Page 20 of Take Me Home

“Not worried about coyotes tonight?” she asked. Shit, did that mean she wanted me to stay again? I really didn’t know what was the right thing to do. So I just asked.

“Do you need me to stay?”

“No. I mean, yes, if you think it’s not safe. I want you to do what’s best for you.” Darcy held her eyes shut for a second, seemingly chastising herself. Well, I hadn’t tried teasing her yet, so…

“Oh, it’s okay. I know where I’m not wanted,” I said, looking at her pathetically.

“Dammit, Jake,” she said with a heavy sigh, finally cracking a genuine smile.

“There she is,” I said. “Look, I’ll walk home tonight. Can you see my porch from here? I can flash the porch light when I get back to show you I’m safe.”

“That works. And if I hear screaming, it’s gonna be the shotgun,” she warned.

“Air horn only, ma’am. I don’t trust you with that thing. You said you don’t know how to use it. We’ll both end up shot.”

“Ugh. Get out of here,” she said, shoving me out the door.

“You’re so mean!” I whined, dramatically throwing myself off the porch.

“Whatever. Goodnight,” she laughed.

“Sleep tight!” I called, taking one last look at her smile before I turned away.

9

DARCY

“Are you still coming to visit for the Fourth?” I sat in Uncle Bill’s truck in the strip mall parking lot, having my weekly catchup call with Brianna while I waited for my Mexican takeout. We’d normally chat later in the week, but I already had a lot to tell her.

Like about Jake.

Just the night before, I’d spilled one of my deepest, darkest secrets to him. I was feeling like a pile of fresh garbage about it, with a real vulnerability hangover that had nothing to do with the glass of whiskey we’d shared.

Not that Jake had given me any reason to feel bad about it. He’d been perfectly normal when we worked that day. But I even resented that. I assigned him to a field far from mine to give myself some space from overanalyzing his every move.

I wanted him. I wanted him so freaking bad. But I’d told him why we couldn’t work out, why I was too wounded to be the right person for him. Or at least, I’d told him part of it. It was for the best for me to keep my distance and just be his friend. Just friends.

I hate that phrase.

So it was a relief to hear about Brianna’s work, what new fitness classes she’d tried, and happy hours. It reminded me that the life I was living over the summer was not permanent, but instead a blip on the radar of my life.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Brianna assured me. “You sound a little pathetic. Is everything okay?”

“I think I’m just tired,” I sighed, even hesitating to tell the person least likely to judge me what was going on with me. “All that farm work wears you out and I haven’t had dinner.”

“Darcy,” Bri warned. “It doesn’t just sound like that.”

Brianna always saw through my bullshit. We’d been like sisters for so long that we could always tell when something was off.

“Fine,” I conceded. “One of our summer workers is super hot and I think he might like me but I don’t know what to do. It’s so stressful.”

“What?! You’ve been holding out on me!” Brianna screamed, making me pull the phone away from my ear. “I’ve been blathering on about stupid Laura at work and you’ve been sitting on this?”

“I’d rather be talking about stupid Laura.”

“Why are you so upset about having a hot guy who wants you living mere feet away from you?”

“Because I can’t do anything about it, Bri. He works for me. Ever since Professor Asshole, I haven’t even touched or looked at anyone from work.” I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

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