Page 30 of Daniel
“Hey,” I said, coming up behind her.
“Daniel!” Her face completely transformed, so that she was bright-eyed and smiling. “How are you?”
“Fine. How are you?”
She stepped closer, the tone of her smile confusing me.
“I’m just fabulous,” she said, as Sandra disappeared with a smirk. “I see that you’ve gone out with Prairie a few times. Now that you’re officially on the dating circuit, I think I know someone who would be even better suited for you. And, you know…” She nodded toward the other side of the rink where Jacob and Sierra were walking just in front of Andrew and Robin. “Everyone.”
Suddenly it all made sense. For the past several years, Lila had always been suggesting this or that friend of hers who would be perfect for me to date. She never gave any explanations or details, simply saying that whenever I was looking, I should come to her for ideas.
Every time I came to town, she said she had bits of news for me, as if she were looking for any excuse to chat to me. She was obsessed with who was seen out with who, and every single date and breakup in town. It was funny: she was like one of the older women who treated this town like a soap opera.
All this time I had thought it was nice to have a female acquaintance to catch up with on town events, but now I saw she clearly had something else in mind.
Placing my hand on the wall, I leaned in close without touching her. “Who is this mystery person who would be even better for me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
“Oh, you know,” she said, twirling her blonde hair around her finger. Everything about her instantly became more girlish.
Taking a closer look, I noticed that her makeup was a bit softer today, more like Prairie’s. Her hair was also less bleachy looking, and more natural. Again, like Prairie’s.
Although it made me feel sick to my stomach, I forced myself to smile. “Are you telling me that I should date a girl I’d known a bit longer?”
“Yes, absolutely,” she said, batting her eyelashes at me.
“Are you trying to tell me that you’d like me to ask you out?”
Her eyes blazed as if she had just won a prize. “I’d love you to. You know, I only suggested that you go out with Prairie to see if you were ready to date Holly Valley girls. I didn’t think for a second that you’d actually go through with it once you got a good look at her.”
Stepping back, I was utterly shocked by her cruelty. How could someone manipulate someone that way? How could she be so mean to her own cousin? And how could Lila attempt to play me like a pawn simply because she wanted to date someone in my family?
I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t picked up on her interest from the start, but I didn’t have any experience with women. Even less with weasels in lipstick.
Even though I would never do it in a million years, I was genuinely surprised at how much I wanted to slap her for hurting the sweetest woman I’d ever known.
20
PRAIRIE
“You didn’t say goodbye to the King boy in person?” Mom gasped, incredulous. “Prairie, get back there and be polite.”
“Mom, you don’t understand, I—”
“Go. Now. We will not be known for our daughter’s lack of manners.” Mom never raised her voice in the slightest, so this must be serious.
Slouching back to the ice rink, I looked around for Daniel. It was easy to spot him, since he was so tall, but he seemed to be having a close conversation with someone.
As I got closer, I saw it was Lila.
“You backstabbing lowlife,” Daniel growled at her. “How the hell could you be so rude and cruel to your own cousin?”
I’d never heard Daniel angry before, and as I tiptoed closer I saw Lila’s face fall. “But she’s no good for you,” Lila said. Her voice was getting close to a whine. “She’s an artsy chick who just moved here. You need somebody who knows Holly Valley, and how things work here. And someone who looks…you know…”
“Don’t you say another goddamn word,” Daniel spat. “Prairie is gorgeous just the way she is, inside and out. It’s not herfault she turned out to have an ugly, conniving little worm for a cousin. I cannot believe that someone I thought was my friend was sitting here making the love of my life feel bad about herself.”
Lila’s eyes flicked over to see me standing behind Daniel. I could see tears beginning to fill her eyes, then she turned on her heel and ran.
Daniel spun to see what had scared her off, his expression transforming from rage to joy in a blink. “Baby,” he whispered, opening his arms. I ran into them, loving the way his large hand cradled the back of my head, stroking my hair.
