Chapter 6 - Darby, Don’t

Goldie glared at Darby as she came back in the door. “All I asked was for you to stay put, Dar. You can’t even do that?”

Darby huffed at her. Goldie had taken a short shower, knowing she couldn’t trust her sister to keep herself safe. She’d been right, and had caught Darby heading out the door.

Darby shook her head. “Bless it, Goldie, am I eight years old? I was just going to get a soda from the machine.”

Goldie automatically took on the mothering tone she could never seem to shake around her sister. “We don’t have the money for that, Dar. I won’t get paid for two weeks and every penny we have has to go to repairs or this motel. I don’t want to sleep on the street.”

Darby threw up her hands in exasperation. Drama queen. “Then why don’t you want me to get a job?”

Goldie tightened the sash on her Queen of Hearts robe, as she tried to decide if it was worth saying everything again. Her younger sister had selective hearing. Darby was twenty-four, completely impulsive, and couldn’t hold down a job anyway. “Let’s get settled first. We don’t have money to pay for phone plans or anything. We won’t be able to find each other if we go off in different directions. That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Ice blue eyes met Goldie’s, challenging her. The story of their sisterhood. “So explain why you brought home some random guy who is obviously a total dick.”

Goldie flinched at the thought of Flint. It made an image run through her mind of hunting with him. She tried not to gasp at the primal picture of her and him in the forest, side by side, hunting… Ew. No. She didn’t hunt.

“He’s not a you-know-what. He’s a nice guy. I don’t know why he chased off your friend but I got a ride with him because he felt bad about hitting me with his car.”

As Goldie had hoped, Darby’s jaw dropped, all protests of blame forgotten. “He what? You’re right, he’s not a dick, he’s an asshole. He didn’t even take you to the hospital?”

Goldie flushed. Whoops. Change the subject. “I’m fine. I ran into him, really. Tell me about Riot.”

“He’s sweet as pecan pie, especially to that kid with the glasses. Riot brought him something that made him really happy.” Darby drawled. “Stop trying to change the subject. What in the hell happened?”

Goldie was not about to explain. “I tripped. I was too close to his car. You know me. I’m not hurt.” She smiled at her sister, hoping she did a passable job of looking under control. She shooed Darby toward the couch. “Don’t you worry, puddin’. I’m good, I swear. It was nothing.”

Darby picked up her phone from the table and opened a texting app she’d found that worked with the hotel’s wi-fi, her fingers flying over the screen, making Goldie nervous. “Who ya texting, Dar?”

Darby shrugged, her pink hair slipping off her shoulder. “Lance. He wanted to know where we were.”

A car door closed outside and Goldie jumped. “What? You didn’t tell him, did you?”

Darby rolled her eyes and made a tetchy sound. “All I told him is we got run off the road up in the mountains. He doesn’t know where we are.”

“Please don’t tell him.” Darby had promised, but Darby was not good at keeping her promises.

Years ago Goldie’s younger sister had declared herself an artist and said artists didn’t have to follow the rules. Then she’d taken a semester of art school before realizing she didn’t fit in any better there than she did anywhere else. But Darby had still done it, putting together art shows for herself and friends in all corners of New Orleans.

That’s where she had met Lance, another artist. Goldie had hated him on sight, but Darby had adored him. They’d been chummy ever since. Lance claimed to have connections and contracts in the international art world and he insisted he could make Darby a star.

Right. As soon as he got in her pants a few times. Goldie hoped they’d never been together, but she couldn’t be sure. Her sister liked men and men definitely liked her sister.

Goldie flopped onto the one bed in the place and watched her sister bite her lip and text at the speed of light.

Goldie had to think of a way to get Darby to see things her way. To stop texting guys like Lance. To not be so open and free with men. It had gotten her into trouble in the past, some of it they were still hiding from.

Oh, and she also had to think of a way to forget everything that had happened that night. Flint was gone. She would never see him again. So if she just didn’t think about it…

Goldie fell asleep.