Cinderella Screwed Me Over

“Better get two. Actually, make it three. They go through a lot.” I left the cart by him and stepped around a display to find the oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies Dwight loved.

“Darby Wilson!” a voice shrieked at an octave so high, I expected dogs to come running. “Is that you?”

Tabitha Newton, the witch who made my high school experience hell, stood in the aisle. I fought the urge to turn and run. She’d stuck with “The Rachel” haircut, so she looked about the same as she did in high school. A little outdated, but still pretty.

I forced the corners of my mouth into a smile. “Hi, Tabitha. How are you?”

She stepped forward and hugged me like we were the best of friends instead of torturer and torturee. “I’m just so good. I’ve got this little angel.” She gestured to the chubby toddler sitting in her cart. A sucker stick poked out of his mouth, a stream of red drool coated his chin. “Sherman and I also have a little girl in first grade now, can you believe it? I mean, where does the time go? We’ve been married for ten years and it’s been such a wonderful adventure.”

“That’s… Wow.” I turned back, ready to introduce Jake, but didn’t get the words out before Sherman came around the aisle and tossed two boxes of cereal into the cart.

“Look who it is,” Tabitha said, pointing at me.

Sherman’s eyebrows drew together. He stared at me for what seemed like forever, then recognition flashed across his features. “Darby. Hey. I thought you and Gil lived in California.”

“Darby didn’t marry Gil.” Tabitha rolled her eyes. “He never remembers anything.”

Including who his wife is, if the rumors about him cheating are true.

Tabitha placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke slowly. “Gil married some other girl. Darby’s not married yet.” She turned to me, a big grin on her face. “I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, don’t you worry.”

Desperate to get her to shut up, I clamped onto Jake’s arm and pulled him forward. “This is Jake. Jake, this is Tabitha and Sherman. We went to high school together.” It was awful.

Jake draped his arm over my shoulders and gave Tabitha and Sherman a polite smile. “Nice to meet you.”

The toddler started making this whine/moan noise while pawing at Tabitha. I know as a woman I’m supposed to have this innate love of babies, but the truth is, they kind of remind me of zombies. They stumble around, arms out, moaning. And if they get ahold of you, they suck the energy out of you.

I wrapped my arm around Jake’s waist, keeping my fake smile plastered on my face. “We better get going. It’s Dwight’s birthday, so they’re expecting us at the ranch.”

The kid’s moaning grew louder. Sherman turned away from it and studied the cookies, while Tabitha took her son out of the car and stuck him on her hip. “Well, tell your family I say hello. It’s so nice to see you.”

There’s that saying about if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. I had to say something, though, so I went with, “I will. You guys have a good day.”

…

“I thought your last name was Quinn,” Jake said as we put the groceries into the trunk of my car.

“Since I lived with the Wilsons, people forget my real last name. Or maybe they don’t even remember I’m not one. Who knows?” I slammed my trunk down and we got into the car.

“For friends, you didn’t seem that happy to see them,” Jake said.

“You caught that?” I started the car and turned down the radio.

“I’m not sure if that dude even knew where he was.”

“Yeah, that’s my ex-boyfriend. Real gem of a guy. Our relationship ended when I caught him with his tongue down Tabitha’s throat. They did end up getting married, so I guess you could say it was meant to be. But from what I hear, he’s not exactly faithful to her, either. I suppose she did me a favor, really.”

I put my car into drive and pulled onto the road. “I think she wanted to show me how happy she was to save face. I actually feel a little bad for her, even though she went out of her way to be awful to me in high school. Seriously, if it weren’t for my brothers and their friends, I never would’ve survived. Luckily, before the guys graduated and left me, Steph showed up. Which is why I owe her. Enough to help her plan her dream wedding.” I glanced at Jake. “Sorry. Guess that just drudged up some old drama.”

He put his hand on my thigh. “No worries. I got you now, babe.”

Warmth filled me, that peace and security I got around Jake—especially when he said things like that—and then I was rethinking this plan all over again.

Better to find out now than when I truly can’t pull away, right? Before there’s talk of the future and houses and kids and things that made my blood pressure rise, even when they were only hypothetical.

Five miles later, we pulled off the main road. The change in my ashtray clanged together as we drove down the bumpy dirt road leading to the ranch. I slowed to a stop in front of the house and waited for the cloud of dirt around us to settle before getting out.

“So, here we are.” I exited the car and took a deep breath of dust-and manure-tinged air.

Ah. Smells like home.

On the way to the trunk to grab the groceries, a mew caught my attention. “Hi, Swampthing.” I squatted down and ran my hand down the cat’s back. She had long multicolored hair that was matted in places, sticking straight up in others. Even her purr sounded rattley. Which was why Drew had named her Swampthing.

Mom and Dwight came out of the house to greet us. “Hello,” Mom said to Jake, positively beaming at him. I’d been blunt about my relationship stance, but I could tell by the way she looked at Jake that she hoped I’d changed my mind.

I introduced everyone, and Dwight gave Jake a firm handshake.

Mom was a hugger, so she went for one. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She turned and threw her arms around me. I was several inches taller, even without my heels, so I had to hunch over.

“We’d better get the ice cream in.” I used my keychain to pop the trunk and everyone pitched in to take the groceries into the house.

Drew and Devin walked into the kitchen as we were putting the last of the food away.

“Hey,” Drew said to me, then turned to Jake, hand extended. “I’m… Have we met? You look kind of familiar.”

Jake shook Drew’s hand. “I live in Darby’s building. I ran into you two in the elevator one night.”

Drew furrowed his brow. “I guess Darby forgot to introduce us. She thinks I’m embarrassing.”

“You were telling the story about how I slapped Ralph at Devin and Anne’s wedding. You are embarrassing.” I pointed to Drew. “This is Drew, and that’s Devin. Guys, this is Jake.”

Jake looked from Devin to Drew. “It might take me a little while to get names straight.” I never thought they looked that much alike. Not like most twins I’d seen.

Drew gave Jake a firm pat on the back. “Let us show you around, Jake. We’ll leave Darby here to do girl stuff.”

I shot Drew a dirty look. “If you don’t watch it, I’m going to pop you one, then we’ll see who’s crying like a girl.”

“Which reminds me,” Drew said as he and Devin led Jake out of the room, “we do have the footage of Darby slapping that guy if you want to see it later.”

They insisted on doing the tour—the tour they gave to all “city boys”—alone. The few times my brothers and I had fought about it, my boyfriend at the time always insisted he’d be fine without me there. So I’d stopped fighting. I probably should’ve done a better job warning Jake what he was in for, but then again, I might as well see if he could handle it now. Then I wouldn’t have a big what-if hanging over me.

Mom pulled vegetables out of the fridge and placed them on the counter. I sat on a stool opposite her. “Need help?”

Mom slid the cutting board, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce toward me. “You can make the salad.”

Noticing how quiet the house was, I asked, “Where are Anne and the kids?”

“They’ll be up in a few. Ava was napping and Anne didn’t want to wake her. Devin was excited to come down and show Jake around, though.” Mom glanced out the window. “I hope they’re nice to him. He seems like a good guy.”