Page 29 of Love You
Shit,shit,shit!Why hadn’t she checked caller ID before answering her damn phone? Because she’d been sure it was Win, that’s why.
“Oh, hi, Lewis. I thought you were someone else.”
“Your fiancé?”
For God’s sake, Win wasn’t her fiancé. “A coworker. It’s not important. What’s up?”
“I was hoping you could help me transfer those files this weekend.” Help? What he meant was he wanted her to do it for him. As in all by herself.
“I can’t this weekend, Lewis. We have clients here from out of town and I’m spending the weekend showing them around.” Not that it was any of his business but she felt guilty. After all, she’d promised to do it for him.
“I see,” he said. “Isn’t there anyone else who can show them around?”
She wanted to say,Isn’t there anyone else who can transfer your data for you?But what was the point? “No, Lewis. We’re trying to score a big account and I’m part of the sales team. It’s actually a big deal and could mean a promotion for me.” Why she was even bothering to tell him about her career plans was beyond comprehension.
He was silent for a while and she considered hanging up when he finally said, “Since you’re working the weekend for your employer is there a way you could take time off during the week to do it for me?”
Since she was working the weekend she had hoped to take time off on Wednesday to go shopping with her grandmother in Reno. Not to work for Lewis. “I’ll think about it. I’ve got to go now.” She clicked off and hobbled to the house in her torturous shoes. They were a post-divorce purchase that had set her back almost two hundred dollars. Now she was ready to donate them to the Goodwill.
The TV was playing when she got inside and something smelled delicious. Her grandmother loved to cook and Darcy was the beneficiary of all her tasty dishes.
“Nana?” She wasn’t in her usual chair, watching one of her programs.
Darcy checked the kitchen and finally found her in her bedroom, sitting on the side of her bed, fully dressed.
“Nana, are you okay?” Her grandmother looked pale and out of breath.
“I’m fine, dear. I came in to use the bathroom and got a little dizzy. Too much time in the sun today.”
Darcy went into the kitchen and got her a glass of water. “Maybe we should go and get you checked out.” Tonight, her usually hale grandmother looked every one of her years and it scared Darcy. Without Nana, she didn’t know what she would do.
“I just overdid it, is all. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right as rain.”
Darcy sat on the edge of the bed next to her grandmother. “Are you sure? It would only take a few minutes to drive to urgent care.”
“Don’t be silly.” Nana took Darcy’s hand. “Let’s have a slumber party. We could watchThe Late Showtogether in bed.”
She wondered if she should insist on taking her to the hospital. But her grandmother’s face had gotten some of its color back and her voice sounded strong. “You promise you’re okay?”
“To prove it, I’ll make the popcorn.”
“I’ll make it, Nana. You stay here and relax. Just give me thirty minutes to bathe and change.”
“You’re on,” Nana said.
Darcy took a fast shower and put on her PJs. Before heading downstairs to the kitchen, she shot Win a text. I’ll pick you up in the morning. Be ready!
Just as she placed her phone on the charger, her phone dinged with an incoming message: an emoji of an okay sign andAnyone ever tell you you’re bossy?
Win’s quick response told her he probably hadn’t gone home with one of the blondes from his tour. Though it shouldn’t have, the knowledge that he wasn’t with anyone made her ridiculously happy.
Halfway to the bottom of the stairs, she heard her grandmother humming in the kitchen and called, “I’m coming, Nana.”
* * *
Win was waiting on the sidewalk outside his apartment when Darcy pulled up in the minivan. It should’ve been illegal to look that good this early in the morning, she wanted to tell him. But he already had too healthy an opinion of himself. He was dressed in Delaney’s custom-designed cargo shorts and a GA T-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders and washboard abs. His hair was slightly damp and finger combed. He hadn’t bothered to shave, sporting a fashionable layer of stubble.
“Chic dishevelment” is what Darcy liked to call it. And no one wore it better than Win.
