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Delilah fetches her metal, bento-style lunch box and water bottle from the fridge, parks herself at the table, and gestures for me to do the same. She opens the divided container, plucks a carrot stick and chomps away.
“So, what’s up?”
Why didn’t I think to grab food before stopping by? A sandwich from the deli across the street. Maybe a salad from the diner. Hell, even a side of fries would stifle my hunger pangs until I left.
As if reading my mind, Delilah scoots her lunch between us. A silent eat whatever you want.
“Thanks,” I say, popping a grape in my mouth. “I’ll restock some of your lunch foods next time I go shopping.”
“Not necessary.” She reaches for a boiled egg. “On to what matters.”
Delilah is a great friend. The best. Had I known who she was before our friendship in high school, we would probably live different lives today. Considering her family is one of the seven, I would have avoided her from the start. Kept a distance. The Stone Bay elite didn’t associate with people like me—lower to middle-class citizens.
But Delilah is different. Less pretentious. More open and loving. And I thank my lucky stars her last name didn’t keep me from obtaining a best friend.
“I seem to have landed on the gossip radar.”
Leaning in, she plants an elbow on the table and rests her chin in her palm. “Tell me more.”
I roll my eyes. “Nothing has been said directly to me, but the whispers every time I pass someone on the street or in a store…” I shrug. “It’s annoying as hell. They’re trash-talking me like I’m the town whore.”
Delilah sits back and laughs. Glad she finds the situation humorous. I sure as hell don’t.
“Sorry.” A hand covers her mouth. “It’s just… you knew pissing off Kelli was like walking into the devil’s lair without a plan. Right?”
Kelli hadn’t consumed much of my time in the past. Yes, she got under my skin. As she did with countless others. But I never let her take up real estate in my mind. One—it would accomplish nothing. Two—who wants that woman in their head twenty-four seven? Not me.
“You think she started this? The whispers and nasty looks.”
“Wouldn’t be a shock. You didn’t just step on her turf. You embarrassed her.”
I point a carrot stick at Delilah. “How did I embarrass her? No one but her saw me and Law. He’d been trying to ditch her for months. I helped. Period.”
Delilah nods and grabs a handful of berries. “True. But now you and Law are public. Out doing things together. Kelli may have started the rumor mill. She may be perpetuating the trash talk, but you out in the open with Law is gasoline on an already lit fire.”
I toss down the carrot. “This is fucking ridiculous. So, what? I can’t be out in public with my boyfriend?”
On a long exhale, Delilah reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Of course you can. But until she quits her childish games, your life will probably be like this. It sucks, but the snobs of this town coddle her. They hear her bullshit stories, her woe-is-me blather, and they automatically peg the other person the villain.”
Delilah’s family may be one of the Stone Bay originals, but at least they don’t have a holier than thou mentality. After we had been friends a few months, Delilah told me the Fox way of thinking started to change with her grandparents. They attended exclusive events less often. Associated themselves with more townsfolk than elite. Then passed that way of life down the line to their children and so on. Yes, they still owned a chunk of Stone Bay. Yes, they still had more money than I would in two lifetimes. But they now used their assets and status for good.
Every day I had my friend, I silently thanked her grandparents.
“When does it stop, DeeDee? When do I get to live like everyone else?”
Her lips purse as she shrugs. “She needs a new plaything or someone else to torture.” She cracks open her water, takes a sip, then offers me a drink. “Or…”
Cool water rolls down my throat. “Or what? You can’t just say ooor and leave me hanging.”
“What if you found dirt on her?”
Dirt? On Kelli Langston?
Seems damn near impossible to find anything unsavory about one of the town’s princesses. Plus, do I want to get into a showdown with her? Stoop to her level and fight dirty. Pick apart someone’s life so I feel better about my own. The idea swirls like poison in my gut.
“I may not like what she’s doing, I may not like her, but I’m not that cutthroat. Embarrassing her behind closed doors is not the same as making a public mockery. People will defend her much quicker than me and I’ll be thrown to the wolves or shunned or who knows what.”
After a quick squeeze, Delilah releases my hand. “That’s why I love you. You have a great heart.” She closes up her lunch and stows it in the fridge. “You don’t need to slander her, but I still say you dig up what you can.” I rise from the seat and follow her out. “She won’t give up until you or Law find a way to make her stop. Sometimes, the threat of exposure is enough.” Delilah grabs my shoulders and levels me with her gaze. “Dig. Deep.”
