Page 32 of Pierced Pages
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s none of my business, really. Forget I asked.”
“No, it’s fine,” Danielle said. “It’s just… they watch my daughter from time to time.”
“Oh. You have a daughter? How old is she?”
That was also none of her business, but a quick sideway look told her this one was okay to ask.
“Thirteen,” Danielle said. “Thirteen going on eighteen, if you ask her.”
Morgan laughed. “Sounds about right. I probably thought I was even older than that at her age.”
“Me too.”
Morgan turned right onto a highway heading toward the uppity end of Oakview, where all the oil field money lived. A strange emotion twisted inside her. It must be connected to the idea of Danielle as a mother, but she couldn’t quite identify it. There was no relationship between them for this to complicate anything. No reason the reveal should have any effect at all on Morgan. Yet there was this tiny uneven shape of warmth resting deep inside her.
“What’s her name?”
“Lila,” Danielle said with a lightness to the word.
“That’s a pretty name.”
Morgan wanted to ask more. To know more. But none of that was her information to have. They were barely friends. Acquaintances, really. Acquaintances who were going to a wedding together.
Sheesh. What kind of mess had she gotten herself into?
“Her dad lives in Texas.”
“Oh, I didn’t?—”
“I know. It’s okay,” Danielle said. “It’s not like it’s a secret or anything. We haven’t been together since right after Lila was born. We were both ridiculously young, and it just wasn’t a good fit for either of us.”
“So you’re bi?” she asked. “Or pan?”
That certainly wasn’t any of her business. But apparently she couldn’t stop her mouth from running that afternoon.
“Bi, yeah,” Danielle said. “But, like I said that night we talked, I’m not dating, anyway.”
“Right.” Morgan turned into the parking lot and tried not to feel disappointed by those last words.
“And now you know why.”
When Morgan turned, she found a big smile on Danielle’s full, glossy nude lips, which confirmed that anything with this woman was off-limits. Danielle was happy devoting all of her time to her kid, and even if Morgan wanted to break her own no-dating rule, she wouldn’t want to inadvertently mess anything up for them or make Danielle’s life any more difficult than it probably already was.
The last thing she wanted was to ever make that smile disappear.
Morgan nodded her head toward the building. “You ready to check out some clothes?”
Danielle squinted at the small raised building that looked like a little blue house with a tiny sign hanging from the porch.
“I didn’t even realize this place was here.” Danielle turned to Morgan. “You shop here a lot?”
Morgan chuckled to herself at that. Even funnier was what Danielle must have been thinking about the mismatch of Morgan in her tattered jeans and T-shirt with combat boots paired with the image of this place.
Then again, she had seen Morgan in one of her nicer outfits at the recommitment ceremony. So maybe it wasn’t that much of a stretch for her to be here.
“Not anymore,” Morgan said. “This used to be the one-stop shop for all things political butt-kissing.”
“Your mom, right?” Danielle shook her head. “Sorry. That’s not my business.”
