the cove the next morning doing her best to not let the hateful comments on her website and hard stares from customers at Harper’s get to her. However, ugly thoughts, recollections of what had been said, had kept her up most of the night and woken her in the morning, only for her to find even more nasty comments.

  A dark cloud was forming over her spirits, blocking out the rays of light she’d been basking in ever since Noah Joplin’s interview. Darby was no stranger to depression.

  Her mom used to call it self-pity, but Darby knew it was something darker. Her mom had been great at pulling Darby from these bouts of turning in on herself, but after she’d died, Darby had a really hard time overcoming the episode. Some called it grief, but if Darby were honest, she had slipped into a depression that had taken her almost two years to get through.

  If she were honest, that feeling was creeping up on her again. Not the full-on depressive episode that she’d faced when her mother died, but the haunting need to withdraw and disappear was growing.

  For a few minutes, Darby had felt like a success. A real success. She’d been walking on air. She was certain The Un-Do Wedding Boutique was going to spring her into a new direction—a career she would love. But now…everything felt like it was on the cusp of collapsing around her, as things tended to do.

  She never seemed to find her balance for long, but she’d hoped things were turning around for her.

  Her shoulders slumped as the sun disappeared behind a literal cloud. The forecast was calling for rain, and she thought that couldn’t possibly be more fitting for her mood. And her life.

  Sunny one minute, storming the next.

  She didn’t know why she was so surprised. This tended to be the rhythm of her life. Things never seemed to work out for long. Disaster was always right around the corner. She should have known this was coming. Even so, she was blindsided by the negativity coming toward her from all directions.

  When her phone rang, she ignored it. She wasn’t in the mood to chat. With anyone. She’d already sent Jade back to her cabin and replied to Taylor’s texts that no, she didn’t want company. When she was in a funk like this, she was better left alone.

  Another day had brought another round of nasty comments on her boutique and left her in a foul mood. She didn’t need to spread that around. There was enough ugliness in the world without her barking and picking fights with her friends—which she feared she might do if they lingered in her space for too long. If they saw how down she was feeling, they would try to fix it. They’d tease her and make her smile or drag her out of the cove and into the world she was desperate to avoid. They’d try to cheer her up.

  And that was the last thing she wanted.

  However, after a second set of ringing, she glanced at the screen of her phone to see who was trying to break into her gloom. The number on the screen was one she didn’t know, so she again ignored the call.

  But then the phone rang a third time.

  Cursing, she answered by slapping her fingertip to the screen and dramatically swiping to connect. “For God’s sake, what do you want?”

  “Darby?” an annoyingly cheerful voice asked.

  The happy sound was like a cheese grater scraping across her nerves. She closed her eyes and cringed. “Yeah,” she answered with a flat and uninterested tone that was intentionally the exact opposite of what she’d heard.

  “Oh my gosh!” The cheese grater turned into a coffee grinder. “I found you.”

  Something about the voice coming through the phone was familiar, but Darby couldn’t place it. She scoured the recesses of her mind, trying to figure out where she’d heard it before, but nothing came to the forefront of her foggy brain. Running her fingers between her eyes, she felt a headache starting to throb, and she exhaled.

  Between the stress and the impending change in the weather, the pressure was getting to her. Usually, she enjoyed a good guessing game. Not today. This was one of the rare times when a potential surprise a
nnoyed rather than amused her.

  As she dropped her hand, Darby furrowed her brow. “So it seems. Who is this?”

  “This is Jennifer Williams,” the woman practically squealed out, “from high school. You remember me. Right?” The way she made her voice nasally and stretched out the words made her sound like a bad rendition of a 1980s Valley Girl. “Oh, you probably remember me as Jennifer Crosby, but it’s Williams now.”

  The picture that formed in Darby’s mind didn’t match anyone she could recall from high school, not that she spent a lot of time reminiscing about those days.

  “We had chemistry together with old Mr. Hall,” Jennifer said with that odd cooing tone again. Darby immediately assumed she had a horde of children who only responded to the unnatural pitch that giving birth seemed to produce in women. “Remember? He always smelled like bologna?”

  Chemistry class had been a nightmare for Darby. One of the cooler kids had unhooked Darby’s bra in the midst of an experiment. Darby had squealed and jumped, knocking her beaker over and nearly starting a fire. The entire class had laughed, and Mr. Hall had made Darby pair up with someone “more responsible.” For the rest of the semester, Darby had to work with a partner because Mr. Hall didn’t trust her, even though the accident hadn’t been her fault. Worse than that, she had to listen to jokes about the incident from almost everyone at Chammont Point High.

  That one moment had set off years of torment, with Darby as the target.

  Seconds passed as recognition forced its way through the remaining daze lingering in Darby’s brain. She had worked hard to put those horrible years behind her, but they came rushing back like repeated punches to the gut as Jennifer rambled on. Every snide comment, every joke made at her expense, and the overwhelming dread she faced every morning as she walked into the high school. Those years had been hell for Darby. Those years had broken her. If she were honest, she still hadn’t fully recovered from the pain inflicted by her teenaged bullies. Their words still haunted her like ghostly whispers trying to scare her back into the social obscurity they had forced her into.