A Magnolia Friendship - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,28

he’d decided to stay. Which was strange for my brother.

When Danny didn’t respond right away, I turned to see that his smile had faded, and he looked serious as he studied Mom and Dad.

“Danny?” I asked as I dipped down to catch his attention.

He didn’t look down at me right away. His gaze lingered on the scene in front of us, and then he sighed and focused on me. “I don’t know. I just figured sticking around might be fun.”

I furrowed my brow. Danny had never said Magnolia and fun in the same sentence before. He’d spent his life trying to get away from this place, not stick around. Something must have happened at the school to change his mind.

And then realization dawned on me. He’d met someone. And she must be good to cause this wanderer to want to set down roots. This intrigued me.

“What?” Danny asked. He looked shy, which was strange for my sickeningly confident brother.

“Who is she?” I demanded, as I turned to face him head-on.

Danny’s jaw dropped, and he took a step back. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He raised his hands as if that were going to protect him from my questions.

It wasn’t. I was going to find out which of the Magnolia ladies had caught his attention.

“Who is she?” I asked again, this time taking advantage of an opening and jamming my finger into his ribs.

He yelped and hunched over. He kept his elbows tucked in close as he waved away my hands. “Will you stop that? It’s not going to look good for the mayor to be abusing her sibling.”

“If you tell me who she is, I’ll stop,” I said as I readied my finger and scanned him, looking for another opening.

I dove in, but he beat me to it and pushed my hand away. I laughed as I dodged his push and moved to poke him again. “Why won’t you tell me who she is?”

Danny must have had enough of my pokes because, a moment later, he had his arms wrapped around my whole body, pinning my arms to my sides and effectively cutting off my ability to move.

“There isn’t a girl,” he said.

I stilled and then turned around to face him. I’d always thought he was into women, but maybe I was wrong. Danny let me go, and after one look at me, he shook his head. “It’s not that either.”

I parted my lips but then shrugged. “You never know.”

Danny held up his hand. “No, I know. And that is not it.”

I crossed my arm over my chest, resting my elbow on my hand as I drummed my chin with my fingers. “So you’ve just fallen in love with Magnolia all of a sudden?” Then I forced a sappy expression. “You missed your sister that much.” I lunged forward with both arms open.

He jumped back and swatted me away. “Actually, I think you’re right. I think a trip to Bora-Bora is just what I need.” He moved to walk away, but I scrambled to grab ahold of his arm and pull him back.

“I’m just joking. Please stay.” When he didn’t move, I leaned closer. “I need your help dealing with crazy a and crazy b.” I tossed my head in the direction of our parents.

Danny glanced down at me and then chuckled. “Alright, you convinced me,” he said as he pulled me into a big bear hug. After a moment, he reached up and tousled my hair, a typical Danny move for when things got a little too emotional.

I pulled away from him and smacked his hand from my head. He laughed and then shoved his hands into his pockets. He whistled as he walked away from me and over to where Mom was arranging and then rearranging the doughnuts on the table.

I took a moment to straighten my now tousled hair. I made sure that my shirt was tucked into my pencil skirt, and I smiled and frowned as a way to warm up my facial muscles.

Now that I was prepped, I put on my Mayor Holt demeanor and marched over to where Sawyer and Dad were talking. They both greeted me but didn’t move to let me into the conversation. Instead, I found myself just standing off to the side and listening to their plans. Apparently, Dad had got the Newport News to come over and do a small exposé on me and my reelection. I swallowed my nerves as I stared at Dad.

It was