“Yeah. See you then.” He’s the picture of calm, with his hands in his pockets. He stays there as I get into my truck, turn it on, and drive away.
I’m a few minutes down the road, mind racing with every unsaid word between us, when I land on the question he asked me in Neve’s kitchen.
It’s an easy answer I haven’t allowed myself to voice.
The question is the same one I had when I decided not to continue with university years ago: “What do you actually want?”
Back then, I wanted to run an honest business, hire single moms and women who had been overlooked in the trades. I wanted to give an opportunity to people who normally wouldn’t be given one. My dad laughed at me then, saying I was delusional, dreaming of things that weren’t possible, and that would drive me and the business further into the ground. I invested every penny I had saved up into building the business back up. All while he continued to tell me I would fail. I’ve made Cameron Construction more profitable than he was able to, and I think the fact I’ve succeeded at making this dream of mine come true pisses him off.
Not everyone can afford to chase dreams.
His words yesterday were meant to hurt, and they did. But I’m doing what I set out to do, aren’t I? And I’m doing okay. Better than he ever did.
I grip the truck’s steering wheel and do a U-turn in the middle of the empty road. “Fuck it.”
My heart is pounding so hard, it’s vibrating my ribcage. My fingers are cold, shaking, as the nerves settle in. “This is crazy. This is so stupid. This is—No! This is what I want, dammit.”
As I round the corner, putting me less than one kilometer away from Darcy’s place, fucking Tammy is standing in the middle of the road. Of course she is.
I stop the truck, honking, but the fat pig is unmoving. She doesn’t even flinch. I get out, slamming the door. “Are you kidding me right now?” I yell at the animal, walking closer, and still, no reaction. “Tammy, I swear to God?—”
The pig takes off running directly through a mud puddle and heading straight for me.
“No, Tammy.” I stand with my arms straight out. “No, no, no!”
Too late. There’s mud everywhere because, by the time I’ve thought to run back to the truck, she’s already bumped into me and knocked me to the ground.
Tammy snorts as she walks into the open field, in the direction of the farm she came from. It sounds an awful lot like a laugh as she trots away proudly.
“Fuck you, Tammy,” I yell at her. After getting up and brushing my muddy hands on my equally muddy jeans, I get back in my truck. “I don’t care. I’m doing this,” I mutter, knowing I’m going to have to clean the inside of the truck yet again.
When I pull into Darcy’s driveway a little too quickly, he comes running from the back deck, where he must have been sitting. As I close the driver’s door and stand next to my truck, though, he stops dead in his tracks. Here I am, covered in mud, looking equal parts determined and ridiculous, with a side of cuckoo.
“Groundhog Day,” he says slowly.
“Yeah.” I take a step toward him on the front porch. “That’s what I want. I want it to be Groundhog Day.”
CHAPTER 27
I WANT TO FUCK THE WORD BUDDY OUT OF HER MOUTH.
DARCY
She’s been gone for less than ten minutes, but now she’s back, covered in mud, brown eyes blazing. I try not to let the hope building in my chest take over when she says she wants it to be Groundhog Day, because I know what that meant in Halifax, but…
“I want to go back to before I told you we had to be friendly and professional. Before I set all those stupid rules. I want to go back to what we were in Halifax.”
Holy fuck.
“Billie—” I take a step closer to her, but stop when she puts her hand out.
“I’m not done.” She takes a deep breath, lifting a hand to touch her face, but thinking better of it since it seems to be the only place not currently covered in mud. “I know you’re leaving. I know this has an expiration date, just like it did in May.” My jaw tightens at her words, but I keep quiet. “But I’m tired of pretending I don’t want this. That I don’t wantyou.”
“What are you saying, exactly?” I take another tentative step.
“I’m saying we have the rest of the summer. However long you’re here for.” She shrugs, like she didn’t set my entire existence on fire.
“And then?” I grip the stair railing as I make my way down, legitimately concerned about how weak in the knees I am.
