Page 82 of The Secret
“David!” I shout. “She’s been holding out on you!”
“Oh, shut up, you!” She laughs. “I had a pass, so I went down to the locker room after it finished. He was in the corridor all sweaty and triumphant because he scored the winning basket. He’d been more like a friend before then, you know? We’d shared lecture notes because we had some science classes together, and we’d studied in the library, and he was cool with me, so I didn’t think he was particularly interested. But when I went back there after the game, he had this huge smile on his face, and as soon as he saw me, he grabbed me and kissed me while his teammates whooped! I was so embarrassed!”
He grabbed her and kissed her?David?Very interesting. This is the longest speech I’ve ever heard about their relationship. “And breathless I hope too.”
She hums in my ear. “It was a good kiss.”
Because she’s well aware of my propensity to ask personal questions, she switches track. “All the clues were in chronological order.”
I start to laugh.Of course they were. David would so do that and my sister would so appreciate it. God, they’re going to be perfect together.
“What was next?”
“Oh! There was a load of other things … A letter I wrote him, a photograph, a song on his phone I had to play.” She lets out a long sigh.
“And?”
“Well, it all led to the bedroom, and he was lying on the bed with no shirt and a big red ribbon tied around his waist and I thought …” She sniffles and lowers her voice. “I thought he’d gone to all this trouble because I’ve been busy and tired and we haven’t … you know … and I got all flustered and started apologizing but he shook his head and beckoned me over, so I sat on his lap and untied the ribbon and underneath the bow there was a box …”
She begins crying again and, goddamn it, I’m tearing up now too.
“So, he opened it”—she gulps—“and said, ‘Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife.’”
“Oh Lauren, oh my God!” Definitely damp eyes now.
“Of course, I said yes, and that’s when he told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That Dad said no.”
“What?” A strange roaring noise starts in my ears.
“Dad said no, Liss! David decided the decent thing to do was to talk to him first, and he said no! Said right to his face he didn’t want him as his son-in-law.”
Holy shit. Red mist creeps around the edges of my vision. Since David mentioned my dad’s bullshit comments last time we talked about a proposal, I’m thinking he hasn’t filled Lauren in.
“You. Are. Fucking. Kidding. Me.”
“Don’t swear, Liss. And no, I’m not kidding. Imagine if David had listened to him! He might not have proposed. Dad could have killed this whole thing dead. He’s such as asshole.”
And I start to laugh. She’s swearing, and in all these years she’s never said anything bad about Dad; she’s always been calm and understanding. “I’ve been telling you this forever,” I say.
“I know that, Liss,” she says primly, “but he’s also our father.”
I want to punch through walls.Fucking hell.Moving on. “So, what’s happened?”
And then she starts to cry.
And my chest hollows out.Oh God. When she got upset when we were younger, it was like a big cavern opening up inside me—if my big sister lost it, then the entire world was caving in. And they don’t deserve this—they are the sweetest couple on earth.
“It’s such a mess, Liss. Everyone’s taking sides and falling out with each other.”
And I stand up, sweat trickling down my spine. Out of all of us, I’m best placed to take on my dad. If I could sort this out for her … deal with that asshole once and for all.I’ve got a bit of money now. I could go back. And it would give me breathing space from this whole thing with Dan and get my head on straight. Solve someone else’s problems for a while. I know I need to talk to Dan, but seeing Kate and Jo and Lauren and David, if only for a week or so, to figure out how I feel suddenly feels like the greatest idea in the world.
37
DAN
