Page 9 of Daniel
Just after meeting his brother Jacob and his girlfriend Sierra, I saw Daniel’s head perk up as he looked to the front entrance.
“Jacob, with me. Prairie, stay with Sierra.”
The two men raced for the front door, and just a moment later, their parents and a few of the toughest-looking townspeople followed.
“What’s going on?” I asked Sierra.
“No idea. Andrew barely had to call for them and they came running though, which is kind of nice.” She smiled brightly. “They’re a really close-knit family. Always helping each other out. It’s pretty amazing.”
“How long have you been dating Jacob?” I asked.
Sierra stared up at the ceiling for a second, counting in her head. “Thirteen days? We met at the airport on the tenth.”
I sputtered with laughter. “Thirteen days? It looks like the two of you have been together forever.”
“I know,” Sierra laughed with me. “It’s ridiculous, isn’t it. But there’s something about falling in love in Holly Valley at Christmas that just seems to fast forward everything. I knew I was in love with him almost immediately. It just took a few days for me to relax and accept that it was real.”
“Any advice on how to deal with the King family?” I asked.
“Oh, I certainly don’t know them very well yet. But my Aunt Lucy says they’re the most down to earth people you’ll ever meet.”
“Good.”
My eyes kept darting to the tables of food, as I was still pretty hungry. Sierra followed my gaze. “Hey, let’s grab a bite before they come back.”
We went to the buffet, where she headed straight for the potato salad, but I didn’t want to get anything creamy all over my lips. Nibbling some cheese and crackers, I kept my eye on the door.
A man who must have been Andrew, the middle brother, came back in with his arm around a girl who seemed quite upset. Just a minute later, Daniel and Jacob returned.
Daniel dashed to the bar, fetched the girl a half glass of champagne, and spoke with them all for a moment. Then he came back to us, shaking his head.
“Nice to meet you, Prairie. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Sierra said. Jacob was already gathering her up in a hug as Daniel took my hand to lead me away.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“It is now.” He swept me into his arms, then we spun around the room in another dance.
Daniel’s lips lowered to my ear. “Your parents keep giving us funny looks. Do they not approve of you going out with me?”
I turned, looking over to see them both with strange expressions I couldn’t read. “I couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t approve of you,” I said.
“Should we go talk to them?” he asked. “Maybe I should have re-introduced myself when I picked you up. Sorry.”
The song ended, and I smiled up at him. “Actually, just give me a moment. I’ll find out what’s up.”
“Okay.”
He leaned down as if to kiss me, then stopped, squeezing my hand instead. “I guess I shouldn’t kiss you if they’re looking. I’ll save that for later.”
How could a man I barely knew be so impossibly thoughtful? Although I didn’t want to leave him for even a second, I walked over to my parents’ table and sat beside Mom.
“I can’t believe you’re here with one of the King boys,” she said, her eyes wide and slightly horrified.
“He’s really nice,” I said. “We had a lovely dinner, and have a lot in common, actually.”
Mom’s eyes dropped to my bosom, which looked even fuller and rounder than usual in this dress. “I hope you didn’t eat very much in front of him.”
“Oh my God – Mom, have you been talking to Lila or something?”
