“You should see a good plastic surgeon the minute you get back to New York,” Ainsley advised.
Darby decided not to share with them the fact that she no longer had her glitzy job in New York. Which hadn’t been all that glitzy in the first place, since she’d been on the bottom rung of the ladder. Actually, she wasn’t sure what, if anything, she wanted to share with these two women. They suddenly felt like a foreign species.
It didn’t matter. They had plenty to share on their own, happily spilling tea about Janice.
“She got the place for next to nothing,” Laurel said. “You know, her aunt and uncle owned it. Remember what a dump it was?”
“So they retired?” Darby asked.
“Not hardly. Uncle ran off with the teller at First National and the aunt had a nervous breakdown. I think Janice’s parents bought the place for her. God knows she wouldn’t be able to get a job doing much of anything else.”
Janice was hardly stupid. “Why is that?” Darby asked.
Ainsley rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. Look at her. She’s hardly executive material, and she’ll sure never be an influencer.”
“I guess she’s got some influence. We’re here drinking her coffee,” Darby pointed out.
“Until we get a Starbucks,” Ainsley said. She narrowed her eyes. “What is your problem? Did that snowball damage your brain?”
“What do you mean by that?” Darby demanded.
“You’re suddenly MissCongeniality,” Ainsley said in disgust.
God help her, she had been just like Ainsley—and not that long ago. Talking to her was like thinking you had a clean house until someone turned on the lights.
Darby shook her head. “You really should stop and listen to yourself sometime.”
“Oh, Saint Darby,” Ainsley taunted.
“I’m going home,” Darby said. “I need to ice my nose, and I’ve got a headache.”
“Fine with me ’cause you’re giving me one,” said Ainsley.
Darby rolled her eyes. “Pathetic,” she said, standing.
“You sure are,” Ainsley said, determined to have the last word. “Call us once the aliens vacate your body.”
“What’s with her?” she heard Laurel ask as she headed for the door.
She didn’t hear what Ainsley said in reply. And she didn’t want to.
She sighed as she got into her mom’s car, which Mom was letting her use. Who was she to sit in judgment on her friends? She’d been just like them for so long—and still had a long way to go.
Chapter6
Darby’s parents were hospitable to a fault, and when the snowboard party returned, all were invited to stay and share the giant pot of chili Mom had made. Darby found herself irritated watching Arielle in action, flattering Gregory until it was a wonder his head didn’t blow up and float off like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. He was amazing on the slopes. She couldn’t keep up. And everyone knew he was the smartest man in Eagledale. Gack.
Darby reached a point where it was all she could do not to shriek, “Will you just shut up?”
Okay, she was cranky. She wasn’t in physical pain thanks to the painkillers, but her nose was a mess and she felt ugly.
And she was jealous, which brought a pain all its own. Gregory had, once upon a time, been crazy about her. She wanted him to be once again, even though she didn’t deserve his admiration. Instead, she had to watch some other woman moving in on him like a stealth bomber. Except there wasnothing stealthy about the way Arielle was behaving. Darby watched and ground her teeth . . . which did nothing to make her unhappy heart feel any better.
How many girls had watched her in action over the years and experienced the same pangs? How many boyfriends had she stolen? She thought of what she’d done to her own sister and cringed. Sometimes it was hard not to think of herself as beyond redemption. Thank God for Josh, who had assured her that she wasn’t.
She half-wished he was with her to nod approvingly as she held back the many verbal barbs that came to mind.
“It’s too bad you had to miss today,” Arielle said to her. It was a taunt, and they both knew it. The up-and-coming mean girl challenging the former queen of Mean Hill. “Just as well, though, ’cause you would have fallen on your nose.”
