by Marci Bolden
“She’s already out on the lake,” Darby said as Taylor started up the stairs.
“It’s early,” Taylor said as she on one step below Darby. “Why is she out so early?”
Darby smiled weakly. She didn’t have the strength to debate that not everyone considered nine a.m. early. “Why are you here? I thought you’d be working. Didn’t you say you had a project?”
“I finished it already. But I was offered another job…replacing a board. Like, literally replacing one board on this lady’s deck. I told her the board doesn’t need replacing, she just needed a nail and she could hammer it back into place herself. She doesn’t need to pay me for that, and even if she did, how the hell do I charge someone for that? It’d take me like five minutes. That’s not worth my time or her money. It’s like I’ve become a pet project to the elderly women in this town. Like they had a meeting, and in between baking cookies and knitting baby booties, they elected me as their charity of the month. I can’t stand it. I never get real work, just pity projects. I’m about to scream.” She sipped her coffee and then glanced at Darby. “Never mind all that. I wanted to check on Jade.”
“I haven’t talked to her yet. She went right out onto the lake.” She let out a long exhale. “I’m worried about her, though. I think Liam asking for a break has really shaken her. She didn’t see it coming.”
“I don’t think any of us did. What about you?” Taylor gently nudged Darby’s knee. “You’ve had a rough couple of days too.”
Darby grinned. “Look at you, acting like the mama bear you pretend you aren’t.”
Taylor chuckled. “You two are falling apart. Someone has to check on you.”
After taking a long drink from her iced coffee, Darby looked out over the water. “I’m doing okay, I guess.”
“For real?”
Shrugging, she said, “I still feel like the world is crashing down on me. All because of one stupid mistake.”
“You would change it if you could,” Taylor offered.
Darby nodded. “But I can’t. So I keep struggling with how I make this better. Do I really put an end to my only source of income? Or do I accept that I’ve made changes and keep building on the foundation that I’ve made, even if that foundation has a few cracks?”
“I don’t know,” Taylor said. “It’s easy for me to tell you what to do because I’m not the one impacted. Jade and I can roll through the options with you a hundred times, but you have to make that decision yourself.”
“I know.” Darby took another long drink from her coffee. “It should be easy, I guess. I can find something else. But I’ve actually found a business that’s successful. Revamping it should be enough. Shouldn’t it?”
Taylor paused as she looked at Darby. “There are companies that have made much bigger missteps and survived. You can turn this around, Darby, but you have to decide if you want to.”
“What will I do for money?” Darby asked.
“Budget your expenses,” Taylor suggested, causing Darby to frown. Taylor was always trying to tell Darby she was too extravagant. That she spent too much on nonessentials. However, Darby had completely different ideas of what was essential than Taylor.
“There’s more to this than money and having a successful business,” Taylor said. “You have to think of the long-term impact this might have on you. All of the negativity around Un-Do could drag you down further before it gets better. It might never get better. There may always be people who are going to remind you that you started your business with a bad marketing scheme. If you want to continue with the boutique, you have to know that and be willing to push through.”
Darby made an exaggerated frown. “People suck sometimes.”
“I agree,” Taylor said. “What you have to do now is recognize that you made a mistake. It happens. You’re human. We all make mistakes sometimes.”
“Yeah. Trust me, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes in my life, but this…”
“But you also have to recognize that you’re trying to fix it, and that counts for something. This will get better, Darby.”
Darby offered Taylor a soft smile. “Jade said that last night. I think I am starting to feel better about what I need to do. The thing that really irks me though…” She looked out over the water, debating if she even wanted to voice the thing that was boiling low in her belly. “I know I hurt people, and I know saying that wasn’t my intent doesn’t excuse what I’ve done, but what Jennifer did—editing that video to make it seem like I said things I hadn’t—that was intentional. That’s worse, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, on some level it is,” Taylor said. “But those were Jennifer’s actions, and you can’t control what other people do. You can only react to them.”
Darby watched Jade reappear at the mouth of the cove. “This all feels so unfair. She should be called out too.”
“Well,” Taylor said, “life isn’t meant to be fair.”
“No. It’s meant to be survived like some kind of war game,” Darby muttered.
Taylor chuckled. “Sometimes.”
“What are you going to do about your company?” Darby asked, changing the subject.
Shrugging, Taylor looked out over the water too. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. Jade’s back.”
“I saw that. She wasn’t out long.”
That might not have seemed like a big deal to some, but Jade’s time on the water was what others might have considered meditation. She found her peace out there. That was where she got her head around things. Being on the water helped her make sense of the world. She hadn’t been out nearly long enough to do that, which seemed like a bad sign.
“Come on,” Taylor said, standing. “Let’s see how she’s doing.”
By the time she pulled her kayak onto shore, Darby and Taylor were at the table, pulling chairs out to finish their drinks.
“That was fast,” Darby pointed out when Jade approached them.
Jade sat heavily and accepted the tea Taylor offered her. “I couldn’t stop thinking about…”
“A certain handsome guy,” Taylor suggested.
Nodding, Jade pulled her phone from the waterproof pouch she always took out with her. “I’m going to text him.”
“And say what?” Taylor asked.
“That he’s an asshole for pressuring me and I don’t appreciate it.”
Taylor put her hand on Jade’s. “Maybe reconsider how to phrase that.”
Jade scowled as she looked up, but then her face sagged. “Am I wrong to ask for more time?”
Darby twisted her lips. “No. Not if that’s what you need.”
“I was thinking about how far you’ve come in the last few days,” Jade said to Darby. “How you went from standing your ground to recognizing you needed to make amends, and I…I wish I could be like you.”
Darby sat taller. “Like me?”
“You’re being so strong.”
Shaking her head, Darby disagreed. “I’m a mess. I’m a freaking disaster.”
“But you’re pushing ahead anyway,” Jade said.
Taylor nodded. “You’re going to apologize to all those women. That isn’t going to be easy.”
“You recognized where things went wrong, and you’re taking the steps to make it right,” Jade said. “That is amazing. And I… I need to do that with Liam, but I… I don’t know how.”
Taylor shrugged. “Maybe calling him an asshole isn’t the best step.”
Jade rolled her eyes. “But he was an asshole.”
“Maybe,” Darby said, “you should tell him that you understand where he’s coming from and you need him to recognize that you’re nervous about starting something new.”
Jade stared at her screen. “Fine. But in my mind I’m still calling him an asshole.” She pecked away. After several seconds of looking like she could be sick, she pushed her phone to the center of the table and closed her eyes. “Someone else hit Send.”
Darby tapped the button. “Sent.”
Jade moaned miserably before muttering, “Asshole.”
Taylor pulled her phone from her pocket. “My turn. I’m not taking any more of these sympathy projects I’m not really needed for.” She tapped out a message and set her phone next to Jade’s. “There. I’m kindly refusing to replace that lady’s board. Someone send it.”
Jade pressed the button, and they both looked at Darby.
“Well,” Taylor said. “What about you? Do you have anything you need to send that you’ve been putting off?”
“You mean besides about a dozen apologies?” Darby let her smile fall and swallowed hard. “If I’m going to sort through all this mess, I have to… I have to know why Jennifer did what she did. Why did she target me like that? Why did she twist my words around and make me look so horrible?” She looked at her phone for several seconds before scrolling through her received calls and finding the call she still regretted taking. She used the number to start a new text, typed out a message. and set her phone in the center.
However, before Taylor could push the button to request Jennifer meet with her, Darby pressed it herself and then swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.
Later that evening, Darby sat nervously at a table at La Cocina. Generally, this was her happy place. This was where she and her friends sat and laughed and ate endless chips and salsa and went through more margaritas than was advisable. Luckily for them, Jade didn’t drink, so they always had a designated driver, which was almost always needed.
She wasn’t here for the margaritas or salsa this time. This time she was here to meet Hallie Mitchell—the bride from the other story she’d shared on The Noah Joplin Show. Hallie had been surprised to hear from Darby but hadn’t been cold on the phone like Sue had. That gave Darby hope that this apology would go better. But that hope was slim.
This feeling was the exact same that she’d felt at the diner in Richmond. Her nerves were lit like a forest fire burning her alive under her skin. The urge to run was almost undeniable. When a waitress approached the table, she offered Darby a friendly smile.
“Margarita?” she asked, because Darby always had Lo Cocina’s margaritas. Like her, they used fresh limes instead of a mix. They were nearly impossible to resist, but this time, she did.
With a shake of her head, she said, “Water, please.”
The woman’s smile faltered before nodding and walking away. Once Darby was alone, she gnawed at her lip and scanned the restaurant. She wasn’t sure if she’d been wise to agree to meet Hallie in this sacred place. Either the feeling that this was a home away from home with really delicious food would be shattered because Hallie trashed her there, or the feeling that this was a safe place would be reinforced.
Darby’s chest nearly caved in on itself when the door opened and Hallie walked in. Like Sue had done, she scanned the room before locking eyes on Darby. But unlike Sue, Hallie didn’t immediately scowl and shoot a death glare Darby’s way.
Okay, Darby thought. This might not be too bad.
Hallie dropped an oversized tote purse into the booth and slid in. She smiled slightly, not overly friendly, but it was better than Darby had gotten from the last woman she’d had to bare her soul to.
“How are you?” Darby asked with a tense voice.
“I’m fine.” She leaned on the table and heaved a sigh. “I’m guessing this about your website.”
Darby nodded much too quickly. Tightening her hands into fists, she reminded herself to stay calm. “I feel so bad about sharing your story.”
Hallie shrugged. “I didn’t even know about it, honestly. Someone saw it and asked if you were the one who’d made my wedding dress. We went on your site to check it out.”
Biting her lip, Darby swallowed hard. “Did you know that I shared your story on Noah Joplin’s show?”
Lifting a brow, Hallie seemed to process this. “Did you use my name?”
“No,” Darby stated firmly. “No, I never used anyone’s name.”
Hallie glanced around for several seconds. “Did you sell my dress?”
Darby’s guilt grew. “Yeah. I did.”
Hallie reached into the bowl of chips and pulled one out. “Good. I always felt bad that I didn’t pay you for that.”
As she watched Hallie eat the chip, Darby put her hand to her chest. “But I didn’t charge you, so you couldn’t have paid me.”
“I know, but that felt wrong.” Hallie brushed her hands together. “Are you apologizing because that other bride threw you under the bus?”
Shrugging slightly, Darby said, “She was upset and had every right to be.”
“But is that why you’re apologizing to me?”
“I didn’t think about how you would feel when I posted the story of your cancelled wedding on my website. I should have put myself in your shoes before I did that. I was wrong, and that’s why I’m apologizing. I did not mean to embarrass you. I would never want to do that.”
Sitting back in the booth, Hallie scoffed. “Why would I be embarrassed? I didn’t cheat with my sister. That was all on him.”
“Even so, I shouldn’t have just put that out there like I did.”
When the waitress approached the table, Hallie smiled but didn’t order anything. “I’m not staying, but thank you.” When they were alone again, she looked at Darby. “Look, I get why some of the brides are upset. But nobody knows the person you were talking about is me. It doesn’t feel great to have my problems used for a marketing ploy, but it isn’t going to destroy me. I appreciate your apology, I do, but it’s not necessary, Darby. I’m glad you finally got paid for the dress.”
The weight that had settled on Darby’s shoulders the moment she’d walked into the restaurant lifted. Tears bit at the back of her eyes, but she blinked them back. “I want you to know that I really regret using your pain to further my business. I hadn’t considered that was what I was doing, but I do see it now and I’ll do better in the future.”
Hallie offered her that soft smile again. “That’s all any of us can do, right? Learn and grow.” She held up her fingers in a peace sign before grabbing her bag and sliding from the booth. “I’m glad you reached out to me. I appreciate it, but really, let this go and move on. It’s done.”
“So you accept my apology?” Darby asked, not sure she was understanding Hallie’s chill attitude.
“Yeah. I mean, you’ll think things through next time, right?”
“Right.”
“Cool. I’ll see you around.” She walked away, and that seemed to be the end of that.
Darby sat still, almost unable to believe what had just happened. Hallie had been nice—a million times nicer than Sue Berdynski. As soon as Hallie had answered Darby’s call and agreed to meet her, Darby had been bracing herself for another horrific showdown. She’d walked into La Cocina with her heart in her throat and her hands trembling. But as she fell back against the seat, she exhaled with relief.
That was one down. She still had another to go. She glanced at her watch and confirmed that her chat with Hallie had taken much less time than she’d expected and she had plenty of time before her next potential confrontation. This time when the waitress came to the table, Darby ordered a small margarita to celebrate her small but profound win with Hallie and a lunch combo that would give her two of her favorites—a beef enchilada and a hard-shell taco.
When her drink arrived, she toasted herself and took a sip, enjoying the high of earning forgiveness from at least one of the people she had wronged. As she waited for her food to be delivered, she texted an update to Jade and Taylor, and her mood lifted even higher as they both responded with congratulations that her meeting had gone well.
Her good mood eased some of the stress she’d felt about facing the next person who would be sitting across from her. However, as she finished eating her lunch and time neared for the next meeting to start, her stress returned.
When her plate was taken away, she was tempted to order another margarita but had her water glass refilled
instead. She needed to have her wits about her. She needed to be able to defend herself if the discussion came to that, and she expected it would.
As her stress spiked again, Darby pressed her palms to the table and took a big breath to ground herself. She had chosen this place for a reason. It really was a sacred place for her.
She loved the scents of La Cocina. Though this wasn’t the restaurant where her mom had worked, the happy atmosphere reminded Darby of where she’d spent so much of her childhood. Day after day, she’d sat tucked at a corner table doing her homework while her mom worked her shift in the kitchen. The owners of that restaurant brought her food and sodas and always said how proud her mom was of her for working so hard at her schooling.
Those were some of her favorite memories now, but she’d resented spending most of her life in a booth back then. She wished she could go back and thank them and her mom for always trying to encourage her. Sadly, when the owners of that restaurant were ready to retire, they closed down and moved away.
Darby hadn’t seen them since.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Jennifer dropped down into the booth across from her. Darby’s heart, which had been filled with hope, thumped at the unenthusiastic look on Jennifer’s face.
Jennifer didn’t seem nearly as pleased that Darby had invited her to lunch as Hallie had been.
“First one who storms out pays for lunch,” Jennifer said as she dug into the basket of chips.
“I’m not planning to storm out this time,” Darby said. “I’m here to tell you that you were right.”
Jennifer stopped lifting a chip to her mouth. “Seriously?” She ate the chip in one bite and then immediately started digging for another. “What made you see the light?”
“Sue Berdynski is miserable,” Darby said. “Even if I didn’t mean to, I definitely had a hand in that. I was wrong.”
Jennifer smirked. “Yeah, I know. I told you that.”
Rather than acknowledge her I-told-you-so, Darby said, “I tried to apologize to her, but she didn’t accept.”
Jennifer smiled up at the waitress and ordered a diet soda before returning her attention to Darby. “Some wounds take longer to heal. What she went through was devastating. Not just embarrassing or unfortunate. Being betrayed by her fiancé and best friends like she had been was devastating.”
