The Best Man (Alpha Men 2)

“I know.”

“It feels like everybody knew it before I did,” Daff joked on a sob, and Lia reached over to squeeze her hand.

“We love you, we can tell when you’re unhappy. And you haven’t been truly happy in a long time. I think that’s why Daisy wanted to know who you were seeing. She said you looked happy when you were reading his note yesterday.”

Daff shrugged and ran the tip of her index finger around and around the rim of the plastic container holding the untouched soup.

“But I have news.” Daff sniffed, forcing cheer into her voice and ignoring Lia’s words. “In my first step toward a better life and a better me, I tendered my resignation this morning.”

Lia inhaled sharply, and a huge smile instantly lit up her face.

“Oh my word,” she gushed. “That’s wonderful news, Daff.”

“I just have to work my two months’ notice and this place is history.”

“I’m so happy for you, Sissy,” she said, coming around the counter to give Daff a hug. Her sisters had always called her Sissy when they were children. A nickname to acknowledge her big sister status. They rarely called her that now that they were adults, and the fact that Lia chose to use it in this moment brought a huge, emotional lump to Daff’s throat. “What did Alison say?”

Daff giggled wetly as she recalled her boss’s words.

“She said ‘it’s about damned time,’ and she also said she always knew I’d come to my senses eventually and she’d lose the best manager she’s ever had.”

“Darned straight you are.”

“Probably because she paid me peanuts and I was easy on her bank balance . . . Ow! ” The last as Lia slapped her upside her head.

“Stop being so down on yourself. Yes, this place is quiet and boring during winter, but you said that it has always been her best-performing boutique in summer, and I believe that’s largely because of you.”

“Thanks.” She grinned.

“So now what?”

“God, I don’t know.”

“At least I won’t be the only one who’ll have to listen to Daddy’s lectures about the values of being a good, hard worker. Of staying the course. Steering ships from rocks. Navigating rough waters . . . I don’t know, there seem to be a lot of seafaring references, I never understand half of it. Pro tip: just nod and keep saying, ‘Yes, Daddy.’ Never interrupt him with a ‘but Daddy’ or anything resembling an excuse. Just pretend to listen. He likes that.”

“Sound advice.” Daff laughed, feeling a lot lighter for having confided in her sister.

“So you and Spencer are friends now? Never thought I’d see the day,” Lia mused as she opened her sickeningly cute lunch box to reveal the healthy-looking, bento-styled meal. Daff would never have the patience, but Lia lived for crap like that. One day, when she had kids, they’d probably find animal-shaped sandwiches and other cutesy surprises in their lunch boxes every day. Daff wasn’t likely to ever have children, which was a good thing, because they’d probably open their lunch boxes to find nothing but lunch money. Or possibly two-minute noodles, depending on how motherly Daff was feeling.

“I mean, we’re not bosom buddies or anything. We’re just making an effort not to be shitty to each other. Although, to be fair, he was never really shitty to me. I suppose I’ll be the one making all the effort, because Spencer’s a good guy.”

“I never thought I’d see the day . . . why were you always so mean to him?”

“It started in high school. I allowed Shar and her Sharminions to dictate my behavior. It was embarrassing that a kid like Spencer, with his worn clothing, his broken shoes, and his clumsiness—remember how clumsy he was during that gawky adolescent phase before he got all athletic and buff?—anyway, it was embarrassing that he had a crush on me. I was terrified that if I was nice to him, they’d think I liked him back or something.” Daff was ashamed of her behavior now that she recalled it. She had made fun of him, of his clothes, his hair, the slight stammer he always seemed to have around her. And then—somewhere between fourteen and sixteen—Spencer had outgrown the nervous stutter and the clumsiness and had cultivated an aloof, bad-boy persona that Daff had secretly found intriguing. He’d still attempted to flirt with her, and when she was fourteen, he’d started writing furtive poems and letters that she’d mockingly shared with all her girlfriends.

The poems had stopped after his seventeenth birthday. The flirting, too. He’d been busy with the rugby, working hard, and then, a year later, he’d left for college. He was a bit of a sensation after his triumphant return to Riversend five years later, capitalizing on his short-lived but relatively successful rugby career by opening the most successful business in town and surroundings. But he hadn’t socialized much, just dated here and there. So it had been a surprise to hear that he was dating Tanya Krige.