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Jealousy sucked. How did womendothis? Here she was going to have a baby, for pity’s sake. The timing couldn’t have been worse for her to meet Garret, but she had and it was too late. She cared for him. Wanted him—and he wasn’t hers to want.
“Something wrong, dear?”
Darcy started and realized she’d been staring into space. She finished drying the plate she held. “Just thinking about how giving my clients have been. The gifts and all. It won’t be easy to pack up. I’ll have to rent a U-Haul to move everything.”
“You’re thinking of moving? Not staying?”
“Why would I stay?”
“Well, there’s plenty of time to decide. And plenty of places around town to live if you change your mind about making Beauty your home. Not that I’m in a hurry for you to leave. I like having you here.”
“Yeah, well, if Nick continues at the current pace on my car, I’ll never be able to move.” Rosetta looked away and busied herself scrubbing an already-clean counter. “Did you tell him to do it at snail speed?”
She knew she was right in her thinking when Rosetta had the grace to blush. The two-week time frame had come and gone—three weeks ago.
“I’ll only admit to suggesting to him that I was afraid if he got the work done right away, you might decide to ignore doctor’s orders and drive on alone.”
Darcy inhaled and sighed once more. She’d decided to do just that a million times over, but common sense prevailed when she remembered what it was like to be stuck at the side of the road in labor.
“We both agreed it was a good idea to…delay things a bit. Are you upset with me, dear?”
She put the plate away and grabbed another, careful not to drip on her dress. “No. It’s sweet that you care so much. Rosetta, I’ll never be able to repay you for all you’ve done for me.”
“You’ve done as much or more for me, Darcy. You’ve been a wonderful friend and I don’t like the idea of you out there alone. I like watching over you. I’ve come to think of you as family.”
That was the problem. It was becoming all too easy to pretend the Tulane familywashers. Rosetta’s grandmotherly love and support was so precious, so reminiscent of Nana. Darcy liked the feeling of being watched over, too. Nick and Ethan, they were the brothers she’d never had. And Garret—Her feelings for him could only deepen at this point. A useless act since they could only develop so far. A week of his keeping his distance was proof of that.
“Darcy?” Rosetta’s face softened. “Oh, honey. You’re falling in love with him, aren’t you?”
“No.” Denial was automatic, a built-in life preserver. “No, I’m not.” It was time to grow up. For her baby’s sake, if not her own. Which meant not becoming any more involved with a man destined to marry another woman.
A sharp knock sounded on the condo door before it opened and closed, ending their conversation.
She turned away from Rosetta, putting the last plate away and trying to brace herself for the barrage of feelings overwhelming her. She wasn’t falling. She’dfallen.Hard, fast. How could she have allowed it to happen? Staying in Beauty was temporary.Garretwas temporary. How awkward was it going to be to meet the infamous Jocelyn Pierson, caretaker of the hospital’s poor and underprivileged? How difficult would it be to look the other woman in the eye knowing Garret had kissedher?
He might’ve kissed you, but where has he been?
She heard heavy footfalls enter the kitchen and her heart picked up speed. If Garret gave her that look, she’d know everything would be all right but—She turned to see Ethan smiling at them both. “Wow. You two look hot.”
Ethan had come to pick them up. Not Garret.
Because he would escort his girlfriend to the party, not you.
Darcy clutched the countertop, closed her eyes briefly. Whatwasshe thinking?Doing?She had a baby to care for, a life to build, and here she was thinking about a man? What about her baby? Garret had turned her into—
“Are you all right, Darcy?”
“I’m fine.”
“You look a little pale.” Ethan frowned at her, wearing his doctor face. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
She saw the gentle warning in his eyes, as if he was well aware of what was going through her mind. Rosetta, now Ethan. They’d known all along what she hadn’t been able to see. The gossip was true. She’d become the other woman.
Somehow she managed to pin a weak smile to her lips, her stomach in knots. “Let’s get this party started.”
Because the sooner it was over, the sooner it wasallover, the sooner she could leave.
JOSS SMOOTHED a hand over her dress and frowned at the Jeep they neared. “Isn’t that Tobias’s?”
