Page 27 of Love You
“Trust me. You’ll be happy you did.”
Darcy raised her brows and shook her head. “Only because you know way more about adventure sports than I do.”
That he did. But Darcy’s multitasking skills put him to shame, no question about that. The lodging and food planning alone was a headache and she’d booked it all without breaking a sweat. Impressive.
“So what’s the deal with Geneva?” Win didn’t want to just come out and say, “Your mom seems like a bitch.”
Darcy let out a long breath. “She showed up without notice, saying it was because Lewis told her I had gotten engaged but I don’t believe it. For that she would’ve just picked up the phone.”
“Doesn’t she come occasionally to visit Hilde?”
“Rarely. Only when she’s fighting with my dad and wants to recruit my grandmother to her side against her own son.”
“Does Hilde take the bait?”
“Hilde’s Switzerland, even though her son is no prize either.”
“I remember you once told me they have a loveless marriage.” At least Win had retained a modicum of Darcy’s personal life. From now on he was going to try harder to pay attention.
She nodded, took a sip of water and said, “I don’t know why they got married in the first place, except that my mother loves money and my father makes a lot of it.”
Just when it was getting interesting Ricki interrupted with their order. “Hope you don’t choke on it,” she told Win as she shoved a tri-tip sandwich in front of him, then gingerly placed Darcy’s bowl on the table. “Careful, hon, it’s hot.”
He glanced over at her soup. “It looks good but not in eighty-degree weather.”
“I feel a cold coming on.”
Darcy seemed fine to him. “What does your father do?”
“He owns a mortgage brokerage. My mother works there too but mostly in an ambassador role.”
“What does that mean?” Win took a bite of his sandwich. It tasted good, despite whatever hex Ricki put on it.
“She glad-hands a lot and passes out business cards at parties and functions between shopping sprees.”
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
Darcy dipped a spoon in her soup. “I love her, she’s my mother.”
He arched a brow. “You know what they say, ‘you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.’”
“They’re not the Garners, let’s put it that way. But they’re all I’ve got besides Nana. And she makes up for them. She’s the best grandmother a person could ask for.”
He had to admit Hilde Wallace had it going on. Brains and beauty, even at seventy-eight. And she could bake, which earned her major points in Win’s book. But it was sad that Darcy felt the way she did about her parents. He hadn’t missed the way she folded into herself when she talked about them.
“Your parents keep in touch with Lewis?” To hear it from Geneva she wanted her daughter to go back to the dude. There was a lot not being said here and Win wanted to explore it. Mostly because he was bored with his new life of celibacy and responsibility. At least that’s what he told himself.
“They do a lot of business together, him being in real estate and all.” She tore off a piece of her bread and popped it in her mouth.
“So they liked him, huh?”
“Yes.” The terse, one-word answer wasn’t good enough. Win was on a fishing expedition and he planned to catch something.
“Why?” He tilted his head and held her gaze.
“I suppose because he’s successful and reliable.”
Neither of those things could be said about Win, but he’d never wanted to be husband material. Still didn’t, especially after his catastrophic near marriage to nutjob Britney.
