Page 58 of Pierced Pages
Morgan gave her an appreciative smile and started the car before she lost all of that willpower and made another fool of herself.
Morgan finishedthe last of her duties for the evening, trying to absorb all the instructions she’d been given. How to walk, where to stand, when to sit. Catholic weddings were so weirdly scripted. She didn’t understand the point of it all. Just walk up, say the stuff, then you’re married. Everyone can party in your honor. No need for all the rigidity.
She walked to the back of the church, where she found Danielle smiling at her from the last pew. She was sitting beside one of Morgan’s potential nightmares for the evening. Her cousin, Lana.
“Hey, Lana,” she said. “Brought your mom?”
“Yeah,” Lana said with a sigh. Her big brown eyes showed a hint of resignation as her thick bangs fluffed with that sigh. “Doctor said she shouldn’t drive anymore, and she’s doing a reading at the wedding. I love coming along and seeing everyone, though.”
Morgan could imagine. Lana had always been one of the most gossipy of her cousins.
“And you know how much I adore Jen,” Lana continued, “but I was so glad to sit with your other friend here. Danielle, right?”
Morgan looked at Danielle, who sat quietly beside Lana. Her blonde waves draped perfectly over her shoulders in that ruffled white blouse. Morgan looked for signs of regret or panic or anything that might send her running for the door, but she didn’t find a hint of those. In fact, Danielle looked like she was actually enjoying their conversation.
“Right,” Danielle said politely. “And likewise.”
“Ooh, looks like Mom’s ready. I’d better get her to the car before everyone starts shuffling out of here around her and she loses her balance.”
She hurried out of the pew and met a late middle-aged woman with a cane and a wrapped knee.
“Nice to meet you,” Danielle said to her back.
Morgan slid into Lana’s spot beside Danielle. That had always been her favorite part of church. She’d slide all the way down a pew to their seats. It drove her mother nuts, which was part of the fun.
“Sorry about that.”
“No need to be sorry,” Danielle said. “If that’s how this night’s going to go, there was no need to warn me about anything.”
“Oh, Lana won’t be the big problem,” Morgan said. “She’s the easiest person to deal with. At least to her face. Whatever you told her, though, will be making the rounds among everyone else here before we even get to my aunt’s house.”
“Well, I promise I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t.” Danielle shifted ever so slightly on the wooden bench. “We’re friends. We met at Kim’s thing. I’m a boring teacher with a kid. That’s all there is to tell. Right?”
Morgan fell into Danielle’s mossy green gaze and decided she never wanted to leave that place. There was hope mirrored back at her.
Hope.
“Right.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, then faked a smile. “Yeah. Right. That’s it.”
If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought she'd seen a hint of disappointment staring back at her.
But that couldn’t be right. Danielle had been the one to break off their kiss. And she’d just clarified that they werefriends. Nothing else to it.
A small but confident smile stretched across Danielle’s face, erasing any sign of disappointment or reservation about the whole thing.
“Well, I’m ready for whatever’s next,” she said. “And the food.”
“Don’t forget the food.” Morgan smiled back, her heart filled with warmth and something deeper for this woman who was prepared to face an upcoming viper pit with her. There was no thanks that could ever cover what this meant to her. No words at all for how she felt.
No, that was a lie.
There were words.
She was just too chicken to use them.
Chapter 26
Danielle
