Page 41 of Hang the Moon
“Yeah, yeah.” Darcy reached inside her pocket and withdrew her phone. She swiped at the screen and turned it toward Annie. “They had a photo op. Elle made me.”
On the screen was a picture of Elle and Darcy with their faces poking through the helmets of two astronaut suits.
Annie chortled. “Looks like you had a good time.”
Darcy tucked her phone away and nodded. “I think you’d like it, especially Gastown. Lots of cute boutiques and unique bars, plus there’s a giant steam-powered clock smack-dab in the middle of the district.”
“Sounds funky.”
“Right up your alley,” Darcy teased, eyes dipping and brows rising shortly after. “Nice muumuu, by the way.”
“Excuse you, this is a caftan.” Annielovedthis caftan. She prioritized comfort when she lounged; sue her.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s perfectly lovely.” Darcy’s lips twitched. “And I’m pretty sure my grandmother owned one just like it.”
Annie rolled her eyes and hauled one of Darcy’s decorative pillows onto her lap. “Enough about my caftan. Back to Elle and your first vacation together. Thiswasyour first vacation with Elle, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And you didn’t want to kill each other by the end of it. Kudos.”
Darcy’s lips tipped up before pressing tightly together, her throat jerking hard, her gulp audible.
“Youdidn’twant to kill each other by the end of it, right?”
Darcy gave a curt shake of her head and ran her fingers through her hair. “No. The opposite, actually.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to ask Elle to move in with me.”
Annie’s eyes widened. “Wow.”
Moving in together.
Darcy was about to merge her stuff, her apartment, her world, with Elle’s.
Then it would only be a matter of time before they’d get married, because deep down, Darcy wasallabout the proverbial white picket fence.
Before long, Annie would be in London and Darcy... Darcy wouldn’t have room in her new life for a friend who lived halfway around the world.
“We’ve been together six months. Almost seven,” Darcy said, a touch defensive.
Annie held up her hands. “I think it’s great! I just wasn’t expecting it. I’m really happy for you.”
She refused to let the bittersweet ache in her chest put a damper on Darcy’s mood, because if anyone deserved to be happy, it was Darcy.
“Thanks.” Darcy sniffed and smiled. “But enough about me. How have you been?”
Her back teeth clenched together. “Great! I’ve been super.”
Darcy blinked at her, looking startled. “Okay? I...” Shehuffed out a quiet laugh. “Gosh, where were you last? Berlin? Paris?”
Annie pressed her lips together. “London, actually.” No better time to tell Darcy the news than the present. She swallowed over the steadily growing lump in her throat and jumped up from the couch. Or she could wait. “But speaking of Germany...” She darted over to where her purse rested on the chair across the room. “I’ve got something for you. It’s not much.”
Darcy leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “You didn’t need to get me anything.”
No, but she’d wanted to.
Annie wrapped her fingers around the package and carried it over to the couch. “I saw it in the window of this little shop in Nuremberg and I immediately thought of you.”
Tearing delicately at the wrapping paper, Darcy gasped softly when the present was revealed. “It’s beautiful.”
