by Marci Bolden
“Jade,” Taylor called as she walked through the living room toward the window overlooking the cove. “Were you expecting Liam?”
“No,” she said from the kitchen.
Taylor turned and smirked. “He’s climbing out of his kayak with flowers and…if I’m not mistaken, a bottle of…juice.” She laughed and shook her head. “Only you could be wooed with juice.”
“I don’t drink alcohol,” Jade reminded them as she peered through the window. “What is he doing with all that stuff?”
“Really?” Darby asked.
“Well, you see…” Taylor stared. “When a boy likes a girl—”
“Stop,” Jade muttered. She focused outside. “He’s just…standing there.”
“He’s nervous,” Darby whispered as if Liam might hear. “Go on.”
Jade shook her head. “No, I can’t.”
“It’s time,” Taylor told her. “We know you’re scared to get hurt again, but it’s time, Jade.”
Jade looked at Darby with a plea in her eyes. “What if it isn’t time?”
“It is.” Darby put her hand on Jade’s shoulder. “It’s time. Go get that man.”
“But…”
“Go,” Taylor said.
Jade closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she rolled her shoulders back. She nodded. “Okay,” she said but didn’t move. “Okay. I’m going.”
“I can tell,” Darby said flatly.
“I am. I need one more minute to—”
“Hey, Liam,” Taylor shouted through the window.
Jade grabbed Taylor’s arm as Liam stopped walking toward Jade’s cabin and looked around. “No,” Jade all but begged. “Guys.”
Taylor laughed before she again yelled, “Hang on a minute. Jade is on her way.”
Pressing her hands to her face, Jade moaned miserably. “I hate you sometimes.”
“You love us,” Darby said and laughed. “Go.”
“Okay. I’m going.” With that, she rubbed her palms together as if to muster up the courage to walk out of Darby’s cabin.
“I’ll fucking carry you,” Taylor said.
“I’m going,” Jade spat, and then she marched toward the door. Turning back, she gave them one last look. “If this turns into a nightmare, I’m blaming you two.” Then she disappeared through the door.
Darby and Taylor peered back out the window at Jade walking down the stairs toward Liam. As Jade reached the shore, Liam held the flowers and juice out. He said something, and Jade nodded. And then, without warning, she jumped into his arms and kissed him full on the mouth. Liam dropped the juice and flowers as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“Whoa,” Taylor said, rearing back.
Darby blinked in surprise. “She just…” Lifting her hands like claws, Darby mimicked Jade’s attack. “Rawr. She’s on it. Jade’s getting her man.”
“She’s getting something,” Taylor muttered when Liam lifted Jade, who wrapped her legs around his waist. They continued their steamy kiss.
After a few moments, Taylor said, “Maybe we shouldn’t—”
“Shh.” Darby waved a hand to hush her. “This is like a living romance movie. Don’t ruin it.”
Liam eased Jade down to her feet, and Darby smiled, expecting more talking or hand-holding or something equally sweet. She certainly wasn’t expecting the way the couple crumpled onto the beach with Liam on top and Jade wrapped around him like an alien in one of those other terrible movies Taylor had made them watch.
“Oh.” Darby blinked several times when Liam leaned back enough to tear his T-shirt off. “Whoa. They’re… I mean… Are they going to… Right there. On the beach. Where we hang out.”
“Leave it to Liam to ruin a perfectly good beach.” Taylor closed the window and then dropped the blinds. “I don’t want to know how far they’re willing to go right there on the cove, and we aren’t going to find out. Do not ask for details about this in front of me. Got it?”
Darby turned wide-eyed to gawk at her. “I’m not sure I want details either, but as her neighbor and a half owner of that beach, I’m going to have to set some rules. We spend far too much time out there to have…that become a regular occurrence.”
Taylor chuckled as she left the window, still carrying three slices of cake. “What shit movie do you have for us to watch?”
The next morning, Darby carried her phone with her as she rushed down the well-worn path that ran between her cabin and Jade’s. She pushed the door open and walked in without hesitation. “Jade? Are you up?”
Almost instantly, Jade walked out of her bedroom wrapped in a robe and her hair amiss. She pressed her finger to her lips in a silent motion to hush Darby. Gasping, Darby glanced out toward the cove and noticed Liam’s kayak was still on the beach.
She stared with wide eyes as she came to a realization. He’d spent the night! At Jade’s cabin! With Jade!
Only then did Darby realize her days of barging in unannounced were probably over. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally walk in on something. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “Were you and Liam…doing naughty things?”
Jade smiled brightly, and her gray eyes danced with a kind of happiness Darby hadn’t seen in a long time. “Nope. He’s still sleeping. Apparently I wore him out.”
Darby winced with all the dramatics of a grossed-out teenager. “Ick. No. Don’t tell me that.” She laughed softly. “I’m happy for you, but I don’t want to hear this. I have to be able to look Liam in the eye.”
Jade giggled, but her cheeks turned bright red, implying she was at least somewhat embarrassed by her confession.
“Seriously, though,” Darby said more gently. “I’m so happy for you. I’m glad you were able to move forward with him.”
“Me too.” Jade’s smile softened. “What’s up? What had you running in so excited?”
“You have to see this.” Darby woke up her phone and pressed Play on the video she’d already watched five times. Holding her breath, she waited, half convinced she’d imagined everything she’d heard. However, as Jade stood next to her, the video started. A few seconds later, Jennifer Williams appeared without a lick of makeup and her hair pulled back in a messy bun.
“Guys,” she said pathetically, like she was announcing to the world that her favorite pet had passed away, “I made a mistake, and I need to apologize to you all. But mostly, I need to apologize to Darby Zamora, the owner of The Un-Do Wedding Boutique.”
Jade gasped and turned her wide eyes to Darby. “What?”
“It gets better,” Darby said. “Watch.”
Silently, they watched Jennifer explain how she had edited Darby’s story together to make the episode more dramatic. She even admitted that after interviewing several of Darby’s ex-boyfriends, she picked out the two who made her sound the worst, rather than sharing that several other of her exes had really nice things to say about her.
That was wrong, Jennifer admitted, and she had come to realize that. Though she didn’t confess the reason she’d done the edits was out of some misguided attempt at retaliation for her cousin, she did admit that she and Darby had a long conversation and they both recognized the missteps they’d taken on their websites.
“I’m sorry,” Jennifer said. “To you, my followers, for letting you down, and to Darby for misrepresenting her. I hope you’ll forgive me.” And with that, the video ended.
“That’s…unexpected.” Jade walked to the fridge and pulled out her cranberry juice. Getting a glass from the cabinet—she didn’t bother offering one to Darby, who hadn’t been shy about telling Jade she thought straight juice was gross—she asked, “Do you forgive her?”
Darby considered the question. “Yeah. I think I forgave her before she apologized on-air. When we had lunch yesterday, we both admitted to the mistakes we made and what led us to them. She really was sorry. So am I.”
“I know you.” Jade sipped her juice before grinning at her. “You’re all grown up now. I’m so proud.”<
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“Thanks,” Darby said. “My biggest worry has been that the rest of the world saw me as the jerk she painted me out to be. That was all I cared about. Now that she’s cleared that up, I can rest easy.”
“I hope so,” Jade said.
Darby tapped to exit Jennifer’s site and locked her phone. “So this is over, right? My life is going to go back to normal now?”
Leaning against the counter, Jade shrugged. “Honestly, it might take a bit longer for things to blow over, but this should go a long way in restoring your image. I really am proud of you, Darby. I hope you know that. This has been hard on you, but you stayed strong.”
Darby’s heart warmed. “That’s nice to hear. I’m not sure I agree with the strong part.”
“You’re stronger than you realize.”
“Thank you, Jade. I don’t think I would have made it through this without you.”
Jade accepted the hug Darby gave her. “You’re welcome. I knew you’d make it through this.”
“I wish I could get to a point where what other people thought didn’t bother me, but I’m not there yet. But look at you. You look happy,” Darby whispered.
“I am.”
“So you and Liam are…together. Obviously.”
Jade nodded. “Yeah. We’re together. We stayed up late last night—”
“Nope,” Darby stated firmly and playfully pressed her fingers to her ears.
“Talking,” Jade finished. “We stayed up late talking. We talked about a lot of things we should have said weeks ago. He knows I’m…terrified.”
“I’m glad. He’s a good guy. He’s not going to hurt you.”
Jade nodded her agreement. “I feel like we’ve turned the corner. All of us.”
“I’m glad. I’d be lost with you.”
“I feel the same.”
“Okay.” Darby grabbed her phone as she said, “I’m going to get out of here so you can get back to…whatever you were doing.”
“Hey,” Jade called when Darby started out the door.
Darby turned and lifted her brows in question.
“You are a really good friend, Darby Zamora. Don’t forget that.”
A smile broke across Darby’s face. “Thanks. So are you, Jade Kelly. I’m glad we found each other.”
“Me too.”
Darby left, phone in hand, and had to giggle at how the urge to skip in the sunshine washed over her. Things were looking up. Yes, they’d all had a bit of a rough patch, but things were definitely looking up.
After taking a deep, cleansing breath, Darby looked out over the cove. The quiet of the morning matched the peace in her heart. For the first time in weeks, she felt calm. She felt whole.
She felt like she was finally getting her shit together.
When she walked into her cabin, Darby stopped and looked around. Like Jade said, they’d turned the corner. Things were shifting. Darby felt that down into her soul. Changes were happening, not only around them but within them. They were growing in different ways, but in many ways, their growth was entwined with one another.
Grabbing her purse, Darby dug her keys out and then walked to her car. Rather than jamming to her favorite tunes like she usually would, she turned off the radio and sat in silence as she drove to the lookout point over the lake where she always ended up when she needed to connect with memories of her mom.
Though it was morning and there were no stars to be seen, Darby looked up to the sky. She may not have been able to see them, but they were there. Always. Like her mom.
As she sat in the quiet of her car, she did her best to connect with memories of advice she’d been given while growing up. What would her mom say to her now? What advice would she give to Darby as she faced this crossroads that had been pulling her for the last two weeks?
Yes, she’d started down the road to healing, not just herself but the women she’d hurt with her actions. Yes, she’d proven a point to Jennifer, that she was just as wrong as Darby had been. And yes, Darby had grown as Jade and Taylor told her.
But there was still something sitting on her shoulders. There was still something nagging at her. Something wasn’t quite right yet.
Closing her eyes, Darby listened to the silence. In her mind, she heard Sue telling her that if she was repentant, she’d shut down the website. She’d stop making money on the pain she’d caused.
Though the idea of shutting down the one successful venture she’d had terrified her, when she considered the option, she felt a wave of peace wash over her. Darby might not like it, but Sue was right. She couldn’t continue to monopolize off the pain and stress that the last couple of weeks had caused so many people.
She had to walk away. She needed to wipe the slate clean and move forward without the guilt and shame hanging over her.
“Okay, Mama,” she whispered. “I hear you.”
Before heading back to her cabin, she texted Taylor that she was grabbing coffee and heading home. She needed Taylor’s help right away.
On her way home, she went through the drive-through of their favorite coffee shop and got their usual order, less Jade’s hot tea since she was otherwise occupied, and rushed home. Taylor was sitting on her couch when she got there.
Looking up, Taylor looked suspicious. “What’s up?”
Darby walked to the coffee table and eased the drink carrier down. “I figured it out. I know exactly what I need to do. Well. Kind of. I mean… I know step one of what I need to do. Step two is a bit of a question right now.”
“Okay,” Taylor said hesitantly. “What’s step one?”
After taking her drink from the carrier, she stood tall and took two big gulps before exhaling. “I’m closing The Un-Do Wedding Boutique and donating what’s left of the dresses.”
“Okay. This is a great idea, Darby, but I don’t know why you need me.”
Darby’s smile faded and her shoulders slumped slightly. “Because I’m awesome at coming up with ideas, but I suck at the execution. I need to drag what’s left of the dresses to the thrift store. Help me?” she asked with a slight pout.
Taylor chuckled. “There can’t be that many dresses left.”
“There aren’t, but if I don’t have a grown-up supervising me, they’re never going to leave this house. I swear. It’ll be on my to-do list for like a month.”
Instead of arguing, Taylor nodded once in firm agreement. “Okay. So we’ll do that after we have coffee. But…are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” she stated, “I definitely don’t want to be the type of person who’ll step on someone else to get ahead. I’ve decided what I need to do,” she announced. “I’m going to donate the dresses I have left and close The Un-Do Wedding Boutique.” After stating it a second time, the decision still felt right. “This is the right thing to do. For me and everyone else who has been impacted by this. I want to put Un-Do, Sue Berdynski, and Jennifer Williams behind me. I don’t ever want to think about this mess again.”
Taylor chuckled. “Okay, but let’s shut down the site first. I need more coffee in my system before I touch all that sequin and lace.”
Darby laughed as she opened her laptop and waited for it to boot up. “So, someone spent the night with Jade.”
Taylor sighed. “I think we’re going to be seeing significantly more of that guy, huh?”
“Yeah, but it’s good,” Darby said. “It’s good for Jade.”
“It is,” Taylor agreed. She watched Darby log in to the admin page of Un-Do. “Okay,” she said. “Are you ready?”
“Ready.” Darby went through the process of deleting the site and all the archived posts. When the final warning came up telling her she wouldn’t be able to retrieve her site if she clicked Okay, she glanced at Taylor.
“On the count of three,” Taylor said. “One…”
“Three.” Darby pushed the button, and the site was erased. Forever.
An unexpected weight lifted off her chest. She could breathe again.
“Okay,” Taylor
said. “Nice work. Now what?”
“What do you mean?”
Taylor shrugged. “You said this was step one. What’s step two? The slightly foggy one.”
“Oh.” Darby bit her straw for a moment before taking a drink and swallowing hard. After a few seconds, she looked at Taylor. “Step two is figuring out what I do next.” A few seconds passed before she shrugged. “I still have the Mistress of Ceremonies website.”
“Don’t you dare,” Taylor muttered, causing Darby’s laughter to fill the cabin.
Thirteen
Darby wrapped a light sweater around her shoulders as Taylor added a few logs to the fire pit. Though summer was still alive and kicking, a front had moved through and brought cooler temperatures with it. The evening felt more like early autumn with a hint of crispness to the air.
Darby never grew tired of evenings like this. Sitting around with her best friends was the absolute best feeling in the world. Now that she had apologized to Sue, Jennifer had admitted her mistakes, and Darby had started the negotiations to sell The Un-Do Wedding Boutique to some designer who was hoping to capitalize on the scandal, the amount of stress she’d been under was finally easing.
At least, it was until she saw the sadness on Taylor’s face as she stared into the fire. Her brow was tightly knitted and her mouth dipped into a deep frown as if the weight of the world had left Darby’s shoulders and settled on Taylor’s.
“What is it?” Darby asked. “What’s wrong?”
Jade looked at their friend and concern filled her face too. “Uh-oh. That looks serious. I hate when you look like that.”
Taylor scrunched her nose up. “You hate when I look like me?”
“I hate when you get quiet and stare off into the distance,” Jade clarified. “Nothing good comes from that look.”
Taylor shrugged. “I lost another bid today. I’m…” She focused on Darby. “I’m getting concerned. I don’t think my business can keep going like this.”
