She didn’t get nearly the same exhilaration she got when she went head-to-head with Darcy, while she was talking to Blythe. In fact, all this conversation made her do was crave Darcy out here.
As if summoned by her mind, the screen door crashed open, making them both jump.
Darcy came stumbling out, tripping over the step, her gaze darting between them. “So – what’s going on out here? Blythe, you said you were going to the bathroom,” she accused, folding her arms over her chest.
“I made a pitstop.”
Darcy jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Well, your fiancé wants to challenge us to a dance battle. You better get back in there. He wants to go against you and me.”
Blythe dropped her head back. “Not this again. He can’t beat us, no matter who he teams up with. I love the man, but when will he learn?”
Colton’s voice boomed out of the doorway before he lumbered out. “Emerson won’t be on my side. She said she’d lose going against both Blythe and Darcy one-on-one so what’s the point of doing it on my team, when I’m worse than she is.” He was frowning, shaking his head. “I’ve been practicing while y’all have been away this year. Juliet, can you line dance?”
“I’m a country singer born and raised in Texas.” She sniffed, shaking her head back. “I will not dignify that with a response.”
He grinned broadly. “Great! Come on! Emerson has the music ready.”
“You think you’re up for it?” Darcy asked, lightly bumping her hip into Juliet’s, tauntingly.
“I think you and your sister are going to lose in a humiliating defeat.” She reached her hand out toward Colton. “Sir.”
As he led her back inside, she shot both Darcy and Blythe a challenging stare. Holding Blythe’s for several beats longer than she intended to, feeling disconcertingly like there was far more on the line than a dance.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Darcy grunted slightlyas she swung the door open to the back entrance of Stardust Lanes. “Ta-da,” she sang out as Juliet walked past her.
Given that the bowling alley closed early tonight – in the days leading up to Christmas, Sandra opened early for several of the children’s leagues and holiday parties, then shut down by six – all of the lights were off, and the place was only illuminated by the signs that were hung on the wall at the bar, which was where the back entrance was. Right now, the signs were a mix of not only typical alcohol logos, but also festive, gaudy holiday décor.
Juliet looked unfairly attractive bathed in the red, green, and silver neon lights around her as she took her time looking around. As if she was going to see something other than… a bowling alley.
Which amused her, even as she felt a little nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach. Juliet washere, inher world. She’d been at Blythe’s all day, sure, but… that was different. Blythe’s house wasn’tDarcy’s. In a way, having Juliet there had almost felt like armor for Darcy.
This was a lot more personal.
“So… this is the infamous bowling alley,” Juliet mused, her eyes squinting in the dark.
“This is where the magic happens,” Darcy joked, letting the heavy back door swing closed behind her, locking automatically as it went. She, too, looked around, though. It wasn’t really a joke at all, though, at the heart of everything. This place had been her home. She’d lived here, she’d worked here, she’d performed here for so many years without ever knowing if she’d amount to more.
Juliet meandered around to the other side of the bar, leaning against it, as she shot Darcy a look. One of those demanding – almost regal – stares she was so good at. And, in all fairness to her, she reallydidn’tlook like she belonged here. Not in the dingy bar, in the decades old bowling alley. “Can a lady get a drink?”
Darcy’s feet had already started forward to heed Juliet’s expression, even before she’d spoken. Before Darcy’s mind had really caught up at all. “I can tell you right now, there has never been a bottle of wine in this bar that has cost more than thirty –maybeforty – bucks. And, like, that’s the top-shelf stuff,” she warned, as she walked up behind the bar.
She hadn’t actually stood here, worked here, in…wow, nearly a year. The realization rocked through her, giving her pause as she stared down at the bar top.
“I didn’t intend for my drink request to cause so much turmoil,” Juliet said, her voice quietly teasing.
“No, that’s not…” She trailed off, blinking a few times as she looked back up at Juliet, feeling a sheepish smile tug at her lips. “I’m just thinking about how it’s been almost the entire year since I’ve worked here. And that’s…”
She simply blew out a deep exhale, holding her hands up and dropping them to her sides.
“I can’t remember the last shift we did. I don’t even know if we officially gave our notice.” She screwed her face up in thought, trying to call up a clear memory of talking to Sandra. She knew shehad, but nothing in specific jumped out at her. “Maybe Blythe did. She probably did. And Emerson. I don’t – it’s all a blur to me. I think I have, like, four or five really clear recollections from the first few months of this year. I remember we were all working one night when our song came on the radio.”
Darcy glanced over to the speaker in the corner, where she’d spun around and stood, mouth agape. She’d had to wonder if she’d been losing her mind, truly. They’d released their self-produced album the month before, it had barely received any traction in the first few weeks, and then… and then they’d been everywhere, and it was a whirlwind.
And now, she was here.
With Juliet sitting across the bar from her, her eyebrows drawn low, looking at Darcy like she was internalizing everything she said. And, possibly, everything she wasn’t saying.