Page 56 of Summer Ever After
“Did he know it was me?” The question ran through my mind the entire time we swayed together on the dance floor.
I found myself wishing that the band would play an extended version of the song. It was ending, and I wanted to stay in the moment, suspended in time, suspended in the space of wondering whether or not Max remembered me. Because if he did, he would know that the woman in his arms, was the one who had lied to him – and I didn’t want to be that girl.
The musicians played the final chord, and I reluctantly stepped away from Max. We stood next to each other and clapped, close enough that his suit brushed my arm as he clapped.
Another slow song started to play, and he slipped his hand around mine and squeezed it, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. “I suppose we shouldn’t waste this song either,” he whispered. My heart was pounding against my ribcage, the room swirling around me. I was standing next to Max, the motorcycle guy, the one who I thought I’d never see again. And he was holding my hand.
“Would you like to dance?” A shrill voice came from behind us. A voice that I knew well.
Chloe tapped Max on the shoulder. He turned but didn’t let go of my hand.
“You’ll have to get the next one.” I stepped in between Chloe and Max. There was no way I was going to let her anywhere near him.
“Seriously?” Chloe put her hands on her hips. “You’re going to dance with a bald girl instead of me?” She jutted out her hip and put on a pout.
“I’m going to dance with the prettiest woman in this room.”
Chloe’s eyes lit up, but her smile quickly faltered when Max drew me into his arms. “It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside if you’re hideous on the inside.” He pulled me close to him. Unlike the last dance, where we kept a space between us, this time my body was pressed against his, close enough that I could feel the erection in his pants.
“That’s a pretty necklace,” he whispered in my ear. My fingers went to the pendant, the only piece of jewelry of my own that I was wearing. It was the one with my mom and dad’s birthstones, the one with the missing ruby.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He managed to dance me to the edge of the floor where it was a little quieter. He cupped my chin. “Why, Daisy? Why did you lie? And why didn’t you tell me your real name? I looked for you for a year.”
“You looked for me?”
“Of course, I looked for you. I fell for you that afternoon. Hard. I couldn’t accept that you were gone.”
“Can we talk somewhere quiet?” I asked. Looking around, it didn’t seem like we had many options.
“Come on.” He led me through the crowd, over one of the bridges, and to a secluded dock in a small cove. There was a full moon, and it was bright enough for us to navigate the stairways without a flashlight. Max slipped the mask off my face and took his off too.
“You’re even more beautiful than I remember.” He cupped my chin and kissed me. “I should be mad at you. I shouldn’t be kissing you right now – but I can’t not kiss you.” I wasn’t sure whether I stood on my toes to bridge the gap between us, or if it was him who had made it happen. It didn’t matter, Max’s lips were kissing mine, his hand was squeezing my ass through the layers of silk of the ballroom gown. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe it either.” My voice wavered. “I’m so sorry, Max. About everything. I’ve thought about you every day since we met.”
He held onto both of my hands. “Can you make it make sense? I went back to your house to deliver your groceries – but you didn’t live there.”
I sighed. “Do you think it’s okay to sit down in this dress?”
“We’ll get it cleaned.” Max took off his suit jacket and draped it on the dock. I took off my shoes and hiked up the dress so I could dip my feet into the water. Max did the same, rolling up his pants.
The dark water swirled around my calves. “I don’t know where to start.”
Max rested his hand on top of mine. “How about with your name? Is it Daisy, Rosie, or is it a flower at all?”
It was a story that I’d kept to myself for years. One that I’d been prepared to keep bottled up inside me until I was freed from Christina’s claws. “My real name is Rose. I was named after my mom; her name was Rosamund.”
“Rose,” Max’s voice was quiet. “I like it. Although I liked Daisy too.”
“My stepmother didn’t like calling me Rose. It reminded her of my mom, and she didn’t want that. She thinks that daisies are weeds, and that’s how she sees me. I actually don’t mind being called Daisy, but I’d never let her know that. She’d probably insist on calling me Stinkweed or something.”
“It doesn’t have the same ring.” There was a nervousness in Max’s laugh, and I could tell that he was trying to keep the mood light. He had no idea what was coming.
“But you didn’t have to go along with it. Did you? What did your dad say about it?”
I sighed. This was where I had to rehash one of the most painful memories of my life. “My mother died when I was young, so I don’t really remember her – but my dad, he died ten years ago. That’s when Christina changed my name. I resisted at first, but after one broken arm I learned to love it.”
