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The truth sunk in, and Darcy blinked at her mom. “You planned this, didn’t you? You were always going to sell the house, weren’t you?”
Tammy took another drag before she spoke. “Yes.”
“Did Griffin know about this?” God, please don’t let him have been involved.
“No.” Tammy stubbed out her cigarette. “He wouldn’t have approved.”
Relief flooded through Darcy. Although she should have known, manipulation wasn’t Griffin’s style. And she didn’t have the energy to be mad at her mom right now. She had to conserve all energy for what she had to do next.
“I’m sorry you had false hope, but nothing has changed. And holding the town hostage is not the way to get what you want.” She’d be properly angry later, after she’d had a chance to cry. Darcy pushed the contract her mom had stuffed into her mail drawer across the worn linoleum. “Here’s the contract that agrees to the terms of the sale. I had both Mitch Riley and a lawyer in New York review it. Both of them said it was more than fair. You’ll have until January thirty-first to give you time to move. With the sale, you’ll be able to buy a nice little house and have no mortgage, just like you do here. Sign it.”
Tammy picked up the papers, and Darcy handed her a pen. She looked at Darcy with a big, watery gaze. “Are you bringing it to Griff?”
Darcy glanced at the clock over the ancient fridge. “As soon as we’re done here.”
“And there’s nothing I can do to change your mind about staying home?”
Darcy’s mind filled with the image of Griffin’s house, that house of her teenage fantasies. He’d given her a tour last night, after they’d finally exhausted themselves. Naked and curled in a blanket, she’d walked with him, listening to him talk about all the changes he’d made. She’d watched his face, the way it had shone in the soft light, and fallen even deeper in love with him.
He’d done it. All the things he’d talked about growing up. It was then that she remembered he hadn’t really ever talked about travel like she had. She’d talked, and he’d listened. House, family, and community, those were the things Griffin had wanted. And he’d accomplished everything he’d dreamed of and more. He’d turned himself from a troublemaker into the pillar of the community. He was liked and respected.
She’d made her own successes—just not here in Revival. She had a life, and she needed to return to it. She shook her head. “No. This isn’t my home anymore.”
“This has always been your home, baby.” Her mom smiled, sad and bittersweet. “You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
Darcy understood her mom believed that. But she knew the truth.
Her mom signed the document and pushed it back to Darcy.
She stared down at it. It was time to face Griffin.
Time to say good-bye.
