Page 38 of One Golden Ring
If that’s how well this conversation went, what’s going to happen when she finds out the truth about Darcy and me?
12
DARCY
Itry to concentrate on moving my stuff into one dresser drawer, partly so that J.B. will have a place for her things but mostly just to stay out of her way.
She just slammed the door on her dad, and now she’s pacing our small room like a caged lion.
I’m dying to ask her how she’s feeling or pull her into my arms, but I can sense from her body language that J.B. doesn’t want me babying her.
And I get it. She’s at an age where she wants to work through her own feelings and ask for help in her own time.
I know she’s very upset about her great-grandfather and I don’t blame her. Whatever Derek told her before now, it definitely wasn’t enough for J.B. to realize that Michael is refusing surgery that could save his life, even if the odds are low. And that by refusing treatment, he’s effectively choosing to leave them.
Or maybe Derek told her and she just didn’t fullyaccept that her great-grandfather was mortal until she saw him looking so thin and tired.
It has to hurt a lot. I’m sad about it too, and I’m just getting to know him.
J.B.’s family already seems so small. She has her father, and though her grandparents are living, it seems like they’re always traveling. I’ve never met them, and I’ve only talked to Derek’s mom on the phone once. Whatever keeps them globetrotting also seems to hold their hearts. She doesn’t have any aunts or uncles.
And no mom…
In my short time here, I’ve started to sense that Michael is the patriarch of what feels like a family of three.
She’ll be okay, I tell myself.
And I know she will. Her father adores her, enough to sacrifice his time with her so that she can go to one of the best science high schools in the country.
But she has to get pretty lonely spending time away from everyone she loves.
And now her father and I are lying to her…
That thought has my stomach twisting in knots.
Ever since she arrived, I’ve been hoping Derek would just tell her the truth and bring her in on the ruse as soon as possible. When he told me that she couldn’t handle lying like that I tried to tell myself that it would still be okay.
But with things as they are between the two of them tonight, it feels to me like maybe he should just be honest with her, even if it will upset her even more.
Because if she finds out on her own, I’m afraid it could damage their relationship permanently.
But he’s not my real fiancé and she’s not my real stepdaughter-to-be. So I don’t get a say when it comes to family matters.
After a few minutes J.B. takes her toothbrush and heads back out to the bathroom and I pray for the two of them to just make up while she’s out there. They’re really going to need each other in the coming months.
I pause by the door for a minute without really meaning to. But I don’t hear voices. And I guess it’s wrong for me to eavesdrop.
Grabbing my book, I tell myself it will be good to focus on something else. I grab the ladder to crawl up to my own bed, but the door swings open again before I have a chance.
J.B. looks me in the eye for the first time since her argument with her dad.
My mind spins out, but my heart kicks into gear. She needs me, needs to connect with someone.
“I’mvery, very sorry about your great-grandpa,” I hear myself tell her.
But it must be the wrong thing to say because she scowls and pulls up her headphones over her ears, pushing the sheet aside so she can climb into her bed where I can’t see her.
I’m crushed and I realize it’s as much for me as for her. I really like this girl. She’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met and I strongly suspect she’ll do some very cool things one day. More importantly, she has an explosive sense of humorand a straightforward way of expressing herself that always makes me smile. It’s been really special to bond with her over email during the time she’s been away at school.
