Love Does Not Delight In Evil

By Clarence A. Molloy III

Nick and Darcy, a young interracial couple in their late twenties, have been dating for a year and a half. Their love is tested when Nick's wedding proposal does not go as planned. They soon find themselves on an exciting, romantic adventure that takes them from North Carolina to St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, and back to North Carolina. Nick is clueless about a deep, dark secret Darcy has been hiding from him for several months, which may jeopardize their relationship altogether. He later confides his desire to become a Christian to Darcy, who secretly vows to do everything in her power to prevent that from happening!  All 125 captivating pages of this book will draw you into a world of love, lies, danger, faith, and complicated scenes of romance! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarence Molloy
• Release date: Mar 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215738290

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Clarence A. Molloy III

COPYRIGHT © CLARENCE A. MOLLOY III  2023  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

Chapter 1 

Will You?

I ’m so sorry, Nick ... I can’t marry you... I can’t... Darcy stated emphatically as she got up from the dinner table and hurried away, with her hands covering her mouth. Loud gasps of disbelief could be heard from around the large, beautifully decorated Thanksgiving table with orange and yellow carnations and gold-toned dinnerware.

Nick was still there, on bended knee, frozen like an ice sculpture next to where he sat at the dinner table. He was trying to process what had just happened. He felt as if he had fallen into the twilight zone – as if he stumbled down an enormous, bottomless rabbit hole and was spinning uncontrollably, never hitting the bottom.

This beautiful young lady that he was dating for a year and a half, who said, I love you, to him daily just told him, and everyone in her mom’s house, that she was not interested in spending the rest of her life with him, in so many words. 

The only woman he had ever proposed to simply turned him down in front of her mom, her two sisters, and her grandfather, who were all gathered at the home for Thanksgiving dinner. Lucky thing they had already finished dinner because he instantly felt sick to the stomach as he watched the woman of his dreams walk away from him. 

Darcy’s sisters, Mona and Laurie, both had tears in their eyes as they got up and went running up the stairs after her, who was visibly upset by the impromptu wedding proposal. Nora, Darcy’s mom, came over and tenderly massaged Nick’s strong shoulders with a tear in her eye too. She felt his pain. She knew how much he was in love with her daughter. In all her 61 years of life, living in the same town she grew up in, she had never seen a female turn down a wedding proposal. It just didn’t happen in those parts of North Carolina. Every girl she ever knew dreamed of being some lucky guy’s bride one day. 

C’mon Nick, she finally said to the handsome young man that she had grown so fond of, You’ve been down on that knee for far too long. Let’s go into the kitchen and get a slice of pumpkin pie and smother it with four heapings of vanilla ice cream on top. She was trying to cheer him up, but it wasn’t working.

Nick remained on the floor and didn’t even realize his legs were becoming numb. The gorgeous, 18-karat gold diamond ring started to feel cold and heavy in his hand. He felt the urge to get up and excuse himself from the room for a minute and step out the back door and throw the ring into the woods behind the house. Then scream into the chilly November wind and howl his pain away as the wolves do at the sign of a full moon.

Nora attempted to lift Nick from the floor by wrapping her hands around his muscular bicep, but he didn’t budge. Her slender 128 lbs were no match for his 195 lbs of lean muscle. Nora looked at her dad, Pawpaw, who was still seated at the dinner table, actually enjoying the last slice of sweet potato pie with vanilla ice cream while all this drama was taking place. Her eyes said to him, Help. Pawpaw just shrugged and continued enjoying his dessert. She knew he literally couldn’t assist her. She was desperate. Pawpaw was 82 years old and was in no shape to help lift a grown 6’2’’ man off the floor. Pawpaw weighed even less than Nora.

Nick snapped out of his stupor and got up on his feet all on his own. Nora went through the motions of helping him up but really didn’t do anything. He sat back down in his seat at the dining table. You could see that he wasn’t fully back to himself yet. 

This was Nick’s second Thanksgiving with Darcy and her family. He and Darcy met a year and a half ago through some mutual friends, Ray and Nina, who thought they would be a good match for each other. They double-dated with them one Saturday night. They did the traditional dinner and a movie and have been at each other’s side ever since.

Nick had no immediate family in NC. He had moved from Brooklyn, five months prior to meeting Darcy to get away from the hustle and bustle of NY and was also looking for a slightly warmer location that was more family-friendly since he always wanted a large family of his own one day. One of his neighbors in Brooklyn, Mr. Watson, was from North Carolina and always threatened to move back every winter, especially when the temperature dropped below thirty degrees.

Nick, originally from the US Virgin Islands, the island of St. Croix, moved to Brooklyn when he was 11 years old with his mom and dad. Every other year he and his parents visited St. Croix during the last week of December to the first week of January, which is the Carnival season there, so he is still very familiar with the island and the culture. 

At first, Darcy was nervous about bringing him home for the family to meet him because neither she nor her sisters had ever dated a black guy before. To her relief, her mom accepted Nick from the very first day she met him and he has been like a member of the family ever since. Even Pawpaw seemed to have taken a liking to Nick from the very beginning. She remembered when she was a young girl, Pawpaw had a Confederate flag license plate on the front of his red pickup truck when she was in elementary school (NC only requires one state-issued license plate on the rear of each vehicle). They never talked about or discussed what it might have meant because quite a few people in Concord, NC had those same license plates on the front of their cars and some even flew the flags in their front yards. But, this was twenty-something years ago.  

A few minutes before the family sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, Nick pulled Darcy’s oldest sister, Laurie, to the side. He wanted to let her in on his little secret.

This is probably not a good idea, Nick, Laurie whispered as he proudly gave her a preview of the engagement ring. She’s going to say, No, Laurie continued sadly. Knowing what she knew about her sister, there was no way Darcy was going to accept Nick’s marriage proposal tonight. 

What are you talking about? Darcy is the love of my life and I want to show her how much she means to me. I want to show her that I want to commit to her for the rest of my life. Of course, she’s going to say yes, Nick replied convincingly. He was perplexed by Laurie’s reaction. 

Laurie wanted to spare Nick the agony of experiencing the inevitable if he went ahead with his proposal as planned. 

I don’t think Darcy is really ready for marriage right now, Nick. You know what a free spirit she is. Maybe you should give her a year or two to grow and experience life a bit more before you spring something like this on her.

Nick was surprised by Laurie’s reaction to his idea of proposing to her sister. I honestly didn’t expect you, of all people, to be against us getting engaged. That’s why I broke the news to you first. Not even your mom knows about this.

"Nick, I know my sister. Darcy is not ready for a life-long commitment like marriage at this time. Maybe you are, but she’s not. She’s just not at that level of maturity. She’s not ready to be anyone’s wife right now. She’s only 27 years old and hasn’t really done anything significant with her life as yet." Laurie was making stuff up on the spot as she tried to dissuade Nick from going ahead with the proposal. If Nick knew what she knew about Darcy, he would leave the house this very minute without alerting Darcy and relocate to a small, remote town in the south of India or maybe somewhere in Australia by this time tomorrow.

Wait a minute... Are we talking about the same Darcy? The third-grade teacher who was just recognized as Teacher of the Year at her school last year? Is that the same Darcy we’re talking about? The one who travels to a different European country every summer? Nick was beginning to get upset. Where was this sudden lack of faith in his and Darcy’s future coming from?

Nick, can you please lower your voice?... What I was alluding to was that Darcy is simply just too young for marriage right now. Laurie was still lying through her teeth.

Nick, still upset by the lack of encouragement he was receiving, retorted while clenching his teeth, You’re only three years older than Darcy... She’s a grown woman who is capable of making her own choices in life whether you like them or not. 

Nick continued, with a bit more restraint, I can see I made a major mistake in thinking I could confide in you. I guess I should have gone to your mom instead. At least she would be a whole lot more supportive of my decision.

I’m only looking out for you, Nick. I’m not the enemy. I, sincerely, want what’s best for you and Darcy... Please reconsider this engagement, that’s all I’m asking... or at least put it off for just a little while longer.

Of all the people...

Nick stopped talking as soon as he saw Nora walk into the kitchen. 

What are you two up to? questioned Nora with a smile on her face. C’mon...  Pawpaw is about to bless the food. She grabbed the large pan of mac and cheese Nick brought over and led the two out to the dinner table. 

Nick smiled at his beloved Darcy as he sat next to her at the dinner table. She smiled back at him