AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mandy prattled on, looking almost as if she wasn’t sure what to say next. She kept her smile in place, kept talking in her sweetest Southern twang. “But look at you.” She motioned to Darby. “You always did want to be a doctor and now you are one, and you knew just the right thing to do when Bobby fell. You must be so proud.”
Darby expected a “bless your heart” to hit her any moment. Why was Mandy being nice?
Unsure of her swirling emotions, Darby started to take a step back, but Blake’s hand kept her in place, burned through the material of her dress, singeing her with reassurance that he was there if she needed him, that she needed to stand her ground.
Was she misreading the hope in Mandy’s brown eyes?
“I only left the hospital a little while ago—had to get my hair done.” She glanced at the blonde bangs hanging over her eyes. “The doctor said you did a fantastic job caring for Bobby. We were lucky you were here. You really should come home.”
Armadillo Lake did need a doctor. Desperately.
But not her.
After a too-long silent stretch, Mandy gave a little wave of her fingers, and shot Blake an overly bright smile. “Well, I should mingle. After all, I was student body president and I am supposed to be the hostess.”
Unsure what to think about the exchange, Darby watched Mandy blend into the crowd.
“Unbelievable,” Blake breathed close to her ear. “She was trying to talk to you, and you cut her off. It’s obvious she has regrets.”
Turning toward him, Darby scowled. “Have you forgotten what she did to me?”
“No.” His dark eyes cut into her. “I can’t forget, because you won’t tell me what she did. Why did you cut her down?”
Was he yet again taking Mandy’s side? Were men so easily fooled by a pretty face? Was she forever to have her date defend Mandy? Would Blake leave the prom—the reunion—with Mandy, too?
Moisture pooled in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. She wouldn’t cry. Not because of the past. Not because of whatever emotions ran through her, making her want to cling to Blake and beg him never to leave her, to never destroy her trust the way she’d been shattered at sixteen.
Which she would never do. Never again would she be so humiliated, so hurt by a man.
Not even Blake.
“Why don’t you just butt out of things that aren’t any of your business?” she bit out, needing to put distance between them, needing to lash out at the sting she’d felt at his defense of Mandy. She spun to go in search of something to drink, and bumped into Trey near the bar.
“Hey, babe.” He took a swig from the bottle of beer he held. “That was cool of you today with Bobby.”
Still brewing over what Blake had said, she absently waved off Trey’s praise. “It was no big deal—just what I do.”
“Yeah, but not something most people can do—save someone’s life. I’m impressed.”
She blinked up at him. “I quit trying to impress you years ago.” She hadn’t really, she realized. Because every man she met, every man she dated, she saw through the pain she’d suffered at Trey’s hands, saw without being able to trust in their words, their feelings for her.
“I’ve always felt bad about what happened.” He glanced down at the drink in his hand, picked at the silver label with his fingernail. “But I didn’t know how to tell you I was sorry. I wanted to, thought about it a million times, but finding the words to apologize for something like that wasn’t something I seemed able to do.”
“A simple ‘I’m sorry’ would have done.”
“I’m sorry.” He grinned, and she had a flash of remembrance of what she’d found so appealing about him. “Forgive me?”
Trey had only asked her out to get back with Mandy. It had worked. Whatever differences had split them up, when Mandy and another guy had pulled up to the lookout point, overlooking the lake, Trey, Darby’s date—the guy she’d been making out with, planned to go all the way with—had jumped out of his car, punched Mandy’s date and made up with her, leaving Darby to find her own way home.
“To be honest,” he continued, “you scared the hell out of me. You were so smart, and knew exactly what you wanted out of life. I liked you, but felt like a goofy kid next to you.” He sighed. “Then there was Mandy.”
Yes, there had been Mandy—who had fallen for Trey at the same time Darby had. They’d idolized him from afar for years. When they’d been fifteen, Trey had fallen for Mandy. In the fallout, Mandy had dumped her friendship with Darby. It had only been when his relationship with Mandy had gone sour that he’d asked Darby out.
“I loved her, you know.” He gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I admit what I did to you was wrong, was a sorry thing to do, but I never meant to hurt you that night.”
No, he’d only meant to take everything she’d been willing to give—her virginity, her love, her wide-eyed trust—and then walk away the moment he and Mandy worked things out. Which they’d done.
Still, looking into Trey’s sincere eyes, she did believe him. He’d been seventeen and a typical teenaged boy. Was it his fault she’d taken his loosely spoken words of affection to heart?
