She bent over her bag, pulled a towel out, and dried her face, then pulled on the loose sundress she carried and slid her feet into her sandals. As she headed up the boardwalk, her cell rang. She snatched it up, praying it would be Nash.
“Darcy, where are you? You’ve got to come over!” Willow’s voice was half whisper, half scream.
“Willow? Are you okay?”
“Mom told Boyz. They’re yelling at each other!”
“Oh, Willow. Oh, honey, I know that’s terrible. I’m sorry. But I can’t do anything about it. It’s between your mother and Boyz.”
Even as she said she couldn’t do anything, Darcy picked up her pace, walking so fast she was nearly running.
“You have to do something! They won’t listen to me. They won’t pay any attention to me, no matter what I say. What about poor Susan?”
Welcome to the messes adults make, Darcy thought. Willow had scarcely entered the tempestuous teenage years with all its misery, elation, drama, and hormonal rampages and here she was, caught up in the adult world of jealousy. But what could Darcy do? What should she do?
“Willow,” Darcy said, impressed by the authority in her tone, “I want you to leave the house and walk down to Main Street and meet me. We’ll walk home together and try to figure something out.”
“But Mother and Boyz—”
“You just said they won’t pay attention to you.”
“But—” Willow began to protest.
“If you leave, it might surprise them enough to calm down.”
“Oh. Okay…okay, I’ll meet you on Main Street.”
“Good girl.” Darcy clicked her phone off, thinking I have no idea what I’m talking about. She couldn’t stop the quarrel between Boyz and Autumn, but she was removing Willow from the scene of her parents’ argument. That was something.
And when she arrived at her house, what then? Should Darcy charge to the rescue—but how, and who would she be rescuing? She didn’t give a fig about Otto Brueckner or about Boyz’s wounded pride. But she did care about Susan and her sons. But how could Darcy believe she could help Susan when she’d made such a mess of her own life? And Mimi. Willow needed to know about Mimi.
Not far away, a figure turned off Pine and raced down the sidewalk toward Darcy. Willow. Darcy hoped the girl wouldn’t catch her foot on one of the many broken bricks and fall. She very well might, Darcy thought, it was turning out to be that kind of summer.
“Darcy!” Willow raced up to Darcy and grasped her arm, tugging her to move faster. She wore jean shorts and a T-shirt and her hair was a mess.
“Slow down and catch your breath,” Darcy said. “Forget about your mother and Boyz for a moment. Have you spoken to Mimi today?”
“Mimi? No. Oh, gosh, I forgot. I think I’m supposed to read to her this afternoon.”
“Willow, Mimi’s sick. Not something frightening, just a bad summer cold. I went over there yesterday to visit her. Clive is taking care of her, but he doesn’t think to do some basic stuff like bringing her a fresh nightgown.”
Willow’s face crinkled with worry. “How is she today?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Clive. Why don’t we stop in and see Mimi now?” As she spoke the words, Darcy’s conscience pinched her; Darcy hadn’t planned to have Willow go with her to see Mimi so that Willow would be a buffer person between Darcy and Clive. But that’s how it would work, and Darcy was glad.
“Why don’t we call Susan and ask her to visit Mimi with us,” Willow suggested.
“Willow, you’re a genius.”
Willow was already punching Susan’s number in her phone.
“Hi, Susan, it’s Willow. Oh, no, everything’s okay, well, not everything— What? Oh, that’s because I’m walking fast. I’m with Darcy. We’re coming home from the library. I’m supposed to read to Mimi, but Darcy saw Mimi yesterday. She’s sick. Not Darcy, Mimi. Just a summer cold. Right. Right. Anyway, Darcy and I are going to stop in at Mimi’s and we thought it would be nice if you could, too. Sort of cheer her up? Darcy said Mimi might still be in bed, but— Really? That would be a brilliant idea. See you in a minute.”
Darcy asked, “What did she say?”
“She’s just finished making chocolate chip cookies. She said she’ll make a pitcher of lemonade and bring that over with some cookies.”
“What about her boys?”
“She said they’re watching television, and her husband is there—she can leave them for a while.”
“Well done, Willow.”