Chapter 63
With Jeanie’s encouragement, Dot thought about the little push she might give Danny to see if they were going to take this to the next level or . . . Well, she didn’t want to think about the “or” just now.
Danny was planning to have her over for dinner at his house on Friday night.
He was going to cook for her. She was already thinking of what she’d wear and wanted to stop into the Couture Closet to see if there was anything new that she’d like to get for that evening.
If everything went well, it could be the night that decided the rest of her life.
She started to allow herself to imagine Danny moving to New York, remodeling the expensive town houses on the Upper West Side.
In her mind, she could picture their runs in the park, dinner at Joanne’s during open mic night, weekends in the Hudson Valley at cozy bed and breakfasts. Letting her mind wander to these possibilities put a pep in her step.
After wrapping up at the office, she walked a couple of blocks down Main Street and ducked into the shop. She immediately took in the scent of fallen leaves and crisp air. She noticed a Yankee Candle next to the register: Autumn Daydream. “Nailed it,” she thought.
A rack of cashmere wrap dresses in dark gray, hunter green, navy, and black caught her eye, and she started looking through them.
“Dot? Is that you?”
Dot didn’t recognize the voice. She turned and saw Maddy, Zoe, Lauren, and Marissa. Ugh. The Cedar Falls townies. And she was outnumbered without The Crew or Danny with her.
“Oh, hi. How are you?” Dot asked, summoning up some enthusiasm to sound sincere.
“Fine, thanks,” Maddy said, her friends standing behind her like backup singers. “Hey, I’ve been wanting to have a word. Do you have a second?”
“Sure. Go ahead,” Dot said, feeling on guard.
“You’re dating Danny, right?”
“Well, yes. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months now.”
“Is it exclusive?”
“Why?”
“Because Sadie was my best friend. I was going to be the maid of honor at their wedding,” Maddy said. “And, as you know, they never got married because she and her daughter were killed in the accident.”
“Yes, I know. I’m so sorry.”
“And here’s the thing. You’re a New Yorker, right? You don’t seem the type that would ever want to live in Cedar Falls. It’s way too small for a city girl like yourself, isn’t it?”
Dot stared at her.
“If you care about him, why would you risk breaking his heart again, if you don’t plan to stay? That will hurt him. It will set him back. I think it’s cruel, if you ask me.” Maddy crossed her arms over her chest.
“Well, I, I . . .” Dot was at a loss for words. She just wanted to bolt out of the shop and go home.
“Look, if you think New York is so great, Dorothy,” Marissa chimed in with a mouth full of snark. “Why don’t you just click your heels three times?” Maddy and the other townies laughed. “There’s no place like home, right?”
Dot’s cheeks stung with the hurt and embarrassment. She couldn’t think of anything to say and didn’t want to cry in front of them. This was like a scene out of Mean Girls.
“Excuse me,” she said quietly, holding her head as high as she could while moving to the door.
“He won’t leave Cedar Falls, you know,” Maddy said to Dot’s back.
Dot let the door close behind her. She reached for the bracelet her sister had sent, took a deep breath, and quickly started walking home, fighting back tears.
Along her walk, she saw the warm glow of the Cocoa and Cabernet restaurant’s candlelit tables. She slowed down to take in the scene. When she tilted her head to look inside, what she saw made her catch her breath in shock.
At a table with a single tall candle sat Danny and a very pretty brunette.
She was a woman around his age, and each had half-drunk glasses of wine in front of them.
They looked easy in each other’s company.
Danny was laughing and she had a hand on his forearm.
She was obviously telling him a great story or joke, and he looked comfortable and relaxed.
Dot felt her heart slice in two. She backed away from the restaurant and scrambled for her phone. She texted Harper and Mary.
“Crew up? Meet me on Main.”
Three dots appeared immediately.
“Yes. Where?” Harper said.
“Ummm . . . I’m near”—she turned around and frantically looked for a place to pop into. Then she saw the place from which they often got delivery—“Thai-tanic.” She winced. The restaurant’s name fit the moment a little too well.
“Order the tom yum. We’re on our way,” Mary said. She added a siren emoji.
Outside of the restaurant, Dot wrapped her arms around herself. There was a chill in the air that matched the one she felt in her heart.