Page 70 of One Golden Ring
But now that I’m driving us back to the cabin with J.B. jamming out to her headphones in the back and Darcy sitting beside me, the silence is deafening.
It’s one thing to stay quiet while you’re eating and people-watching. But here in the intimacy of the car, where we only have each other and the empty forest outside the windows, I miss her voice too much.
But I’m also a little afraid to get her talking.
What if she finally tells me she can’t do this anymore, and then she heads straight back to the city?
Before I can think of anything to say, we’re all standing in the snow outside the cabin.
“I want to go see Great-grandpa,” J.B. announces. “And have some hot cocoa.”
“That sounds nice,” Darcy tells her. “I just need to do a few quick things and then I’ll meet you two up there.”
“I have a couple of things to do as well,” I add, realizing that maybe some time actually alone is what Darcy and I really need. “J.B. you can go on if you want. We’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay,” she says, heading down the drive immediately as Darcy and I head up to the front door.
Once we’re inside, I add a little wood to the stove. It seems funny to do it when we’re about to leave, but maybe it’ll be easier to get her talking if she isn’t shivering.
Once it’s crackling, I turn back to find her at the kitchen counter with her laptop. Her eyes are fixed on the screen, but her hands are perfectly still.
Darcy never does that, she’s always scrolling or typing, her fingers moving like dancers. Is she waiting for me? Does she want to talk too?
I might as well get it over with, one way or the other.
“Hey,” I say gently. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she murmurs.
Oh, boy.
I head over to stand behind the laptop so I’m in her line of vision. As I pass her, I see that the screen she has up is for the bus routes between New York City and the Poconos.
My stomach clenches and I will myself to stay calm.
“Darcy, you’re important to me,” I tell her, placing my hands on the counter flanking the laptop. All I want to dois knock it to the floor, but I’m not going to let my temper get the best of me today. “Please tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”
“I heard what you said.”
Her words are so soft I can barely make them out. But I know instantly what she means. This all started when I was talking with Roan.
“So you know I told him the truth about us?” I ask, wanting to be sure.
She gets this really hurt look on her face, and I’m not sure why.
“We weren’t supposed to tell anyone,” she says quickly.
“Oh, soyoudidn’t tell anyone?” I retort, already knowing the answer.
“Well, I told my sister,” she allows. “But I had to because of the picture.”
“Roan was my best friend in Angel Mountain,” I tell her. “I wanted to tell someone too. What’s the difference?”
I’m still not really sure why I blurted it out to Roan. I guess maybe I thought it would make me feel better to get some of this off my chest. And it wasn’t even the whole truth. I didn’t get to tell him about how I feel whenever Darcy is near.
“Well, you’re not going to bump into my sister around here and have to put on a show, for a start,” she says, her voice pitching up a little. “It feels bad enough to have to lie to all these nice people, but now I don’t even know who knows and who doesn’t. I look like a fool.”
I’m doing my best, but it’s hard to keep my anger incheck. The worst part is that I don’t even know who I’m mad at anymore.
