by Marci Bolden
Jade did her best to hide her amusement, but Darby saw the grin twitching at her lips.
“Don’t laugh, Jade,” Darby warned. “I’m in the midst of a real crisis here.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“You want to. Your mouth is spasming like a fish out of water.” Darby pointed toward Jade’s face and noticed a little dot of a wound on the tip of her finger. “Look at that. I stabbed myself while sewing. I never stab myself. And look at my kitchen. The world has upended and is crumbling around me.”
“Oh, baby,” Jade said with a patronizing tone. “You’re having an off day. That’s all. You know what you need?”
“A tornado to whisk me away. A fairy godmother to turn me into a princess. A new life in a land far, far away.”
“Ice cream at Harper’s. I’ll call Taylor. We’ll have sundaes for lunch,” Jade said with a singsong voice as if that would tempt Darby.
Damn it. The idea of an ice cream sundae covered in gooey hot fudge, crumbled cookies, and whipped cream did make her feel better. With a forced sulk, Darby held her hands out.
“Fine,” she said as soon as Jade pulled her to her feet, “but what about my kitchen?”
Jade looked her over and smiled. “Go change into something less…cheesy…”
“Ha-ha,” Darby muttered.
“And I’ll call Taylor to pick up some ice cream and come over.”
Darby pouted. “No. She was mean.”
Jade lifted her brows. “She was concerned. Not mean.”
“She was mean.”
“Well then, let her make it up to you by bringing ice cream to you.” She pointed toward the bedroom. “Go.”
“Fine. But I want extra whipped cream. And nuts. And Taylor is buying.” She spun and marched off as if that made her demand more valid.
As soon as Darby walked out of her bedroom in a fresh dress, she realized why Jade had been so concerned. She really had made a mess. Even though Darby had taken her time to change and wash the cheese out of her clothing, Jade was still mopping the floor and Taylor was staring up at the ceiling. Darby followed her gaze. Somehow there was a stain of what must have been margarita on the ceiling.
“How in the hell…” Darby started, squinting at the stain as if that would help her figure out how that had happened.
“What happened, Darby?” Taylor asked.
“I had a moment.” Darby opened the paper bag on the counter with the Harper’s logo across the front. She pulled out three containers and smiled at the one with the whipped cream oozing from the edges. “Yum.”
Taylor cleared her throat as she looked at Darby.
Darby stopped licking her thumb long enough to cock an eyebrow.
“Say thank you for getting you ice cream,” Taylor instructed.
“Say you’re sorry for being a ginormous bitch earlier.”
Taylor stared. So did Darby.
“Okay,” Jade said, setting the mop aside, “now that that’s settled…” Redirecting was her go-to tactic to defuse a spat between Darby and Taylor before one could begin. Though Taylor was one of Darby’s closest friends, they tended to butt heads like siblings. Even so, Darby wouldn’t trade Taylor for the world. Butting heads or not, she cherished the bond they’d formed in the last year.
“Tell Jade thank you for cleaning up your mess,” Taylor stated.
Darby smiled at Jade. “Thank you, Jade.” Then she returned her stare to Taylor and smiled. “Now, tell me you’re sorry.”
Taylor stared for several more seconds. “I’m sorry the truth hurt your feelings.”
Jade sighed, and Taylor conceded.
Lifting her hands, Taylor added, “And that I was a bitch about it.”
Darby accepted the apology. “Thank you for getting me ice cream.”
“You two are freakin’ impossible,” Jade muttered as she pushed a sundae toward Taylor. “Eat your damn ice cream. It’s melting.”
Taylor dug into her treat. “I am sorry, Darby,” she said more gently after a few bites. Taylor wasn’t good at apologizing or being humble or anything that made her appear vulnerable, so those words meant a lot to Darby.
“Un-Do is your business,” Taylor continued. “And Jade’s right. You are allowed to operate in a way that suits you. As long as you don’t break the law,” she added with a grin.
Darby wanted to be offended by that caveat, but then she considered some of her past antics, like that one time she let some guy pay her to take a suitcase to Mexico City when she was visiting her abuela. She’d been so excited about earning a wad of cash, she hadn’t considered she’d probably done something illegal until her grandmother chastised her for doing the dirty work for a local criminal and warned that she could have gotten herself killed.
Guilt and worry had weighed on Darby for weeks after that. Fear that the FBI or some drug cartel would be watching her had her running from shadows long after she’d returned from Mexico City. Even now, years later, Darby couldn’t bring herself to visit her grandmother. She was too scared of doing something stupid like that again. Instead, they had video chats and regular phone calls.
So yeah, given Darby’s history of transferring unknown substances across the border and possibly getting mixed up with criminals, Taylor’s advice about working within the confines of the law was warranted.
Rather than admitting that, Darby shrugged. “Thanks. I really don’t think the descriptions are that bad. They’re getting attention. That’s what they’re there for. Right?”
Jade smiled in the way she always did right before reassuring Darby she wasn’t as screwed up as she thought. “Honey, we don’t like seeing people come after you. That’s all. We want to protect you like you’d protect one of us if the tides were turned. But we can’t do that when you won’t remove the thing that’s causing the hurtful comments. We aren’t attacking you,” Jade pressed. “We are trying to protect you. You get that, right?”
Darby frowned as she poked at the pile of whipped cream covering her ice cream. Everything from Harper’s was made in the store with fresh ingredients. Their whipped cream had always been Darby’s favorite thing on the menu, but in that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to taste the sweet topping. Her stomach was too busy twisting around itself to crave the sweetness of the cream and sugar mixture.
“I didn’t express that well,” Taylor admitted and gave Darby a half grin. “Big surprise there. But Jade’s right. Again. I don’t want to see people picking on you. It makes me want to protect you. But I can’t.”
“Because they’re online,” Darby said.
“Because you’re leaving the door open and inviting them in,” Taylor said. “Your descriptions—”
“Are selling points,” Darby insisted.
Taylor glanced at Jade, clearly seeking backup since her kindness always made more headway with Darby than Taylor’s wrecking ball of reality did.
Though Darby reminded herself that her friends were trying to look out for her like Jade had said, part of her felt like they were ganging up on her. Clearly they’d been talking about this issue. They’d obviously discussed how to get Darby to see things their way. And if they’d been talking about that behind her back, part of her had to wonder what else they talked about without her. What other things had she done that they debated when she wasn’t around?
“Darby,” Jade said, pulling her attention to her. “Have you considered how you’d feel if someone shared your secrets online? Even if no one knew it was you, you would know. People close to you would know. And it would be embarrassing. Maybe even hurtful. I know you don’t want to hurt anybody, Darby. You’re better than that.”
Darby’s heart dropped to her stomach, and she shook her head slightly. She hadn’t considered that her site could be hurtful. Embarrassing, maybe. A little tacky, sure. But hurtful? “No,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t want to hurt someone.”
“But you have to consider that someone might be hurt by having their story shared on Un-Do’s site.
They might find it hurtful to see the comments people are making about why their weddings were cancelled. Some of these women might not have recovered from the betrayals that destroyed their lives.” Jade put her hand to her heart. “I’d be devastated if I found out people—even strangers—were laughing at how my husband ditched me right after I recovered from cancer. That would be awful, Darby.”
Putting her ice cream on the counter, Darby swallowed hard. “I was trying to make my store more appealing. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.” She frowned as she realized Taylor was toying with a tube of eyebrow gel Darby had set out to remind herself to replace. The tube was all but empty, and Darby kept forgetting to buy a new one. Taylor probably didn’t even know what that was for, and Darby didn’t have the energy to explain. Besides, she wasn’t messing with it out of curiosity. Things had gotten intense. Jade’s attempt at turning things in a way for Darby to understand had brought an emotional surge to the room that had made Taylor uncomfortable.
Emotions always did.
“Using humor is a great way to increase traffic and sales,” Jade said, drawing Darby’s attention back to her.
“But you can’t do it at someone else’s expense.” Taylor tossed the tube back onto the counter and stood upright. “You need to take that part of the description off, Darbs. No big deal.”
“What will I do if my sales drop off?” Darby asked.
“We can find a new way to make the dresses sell,” Taylor suggested. “That’s literally what Jade does, right?”
“Right.” Jade gestured toward the laptop sitting on Darby’s coffee table. “We’ll come up with something great.”
Taylor gave her a softer, more encouraging smile. “Jade isn’t going to let you fail if she can help you.”
Darby pushed her sundae aside and shrugged. “Okay. Fine. I’ll take the stories down.”
“Good. Let’s do that now,” Jade said, as if she didn’t trust Darby to do it on her own.
That wasn’t her intent. Knowing Jade, she was doing her best to be supportive, but Darby didn’t want Jade’s maternal instinct to go that far. Having her sweet and supportive was wonderful. Having her helicopter to make sure Darby did her homework was too much.
She was perfectly capable of updating her website without supervision. However, when the urge to defy her friends flared, Darby tamped it down with the reminder that Jade and Taylor were only trying to help.
They followed her to the couch and sat on either side of her as her laptop loaded. She again had to remind herself not to snap and point out that she was perfectly capable of handling this on her own.
As soon as her laptop booted up, she clicked on the Internet icon and opened the window for Un-Do. She gasped at the number of new comments she had. Closing in on two thousand since she’d last checked.
“Whoa,” Taylor muttered.
Darby caught the wide-eyed glance Jade gave Taylor but wasn’t sure if it was to hush her or to share her shock. Darby only had to click on a few new comments to realize the surge was due to Jennifer Williams posting a video about the store. Darby’s heart thudded, and her stomach tightened.
You heartless bitch was one of the first things she read, followed by How fucking dare you?
“Oh, no,” Darby whined.
“Shit,” Jade cursed harshly. “Find the video.”
“I don’t want to,” Darby said as her already tense stomach knotted even more tightly. “I don’t want to see it.”
“We have to know what we’re dealing with,” Jade said softly.
Taylor reached over as if she was going to take the laptop, but Darby pulled it closer to her. If this was going to happen, she was going to be the one in charge. That at least gave her some sense of comfort. Having Taylor take over would make her feel like she had no control. That wasn’t okay at the moment. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to see the next disaster unfold, but if she had to, she was going to be in control of clicking Play.
Darby opened on the link to Jennifer Williams’s website and her anxiety tripled so fast her head grew light. There, on the top of the page, was a picture of Darby with the words The Woman Behind The Un-Do Wedding Boutique: Comedian or Coldhearted Snake?
Now that she’d clicked, her first instinct of not wanting to know kicked in again. The need to be in control faded and the urge to run nearly overcame her.
“I can’t watch,” Darby said, putting her hand over her eyes. But as soon as she heard Jennifer’s voice filtering from her laptop, she parted her fingers enough to see.
There, with a bright smile and perfect hair, Jennifer shared with her viewers that today she would be talking with Darby Zamora, owner and operator of The Un-Do Wedding Boutique. However, the way she said Darby’s name and the name of her shop sounded angry and bitter. She wasn’t going to be sharing with her viewers how Darby was only trying to make back the money she’d lost. Or that she hadn’t meant for people to take the tales about the weddings so seriously.
“I hate her already,” Taylor muttered from where she sat next to Darby.
On Darby’s other side, Jade sighed. “Can we watch this before we decide we hate anyone?”
“No,” Taylor and Darby said in unison.
Darby lowered her hand when she heard her voice coming from the laptop. At least she looked pretty. Her hair was amazing in the lighting and her prim posture made her look perky. “Hey, maybe I should start doing a podcast.”
“I think you have enough on your plate,” Taylor said.
As soon as Jennifer finished explaining who her special guest was, she cut to Darby rambling on about how her catering business had failed, so she’d decided to sell some of the dresses she’d previously made.
All was well, until Jennifer explained with a perfectly saddened face how those were discarded wedding and bridesmaids dresses from broken weddings and undoubtedly broken hearts. Her sad explanation cut to jarring footage of Darby on Noah Joplin’s show laughing about the bride who had discovered two of her bridesmaids had slept with her fiancé—at the same time!
Rather than the moment of lighthearted giggling that Darby remembered, she came across as cold and…mean. In that moment, Darby sounded mean. And heartless. In that moment, she understood why people were leaving such shitty comments on her page. Hell, if she didn’t know better, she might have been tempted to tell herself to go to hell for what she’d done.
Jennifer certainly knew how to edit a video together. And that wasn’t necessarily a compliment.
Darby swallowed hard and sank back onto the sofa as Taylor cast a glance at Jade.
Jennifer reappeared, but her friendly smile was gone. Instead, she looked sad and shocked and innocent. Compared to the hard stare Darby had been caught giving, Jennifer looked like a doe in the woods staring down a hunter. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing either,” she said. She pouted ever so slightly. “I simply couldn’t believe this woman was so happy to be humiliating her former clients. So I spoke with some people who could give me a bit more insight into the woman behind The Un-Do Wedding Boutique.”
“Oh, no,” Darby muttered. Her stomach dropped when one of her ex-boyfriends appeared on the screen. Mark Penn had been her first real boyfriend. The first so-called relationship she’d ever had. They’d had fun, but Darby was introverted and awkward. She was still growing. Mark wasn’t. He was content being Mark—watching racing on the weekends, drinking a lot of beer, and not cleaning up after himself.
When he’d started spending more time at Darby’s tiny Fairfax apartment than she wanted, she hadn’t had the courage to tell him he was overstepping her boundaries. Instead, she’d waited until he’d gone to visit his brother and then packed up all her belongings. By the time he’d returned, she’d moved out and the apartment was being cleaned for the next tenant.
Yeah, she knew now that had been a shitty thing to do, but at the time, disappearing without a word had seemed like the best option.
Hearing him tell the story made her und
erstand how immature that particular decision had been. She didn’t believe for a minute that Mark was still heartbroken after all these years, but she still felt bad for her actions.
“Oh my God. How did Jennifer find him?” Darby asked with a whiney tone. Panic was grabbing hold of her. She’d certainly made a much bigger mess of things than she’d realized.
“You’d be amazed what people can dig up on social media,” Jade said. “I can tell you far more about my ex-husband’s new wife than I ever wanted to know.”
Taylor leaned to look at Jade. “You cyberstalked his new wife?”
“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Shh,” Darby said. “Jennifer isn’t done destroying my life yet.”
Next up, more than ready to tell the tale of Darby’s misdeeds, was Ted Woodfield.
“Okay,” Darby stated firmly, “this guy doesn’t get to trash me. He was thirty-four when we dated and still lived in his mom’s basement. He still had a toy car collection for frick’s sake. No. He does not get to trash me.”
But he did trash Darby. He said she was high-maintenance—which Darby wouldn’t deny. He was the first boyfriend she’d had post–retro Darby era. She was still learning how to exist in her new skin and had been a little wild and demanding.
She frowned. Fine. He had a valid complaint, but he still lived with his mother.
“But that’s not even the worst of it,” Jennifer said and shook her head sadly. “Darby Zamora really isn’t what she seems. Just ask poor Sue Berdynski. She’s one of the brides whose story Darby shared with the world.”
When Darby saw the face of a teary-eyed woman fill the screen, bile rose up her throat and burned. The ice cream in her stomach churned and instantly soured.
“Sue, how did it feel to have the tale of your broken engagement shared so publicly?”
Sue sniffled, wiped her eyes, let her lip quiver, and said, “I’m so humiliated. That was the worst day of my life, and I was finally starting to recover, and now…” Her chin trembled as if she could barely contain her crying. “Now everyone knows.”
Darby gasped. “Everyone knows because she came right out and told them it was her!”