Forever and a Day. Sophie Love
lost his virginity?”
“I’m getting to that bit,” Stuart said. “So… fast forward, what, five years? Six years? Daniel’s had this pathetic crush on Astrid for our entire lives and finally gets the guts up to ask her to the dance.”
“The rest is history,” Clyde said, winking. “How long did you stay together in the end? Four years?”
Daniel nodded tensely. “Four and a half thereabouts.”
Emily felt a sensation like ice sweep through her. Daniel had never even mentioned the name Astrid. Now it turned out she’d been his first love? A girl he’d pined for, for years? She didn’t want to compare herself to a teenage girl from the past but it sounded like she’d meant more to Daniel than your average first love. It sounded like his relationship with Astrid had been big and important. But he hadn’t mentioned it at all.
“I’m guessing you two didn’t keep in touch?” Stuart asked.
Daniel shook his head.
“Too bad,” Stuart said. “She was great. I kind of thought you two would get back together at some point.”
Emily’s face must have gone pale because she felt a reassuring squeeze under the table coming from Amy’s direction.
“Now what I want to know,” Clyde said, “is what you ladies have planned for the bachelorette party?”
“There isn’t one,” Emily said. “Daniel and I decided against having gendered parties.”
“Uh-oh,” Clyde said, looking at Daniel. “Busted.”
Emily frowned. “What?”
Daniel looked guilty. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you,” he said. “The guys decided to throw me a surprise bachelor party. We’re going away for the weekend.”
Emily couldn’t even speak. All she could do was blink.
“Road trip,” Clyde said. “Visiting all the finest strip joints Maine has to offer.”
Beside Emily, she could see Amy balling her hands into fists of rage. Emily herself could feel all the blood draining from her face. In her peripheral vision she could see Daniel’s worried expression.
Suddenly the three men burst into laughter.
“Oh, you should have seen your faces!” Evan cried.
“We’re not really going to strip joints,” Stuart laughed. “We’re going hunting!” He grabbed Daniel around the neck again and pulled him into a rough sort of headlock-embrace. “We leave on Friday morning.”
Emily had heard enough. She couldn’t stand it anymore, sitting here listening to this, her thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic, her nerves increasingly frayed. She’d been trying all day not to freak out but she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She stood, making the table wobble in her haste, and darted inside.
CHAPTER SIX
“Emily. Emily, wait!”
She drew to a halt in the corridor, hearing Daniel’s pleading tone approaching from behind. He reached her and touched her arm with a tentative hand.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “The stripper joke was one step too far. I’ll have a word with them.”
Emily led him into the living room, away from any prying ears, and closed the door. She faced him, finally, and saw the earnest expression in his eyes. Daniel’s friends weren’t a reflection on him, she knew that, but she also couldn’t help her contradicting feelings, the ones telling her that in some way they were.
“They’re jerks,” she blurted out.
Daniel sighed. “It was a dumb joke. I can only apologize. But you know I never would do that, right?”
“It’s more than just the joke, Daniel. It’s everything. Their whole attitude stinks. How are you even comfortable having felons in the house with Chantelle?”
Daniel’s expression began to change, to grow a little darker. “They’re not dangerous.”
Emily folded her arms. “Sure, as long as we keep them away from the hard liquor and hide all the car keys,” she said sarcastically.
“What’s gotten into you?” Daniel challenged. “I thought you’d be pleased to meet my friends. You know how much I struggle with compartmentalizing my life. Having you all together is stressful for me too.”
“Oh, well I’m so sorry your childish oaf friends are making this difficult for you,” Emily replied bluntly.
Daniel seemed to grow increasingly frustrated. He paced away, his arm folded, then back again, facing Emily down. “Sometimes I can’t win with you. You asked me to invite my old friends and now they’re here you’re somehow angry with me?”
“I didn’t know they’d be so horrible!” Emily wailed.
Daniel shook his head. “I get it. They’re not smart or successful like your friends. But can I remind you that Amy and Jayne aren’t always the easiest people for me to be around either?”
“Come off it, Daniel. Amy and Jayne aren’t even in the same league as those …” She struggled to find a suitable word, and regretted the one she eventually blurted. “…baboons!”
Daniel grew immediately infuriated. “That’s so unfair. You haven’t even given them a chance.”
“And I don’t want to.” Emily could hear the petulance in her voice but she couldn’t help herself.
“Tough,” Daniel retorted. “You haven’t got a choice. They’re my friends, they’re part of my life.”
“Hardly,” she scoffed. “It’s not like you ever talk about them, or talk on the phone to them. Sounds like you’ve barely even seen each other in the last decade!”
“That’s just life,” Daniel huffed. “Things get in the way. Hence people making the effort for weddings.”
He’d started to sound condescending. Emily felt riled.
“What kind of things?” she snapped. “Prison sentences?”
Daniel seemed to suddenly deflate. He sat down on the couch and let his head drop into his hands. Emily paused, watching him. She’d never seen Daniel look so defeated.
The fight went out of her immediately. She sat tentatively beside him, perching on the edge of the couch.
“I’m sorry,” she said, suddenly filled with remorse. “I’m just freaking out. They weren’t what I was expecting and it’s reminded me how many things I still don’t know about you. I just don’t understand how they fit into your life.”
Daniel shook his head, his hair tousling as he did. “I know they don’t make a good first impression,” he said quietly. “But they’ve helped me through some really tough times. I’m eternally grateful to them for that.”
“What kind of things?” Emily asked.
The conversation had taken on a different tone entirely. Now Daniel was the sad one and Emily in the comforting role.
“After my dad left, there were days when my mom was just out of it. Stuart’s family used to feed me. Sometimes they even let me shower at their house, join in special occasions with them. I mean, they weren’t exactly saints but they were there for me during those times when my mom couldn’t be and my dad didn’t want to be. Clyde has had a hard life, like me, but even though he acts dumb he’s actually super smart. If he hadn’t helped me with my school work I would have flunked out of school, I’m certain. And then Evan helped me get a job at his parents’ mechanics store. We learned to fix up bikes together. That’s where my love for them came from. And it kept us out of trouble. It meant I had a skill I could fall back on, a passion I could occupy myself with. A reason not to give in to the temptations of liquor like all the adults around me had. I owe that guy a lot. I owe all of them a lot.”
Emily