Page 16 of Daniel
“My family's big meal is always lunch on Christmas Day,” Prairie said. “But let me call them for a second to make sure.”
“Sure.”
As she grabbed her phone and went to stand on the far side of the room, Mrs. Gastel offered her a paper plate of food. “We meant to feed you beforehand, honey, but everything was such a last minute rush. You must be starving.”
“Thank you.” Prairie took the plate and went out to the other room for a bit of privacy while she made her call.
A second plate was pressed into my own hand, and I ate while the ladies all told me what a wonderful job we did.
Prairie returned in a few minutes with a bright smile, setting her plate aside with only half of it gone.
“Not hungry?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I tend to just nibble when I’m running around and talking a lot.”
I didn’t like how her eyes looked a bit strained as she said that, but didn’t know how to dig any deeper. Maybe she was a picky eater and didn’t want to seem fussy. I hoped that this strangely speedy dating process wasn’t causing her stress.
Even though I positively adored her, and wanted to know every single detail about her, I could understand a young lady wanting to take her time.
To me, everything felt perfect. But we still didn’t know each other very well yet.
I had to hope that starting to date during an incredibly busy and social time of year didn’t put any undue pressure on our fledgling relationship. I would never forgive myself if I accidentally scared my beautiful girl away just as I was in the process of falling head over heels in love with her.
A dark thought snuck into the back of my mind. Prairie was a young, vibrant, creative girl. What if she was unsure about ending up with an older man who wasn’t exactly the life of the party?
I’d have to make sure that I was good enough for her.
10
PRAIRIE
It was nearly impossible to stop my hands from fidgeting over my skirt, my hair, my silver bracelets. The entire King family in one room at once was going to be a lot.
They were all nice people, but my family kept insisting that they were practically royalty around here. It was a bit intimidating.
When I’d called to check with Mom to see if she minded that I went out for dinner tonight, I could hear the shock in her voice. “Of course,” she had said. “Nobody turns down an invitation to the Kings’ house. You stay out as long as you like, and make a good impression.”
And then there were the texts from Lila.
Lila:Heard that you were Mrs. Claus! That’s adorable.
Lila:But if you’re going to be hanging around Daniel, you’d better make sure that you look less Claus-like by next year.
Me:He likes me the way I am. Knock it off.
Lila:It’s not just him. Imagine how you’ll look in their family photos years from now.
Me:Enough. Please, drop it.
I put my phone away, and turned to Daniel. He looked so comfortable when he was driving.
“Anything I should know about your family before I get there?” I asked.
“Not really. Everyone is pretty chill. I mean, Dad gets weird about business stuff, but I doubt we’ll be discussing that.”
“Okay. What about your Mom?”
Daniel’s handsome smile made my heart flutter. “She already likes you. Just get to know her a little more.”
