Zoe patted her hand.“Let’s have cheesecake and stop worrying.These two,” she said and pointed to the two mothers, “will sort it out.”
*
They were ontheir second beer when Don slapped him on the back.“So have you talked to Dale like I said you should or have you discovered all on your own what else you should do?”
Dale frowned.“What are you talking about?”Don laughed and waved Dale over to them.
“Come and tell our brother here what else he should do before we leave him to the mercy of Mom and Brenda.”
Dale smiled.“You mean he also doesn’t know what to do to make sure he gets the girl?”
By this time David felt like throwing his beer in their faces.“I got the girl—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Did you ask her to marry you?”Dale asked.“I mean in so many words?”
David opened his mouth to say he did but then realized he never used those specific words.“I told her I love her.Doesn’t that include everything?I mean, of course, I want to marry her—why the hell would I tell her I loved her otherwise!”
Don and Dale laughed.Darryn grimaced.
Dale patted him on the shoulder.“You have a lot to learn.Lesson number one, you have to tell them what is going on in your mind.You have to spell things out, letter by letter, to make sure there is no misunderstanding.”
“Surely she knows?”David asked, dazed.
“Welcome to the club of clueless husbands.”Don smiled.“But you’ll learn!”
“So what do I do?”he asked.
Don rolled his eyes.“Darryn, why don’t you listen as well?Because one of these days, you’ll also need to know the answer.”
Darryn swore and walked in the direction of the kitchen.“I am the only sane one around.I’ll fetch the meat for the barbecue,” he said brusquely.
Don shrugged.“Well, then we’ll tell you,” he said and sat down next to David.
*
It was lateby the time David took her home.
He was very quiet, had been throughout the evening.Every time she had looked in his direction, his eyes had been on her, and he’d mostly stayed close, always finding ways to touch her.
David walked with her to her front door but didn’t go in as he normally did.“Will you be okay on your own tonight?”he asked, and her heart sank.
“Why?”she began before she could stop herself.She swallowed.So this was his way of backing away.“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
She quickly went into her house and started closing the front door behind her, but David caught the door before it closed.
“I… there’s something I have to do.Idiot that I am, I didn’t know that I… that you… but I’ll see you tomorrow.I love you.”He kissed her.Possessively.
Before she could blink, he was gone.Slowly, she closed the door behind her.What was going on?He said he loved her, but he didn’t want to stay with her?And what was it he had to do?
She was tired.All the emotions of the past few days that she had been keeping bottled up finally burst open, and the tears started to flow.She stumbled to her room and fell on the bed.
She’d always known her dad was innocent, but for so long she’d been the only one who believed that.Finding out that her beloved dad hadn’t taken the easy way out, as so many people had accused him of, at least gave her some closure.That her kind and loving father had to die in such a brutal way would probably always haunt her, but at least now the people who were responsible for his untimely death were behind bars.
Hopefully, she’d pass out immediately.What exactly was going on she didn’t know, and her brain was just too tired to try and figure it out at this stage.
David did kiss her, and he did tell her he loved her.That was all that really mattered though, wasn’t it?
*
