Justin shook his head as he pressed on the screen of his phone and then lifted it to his ear. “Poor little brother. He doesn’t realise he’s opened the gates to Hell.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
How do you ignore a person who’s bought you something nice?
Easily – you don’t look at them.
“Which one do you want to wear tonight at the party? The red one or the blue one?” my mother questioned me, as she held up two identical skin-tight dresses, only in different colours. They were gifts from her, since I hadn’t bothered to go out and get anything new to wear for the party.
“Can you at least pretend you’re excited about going to Sean and Jessica’s engagement party?” My mother frowned and lowered the outfits to her side.
I raised one eyebrow. “I am excited . . . for Jess, anyway. No comment on me feelings towards Sean right now . . . or towards you and the other meddling cow, for that matter.”
My mother huffed. “For goodness’ sake, Neala. It’s not a terrible thing we did. Marie and I just don’t want you or Darcy to ruin the party with your arguing. We’re your mothers; we know what you’re both capable of.”
Way to place the blame!
“Oh, thanks very much.”
My mother groaned. “I don’t mean it like that—”
I cut my mother off. “Then, pray tell, how did you mean it?”
My mother shook her head as she gently laid both outfits over the back of my lounge chair. She folded her arms across her chest and stared me down.
“Everyone knows what you and Darcy are like when you’re caught up in a fight: neither one of you cares how it affects the people around you. Justin was told not to get involved because we didn’t want the current dilemma to build up and explode tonight in front of the entire village.”
I gasped. “We’re two people, Ma, not bloody ticking time bombs!”
My mother rolled her eyes. “You’re both the equivalent of chemical warfare during an argument, Neala.”
Talk about dramatics.
“That’s ridiculous,” I stated, waving her off.
“No,” my mother calmly stated. “What’s ridiculous is your and Darcy’s behaviour of late.”
I could feel my temperature rise.
“Darcy stole from me, and me so-called brother helped him. Why is everyone failing to see that they are in the wrong here?”
I hated that my eyes filled with water – and my mother hated it too, from the saddened look she gave me. I held up my hand and shook my head when she made a move to come over to comfort me.
“I’m fine; I just hate that everyone is siding with him.”
My mother’s frown deepened. “Honey, we aren’t picking sides here. We just don’t want what normally happens with you and Darcy to happen at the engagement party . . . Is that so horrible?”
I thought about it and decided that it wasn’t. I didn’t want to ruin anybody’s party, but I wasn’t letting Darcy think for a moment that he had gotten away with what he had done. No way.
“No, it’s not. You’re right. I’ll behave. I will just stay away from Darcy at the party so nothing will happen,” I said, and stood up from the couch.
I passed my mother, picked up the blue dress from the back of the lounge chair, and smiled. “I like this one.” As I walked up the stairs to my old bedroom, my mother’s words halted my steps.
“Just so you know, sweetheart, I’m always in your corner. Always.”
I smiled as I entered my room and closed the door behind me.
I would do as my and Darcy’s mother wished – I would stay away from Darcy and I wouldn’t cause trouble with him. I smirked to myself then as a wicked thought entered my mind.
I didn’t need to be near him to mess with him.
I was suddenly excited about the engagement party tonight. Very excited.
“Neala!”
I looked around for the source of the voice calling my name, and when I found Jessica Waters, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, walking toward me I smiled wide.
“Jess, hey! You look gorgeous!”
She had on a knee-length wine-coloured lace dress. It was stunning and her figure with its never-ending curves did wonders for her and the dress. She looked sexy as sin.
“Me? Look at you! God, I’d bloody kill for your legs!” she gushed as she crashed into me and hugged me tightly.
I laughed and hugged her back and kissed her cheek for good measure, but I felt uneasy. I didn’t do the friend thing very well; Darcy had made sure to ruin that for me at a young age. After our initial falling-out when we were ten, and our other spats throughout the years, I had never put myself out there with anyone else. I didn’t even attempt to find another best friend, always worrying that history would repeat itself. I had friends in school, but no one I confided in.
I hated to admit it, but Darcy had once been very special to me, and I just didn’t think a new friendship could compare to the one we used to have.
Despite all this, Jess was a friend of mine, and even though I couldn’t trust anyone enough to tell them my deepest and darkest secrets, I could trust her enough to lightly vent to.
“So, you and Darcy . . . What the hell happened? Sean told me he may not live long enough to see our wedding if you get your hands on him anytime soon.”
It wasn’t something to laugh about, especially because Jess looked genuinely concerned, but I couldn’t help it. It was funny.
“I shouldn’t be laughing, because I’m seriously pissed off at both Darcy and Sean, but it’s nothing that payback can’t wait a few days for . . . for Sean anyway.” I smirked.
Jess widened her eyes. “You plan on getting Darcy back for whatever he did . . . tonight?”
Shite.
She looked worried.
“Yes, but I promise it won’t cause a scene or put a dent in your engagement party.”
Jess waved me off. “I don’t mean that. I mean Darcy got to you so much that you want to seek revenge right away? You usually wait until he isn’t on Neala Alert.”
Neala Alert was a two-word code Darcy had made up when we were ten after the incident with Laura Stoke and a certain skipping rope. He used it to let people know not to distract him because he was completely focused on his surroundings and on the lookout for me. Neala Alert usually happened to Darcy after he’d pulled a prank on me or if he’d just pissed me off.
I shrugged. “He crossed a line this time.”
Jess stared at me and waited for me to explain.
I sighed. “It may sound stupid, but he stole a doll from me that I bought for Charli for Christmas a few days ago at Smyths, and your soon-to-be husband helped him. I’m sort of mad about it.”
Sort of . . . Okay, I was livid.
“This is all over a doll?” Jess asked, her tone now amused.
No.
I huffed. “It’s not about the bloody doll. It’s about the fact that he stole something from me that was mine, and I don’t plan on letting him get away with it.”
Jess frowned. “You seem . . . upset?”
“I am,” I nodded.
“No.” Jess shook her head. “I mean you seem upset, like really upset, not just annoyed.”
I shrugged my shoulders
. “He went too far this time; he tried to trick me into thinking he wanted to be me friend again.”
Jess blinked her big blue eyes. “I’m sorry, babe.”
I didn’t want to lose my cool and dwell on my silly feelings, so I forced a smile and waved the conversation off.
“It’s nothing a bit of payback won’t fix.” I devilishly smirked.
Jess grinned. “You’re hard-core.”
“In all aspects of me life,” I teased.
Jess laughed and pulled me into another hug. When we separated, Darcy’s mother, Marie, was in front of us with a very large camera in her hands pointed directly at us.
“Smile, lovelies.” She beamed.
Jess and I straightened up and put an arm around one another’s waist and smiled wide into the camera lens. The flash spotted my vision for a few moments. When my eyes refocused I instantly narrowed them.
“You,” I growled.
Darcy was standing behind his mother, grinning knowingly at me. He was actually using his mother, the woman who’d carried him for nine months and birthed him, as a human shield. He was a bloody wimp!
“You both promised you wouldn’t start any fights tonight,” Marie said as she looked back and forth between Darcy and me.
I continued to glare at Darcy as I said, “I know, and I’m not going to start anything.”
Darcy winked at me and said, “Me either.”
I clasped my hands together to try to kill the slap-Darcy itch that had gathered on both of my palms.
“Is it too much to ask for a picture? The last one we have of you both together is from when you were both kids.”
Lie.
“We’re in tons of pictures—”
“They are family pictures,” Marie cut me off. “Not any of just the two of you in a picture on your own . . . not smiling, anyway.”
I swallowed the rejection I had planned when I saw Marie’s face; she looked so hopeful that I couldn’t say no to her, even though I really wanted to. She was like a mother to me, and I hated seeing her upset.
“Okay,” I grumbled. “Take a picture.”
Marie quickly grabbed a reluctant Darcy’s arm and all but threw him at me.
“Arm over her shoulder, Darcy, and arm around his waist, Neala. Somebody get Clare; she needs to witness this. It might never happen again!”