Page 49 of Chasing I Do
“A mother who wants to protect her daughter from pain and disappointment,” Gage said softly. “Darcy’s a great mom, and she’s doing the best she can.”
When Margo didn’t look convinced, he said, “Look at it from her perspective. She’s overwhelmed being a single parent, struggling to ensure Kylie’s wellbeing. She has to work twice as hard to give Kylie a safe home. Now, throw in five Eastons and a mother-in-law once removed who had her arrested for breaking and entering.” Gage chuckled lightly. “Can you blame her for being cautious?”
“Iwas being cautious when I called the police,” she defended. “I thought she was going to clear out Kyle’s things without letting me go through them. What might be trash to someone else could be a treasure to a mother. And it wasn’t her home, it was Kyle’s.”
“They had lived together there for over a year.”
His mom called the cops because she blamed Darcy for Kyle’s death. Plain and simple. It was easier than blaming her son who was gone. But Gage didn’t even want to go there. Not tonight.
“The easier we make things on Darcy, the quicker you’ll get to meet Kylie. So no more sneaking around. We wait for an invitation.”
“What if the invitation never comes?”
“It will come,” he said. “You just have to be patient.”
Margo shook her head with defeat. “I was patient before, waited for Kyle to realize he was rushing into marriage, but time ran out and I lost my son. I won’t lose the chance to know my granddaughter.”
“You won’t lose Kylie,” he promised. “But pushing for the sake of pushing, isn’t going to move things any faster.”
“I’ll trust you then, because patience isn’t my strong suit.”
That’s what Gage was worried about.
???
Exhausted and covered in yellow and green frosting, Darcy plopped down at her kitchen counter. It wasn’t even dinnertime, and she was already dreaming about bedtime. Or a sugar-rush. She’d gobbled down two cupcakes from the reject pile—with extra frosting.
It hadn’t helped.
After the disastrous confrontation with Margo, Darcy had barely managed to pull it together for the rest of Stephanie’s tasting, then another couple who wanted to tour the house for an eightieth birthday party.
“I need a vacation.”
“You need to get laid,” Jillian said, and Darcy sent her a glare. “I know the look of a woman who needs to get laid. I see her every morning when I brush my teeth. And you need to get some man action.”
Jillian was piping rose leaves on a line of mini-cupcakes for the opening of a lingerie shop in town. Crumbs clung to the ends of her hair, and black food dye stained her fingers.
“I did that, and then his mom showed up,” Darcy said, although the idea of a little more alone time with Gage sounded like the perfect way to make up for a crappy day. She remembered how creative he’d gotten with after-sex cake, how they’d both been covered in frosting by the time the sun rose. Then she remembered the knowing look in Margo’s eyes and shivered. “I have no idea how such a spiteful woman could have raised such great boys.”
“One good parent can outweigh a bad one. Trust me,” Jillian said. “Speaking of boys, did you tell Gage what happened?”
“I wasn’t sure if I should call or not.” Darcy stood and, reaching for the red edible glitter, sprinkled a thin layer over the piped roses. “I know he had meetings all day, so what would I say? ‘Hey, sorry to bother you in the middle of the million dollar deal you’re negotiating, but your mom came to my house and hurt my feelings’?”
“You aren’t bothering him. You both agreed to the terms and his mom chose to ignore them. So maybe you could call and say, “Hey, your mom stopped by today and words were exchanged. I wanted to see you so we can talk about how to handle this as a team.” Jillian set the piping bag on the counter. “That’s what people do when they think they might want to be in a relationship that extends beyond knowing the other’s O-face. Or so I’ve heard.”
Jillian’s soon-to-be-ex wasn’t the best when it came to teamwork. He was more of a scream out orders from the sidelines kind of teammate. One of the many reasons they were no longer together. Plus, like Kyle, he suffered from a slippery dick.
“You’re right, it’s just this wholetrust mething that Gage has going on is not something I’ve had a lot of positive experience with.”
Trusting someone to know how to get you to make on O-face was one thing. Trusting someone to stand by your side when the opponent was family was a whole other ball game.
“Giving someone the opportunity to disappoint you, doesn’t mean they will,” Jillian said. “You can live safe, or you can live happy.”
“What if I want both?”
“Buy a vibrator. But be warned, they aren’t much to cuddle with on cold days.” Jillian leaned in and winked. “Especially if you’ve been cuddling with arms like that.”
“What?” Darcy asked, just as Kylie came racing down the hallway. “Uncle Gage is here! Look, Sammy, that’s my Uncle Gage.”
