Page 96 of Love You
She said it like Darcy had been a slacker. Someone who sat around all day, cramming her face with Doritos, and failing school. But she’d been a good student, a good employee, a good wife, and where had it gotten her? “Maybe I’d already reached it, maybe I was all I was going to be. Why couldn’t that be good enough? Why?”
“You were good enough, Darcy. You’re a wonderful daughter, more than any mother could hope for. The problem’s with me, not you. In my eyes, I couldn’t be a perfect mother unless I cured you of all my insecurities.”
“As a result, you made them mine, Mother.”
“I’m just starting to become aware of that.” Geneva’s voice sounded so sad that Darcy wanted to reach out and touch her. But the past had made that difficult, her mother had always been untouchable. “Do you think we could ever have a relationship? A real relationship.”
“I don’t know,” Darcy said honestly. She wanted to. She’d always envied mother-daughters who were close, who actually enjoyed shopping or eating at restaurants together. But her resentment for Geneva ran deep. “I’d like to try. But first you have to understand that I’m not always going to be who you want me to be or do what you want me to do. Lewis, for instance. We’re never getting back together, Mother. Never.”
Geneva started to open her mouth and stopped herself. “I realize that. I suppose it took me long enough but I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s over. That man, the handsome one with the funny name, the one who lied to me, does he mean something to you, Darcy?”
She wanted to say no, that he was just a friend and a colleague, but she’d never been a good liar. “Yes.” It didn’t matter, though. Win was a great many things. Friend, lover, coworker. But a committed partner he was not.
Geneva didn’t say anything. Darcy got the impression she didn’t like Win and was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
“We should probably get up there and see how Nana is doing,” she said.
Geneva rose slowly. For the first time, Darcy noticed the crow’s-feet around her mother’s eyes and the wilting flesh around her lower jaw. Geneva Wallace had always been the picture of youth and beauty. Not so much anymore. It suddenly made Darcy sad. They’d lost so much time together. So much precious time.
“I love you, Mother.”
Geneva came around the table and hugged her. “I love you, too, Darcy. I have always loved you.”
* * *
Three days later, Nana rallied enough to have the procedure, though it was touch and go. Despite being awake and lucid, Darcy had never seen her grandmother this frail. She seemed to have dropped ten pounds and her color was chalky. Fearing a stroke, her doctors decided to keep her in the hospital a few extra days for observation.
By the fifth day, Darcy was climbing the walls and decided to return to Glory Junction long enough to sleep in her own bed and retrieve a fresh nightgown and clothes for Nana to come home in. Max and Geneva had both gotten hotel rooms so they could be there round-the-clock and their constant bickering was driving Darcy nuts. A short reprieve was exactly what she needed.
Although TJ had threatened her with bodily injury if she stepped one foot in GA, she went to the office anyway. Just for an hour or two to catch up and find out what was going on with the FlashTag account, she told herself.
Win had come to the hospital a couple of times and had sat with her and her parents throughout the entire three-hour procedure. But summers at GA were busy and there were tours on the books that he couldn’t reschedule and not enough experienced guides to pick up the slack. Considering all that—and the fact that he wasn’t really her boyfriend—he’d gone above and beyond.
She was more appreciative than he would ever know. For the first time in her adult life, someone other than Nana had been there for her when she needed it most. The fact that it was Win was the biggest surprise of all.
“Hey.” He met her at the door, sweaty and dirty and better looking than any man had a right to be. He went in for a hug and stopped himself. “I just climbed Sawtooth and am pretty ripe. How’s Hilde?”
“Improving . . . I think. What’s going on here?”
“Same old. No word from Madison. TJ said she’s not returning his calls.”
Darcy let out a breath. “She’s angry that you two didn’t have an affair for the ages.”
Win squinted at her. “Very funny. That was never on the table.”
She believed him. But a woman could dream and there were no shortages of the Madison De Wolks of the world. Beautiful, accomplished women, setting their caps for Win. It would always be like that.
“What do we do now?”
“Wait. Let TJ do some world-class sucking up.” He shrugged. “Want to have lunch? I need to shower first but it shouldn’t take long.”
“All right.” She was hungry and looking forward to something other than hospital cafeteria food. Chicken wings from Old Glory, maybe.
“You going back to Sacramento tonight?”
“First thing tomorrow.”
“Good.” He grinned. “Should we stay at Hilde’s place or mine?”
