Way to place the blame!
"Oh, thanks very much!" I snapped.
My mother groaned. "I don't mean it like that-"
"Then pray tell what did you mean it like?" I cut my mother off.
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 like displeased mothers usually did when they were about to scold their children.
"Everyone knows what you and Darcy are like when you're caught up in a fight, you both don't care how it effects 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 to chemical warfare during an argument, Neala."
Talk about dramatics!
"That's ridiculous."
"No," my mother calmly stated. "What's ridiculous is yours and Darcy's behaviour as of late."
I could feel my temperature rise.
"Darcy stole from me, and me so called fucking 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 so did my mother 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 horrible. 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 and picked up the blue dress from the back of the lounge chair and smiled. "I like this one." I walked down to my bedroom to get ready for the party when 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 mine 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 an evil 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 has on a knee length whine coloured lace dress. It was stunning and her figure of 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 tightly back and kissed her cheek for good measure.
I didn't do the friend thing very well. Darcy made sure to ruin that for me at a young age, but Jess was a friend of mine and even though I couldn't fully trust anyone enough in order 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 on 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 worded code Darcy made up when we were eight. He used it to let people know not to distract him because he was completely focused on his surroundings and on the look out for me. Neala alert usually happened to Darcy after he pulled a prank on me or if he just pissed me off.
I shrugged my shoulders. "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 and 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 said.
"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."
Jess grinned. "You're hard-core, babe."
"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 that went off was bright and spotted my vision for a few moments. When my eyes refocused I instantly narrowed them when I saw him.