The two men sat for a minute as the shadows of dusk overtook the room.
“Did you talk about your family?” Rich asked quietly.
Darcy’s expression darkened.
“I did…I thought I did,” he finally said, his voice rough. “We had a couple of long conversations one night, but we both took different things away from it. She was on a painkiller and had a glass of wine and apparently remembers little of it. I didn’t realize that until…”
“Until?”
“Until I told her I was in love with her.”
“Whoa.” Rich looked stunned. “When was this?”
“When I asked her out.”
“Excuse me?”
“It started last fall. That’s when we met. And my feelings grew. I…we…it all blew up two weeks ago.” Darcy laid his head back against the chair. “I’m an idiot. I thought she knew—that she felt the same kind of connection between us. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“It couldn’t have been as one-sided as you think. There’s a thin line between love and hate.” Rich threw up his hands defensively. “Hey, that’s from Motown, not Moldavia.”
Darcy shook his head. “You are incorrigible. How did your mother not return you to the cabbage patch?”
“You know I’m right.” Rich leaned forward and looked at him earnestly. “You both had strong feelings, but that doesn’t mean they were opposite.”
“I don’t think I’m in any position to find out,” Darcy said, his voice hoarse and full of regret. “I misread her quite badly.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Rich gazed at him steadily, his brows furrowed. “Her note is very nice.”
Darcy swallowed and nodded. “It is.”
“And she knew about Coco. Sounds as though she’s paying a bit of attention to you.”
Darcy sighed. “I’m sure Charles told her.”
“Why is Elizabeth so invested in Charles’s dating life?”
“What?” Darcy looked up, confused. “Because he’s dating her sister Jane. They’re practically joined at the hip.”
“Elizabeth’s sister is Charles’s angel?” Darcy nodded and Rich apologetically explained his clueless comments at the Yankees game about Darcy’s concerns with the relationship.
Oh God, it only gets worse.Is this when I decide whether to laugh or cry? Or just get really drunk?“Well, it’s good to know that abject stupidity runs in the family.” Darcy raised his bottle in a mock toast. “At least now I know where she heard such nonsense. You simply reinforced her view of me as a man overly worried about consequences.”
“Sorry, man. Really. Dammit. She also knew Georgie picked Coco’s name, but I wondered if she was aware of the whole story.”
Darcy closed his eyes. “I did tell her some of it that night we were marooned together at Netherfield. But apparently, she doesn’t remember. I didn’t know that, and I’m loath to bring it up again.”
“It’s a part of you, man.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Darcy said bitterly. “It defines who I am. I did the therapy, Rich.”As if I will ever dredge up that horror again to anyone.
“So, have you ever told Elizabeth about the accident?”
“That my little sister died because I begged my mother to let me drive? Hell, she already thought I was an ass. Do you truly think I’m going add that? Poor, pitiful me.” Darcy hunched over and stared at his reflection in the glass tabletop. He looked awful, and he ran his hand across his face.
Rich swore under his breath. “Well, she already has some odd ideas about you,” he said gently. “I mentioned that both of us had parents who married their great love, and she seemed skeptical.”
Was there anything they didn’t talk about during that damn game?“That was some heart-to-heart you two had,” Darcy growled. His eyes flickered to his cousin’s face and observed that Rich looked nearly as miserable as he did.She doubted my parents…? Oh no—Wickham.A shudder ran through him. Darcy sat up and combed his fingers through his damp curls. He closed his eyes and grimaced.
