Sugar Crash (10 page)

"Of course I know." Darci waved her hand. "But I sent it. Felicity, I swear, I stood right here, and..."
 

Her mind replayed the afternoon that she rushed to finish the spreadsheet. It was the day before Taylor went to the hospital. She'd meant to send it. She could have sworn she'd clicked send. But she'd been distracted by..."

"Monica."
 

"Yes," Felicity said. "Monica sent it to me. And thank goodness she did..."

Darci tuned out. She knew there was something going on with Monica, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It seemed almost as she was trying to sabotage Darci, but surely she wouldn't do that. Especially not with everything else going on.

"So I decided to make Monica assistant manager."
 

"Wait." Darci's attention snapped back to her boss. "What did you say?"

"I think she's earned it," Felicity said. "Especially with everything that's happened lately. It's a trial period of course."
 

She looked at Darci with an expression that left no question about who the trial period was really for.

"Of course," Darci said.

"Good." Felicity turned to leave. "I'm glad we understand each other."
 

After she left, Darci threw herself into her work. The store was busier than usual and she welcomed the distraction. She couldn't afford to lose her job, especially not to Monica. But she refused to let herself dwell on it. Darci new there wouldn't be any point in confronting Monica, not if it was her job that she was after. No, she needed to focus on doing her job the best way she knew how and look after Taylor, of course. Everything else would just have to wait.
 

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As soon as her part time help arrived, Darci left Golden Moon and headed back to the hospital. She hated leaving Taylor alone all day long, but there was no choice and as it turned out, she needn't have worried. Cam and Abby were in the room when she got there.
 

"Hey, kiddo." Darci gave Taylor a kiss on the forehead. "I hope you brought homework, Abby," she said, turning her attention to the other girl. "I know Taylor's been missing it desperately."

 
"Mom!"
 

"I thought I'd bring Abby this afternoon, Barb needed to run some errands," Cam said. "I hope that's okay."
 

Darci met his eyes and smiled. "Of course. Thank you."

"Hey," he said. "Why don't we leave these girls alone to giggle and do all the things that girls do." He dodged and laughed when Abby turned and punched him in the shoulder. "Darci, let me buy you a cup of cafeteria coffee."
 

Darci knew she couldn't say no without looking ungrateful, besides, she could use a coffee and a distraction from her day.

"Thank you," she said a few minutes later, when he handed her a steaming paper cup.
 

"You looked like you could use it." They walked side by side down the hall and out the front doors into the sunshine.
 

"It feels nice to be outside," Darci said. "I guess I've been spending most of my time either at the hospital, the shop or sleeping. It doesn't leave much time for anything else."

"Why don't we walk then and enjoy the fresh air?"
 

She nodded and together they made their way slowly down the sidewalk. Neither of them were in a rush, and the silence between them was nice. Darci didn't feel any pressure to make conversation and with every step they took, she could feel a little more tension release from her body.
 

"You know," Cam said after a few moments. "Whenever I feel like things are too much and I can't handle it, I go for a run. It's a great stress reliever."

She chuckled. "Oh, I don't run."

"That's silly. Everyone runs. It's a basic human action."

"Not for me." She took a sip of the bitter coffee. "I only run when being chased by a large animal. And that doesn't happen on a regular basis."

Cam looked at her and smirked. "No, I don't imagine that it does."
 

Darci laughed and kept walking. His free hand brushed against hers and a shiver shot up her arm. Before she could stop herself, she pulled back and tucked her hand into her pocket. If Cam noticed, he didn't show it.
 

A few minutes later, he said, "Taylor's doing great. Not that I'm surprised. You handle everything so well, it must have rubbed off on her."
 

"She's a very strong girl."

"Like her mother."
 

Something in his voice made her stop walking and turn to face him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said." Cam tossed his half empty coffee cup in a nearby garbage and tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "With such a tough mom, I'm not at all surprised that Taylor's doing so well. Ever since I've known her, she's always been a strong force on the team. But you know what the difference between you two is?"
 

"What's that?"
 

"Taylor also knows the importance of having a team behind her. She's smart enough to know that she can't win the game by herself."

"I'm not trying to win the game by myself, Cam."
 

A challenge sparked in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "Aren't you?"

They stared at each other for a moment. Frustration flared in her. She wanted to tell him he was wrong. That he didn't know what he was talking about. She wanted to tell him to back off and leave her alone.

Instead, she took a gulp of her coffee and burned her tongue. She straightened her shoulders and turned away, unable to face him. "We should get back."

She threw the cup into the garbage and started walking back towards the hospital. She'd only taken a few steps before Cam jogged to catch up. "Hey." He grabbed her arm and spun her around. Before she knew to stop him, he pulled her into his arms and his lips met hers. The kiss was gentle and her lips yielded easily to his. But it was over before she could even register it had happened at all. She touched two fingers to her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes.
 

"It's okay to need people, Darci." He took her hand gently from her mouth and held it in his. "And I'm here when you need me."
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

On Thursday afternoon, Taylor was given the go ahead to go home and start back to school. With Taylor feeling better, the hospital behind them, and things at the store settled down for the time being, Darci was finally feeling good about things. She couldn't help feeling that maybe Barb was right and everything would be all right.

She hadn't seen Cam since their brief kiss, if she could even call it that, and the more she thought about it, the more she decided it wasn't really a kiss. But when she was alone at night, laying in her bed unable to sleep, she'd let her mind drift back to the moment and would play the scenario out differently. She couldn't stop herself from wondering, what if it really had been a kiss? What if there was another one? Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible if she kissed Cam. She could no longer remember the reasons she'd had once, not too long ago, to avoid a relationship with him.

Darci had even taken Cam's advice and gone for a run the night before she brought Taylor home. Never in her life had she willingly put on running shoes and stepped out the door for the sole purpose of running down the street. But Cam was right, there was something therapeutic about it. She couldn't go very far because too many years of rushing from work to Taylor's practices hadn't left her in very good shape, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. And the best part was that for the few minutes that one foot was moving in front of the other, she didn't think about anything else but the way her body was moving.
 

It was late when Darci had decided to go out for that first run. The streetlights illuminated her path and the relative darkness helped her let go of her inhibitions and worry. By the time she'd run a loop around her small neighborhood, she was dripping with sweat, was out of breath, and felt fantastic.
 

And she wanted to do it again. With Taylor home, it might be a bit more complicated, when Darci looked at her daughter flopped out on the couch, talking on the phone, Darci decided that she would in fact go out again, right after Taylor went to bed.
 

"Mom," Taylor interrupted her thoughts. "I totally forgot, but Abby reminded me we have a practice tonight."

"Practice?"
 

Taylor, still with the phone attached to one ear, looked at her expectantly. "I'm going right, Mom?"

Darci wanted to tell her daughter that she should stay home and rest, but she knew it was no use. And she did have to admit, the sooner Taylor got back into regular life, the sooner they could all move on.
 

"Of course," Darci said. "So hang up the phone and get ready. You'll need to check your blood sugar before we go. I'll pack a snack."

Joelle and the dietician had both stressed the importance of always having a juice box and a small sugary snack on hand for Taylor in case she experienced a sudden dip in her blood sugar levels and needed to bring them up quickly.
 

"Tell Coach Cam I'll be there," Taylor said into the phone before hanging up.

Darci's stomach flipped when she heard his name. Just like a teenager, she chastised herself, and focused instead on putting together a quick, yet, healthy dinner.
 

###

Darci didn't see Cam before the practice started except to wave at him from the stands as she found herself a seat. There weren't many parents who stayed, and the ones that did, usually sat close to the team bench so they could offer their input or help run drills with the girls. Darci found a spot close to where she'd been sitting with Barb at the last game.
 

After a few minutes, Darci watched Jennica run onto the field. Taylor raised her hand for her friend to come stand by her but Jennica moved to the other side of the group. Strange, Darci thought. The two girls had always been close but something was definitely up, Jennica hadn't called or come to visit Taylor at all in the hospital. Darci shook her head dismissing it. Girl drama seemed to start earlier and earlier.
 

A few moments later, Susanna appeared, looking for a spot to sit. She started heading for her usual spot, when she looked up and saw Darci. It was only for a fraction of a second, but Darci didn't miss the look on the other woman's face. An unusual mixture of fear and disgust but then it was gone, replaced by Susanna's normal benign mask. She turned on her heel and started to walk back to the bench where Cam was gathering the girls.
 

"Susanna," Darci called out, surprising herself. "Come sit here."
 

The other woman turned around slowly, her brightly coated lips slid back into a twisted smile.
 

What was up with her, Darci thought as Susanna waved in her direction before looking around, probably for an excuse, any excuse, to go somewhere else. When there was none, the other woman began a very slow ascent up the bleachers towards Darci.

"Hi." Darci did her best to keep her voice friendly and light. Susanna wasn't her favorite person, but Darci was in a great mood, and sometimes it paid to be friendly. She was trying.
 

"I heard Taylor is home from the hospital now," Susanna said. She settled herself onto the bench, sitting just far enough away from Darci that it was awkward. "I'm glad she's well."

Darci turned in her seat and stared at the other woman. Normally Susanna would be grilling Darci to jump into the next fundraiser, or digging for as many details about anything at all that she could share with the gossip mill. Something was up. "You're not upset with me about not bringing the cookies last weekend, are you?"

Susanna turned around so quickly, that for a moment, Darci thought she might have seen a hair move from it's carefully lacquered position. "Of course not. Why would you say that?"

"You seem like something's bothering you," Darci said. "Is everything okay with you? Come to think of it, Taylor mentioned that she hadn't heard from Jennica in awhile. Is there something going on?"
 

"We're fine." Susanna turned around and faced the field where the team had started doing passing drills. It was Taylor's turn to kick the ball to Jennica, but the girl darted to the side and let the ball fly past her. Cam blew the whistle and pointed to the ball. Jennica glanced over to Taylor and shrugged her shoulders.
 

"What was that?" Darci said. "They're usually an unstoppable team."
 

Next to her, Susanna huffed and pulled her purse tighter to her chest. "Darci," she said, her voice clipped and strained. "I hope you know that things are different now."

"Pardon?" Something in the other woman's voice made Darci square her shoulders, ready for a fight. "How exactly are things different?"

"I've spoken with Jennica, and she agrees with me." Susanna stood and patted her head. "We don't think it's a good idea that the girls spend time together anymore."

Barb, who'd just arrived, overheard Susanna's announcement and said, "Are you kidding me? Why shouldn't the girls be spending time together?"

"Barb," Susanna turned to face her, effectively shutting Darci out of the conversation. "I think you might want to think about your own daughter's health here as well. It's tragic and unfortunate that one of the children is sick, but it would be catastrophic if they all fell victim to-"

"To what?" Darci jumped in. "To diabetes?"
 

Susanna recoiled at the word.
 

"You're worried that Jennica is going to catch diabetes from Taylor?" Darci positioned herself so Susanna couldn't look away from her face. She was aware that her voice had raised an octave, and if she'd looked, she probably would have seen that the entire team had stopped practicing and everyone was watching the drama unfolding in the bleachers. "She can't catch it, Susanna. It's not a cold. Taylor doesn't need her friends being scared of her. She's the same kid she was before."