Page 2 of She's My Kind of Girl

“You could come live here with me.”

“I don’t want to live in New York. This, Revival, is my home.” She started to weep again. “Please, baby, you have to help me.”

Darcy stared helplessly at the Parisian art print hanging on her wall. “I’ll call a couple lawyers and see what I can do.”

“No, you have to come home.”

No!God, no. She couldn’t go home. She’d shrugged off that town and its limitations years ago. She wasn’t ever going to go back. “Momma, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Yes, you can. I know it. I feel it in my bones,” her mom said with dramatic flair. “At my last reading Autumn told me you’re the only one who can help.”

Of course she did. Tammy was on a first-name basis with her psychic and took her word as gospel. Darcy shook her head. “What do you think I can possibly do? I’m not a lawyer.”

There was a long pause over the line. When her mom cleared her throat, Darcy’s stomach did a little flip. “Griffin Strong is the mayor.”

“The mayor!?” Darcy screamed the words before she could even process them.

“Yes, the mayor.”

Darcy closed her eyes. “And you never thought to tell me that little detail?”

“You said you didn’t care about news in Revival,” her mom pointed out oh so helpfully.

How had Griffin become mayor of Revival? How was that even possible? He’d been the baddest of all the bad boys with his tall, lanky frame, mischievous brooding dark brown eyes, and dirty blond hair. He’d had cheekbones cut from granite, a strong jaw, and a mouth that promised all sorts of illicit acts. Even the good girls had wanted him, with his penetrating stare, but he’d only had eyes for Darcy. And she’d only had eyes for him.

Growing up in Revival where everyone knew everything, every girl knew to stay away from him, Darcy included. While she’d lived on the wrong side of town with him, she’d never had the pleasure of meeting him until their junior year when they’d both ditched study hall and ended up behind the school for a smoke.

She remembered it like it was yesterday. She’d turned the corner leading to the back of the school where they hid the transformers, and he’d been leaning up against the wall, cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke curling into the air.

He’d turned his head and looked at her, saying absolutely nothing, but to Darcy’s sixteen-year-old brain they’d had a whole conversation. When his gaze roamed over her body, with a directness she’d never seen a boy display before, she’d gone hot all over and fallen instantly in love.

He hadn’t even had to say a word.

That Friday night they’d parked deep in the woods and fooled around in the backseat of his car for hours. She’d kissed guys before him, but he’d been the first boy she’d ever kissed where she’d felt anything. So she’d let him go further than kissing, much further. With his fingers he’d made her come for the first time; she’d never felt anything so good. He’d been her first taste of anything bad and dangerous, and she’d been addicted to wild ever since.

They’d been inseparable, causing chaos in the small town of Revival, while they lived out their teenage rebellion fantasies. It had all been perfect until she’d wanted to leave and he refused to go.

“Darcy.” The whine of her mom’s voice ripped her out of the past.

“Sorry, I still don’t understand what you think I can do.” An image of Griffin, his mouth on hers, filled her mind and her stomach heated. She shoved the memory away.

“He was your boyfriend.”

“In high school.” How had Griffin, the boy who made mothers lock their doors when he walked down the street, become respectable? Become mayor of a town that used to loathe him?

“You can talk to him for me.”

“Mom, no.”

“Darcy, please. You’re my only hope.” Her mom’s voice turned to pleading. “You’re the only one who can stop this.”

“That’s insane. I have no control over him. I haven’t seen him in twelve years.” And they’d ended so badly. She’d begged him to come with her, but he’d refused. His mom had been sick, and he had three younger brothers who needed looking after. He hadn’t wanted her to go.

She’d left because she couldn’t bear the thought of staying, even for him.

She hadn’t spoken to him since.

She bit her bottom lip and gave herself permission to ask one question about him. “Surely he’s married by now.”

“But he’s not,” Tammy said, her voice excited. “Please, all I ask is that you try. It’s the house I grew up in, Darcy, and besides you, it’s the only thing of value I have in this life. Come home for Christmas and help me save my house. Our house.”

Darcy’s heart started to pound. How could she say no without being the worst daughter in the world? Tammy was her mother, and she had no good excuse. She was a freelance writer. She wrote articles and ran her own blog. There was no office to go to. It was a month in Revival. To help her mom, who despite all her drama, never really asked Darcy for anything.

All she had to do was face Griffin. She could do that. She was a grown woman now, successful. Confident and empowered. Surely she could handle her high school boyfriend. “All right. I’ll come home and see what I can do.”

Tammy sniffed. “Thank you, baby. You won’t be sorry.”

Somehow, Darcy doubted that.