“Oh my god!” Autumn burst into tears.
“Heroin,” Boyz muttered. “Way out here on this isolated sandbar.”
“Mom, I said I didn’t do it. Darcy stopped me.”
“What the hell was Darcy doing there?” Boyz demanded.
“I just told you. We were in the backyard—Logan and I—and he wanted me to snort some heroin, and Darcy, like, exploded into our yard and kicked his hand and the stuff flew into the grass and Darcy yelled at him and he left and Darcy took me to her house for hot chocolate.”
Autumn stared at Darcy, who was almost painfully aware of how sloppy she looked in her T-shirt with its slogan—The library, a great place to get checked out—and shorts and flip-flops. Darcy couldn’t remember when she’d last brushed her hair. She’d never met Autumn. The other woman had flawless skin and a killer figure, was taller than Darcy, even barefoot. Darcy felt she was being judged by a really sexy schoolteacher.
“I don’t understand,” Autumn said. “Who’s Logan?”
Willow cringed, drawing her shoulders up as if she wanted to be a turtle hiding in her shell.
“Maybe we should sit down,” Darcy suggested. Trying to inject some calm into the situation—Willow was trembling, Boyz’s face was crimson—she gestured toward the kitchen chairs.
“Right,” Boyz snapped. “Right, tell us what to do in our own house.”
“I’ll leave if you’d like, but you might want to hear what I have to say,” Darcy replied, keeping her tone neutral.
Willow wrenched herself from her mother’s hands and plunked down in a chair. She crossed her arms over her chest and hung her head.
Autumn pulled out a chair next to her daughter. Boyz sighed mightily and sat, and Darcy took a seat at the far end of the table.
“All right,” Autumn said. “Let’s begin at the beginning. Who is Logan?”
“My boyfriend,” Willow muttered.
“Your boyfriend?” Autumn broke into a relieved laugh. “Honey, you’re way too young to have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, please,” Willow rolled her eyes at her mother’s naïveté.
Darcy spoke up. “Logan Smith is an island boy. As I told Boyz, I overheard him trying to…have sex with Willow. In the backyard. I was sitting in my backyard. I couldn’t help overhearing.”
Willow lifted her head. “See? I am old enough to have a boyfriend. Logan’s really nice. And totally hot.”
But Autumn was glaring at her husband. “As Darcy told you? When did Darcy tell you this piece of news? And where?”
Willow’s head whipped toward Darcy. “Wait, what? You told my father?”
“Cool your jets, Autumn,” Boyz said. “We ran into each other in the grocery store. Before that moment I had no idea she lived here, on the island or on the next street. It’s the only time I’ve seen her since we’ve been here.”
Darcy cut in. “I told Boyz that I knew Logan Smith. He’s handsome and he’s charismatic and he’s a troublemaker. I’ve heard rumors that he’s dealing heroin. Now I know.”
Autumn stayed focused on her husband. “Why didn’t you tell me, Boyz?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I knew you’d be pissed that I’d seen Darcy.”
Autumn scowled. “Well, I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled.”
“I wasn’t, either, Autumn! For God’s sake, I didn’t want to see Darcy. I didn’t try to see Darcy. “
Autumn leaned belligerently over the table toward her husband. “And yet you saw her.”
“In the Stop and Shop! By accident. No, now that I remember it, I think she accosted me.”
Darcy bristled at the word accosted but didn’t have a chance to object before Autumn stabbed her with an accusing glare.
“So you’ve been stalking my husband?”
Darcy couldn’t help it. She broke into a laugh. “Please, this is getting ridiculous. I was shopping for groceries and we accidentally bumped into each other. I was worried about Willow—”
“She asked me to meet her at the café,” Boyz said.
“So I could speak with him about Willow and Logan,” Darcy added, wishing she didn’t sound so defensive.
“What café?” Autumn demanded of her husband.
Darcy answered, “Not a real café. A quiet spot in the corner of the store where we could talk—”
“A quiet spot? And you didn’t tell me?” Autumn snarled at her husband.
“Because I knew you’d be upset and I didn’t want to upset you,” Boyz explained.