Page 28 of The B Side

She noticed the moment of hesitation Darcy had before she reached for Juliet’s hand, and Juliet got it. Deep in her soul, she got it. Even if they were out now, there was a knee-jerk thought not to do it. They’d both learned to push down that instinct so much, it still kind of felt a little wrong to do it in public.

Juliet slipped her hand into Darcy’s, squeezing softly, as Darcy led them out behind the barn, where the rolling landscape provided a gorgeous backdrop for said photos. Even in the winter, it was… stunning.

“Ya ain’t never been to a country wedding before, darlin’?” Darcy drawled.

She always had that straight-from-Tennessee accent, and it was… frankly, lyrical to Juliet at this point. Once upon a time, back when she’d wanted Darcy and envied her in equal measure but hadn’t known what to do about it – a nice way of saying: back when she’d hated her – she’d thought maybe Darcy exaggerated it. It was something Juliet might have done, in Darcy’s shoes: ham up that country-girl-sound.

But no, Darcy’s normal voice just sounded that way.

That tone, however, was yoked up, and it made Juliet laugh. “Um… no. Not really,” she made the distinction for good measure. “I’ve been to a handful of weddings over the years.”

A couple of people in the industry who’d had big, glamorous, star-studded events. She and Robbie had attended, naturally, arm-in-arm. Harrison had allowed several of his business associates and “buddies” to get married on his estate.

“While most of the weddings I’ve been to are ‘country’ in a technical sense, they’re not…” She trailed off, wondering how to find the best way to phrase it.

“Down-home?” Darcy filled in, amusement still echoing through her voice.

Juliet hummed softly in affirmation. Darcy knew where Juliet had come from, before Harrison. Darcy knew Juliet hadn’t grown up with money as a child. But still.

Darcy didn’t look offended in the least. In fact, she looked entertained.

Blythe’s wedding, in all fairness, was not a minimal affair. Even though it looked deceptively simple, Juliet knew all of the small details and planning and money and effort that had gone into this.

But Juliet wasn’t being insulting. The men at the weddings she’d gone to were generally from the South, but they didn’t work the way the people in Pineford worked. Just from knowing Darcy, she knew this. Even when the men at elegant weddings wore Western shirts, they were always designer, and they had suits and tuxes on standby.

It was different here, and – though Juliet would never want to live here – in some ways, she liked that.

“Were you saving me?” She asked, using her free hand to gesture back to the couple. “I did mean it when I told you I could handle the people of Pineford.”

Darcy came to a stop, continuing to hold Juliet’s hand as she turned to face her. “Kind of saving you. Also, we are going to need you for pictures during the cocktail hour, so… a little of both?”

Surprise and confusion twisted together inside of her, and she leaned back, searching Darcy’s gaze. “Pictures?”

Darcy tilted her head, her own confusion on display. “Yeah? I mean. I’m going to be in some. And Emerson will be in a few. Colton’s family is getting some taken now.” A sheepish expression she wasn’t very familiar with worked over Darcy’s face. “You don’t have to be in any.”

“No, I will. I want to,” she amended quickly, wanting to clarify. “I just didn’t… know.”

It made a strange sparkling feeling start in the pit of her stomach, something that also made her want to cry. Being thought of for the family wedding photos.

Darcy’s lips twitched into a smile, her fingers squeezing Juliet’s a little tighter. “Great.” She took in a long, deep breath, tossing a look over her shoulder as if to make sure they were still truly alone, before she said, “I saw the interview you gave at your charity lunch. Also – to Serena Fisher?”

Juliet groaned. “She was the only one still circling like a shark in the water.”

Darcy slowly shook her head, eyes locked onto Juliet, as she asked, “Honey, can you tell me: what has gone on for the last twenty-four hours?”

Yeaaaah, Juliet had seen the many notifications on her phone when she’d woken up, and had been a little confused for a minute before she’d remembered.

Today, though, she didn’t want to deal with that. All of that would be there to deal with when they got back to L.A. Right now, today, it was about being with Darcy. Being here at Blythe and Colton’s wedding.

Where they were including her in the family photos.

Juliet ran through the words in her mind, wondering where to start. When they weren’t here, in the middle of Blythe’s property, waiting to go for those pictures, she’d tell Darcy all of the details. Every thought she’d had in her mind.

For now, she settled on, “I hit the point. The point where I either had to regret coming out or go full steam ahead.” She stared at Darcy’s face, her perfect face. “And like I told you last night – and I do remember that part,” even if some other parts once she’d gotten off her flight in Nashville and taken a car to Pineford were rather blurry, that was clear. “Full steam ahead it is. Because I refuse to regret this. Regret us.”

“And I’m sorry that the last month has been… weird,” she admitted, wincing with it.

Juliet hated to say it, but she knew she hadn’t been her normal self. The normal self that only Darcy really knew, sometimes more than Juliet clearly did.