Page 22 of It's You
“That’s fine. Let me take you home.”
“No.You’renot taking me anywhere.”
“Darcy, we need to talk. There are things you need?—”
“What I need is an MRI, and I probably had too much champagne. Andyou…” She stared into his brown eyes. She watched as a pool of copper lava surrounded his black pupils, growing brighter. She could hear him repeating her name over and over again in a loop.Darcy Turner, Darcy Turner, Darcy Turner.“You need to stay away from me, Jack Beauloup.”
Darcy stood up abruptly and grabbed her purse, intending to leave. As Jack rose from his chair, she looked up at his face, into his eyes, without thinking. She gasped at the deep regret she saw there.
I’m sorry, Darcy. I’m so damn sorry. But I can’t do that.
She clenched her eyes shut as hard as she could.
When she opened them, he was gone.
Darcy heldherself together throughout the photos, standing in back of her cousins to hide the rips on her dress, made polite goodbyes to family and friends, and drove home. But once the front door clicked shut behind her, the floodgates opened. Willow found her sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the door, head bowed and tears flowing. She helped Darcy up without a word, ushered her up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she told her to change into comfy clothes and then come back downstairs. A few minutes later, Darcy heard the whistle of the kettle through the old hardwood floors.
“Chamomile or Earl Grey?” called Willow from the foot of the stairs.
“Earl Grey. Thanks, Will.”
As she headed downstairs, Darcy pulled her sleeve over her hand and brushed away the remainder of the tears. She settled in her favorite corner of the large, plush, chintz-covered window seat in the front room of the Victorian house she shared with Willow. Hugging her fleece-covered legs closer to her chest, she rested her cheek on her arm, looking out the picture window at Magalloway in the distance.
Willow marched into the living room with two big, brightly colored mugs, each with a tea string hanging over the edge and steam rising over the rims. She handed Darcy a cup that read, “I climbed Mount Washington and all I got was this crummy cup.” Darcy held the warm ceramic in her hands and gave her friend a grateful smile.
“So? Spill the beans. And I mean every detail.”
“I don’t even know where to begin.” Darcy sighed as Willow sat across from her, cross-legged in black yoga pants and a gray T-shirt.
“Well…you went inside during the wedding. We sat down at the table, and Honoria came to say hello. And then Amory showed up with Jack. Start there.”
“He can hear my thoughts.”
Willow’s brows creased momentarily before she neutralized her face.
“And I can hear his.”
Willow nodded slowly.
“It didn’t necessarily seem to surprise him, and he said that it’s a weird thing that married people in his family can do sometimes.”
“Two things,” said Willow crisply. “One, people can’t hear each other’s thoughts. And two, you’re not married to Jack.”
“Uh. I know. I mentioned that.”
“And he said…”
“He didn’t have an answer. He kept saying that. He kept saying he didn’t have all the answers, and while I definitely get the feeling he knows more than I do, I believe him. On some level.”
She thought of his voice when he said, “I don’t have all the answers, I promise.” She was pretty sure he’d been telling the truth.
“What else?” Willow prompted, averting her eyes, sipping her tea.
“Umm. Besides the fact that he was my first kiss, and he’s shown up here out of the blue after twenty years? Besides the fact that he can hear my thoughts, and I can hear his? Hmm. Well, let’s see. He said he would never hurt me. That it’s a sacred pledge or something.”
“Uh-huh. What else? Why was he gone so long?”
“He said he had to go away to learn things.”Control.“And there was this encounter with a bear…”
