Page 92 of Big Stick Energy
A single tear drops down her cheek. “You make it sound easy.”
“I’m sure it isn’t,” I agree. “But it would mean a lot to Maribel if you could stand up for her tomorrow in that chapel and not resent her wedding. Look how brave she’s being. Starting over must have been so hard.”
“It was,” says a voice. “She’s right.”
We both turn and see Maribel and Eric arriving. I clamp my arm down over the picture, but there’s really no way to disguise it.
“Mom!” Eric says, appalled. “God.”
“I know,” she says, chastened. “It… It was a bad idea. Maribel, I’m sorry.”
She glances at the photo and then looks away. “That’s not appropriate, Patty. It’s not fair to Theo.”
“Or you,” Eric says sharply.
Patty takes a breath. “I’m… stuck. I can acknowledge that. But I was just so happy for you and Danny when the two of you got engaged. It’s hard to let go. I wanted to give you the wedding of your dreams.”
“I’m sure you would have.” Maribel sits down on the bench. “But it’s just like Darcy said. I’m still here, and I’m getting marriedtomorrow. If you can’t accept that, then maybe it isn’t a good idea for you to watch. If you can’t, I’ll understand.”
Patty covers her eyes and tries not to cry.
“Mom,” Eric says. “Take a walk with me. I’m going to put that picture in the trunk of your car, okay? You can keep it at home.”
“Okay,” she says tearfully. “I’m so sorry, Maribel.”
“I know you are,” she says with more generosity than I could probably muster in this situation.
The two of them walk away, and Maribel gives me a private smile. “Thank you for intervening. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.”
“Oh, it was,” I insist. “I don’t mind playing the bad cop. I told Eric—other people’s families are always less irritating than your own.”
She smiles at me. “You know what, Darcy? I’m pretty excited to have you as a sister-in-law. You’re kind of a badass.”
“I have my moments. Eric really wants you to have the wedding of your dreams. He would have dealt with that photo if I hadn’t found it first.”
She gives me a smile. “I know. Sweet Eric. He was just a skinny twelve-year-old when I met him. Even then, he was more of a man than most guys will ever be.”
“I believe it,” I say. “And I hear his brother was pretty incredible, too. I wish I’d had the chance to meet him.”
“He was.” Her smile fades, and she looks out at the ocean. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Like a vault.”
“Danny was my first love. He saved me in so many ways. But he was in a rough place when he asked me to marry him. And I was only nineteen. I knew we weren’t really ready, but I was afraid to say so.”
“Oh, heck.” That’s more of a secret that I was really bargaining for. “Does Patty know that?”
Maribel shakes her head. “She’s never acknowledged that Danny was spiraling. He was drinking way too much, and his behavior was out of control.”
I flinch.
“We’d been fighting about his drinking, and his proposal—during a family barbecue—was some kind of grand gesture. So I said yes. I loved him, and I was afraid of what would happen if I stepped on the brakes. I lived with them, too. If I’d turned him down, I wouldn’t have had anywhere to go.”
“OhGod, Maribel.” I reach over and squeeze her hand. “I can’t imagine the pressure.”
She smiles again and shakes her head. “I’m not telling you this as a sob story. I’m telling you because I’ve made peace with that time in my life. My relationship with your brother is completely different, though, because I met him after I’d had a chance to grow up.”
“Howdidyou meet him?” Nobody ever thought to tell me this story.
