Hadley was hugging her. “We waited for you to get here, and you’re done teaching. So you have time, right?”
“Of course,” Darla mustered a bright smile. “I’m so excited for you. And I’ll do anything you need to help.”
She meant it. She would do anything for her friends.
And she really needed to tell them all that she was leaving. That made her stomach churn with even more dread, so she pushed it aside. Right now, it was Hadley’s moment.
“You sound like you two have got it covered,” Kit said. “So we should plan a few activities over the next two weeks for all of us to spend time together.”
“We’d love that more than anything,” Hadley said. She gave them both a quick side hug before joining Tony as he chatted with the guys.
Weeks of fun? It all sounded amazing, wonderful…if they were any weeks but these weeks.
“Are you all right?” Kit looked her over with concern. Darla had to work extra hard not to alert Kit’s mom radar, which was always up and running.
“I’m just a little exhausted from the trip,” Darla said without hesitation. “It’s going to be great to spend time together.”
“You and I both know that Hadley underestimates any work normal humans have to do to plan an event. She’s going to need stuff.” Kit counted on her fingers. “The cake, flowers, a dress, maybe a bachelorette party…”
“She has the dress, right?” Darla said. Didn’t Kit remember the painstaking, time-consuming process they’d gone through months ago with Hadley’s mom and grandmother? Kit was staring at her, not saying anything, and that made Darla’s heart sink even more. Of the three of them, Hadley was the one who took hours deciding on clothes. Literally. Hours. And shopping gave Darla hives.
“She said something about looking for another one,” Kit said.
Oh my. The hectic events flashed before Darla’s eyes. Events that would doubtless include Mr. Shirtless and Barefoot.
She wouldn’t have the choice to boot Nick out of the wedding fun. But she could definitely boot him out of her house. Which she planned to do ASAP.
Guilt welled up that she felt so conflicted about something so joyful involving her favorite people in the world. As if Nick had read her mind, she caught him staring at her again, a look of concern on his face. But he turned away quickly to talk to his brother.
Maybe Hadley noticed because she dropped her voice and said, “Are you okay with hanging out with Nick? I’ll do my best not to pair you off together, but…”
“First of all,” Darla said quickly, “no matter what it looks like, nothing’s going on between us. He’s just being…Nick. He brought that giant dog, and he’s camping out here tonight so his roomie can spend time with his fiancée. And he’s been tearing my master bathroom to pieces.”
“Oh, Darla, that’s so sweet,” Kit, who always thought the best of everyone, said. “He’s redoing your bathroom as a surprise?”
“I didn’t ask him to do that,” Darla said firmly. “And I didn’t expect to come home to chaos.”
Hadley suddenly looked worried. “If this is too much right now…”
“Oh, Hadley, no. Never. I’m thrilled that you waited for me to come back. It’s going to be an amazing wedding.”
She would deal with the chaos and her deadline and her annoying-but-still-hot ex…somehow. And she’d do everything in her power to help her friends have the best wedding ever.
Chapter 4
The next afternoon, Darla stood on the front stoop of a clean-lined mid-century home in a very non-Victorian part of town. Before she could knock, her sister Rachel threw open the door and engulfed her in a giant hug. “You’re back!”
“Hey, watch the cake!” Darla laughed as she shielded the boxed confection she’d brought straight from Mimi’s, the best bakery in town. It felt wonderful to be enveloped in her big sister’s embrace. It almost made her forget about tomorrow’s big doctor’s appointment, which kept creeping into her mind like a sliver of left-behind splinter you just can’t quite forget. “I missed you too,” she said, suddenly teary eyed.
Rachel took the box. “Sorry to make you pick up the cake for your own welcome-back barbecue. But thanks for bringing it.”
“No problem. Where are the little angels?” Darla glanced around the too-quiet foyer. She set her purse down on the dining room table and placed a shopping bag on the floor. “And Wallis. Where’s Wallis?”
“You mean my fourth child?” Rachel said with a chuckle, referring to their sweet but giant goldendoodle. “He’s pretty much glued to the kids’ sides.” With a mysterious air, she said, “So everyone’s really excited to see you, but there’s something momentous going on right now, and you’ve arrived just in time.” Rachel gestured for Darla to follow her as she rushed through the family room.
Before Rachel could explain, the pattering of two pairs of little feet echoed down the hall. Well, make that four pairs because Wallis came bounding along too.
“Aunt Darla, Aunt Darla!” came the sweet voices of her twin five-year-old nieces, who nearly tackled her by wrapping themselves tightly around her legs and jumping up and down. She was shocked at how much they’d grown since Christmas when she’d last seen them. As she promptly gathered them up and smothered them with kisses, a bittersweet pang hit her. She was going to miss the simple happiness of being showered with love—and okay, yes, even doggie kisses.
“Teddy just pooped in the potty,” Phoebe, who was blond with pigtails, announced. “We helped him.” She crinkled up her cute freckled nose. “But we didn’t wipe his butt.”
“I wanted to,” Maisie, the take-charge one, who had dark brown hair like her dad, said, “but Mommy said she’d do it.”
“I’m so glad you two are cheerleaders for Teddy,” Darla said, tugging affectionately on one of Phoebe’s pigtails. “I missed you both so much.”
“Did you bring us something?” Maisie’s big blue eyes grew wide as she spotted the shopping bag Darla had deposited near the door. “From Fornea?”
Fornea? Suddenly, it dawned on Darla that Maisie was not talking about an island in the far reaches of the Pacific. “From California! Yes, well, maybe I did.” She turned to her sister and whispered, “Sounds exotic, like Borneo.”
“Or forbidden, like fornicate,” Rachel whispered back.
Just as Darla was rolling her eyes, a small boy with no pants on came flying down the hall with a giant grin on his face. “We been waiting all day for you, Auntie.” Teddy, her almost-three-year-old nephew, grabbed her hand. “C’mon, see my poop. It’s a big one.”
“That’s amazing!” she said, noting the obvious pride in his face.
“Did you bring us books?” Phoebe asked, tugging on her shirt.
“Phoebe wants to write books like you, but I only want to read them.” Maisie tried to see in the bag. “I want to be a sturgeon like Daddy.”
Darla and her sister exchanged glances. How did her sister keep from bursting out laughing with this 24-7 comedy show going on? She wondered if Greg, who was in his last year of a general surgery residency, knew his occupation had suddenly become very…fishy. “I know you’re going to be a great surgeon,” Darla said, completely serious. “And you’re right. Surgeons need to read books and get smart before they can operate on people.”