Lydia touched her arm again, and Erin met her eyes. Lydia seemed confused and hurt.
“Why do you look like you’re about to cry, Erin?”
Erin opened her mouth and had to snap it shut again. She choked on a sob and turned away, covering her eyes. Any second she would start crying and wouldn’t be able to stop.
A moment later, Lydia put her hand on Erin’s back and rubbed it. “Is it because she left again?”
Erin, her back still toward her little sister, was still unable to speak. Lydia pulled on one of her shoulders, and Erin turned toward her. A moment later, they were hugging and crying freely. Lydia held her for a long time, and once Erin had calmed down, Lydia’s concern moved her. They’d never been very close, and Lydia always seemed so self-centered and cynical. It was a nice surprise to find that she could be caring, too.
Erin finally pulled away, smiling. “Thanks, Lydia. I’m just feeling sorry for myself.”
Lottie joined them a moment later, and when she saw Erin’s face, she frowned. “What’s up? You’re upset.” She motioned at Charlie and Jen. “Is it about them? Are you unhappy about it?”
Erin shook her head. “No. It’s not that.”
“She’s in love with Darcy, and Darcy left,” Lydia said.
Erin and Lottie stared at her in surprise, and then Erin laughed. With Lydia, one thing you could always count on was blunt, no-bullshit truth.
Lottie met Erin’s eye, her eyebrows high. “Is she right?”
Erin hesitated and then nodded.
“Well, go find her, then, you ninny!” Lottie said, pushing her toward the door.
“Yeah, you idiot! Go get her! She might be waiting outside!” Lydia added.
Again, Erin hesitated, flicking her gaze back and forth between the door and Jen and Charlie. Jen likely wouldn’t even notice if she left right now, and judging from their dreamy expressions they might not notice her again all night.
Again, Lottie playfully pushed her. “Get going, you coward!”
“Run!” Lydia said, laughing loud enough that several people turned their way.
Erin gave them both a wide grin and then dashed for the door, stopping only to fight her way through the throng of people crowding the doorway. A few more people had come in since Charlie had made his announcement, and to Erin, now that she wanted simply to get through them, they seemed to have multiplied tenfold.
Once outside, the cold, like the crowd, seemed to want to drive her back inside. She was dressed warmly, but without a coat, hat, and gloves, she was going to get very chilly very quickly. She paused, almost ready to go back, but she didn’t debate her choice for long. She dashed out into the street and looked in each direction, hoping to spot Darcy. While the crowds had basically dispersed at this hour, a lot of people were still out here chatting and milling around before they went home. They’d stopped serving beer outside almost an hour ago, but not everyone here was a customer of the brewery. Some of them were clearly just standing or sitting out in the beer garden under the heat lamps chatting and laughing with friends. BSB was somewhat close to one of the temporary parking lots roped off for the festival, and several people were standing around in the streets saying their good-byes to friends before finding their cars.
Erin took a couple of steps toward the parking lot, thinking that would be the most logical place for Darcy to go, but she stopped a moment later. Some instinct was telling her to turn around and head down the street, toward the festival proper a couple of blocks away. The festival was over for the night, but the city kept the downtown area blocked off all weekend, and even from here, Erin could see some people still standing around in the street admiring the ice sculptures.
She started walking that way, dodging the smaller but still substantial crowds until she stood at the corner of Fourth and Lincoln, directly in the center of downtown. Here, well away from the parking lots, she was almost alone. A few couples stood around by themselves, heads bent, huddled together near a heat lamp making promises, speaking sweet nothings. Red and pink lights hung from the buildings above, casting everything in a rosy, pale light.
Erin’s hopes died as she stood there. While it had been fairly crowded until about half a block back, she would have seen Darcy had she passed her. She’d been so sure she’d find her out here, she didn’t know what to do now. She took one more long look up and down the major intersection and turned around, her heart heavy and her eyes burning.
Suddenly, Erin fixed her eyes on a lone figure standing in front of an ice sculpture of a large bird of prey. Despite the cold, the sculpture had apparently melted a little, and the artist was touching up her work with a chainsaw. Ice particles flew into the street, falling like snow onto the lone person standing there watching the artist work.
Even in the dim light, and even with her back facing her way, Erin knew immediately that the lone figure was Darcy. It was almost as if she’d felt rather than seen her standing there. She was still some distance away, maybe half a block, and Erin didn’t call out or say anything, but Darcy’s shoulders twitched, and then she was turning around, peering into the dim, rosy light. Her eyes found Erin, and both of them stopped moving again, simply staring at each other.
After a pause, Erin began walking toward her again, and Darcy moved to meet her. They stopped a few feet apart. The ice flakes from the artist and the ice sculpture could still reach them, and they fell in little spiraling flakes, resting on their hair and shoulders.
Now that she was in front of her, Erin couldn’t think of anything to say. With the ice and the light, Darcy was too beautiful for something as simple as language. Erin’s mind whirled, her thoughts spiraling and confused like the ice flakes drifting in the air around them.
Finally, she latched onto one clear thought and took another step closer to Darcy. They were now slightly more than an arm’s length apart, a dangerous distance, but Erin needed to be this close to see her face clearly.
“Thank you,” Erin said.
Darcy’s eyebrows rose, clearly expecting her to say something else. “For what?”
“For what you’ve done for my family—both of my sisters. First Lydia—”
Darcy actually jumped a little in apparent surprise, and Erin remembered that she wasn’t supposed to know what Darcy had done. “Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you. I realize Lydia wasn’t supposed to say anything, but she thought I should know, and her intentions were good.
“As for Jen and Charlie, well, you saw them in there. I’m so glad you helped him see his way back to her.”
Darcy took another step closer, and now they were in touching distance. Even here, Erin could feel the warmth radiating off her.
Darcy’s expression was serious, almost grim. “I wanted to help your sisters, yes, because I could, and in Jen’s case, because I needed to correct my own wrongdoing. But you must know I wouldn’t have done anything if it weren’t for you.”
Erin had suspected as much, and rather than feel angry or disgusted, as she might have if she was being petty, she accepted the simple honesty of Darcy’s words.
“Thank you,” Erin said again.
Darcy smiled weakly and they stood there, staring at each other, wordless for a long time. Finally, Erin touched Darcy’s face, and the cold bleakness died out of Darcy’s eyes as Erin brushed her cheek. Darcy clasped Erin’s frigid fingers in her own gloved hands and rubbed them briskly.
“What are you doing out here without gloves?” Darcy asked, her tone mock-serious.
“Looking for someone.” Erin grinned up at her. “I couldn’t wait.”
“Did you find her?”
Erin nodded, suddenly emotional, and Darcy smiled widely. She pulled Erin closer, wrapping her arms around her back to warm her. Erin tilted her chin upward to meet Darcy’s eyes, and they just stood there, wordless, for a long time. Despite the cold, Erin would have happily stayed there in her arms forever.
Darcy shivered and rubbed Erin’s back. “We have to get
you inside, somewhere warmer.”
“I guess so,” Erin said, grinning. “Maybe my place this time?”
Darcy’s smiled faded, and then her lips brushed Erin’s, gently at first and then with mounting pressure and fire. Erin’s knees threatened to buckle, and her head whirled like the drifting ice around them. She soon forgot the cold, once so biting and overwhelming, in the heat and passion of their kiss.
In Darcy’s lips, Erin felt her final misgivings die. All the feelings she’d been fighting, all the aching longing she’d been suppressing, rose and presented itself to her one last time as if to say good-bye. She was exactly where she was always supposed to be. Wherever Darcy was, that’s where Erin should stay.
They might have stood there kissing all night, but Darcy suddenly pulled away, looking up and behind Erin. Erin turned, not sure what to expect. A few feet away, her sisters, Charlie, Lottie, and Will stood in silence, all of them smiling so widely they looked like an advertisement for a dentist.
Erin laughed and stepped away from Darcy, making the few steps to her sisters and friends. As it had been Lydia who gave her the final push she needed, she hugged her first, but when she turned to Jen, she flushed in embarrassment. Jen had been watching her with something like bafflement, and Erin couldn’t help but laugh again.
Jen gestured back and forth between her and Darcy. “So when did this all happen?”
Erin grinned. “It’s been going on a long time.”
Jen’s expression was a little dark and hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Erin shook her head, glancing at Charlie. Jen understood, and her eyes darkened a moment with sorrow and pain. “Right.” She touched Erin’s shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. I would have understood.”
Erin nodded and shrugged, but her omission was already forgiven and forgotten. She and Jen hugged, tight and quick, and then Erin turned around and went back to Darcy. Darcy’s arms were open and warm, and when Erin met her lips, she felt as if she was where she was supposed to be for the first time in weeks. Erin was vaguely aware of the others clapping and shouting behind them, but for the most part the world fell away and she was left in Darcy’s arms.
By the time they finished kissing, the others had stepped away to give them some privacy. All of them appeared to be watching the ice sculptor finish, but Erin was certain that Jen was watching them surreptitiously. Sure enough, Jen glanced over at them a moment later and winked at Erin before turning her full attention to Charlie. He said something funny, and everyone nearby, including the sculptor, laughed loudly. Erin’s spirit soared at the sight. Jen needed someone who could make her laugh.
Darcy was smiling at her, eyes soft and almost sad. Erin rose to her tiptoes and kissed the tip of her nose. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“I’m just a little sorry for you.”
“Why?”
Darcy paused, staring at the others. “I’m sorry that you have to leave all your friends and family behind.”
Erin froze. “What do you mean?”
Darcy met her eyes, and now Erin could see the little twinkle of mischief in them. “Because you’re moving to Boston.”
Erin laughed. “Oh I am, am I?”
“Yes. And I’ll expect dinner on the table at six every night.”
“That I can do. As long as you don’t mind TV dinners.”
Darcy frowned and shook her head. “No—it won’t do. Nine courses or nothing.”
She took Darcy’s hand and squeezed. “Nothing it is.”
Darcy laughed, and for Erin it was a revelation to know that, despite all appearances, Darcy did have a sense of humor. Making her laugh for the rest of their lives would be an absolute pleasure.
Erin pulled on her hand. “Come on. Let’s go see what they’re laughing at.”
Darcy resisted, grinning. “Do we have to?”
“Don’t you want to?”
Darcy stepped closer, linking her arms around Erin’s back. “All I want is you. It’s all I’ve wanted for months now.”
Erin responded to this declaration with a deep kiss. She put the last few months of longing, of dread, of desperation into her kiss—every wakeful, tearful night, every bleak and lonely day. Darcy’s eyes were shining when she drew back.
“I’m yours, Darcy. Now come on. I’m going to freeze to death if we don’t get inside.”
About the Author
Charlotte was born in a tiny mountain town and spent most of her childhood and young adulthood in a small city in Northern Colorado. While she is usually what one might generously call “indoorsy,” early exposure to the Rocky Mountains led to a lifelong love of nature, hiking, and camping.
After a lengthy education in Denver, New Orleans, Washington DC, and New York, she earned a doctorate in literature and women and gender studies.
An early career academic, Charlotte has moved several times since her latest graduation. She currently lives and teaches in a small Southern city with her wife and their cat.
Website: http://charlottegreeneauthor.com
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
A Call Away by KC Richardson. Can a businesswoman from a big city find the answers she’s looking for, and possibly love, on a small-town farm? (978-1-63555-025-2)
Berlin Hungers by Justine Saracen. Can the love between an RAF woman and the wife of a Luftwaffe pilot, former enemies, survive in besieged Berlin during the aftermath of World War II? (978-1-63555-116-7)
Blend by Georgia Beers. Lindsay and Piper are like night and day. Working together won’t be easy, but not falling in love might prove the hardest job of all. (978-1-63555-189-1)
Hunger for You by Jenny Frame. Principe of an ancient vampire clan Byron Debrek must save her one true love from falling into the hands of her enemies and into the middle of a vampire war. (978-1-63555-168-6)
Mercy by Michelle Larkin. FBI Special Agent Mercy Parker and psychic ex-profiler Piper Vasey learn to love again as they race to stop a man with supernatural gifts who’s bent on annihilating humankind. (978-1-63555-202-7)
Pride and Porters by Charlotte Greene. Will pride and prejudice prevent these modern-day lovers from living happily ever after? (978-1-63555-158-7)
Rocks and Stars by Sam Ledel. Kyle’s struggle to own who she is and what she really wants may end up landing her on the bench and without the woman of her dreams. (978-1-63555-156-3)
The Boss of Her: Office Romance Novellas by Julie Cannon, Aurora Rey, and M. Ullrich. Going to work never felt so good. Three office romance novellas from talented writers Julie Cannon, Aurora Rey, and M. Ullrich. (978-1-63555-145-7)
The Deep End by Ellie Hart. When family ties become entangled in murder and deception, it’s time to find a way out… (978-1-63555-288-1)
A Country Girl’s Heart by Dena Blake. When Kat Jackson gets a second chance at love, following her heart will prove the hardest decision of all. (978-1-63555-134-1)
Dangerous Waters by Radclyffe. Life, death, and war on the home front. Two women join forces against a powerful opponent, nature itself. (978-1-63555-233-1)
Fury’s Death by Brey Willows. When all we hold sacred fails, who will be there to save us? (978-1-63555-063-4)
It’s Not a Date by Heather Blackmore. Kade’s desire to keep things with Jen on a professional level is in Jen’s best interest. Yet what’s in Kade’s best interest…is Jen. (978-1-63555-149-5)
Killer Winter by Kay Bigelow. Just when she thought things could get no worse, homicide Lieutenant Leah Samuels learns the woman she loves has betrayed her in devastating ways. (978-1-63555-177-8)
Score by MJ Williamz. Will an addiction to pain pills destroy Ronda’s chance with the woman she loves or will she come out on top and score a happily ever after? (978-1-62639-807-8)
Spring’s Wake by Aurora Rey. When wanderer Willa Lange falls for Provincetown B&B owner Nora Calhoun, will past hurts and a fifteen-year age gap keep them from finding love? (978-1-63555-035-1)
The Northwoods by Jane Hoppe
n. When Evelyn Bauer, disguised as her dead husband, George, travels to a Northwoods logging camp to work, she and the camp cook Sarah Bell forge a friendship fraught with both tenderness and turmoil. (978-1-63555-143-3)
Truth or Dare by C. Spencer. For a group of six lesbian friends, life changes course after one long snow-filled weekend. (978-1-63555-148-8)
A Heart to Call Home by Jeannie Levig. When Jessie Weldon returns to her hometown after thirty years, can she and her childhood crush Dakota Scott heal the tragic past that links them? (978-1-63555-059-7)
Children of the Healer by Barbara Ann Wright. Life becomes desperate for ex-soldier Cordelia Ross when the indigenous aliens of her planet are drawn into a civil war and old enemies linger in the shadows. Book Three of the Godfall Series. (978-1-63555-031-3)
Hearts Like Hers by Melissa Brayden. Coffee shop owner Autumn Primm is ready to cut loose and live a little, but is the baggage that comes with out-of-towner Kate Carpenter too heavy for anything long term? (978-1-63555-014-6)
Love at Cooper’s Creek by Missouri Vaun. Shaw Daily flees corporate life to find solace in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains, but escapism eludes her when her attentions are captured by small town beauty Kate Elkins. (978-1-62639-960-0)
Somewhere Over Lorain Road by Bud Gundy. Over forty years after murder allegations shattered the Esker family, can Don Esker find the true killer and clear his dying father’s name? (978-1-63555-124-2)
Twice in a Lifetime by PJ Trebelhorn. Detective Callie Burke can’t deny the growing attraction to her late friend’s widow, Taylor Fletcher, who also happens to own the bar where Callie’s sister works. (978-1-63555-033-7)
Pride and Porters Page 25
