by Marci Bolden
Taylor must have seen Darby’s reaction because she rolled her head back and counted to five in the way she did when she was trying to control her temper. When she looked at Darby again, she had a softer stare—not gentle like Jade’s, but definitely lacking the someone’s-gonna-die fire.
“Why didn’t you call us? Before you did the interview.” Taylor dropped into a chair and shook her head. “We would have been there.”
Darby sniffed. “I don’t know. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I wanted to make things right. I wanted a chance to explain to the world that I’m not being vicious on my boutique. I’m being…clever.” Her lip trembled, and she dabbed her eyes.
“I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think,” Jade said as she handed Darby another tissue. As much as Jade tried and as many times as she reassured her, Darby didn’t agree. This was bad. She felt it in her bones. She’d made a horrible mistake.
Big tears rolled down Darby’s cheeks. “I think it was, Jade. I really do think she set me up to make me look bad.”
“Why would she do that?” Jade asked.
“To take advantage of her,” Taylor stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the entire universe.
Jade shook her head. “No, Taylor. You’re being suspicious. As always.”
Taylor scowled. “Being suspicious saves me a hell of a lot of time, Jade.”
“Don’t fight,” Darby said quietly before Jade could respond.
Darby’s father had disappeared before she ever knew him, but she still felt like a kid watching her parents brawl whenever Jade and Taylor butted heads. She’d usually wither into the background and wait for them to stop. This time, however, she couldn’t do that. She needed them to help her sort through the mess she’d made.
“We’re not fighting,” Taylor barked and then let out another of her big sighs. Dropping back into the chair, she sagged like she carried the weight of the world. Her shoulders always drooped like that when she felt uncertain about something.
Despite her troubles, Darby tried to find the words to reassure Taylor. She wanted to tell her that she wasn’t responsible for defending Darby against the world, but that was futile. As soon as they’d become friends, Taylor had stepped into the role of guardian. Little did she know what she was getting into. Darby had a way of getting into hot messes—and not just online.
Taylor hadn’t even been around for the bigger disasters Darby had created, like that time she’d inadvertently had an affair with a married man. That was totally not Darby’s fault. He hadn’t told her he was married—if he had, she would have kicked him to the curb—but his wife had blamed Darby. She’d stormed into the bar where Darby was working and tossed a drink in her face before calling her a long list of unsavory names.
Darby had gotten fired over that mess. She’d hate to think what Taylor would have done to the man if she’d been around then. She probably would have strung him up and beat him with a barbed wire–covered bat. Okay, nothing quite that violent, but it wouldn’t have been good.
Jade, on the other hand, probably would have talked to Darby about her feelings and gently encouraged her to do a bit more digging into the next guy who came along.
Though their approaches would have been different, they both would have come from the same place. Frustration that Darby had made a mess of things, but not necessarily frustration with Darby.
“Why would you do an interview like this without preparing first?” Taylor asked pointedly but without the angry undertones. Taylor didn’t always know how to express her concern and her protectiveness, but she felt both for her friends. She was angry, and since she couldn’t take her frustration out on a situation, she directed it toward Darby and Jade.
“I told you. I thought it would help,” Darby said with a grimace. “I wanted to explain to the people leaving all those atrocious comments that they’re taking the dress descriptions out of context.”
“Darby,” Taylor stated firmly, “they aren’t taking them out of context. That’s the problem.”
Darby swallowed at the attack. “They’re stories to get attention on the website, Taylor. I’m not telling people who they’re about.”
“You don’t get it,” Taylor said in a hushed tone as she pushed herself up and paced again.
Sitting taller, Darby narrowed her eyes. Taylor wasn’t the only one who could give nasty glares. “They are just stories.”
“Look,” Jade said calmly, acting as the mediator, “until Jennifer has uploaded the interview, we have no idea what her intentions are or how Darby is going to come across.”
“No, Jade, you look,” Taylor stated flatly. “I know you’re all into living this new ‘forgive and forget and move on’ mantra, but you need to take your rose-colored glasses off for a minute and take a good look at what happened.”
Jade gawked at her for several beats before volleying the attitude right back at her. “And you need to stop looking for a reason to be pissed off at the world. And stop snapping at Darby about her website. What the hell is wrong with you? She’s upset enough without you being a jerk to her.”
Taylor gestured toward Darby. “She’s not listening. People are telling her what she’s doing isn’t okay, and she isn’t listening. We told her that it was a bad idea, and she didn’t listen.”
“I am listening,” Darby stated. “I’m allowed to disagree. And I do disagree. Venomously.”
“Vehemently,” Jade muttered.
“Whatever,” Darby stated with the same amount of snark Taylor had been using. “I didn’t say Jade Kelly was all set to marry Liam Cunningham until he called her sister’s name in bed. Did I?”
Jade held up her hand. “I’d like to clarify, using Liam and me as an example is not okay, and I don’t have a sister.”
“Exactly,” Darby stated. “That’s my point.”
Taylor creased her brow and shook her head. “How is that the point?”
“Nobody knows who those stories are about,” Darby said. “They could as easily be about Jade as much as they could be about you. Nobody knows.”
“The brides know,” Taylor stated. “Their friends and family know.”
Darby groaned with her own growing irritations. “Okay. So a handful of people might be able to connect some dots and come to a conclusion, but unless they say something to someone else…” She threw her hands up and looked at Jade. “Make her stop attacking me.”
Jade looked at Taylor. “Darby can run her site how she sees fit.”
Scoffing, Taylor dropped into a chair and shook her head.
“She’s right,” Jade continued. “She isn’t naming names or pointing fingers.”
“Thank you,” Darby said, sitting taller.
“However,” Jade continued, “that doesn’t mean you’re right, Darby. Those stories were likely shared with you in confidence. Anonymous or not, you’re sharing what were possibly the worst times of someone’s life to sell your products. That’s not the best sales practice, and I really think you should think about if this is what you want to continue doing.”
“I sold three more dresses yesterday,” Darby said.
“That’s great,” Taylor said, but she clearly didn’t mean it. “Congratulations.”
Jade cut her that motherly side-eye she was so good at. Using that maternal tone Darby loved and Taylor loathed, Jade said, “You want to protect your friend, I get that, but you can’t behave like this.”
“Like what?”
“A teenage punk who isn’t getting her way,” Jade pointed out.
Taylor narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin a notch. “I’d rather be a teenage punk than a pushover, Jade.”
“Oh man.” Darby clutched her hands together, dreading whatever was about to come next, but the tense moment was interrupted.
Parker Alonso, a friend of Jade’s, opened the door, and her bright smile fell a bit as she looked from Jade to Darby to Taylor. “Hey, ladies,” she said tentatively.
Jade pushed herself u
p as if the heated exchange hadn’t even happened. “Hey you,” she cooed and opened her arms to take Marie from her mother. Whenever Parker and her nine-month-old came around, Jade turned into a big cooing mess. This was one of the rare times Darby was thankful for that. The rage that had been on the verge of erupting in the cabin instantly dissolved.
Parker worked with Liam at his shop, and her visits usually gave Darby and Taylor reason to tease Jade. However, none of them were in the mood at the moment.
“Everything okay?” Parker asked as she handed her little one to Jade.
“I guess we’ll see,” Taylor said before turning to leave. She stopped and shook her head at Jade. “I hope you’re right. But I don’t think you are. I think this is bad, Jade, and Darby needs to do something before it gets worse.”
As Jade settled Marie on her hip, Taylor huffed out a sigh and left. Pushing herself up, Darby muttered a soft farewell to Parker and then started toward the door too.
“Darby,” Jade called. “I want you to think about why some people might not find what you’re saying amusing. That’s all. Think about it.”
A fresh round of tears stung the backs of Darby’s eyes. She had expected more out of her friends. She had expected them to jump to her defenses and help her fix this. Not turn on her too.
“Okay,” she said.
“You can stay,” Jade said softly.
Darby gave her a weak smile and shook her head. “I need to go.”
“Where?”
“To think.”
“Darby,” she called, but Darby didn’t acknowledge her as she walked out, feeling even worse than she had before.
Four
Later that evening, Darby jolted with surprise when a loud shriek burst through her open living room window. The needle she’d been using to hem a pair of lime green shorts slipped through the material and jabbed the tip of her pointer finger. Gasping, she dropped the shorts and pinched right above her knuckle, causing a little bead of blood to form.
Putting her finger to her mouth, she attempted to ignore the sounds coming from outside. As she suckled the wound, her neighbor squealed merrily again. Frustrated, Darby stood and peered between the teal faux wood blinds in time to see Jade stumble out of her kayak. As Jade dragged the raft to shore, Liam splashed her and called her a slowpoke. Another scream from Jade disrupted the calm of the little cove the women shared.
Their cabins were the only ones nestled in the small tree-shrouded inlet, which was usually peaceful. Not many people ventured toward the cove since there wasn’t much to it, so when Jade and Liam started their flirty playing in the water, it was nearly impossible for Darby to ignore.
Jade had been through a lot over the last couple of years and deserved all the happiness she could find. Darby was proud of her best friend for all she’d overcome and wanted her to be happy. But she was also a little irritated that Jade’s happiness was so loud when Darby was having such a bad week.
She frowned as Liam caught Jade around the waist and spun her, causing yet another of her loud yelps to echo through Darby’s ears. Which was the last yelp and flirty laugh Darby could handle. If having Liam chase her through the cove and kick water at her as she squealed in false protest made Jade happy, then more power to her. But that didn’t mean Darby had to witness it firsthand.
After flipping the blinds closed, she turned and scanned the contents of the small living area of her lakefront cabin. Though she’d chosen bright colors and fun retro patterns, her home suddenly felt sad. She could barely look at her bright blue sofa and not see Jennifer Williams sitting there luring Darby into a trap.
Darby glowered at the funky belongings that used to bring her so much joy. Everything was falling apart. The world was turning on her. Even her best friends didn’t seem supportive of her new venture.
This was the first bit of success—real success—Darby had ever tasted, and people were dumping all over it. All over her. She deserved happiness too. Didn’t she? She deserved to have success too. But here she was. Her dresses were selling, she had money coming in, and the very people who should have been happy for her weren’t.
“That’s it!” Darby whirled on her high-heeled Mary Janes, marched across the room, and flipped on her record player. After placing the needle on a vintage Etta James album, she turned the volume up to drown out Jade’s and Liam’s laughter. The last thing Darby needed to hear was someone else being so damn happy.
Storming to her kitchen, she yanked the fridge door with the flair of a teenage drama queen. Darby stared at the contents. Limes. A bottle of queso. Perfect.
She grabbed those two items and kicked the door closed as she put them on the counter. Her frown deepened when she looked at the empty dish where she’d expected to find ripening avocados.
“It’s okay,” she told herself. “It’s fine. That’s fine.”
Grabbing a bag of chips from the top of the fridge, she carelessly tossed them next to the queso and grabbed a plastic bowl from the cabinet. After emptying the cheese into the bowl, she popped it into the microwave and pressed a button to warm the contents.
Then she opened another cabinet and grabbed her bottles of tequila and triple sec. She slammed the cabinet door and yanked open a drawer to find her manual juicer. Three limes should do it. No, four. This was definitely a four-lime margarita day.
After rinsing her hands and the limes in the sink, she easily sliced them in half and squeezed each half vigorously over her blender, poured in a guesstimate on how much triple sec and tequila to add, and topped the mixture with ice.
She fiercely pressed the button to blend the mixture and then tore open the bag of chips. As she yanked the two sides apart, the plastic tore more than she’d intended, and tortilla chips scattered across the counter and floor, causing Darby to squeal. About that time, the bowl in her microwave emitted a loud pop before the contents exploded and covered the see-through door.
As soon as it did, the smell of burned cheese started to seep out of the microwave. She pulled the door open, wincing when cheese slid from the inside and dripped onto the counter below. The moment Darby touched the bowl, she realized the depth of her mistake. The heat seared her fingers, and she dropped the bowl and jumped back. Swinging her hand to ease the burn, she hit the blender and knocked it off the base, sending the ice, liquor, and lime juice across the counter and onto the floor.
Tears instantly filled her eyes. So much for margaritas and chips.
Could anything else possibly go wrong?
As soon as she thought that, she noticed a glob of melted cheese oozing down her dress.
“Darby?” Jade asked from the living room. “Oh my God. Honey.”
Darby blew a strand of red hair from her eyes as she turned on her heels to face Jade. Sometime during her ongoing disaster, one of her victory rolls had come undone and dangled limply over her left eye. Jade’s pale skin was red, likely from her time out in the sun, and her gray eyes widened. Her auburn hair was tousled, and Darby stopped short of asking her friend if she’d been doing tawdry things with Liam. However, Jade was still in denial about when she and Liam were going to end up together. Sooner rather than later, if their daily giggle sessions were any indication.
Jade stared at her, wide-eyed. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know. I just…” In an instant, the world crumbled in on her. “I can’t do anything right.”
“Oh, babe,” Jade cooed as she walked toward the kitchen. She looked down at the floor before holding her hand out and gesturing for Darby to join her. Darby took her hand and stepped over a puddle of chips soaking up margarita and right into Jade’s hug.
“I have cheese on me,” Darby sniffled.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Jade soothed her for a few moments before leaning back and wiping Darby’s cheek. “Wanna tell me what happened?”
Snuffling her emotions up, Darby shrugged. “Everything is falling apart. My life is like a disaster.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “
Like tortilla chips without the guacamole. Burned queso. A margarita spilled on the kitchen floor.”
“Okay,” Jade said as she lifted her hands and widened her eyes. “I get it, Darbs.”
“No, you don’t. While you’re off frolicking with Liam, my life is falling apart.”
A deep furrow creased Jade’s brow. “Frolicking?”
Though Darby was tempted to explain to Jade that she was, indeed, a frolicker where Liam was concerned, this wasn’t about them. Darby’s spirits were wilting like a hydrangea getting too much sun. “I can’t go on like this.” Though she prided herself on her straight posture, she deliberately slouched as the weight of her discontent settled on her shoulders. “I can’t be a chip with no guacamole, Jade.”
Jade turned Darby’s face toward the sunburst-style mirror hanging on Darby’s living room wall, and they looked at their reflections. Jade offered a sweet maternal smile, to which Darby responded with an exaggerated pout. She pressed her bottom lip out and batted her long false lashes. Those displays always earned Darby a little extra affection from her friend.
“Look at you,” Jade said with a sweet, supportive tone. “You’re not a chip without guacamole, honey. You are guacamole. You’re not even average guacamole. You’re loaded guac with jalapenos and onions.”
Darby pushed her bottom lip out a bit more. “You think I’m loaded?”
“You’re totally loaded and spicy.” Jade gave Darby another sweet smile before tucking her fallen victory roll back into place. Darby snagged one of the extra bobby pins she always kept nearby and held it up for Jade to secure the style. “There,” Jade said sweetly. “There’s my girl.”
Darby felt better for about two seconds, but then that mashed potatoes without gravy feeling came over her again. “My life has turned into a disaster, Jade. Nothing is right. Everything is wrong.” The panic in her chest swelled again. Darby collapsed onto her couch as a lump formed in her throat and tears tugged the backs of her eyes. “What has happened to me?”
