Blythe stood up straight, offense etching over her expression. “Oh my god, are you seriously going to look me in the eye and deny it?”
“No!” The word shot out of her mouth before she even thought about it.
But… she couldn’t lie to Blythe. She might not have told her about her sexual orientation or the women she’d hooked up with, but Blythe hadn’t ever asked about them before.
“No. I’m not going to deny it,” she said, softly. She reached out and wrapped both hands around the railing, gripping it tightly. Her heart sped up in her chest, making her feel slightly lightheaded, before she said, “I’m… uh, I’m a lesbian.”
Blythe looked entirely nonplussed. “Yeah, I’ve kind of figured that out.”
Darcy tossed her hands into the air, becausewhat?! “Sincewhen?”
“Since… when was it?” Blythe looked up into the distance as she brought her hand up, tapping her chin. “Two years ago? Ross, from Colton’s construction crew, saw you leaving the bar at the end of one of your shifts, getting all handsy with some woman. He told Colton. Colton beat his ass because he thought he was spreading salacious rumors about you. Then he came home and toldme, and I thought… huh. That actually makes a ton of sense, because you hadn’t gotten home until almost five inthe damn morning. And you had a hickey that I saw before you covered it up.”
For several long moments, she could only stare. This whole time, Blythe had known.
“Colton beat Ross up for that?” She finally asked, wincing.
“Of course he did.”
“No way did he use the word salacious.” Darcy couldn’t help but call bullshit there. She knew Colton very well, loved the guy to pieces, but a wordsmith he was not.
Blythe pursed her lips. “Fine, I embellished with that word.”
Darcy shook her head, this new reality taking shape in her mind.
“If youknew…” She trailed off, becauseBlythe had known?!“If you knew for so long, why did you make those comments to me about men?”
“Because I was trying to get you to tell me without outing you or whatever!”
“Outing me to myself?” She asked incredulously, laughing with it.
“I don’t know the lingo!” Blythe insisted, defensively.
Which was fair. Because while Darcy was sure there were other queer people in Pineford, she didn’t really know about them.
Blythe’s eyes narrowed. “I just don’t get why you didn’t tell me? Did you think… I mean, I know that there are some real closed-minded people back home. Do you think I’m one of them?”
Her sister’s hurt was evident in her voice, something deep and emotional, something she so rarely showed to Darcy.
Even though she and Blythe had always been a team, even though they’d always been the only reliable family for one another that they’d ever had, it wasn’t reallyeasybeing soft with one another. When they were little, they’d spent so much timegetting by leaning on one another – not by being gentle and soft, but by propping one another up. Pushing one another forward. By being strong for each other. Knowing that if they fell apart, it would be the other one who needed to pick them up all on her own. And they’d never wanted to put the other in that position.
“I didn’t think that,” she swore, her voice hoarse as the nerves coursed through her all over again. “But… I guess I was worried about anything that could change the status quo for us. It wasn’t necessarily aboutyou,” and she really meant it. It was all just so complex inside of her. “I knew you’d always love me, no matter what,” she promised, her heart laced into her words. “Just look at Ross, though. Back home, people would talk. It could make things a little harder for you or Colton, too. And, for what? I wasn’t, like, looking for love. So it didn’t seem like a big deal to keep to myself.”
Her sister’s lips were pulled down into a frown, her eyes wide and searching.
Maybe Darcy should have told her, before. But it was too late to change anything, now.
With a deep breath, she added, “Seriously, though, there was never anythingreallyto tell. Yeah, I slept with women from the bar. But I was never dating them or anything.”
She stared across at Blythe, watching her take it in. Watching for any sign that she’d done something that might render their trust or change something.
But her sister slowly nodded, accepting what she said, and Darcy could have melted with relief coursing through her.
“I bet Emerson knows. Right?” Blythe asked after a few seconds, shooting her a knowing look.
Both of them jumped when Emerson’s voice came from the balcony on the other side of Darcy’s. “Yes. She does. And she should probably tell you, now, that she’s also out here.”
Heart racing yet again, Darcy spun around. “Em! What the hell are youdoing?”