Velvet and Lace(8)

As Daphne scanned the restaurant she found Anna in one of the booths that didn’t face Main Street, for which she was grateful. She was sure that after running away from Trent at the reunion  , she would probably be the hot gossip of the day.

When she reached the booth, she placed her hand on Anna’s shoulder before gracing her old friend with a tight hug. She sat down and smoothed her flowing skirt around her legs. She had chosen a simple ice-blue peasant skirt and a white tank top, with her black wedge flip flops.

“Anna. I’m so glad we could get together for lunch.” Daphne smiled at her own friend. Ana was dressed in simple jeans and a black v–neck t–shirt. Her curly brown hair framed her face and her brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

Anna rolled her eyes in a very familiar way and waved away Daphne's polite small talk.

“Girl, spill it. You were all upset last night so I didn’t want to push, but what the hell happened with Trent?” Anna narrowed her eyes and Daphne released a sigh. Daphne had known, of course, that she wasn’t going to be able to get through lunch without tell her, but she had hoped it would be a while before she would have to face the truth.

“I’m not really sure. He recognized me as Daphne, which means Trent has been a very naughty boy. But I was going to go with it because I only wanted to see you. I had been hoping that we could engage in some idle chit-chat and then I could escape. It almost worked until her grabbed my arm and called me Maggie. To be honest, I still don’t know what happened. I was enjoying the flirting and then all of a sudden the past came flooding back and I felt like the same idiot who pushed myself on him all those years ago. I froze, and then I ran.”

Daphne paused to take a breath. She knew she was rambling but she couldn’t help it. Seeing Trent last night and then again today, not once but twice, had her absolutely frazzled.

A waitress who’s name-tag read ‘Whitney’ came by and took their order. Anna raised an eyebrow at her healthy salad with dressing on the side but she didn’t say anything. She ordered a burger with all the trimmings and seasoned fries. Daphne’s mouth watered at the thought of the flavors in Anna’s meal but she knew she would be better off with the salad.

“So you saw Trent today did you?” Anna raised her eyebrow again.

“Yes I did. Did you know he’s building a house up near Grams’? It looks like it’ll be a gorgeous place. The second time I saw him was at a meeting for my business venture. He’s a contractor now. So I guess the house near Grams could be for a client.” Daphne still hadn’t had time to process everything from the day, so she meshed it all together for Anna.

“I know he is working on the house, but I'm not sure whose it is. He currently lives over the hardware store. Bob Pearson, who owns it these days, renovated the second floor into an apartment and Trent jumped at it first. He was living in the next town over for a long time but his business is going pretty well. He goes to the cities around us and has done a lot of the renovations around town, including Patty’s. It still looks the same because that’s the way Patty wanted it. But almost the whole interior is new.” Anna smiled and Daphne wondered why she was talking Trent up, so to speak. She raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"When did you become Trent's biggest fan?"

"A lot has changed since you left, Daphne." Anne's voice was just above a whisper and it was a low blow. But Daphne also knew that it was the truth. She was sure there was more to Anne's response to Trent but she decided she didn't want to argue with her friend today.

“So tell me, Anna, how is everything with you?”

If Anna noticed the push for a change in a topic she didn’t say anything. She began talking about her newly married life and her seemingly amazing husband, Liam. Daphne was a little jealous of the blissful look on her friend’s face.

It was obvious she was head-over-heels in love with her hubby. They met at a medical conference. Anna was a nurse at the hospital and Liam was an ER doctor two towns over who transferred to Ambrosia when they got serious. They had married eight months ago after dating a year before that. Daphne had been scheduled for a photo shoot and had missed the wedding.

By the time Anna had finished, there was a dreamy look in her eyes. Daphne playfully swatted her friends arm to bring her back into reality and away from thoughts about her husband. Anna laughed and Daphne couldn’t help but join in. The waitress arrived with their food and they were both still giggling like the school girls they had once been.

Daphne’s mouth watered at the smell of Anna’s burger and looked down at her salad. She hated dieting. Anna waved a french fry in Daphne’s direction and she almost caved and took it. But she had been unhealthy this morning. Grams had made homemade biscuits. Of course she hadn’t been able to resist the smell. She had also slathered them with butter and topped Grams homemade peach preserves. Then there was the half pound of bacon she consumed. But she loved every bite. In her mind, if she was going to break her diet, she was definitely going to make it worth it.