by Dylann Crush
* * *
* * *
“Thanks again for talking to the students today.” The principal shook Delilah’s hand one more time. Finally, Jasper was able to take her by the elbow and lead her through the front doors out of the school.
“That seemed to go well.” She carefully slid her sunglasses into place. She’d been able to cover up the bruise well enough, but it was still tender. “What do you think?”
“I think your talk was amazing. Were you really bullied in middle school like that?”
She let out a breath. “Sure was. I looked like a stork. All legs, big teeth. I towered over most of the boys and the girls all hated me because I did pageants.”
“I never would have guessed.”
“That’s why I want to do something that helps young women. Through my training with the pageant community, and especially Monique, I learned that feeling good about myself had to come from inside. If you wait for other people to give you external validation, you’re wasting your time.” She pulled out her phone as she got settled in the front seat of the truck.
“Hey, I talked to Lacey while you were answering questions.”
“Anything I need to know about? Is something wrong?” Delilah lifted her gaze to meet his.
He glanced to his feet. “I guess someone snapped a picture of you and your mom out at dinner last night.”
She turned her attention back to her phone. “Oh no. Why is my picture plastered across the home page of the Swynton town website?”
“It’s Adeline. She’s saying you couldn’t find something decent for dinner, so you had to turn to Swynton instead.”
“That’s ridiculous. We only ended up there because my mother wanted a drink and I remembered you saying something about there being a bar over in Swynton.”
“So, it’s my fault?”
He might have meant it as a joke, but she didn’t take it that way. “It’s no one’s fault. Why is it such a big deal if we grabbed dinner somewhere?”
Jasper rolled his shoulders back. “In case you haven’t noticed, Adeline’s got a bit of a sore loser complex going on. I think she’ll take every opportunity she has to discredit Ido.”
“And my mother’s request for a top-shelf cosmo has put us in the center of a turf war?” She wanted to ask if that was all it was, or if his past dealings with Adeline had anything to do with the rivalry between them.
“Looks like it.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea she’d spin it that way.”
“Lacey was hoping that you might be able to stick to Ido’s side of the river while you’re here. Just to avoid giving Adeline any future ammunition.” He squinted at her, like he was uncomfortable making the request.
“Of course.” She reached out to give his arm an encouraging squeeze. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about that.”
“If you need anything, just let me know.”
“I will. You’ve done so much already. Between your family and you carting me around everywhere . . .” She wanted to say something that would communicate how much she’d enjoyed her time with him. But before she had a chance to come up with something more eloquent, her phone rang. “It’s Stella.”
“Go ahead.” He shut the door and walked around the truck.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” Stella asked, her voice just shy of a high-pitched panic.
“I’m leaving the middle school. I had a talk scheduled here this morning.”
Stella had been sleeping off her late-night wine and whine fest when Delilah left earlier that morning. Which meant Delilah hadn’t had a chance to grill her mother about the weird run-in with Suzy. All she’d managed to get out of Stella last night was that she knew Suzy from way back when. After that, Stella refused to talk about it.
With everything else going on, Delilah was willing to give her mother a pass. But only for a day. Two at the most. She’d never seen Stella act so strangely. There was something going on, something her mother didn’t want to tell her about, which made it even more important that she figure it out soon.
“When is Franco going to be in town?” Delilah asked.
“This afternoon. He messaged me an address of some warehouse he found to set up his shoot. I need you to meet me there in half an hour.”
“Okay. What do I need to bring for wardrobe?”
“I’ve got it. He wants you all in white so we can focus on the makeup. We could use some muscle, so bring that cowboy with you.” Stella seemed to be back to her old self, barking orders like she hadn’t spent most of the night before in the fetal position on the bathroom floor.
“I don’t know that Jasper will be up for it.” Delilah peeked at his profile from the corner of her eye.
“Whatever you need, I’m there.” He nudged his chin her direction.
With a shrug, she put the phone back to her ear. “He’ll be there. We’ll see you in a bit.”
“What was that all about?” Jasper asked.
“Stella said they might need some help moving Franco’s equipment. Do you have anything going on this afternoon?”
“Nope. Where you go, I go.”
Delilah returned the smile, wishing that could be true forever. Her phone pinged with an incoming text. “Crap on a cracker.”
“What is it?”
“Stella just texted me the address where we’re supposed to meet the photographer.”
“And?”
“It’s in Swynton.”
* * *
* * *
Franco wasn’t thrilled about the last-minute change in plans. Delilah could tell by the exaggerated air-kisses he gave her when they met up at Lacey’s wedding warehouse. Thankfully, Jasper had been able to coordinate with the mayor, and they had access to the space as long as they needed it.
“What’s all this?” Franco stood at the edge of the screened-in tent where the butterflies flitted around a bunch of potted perennials that Lacey must have brought in for them. “You didn’t tell me this place came with built-in props.”
“Those are very important butterflies.” Jasper stepped between Franco and the zippered front of the tent. “They’re already promised to a bride for her wedding this weekend.”
“That’s a shame.” Franco swayed, his hands moving through the air as graceful as always.
“I’m picturing you all in white with hundreds of butterflies resting on your dress.”
“Why don’t we get the shots Monique suggested first? If we have time, maybe we can talk about incorporating some of your other ideas.” Delilah stood behind Franco and shook her head at Jasper. There was no way she’d let the photographer wipe out the butterfly collection. Not after it had cost her a bruised hip to gather most of them.
“Fine.” Franco shifted into “go mode,” which meant he started bossing everyone around. “Delilah, go get ready. Stella, I’m going to need you to pitch in with styling today since I don’t have my assistant.”
“Can I do something to help?” Jasper asked.
“Sure. Can you grab my lights from the back of my SUV? Just be careful with them.” Franco tossed his keys to Jasper.
Delilah changed, then spent the next two hours pursing her lips, thrusting out her hips, and letting Stella and Franco move her arms and legs into a variety of poses.
While Franco reviewed the shots, she took the opportunity to grab a bottle of water and check in on Jasper. “How are you holding up?”
“I had no idea getting a picture for an ad could take this long. Isn’t it just one shot?”
“You should see what happens when we’re doing press for a pageant.” She slid a straw into her bottle of water so she could take a sip without messing up her makeup. “If there’s something else you need to do, you don’t have to stick around.”
Jasper stood from where he’d been leaning up agai
nst the table. “I told Lacey I wouldn’t let you out of my sight. I guess you’re stuck with me.”
She could think of a million things that would be much worse but couldn’t come up with a single one that would be better than having Jasper by her side.
“If you think it’s been rough up to this point, just wait. He’s barely getting going. We’ve had some sessions that have lasted fourteen, fifteen hours.” She dabbed at her cheeks and forehead with one of the blotting paper samples Stella had brought.
Jasper took a swallow from his own bottle of water. “Do you like it?”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Getting your picture taken? Wearing a couple of inches of makeup on your face?”
She set her bottle back on the table. No one had ever asked her how she felt about modeling or being photographed before. It was just one of those things that was expected. If you were into the pageant scene, you knew you’d have to sit for photos and subject yourself to all the prep work that went along with it.
“Ready for you again, D.” Franco snapped his fingers.
Delilah immediately startled. “I’ve got to get back. We’ll probably be at this for a few more hours. Are you sure you want to stick around?”
“Where you go, I go.” He flipped a chair around, then straddled it, leaning an elbow on the back and resting his chin in his hands.
“You don’t have to look so excited about it. I’d hate for you to be bored all evening. Want me to see if Franco wants to get a few shots of you?” She flashed him a teasing smile.
“Hell no.” He took a playful swat at her backside as she moved away.
Franco had her pose, pout, and posture until her cheeks ached from smiling. Then he had her do some serious shots as well. It was after ten when he finally decided he had enough. Jasper helped break down the equipment and pack it into the back of Franco’s SUV. Not even Stella had the energy left in her to argue about anything.
When they were done, Jasper carried her bag out to the truck. Stella said she was too tired to be sad, so Delilah appeared to have the night off from trying to make her mother feel better about herself.
She climbed into the front seat of Jasper’s truck and tried to keep her eyes open for the relatively short drive back to Taylor Farms.
“When do we get to see the pictures?” Jasper asked.
“I probably won’t see them until they’re edited and Stella has the marketing company place them somewhere.” She’d outgrown the excitement of seeing her picture on a page a long time ago.
“Why do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You can’t tell me you enjoyed that.”
She pressed her back against the door. “It’s complicated.”
“What’s complicated?”
“It’s just not as simple as whether I enjoy it or not. Sometimes you have to do things because they’re part of your job description. I bet you don’t always enjoy the work you have to do around the orchard.” She studied him in the dim light from the dash.
His jaw set in a firm line. “No, but I enjoy knowing that the work I do is for a greater good.”
“So is this. We’re going to be able to donate a portion of the proceeds to the nonprofit group Monique started. I might not like having my picture taken for ten hours straight, but if the end goal is to raise money to help other girls so they don’t have to go through the same things I did when I was their age, then it’s worth it to me.”
“How much of the proceeds are going to the cause?” Jasper glanced over at her.
She didn’t want to answer. Not because she didn’t know, but because that had been a sticking point between her and Stella. Her mother wanted to donate the bare minimum. She reasoned that the cosmetics line would be their only source of income. If they were the ones putting in all the work, why should they give up any of the profits?
But Delilah refused to have her name or brand associated with a company that would only give the bare minimum. After days of arguing, they’d finally settled on 12.5 percent. The number was far below the 20 percent mark that Delilah had wanted, but also quite a bit higher than Stella’s initial offer of five.
Jasper shot another look her way. “I don’t want to upset you. It’s just that I feel like I saw two different people today. When you spoke to those kids at Abby’s school, it was like you lit up inside. And I’m telling you, they hung on every word.”
She grinned as she thought about how it felt to stand up there and share her story. So many girls came up to her after and thanked her for not being afraid to open up.
“Then this afternoon, it was like you closed up. That light I saw in you earlier went out.” He reached for her hand. “It just makes me wonder. Is donating a percentage of the profits going to be enough to make you light up inside?”
* * *
* * *
When Jasper pulled up in front of Delilah’s trailer, she didn’t wait for him to come around and open her door. He barely caught up to her as she slid her key in the lock.
“Want me to take a look around before you go in?” Ever since the night of the crickets, he’d worried that Adeline or one of her minions would find something equally vile to unleash. So far the only thing he’d found in one of his searches was a giant moth.
“It’s okay. We’ve both had a long day. I’m sure you’ll hear the scream if I come across anything that’s not supposed to be here.” She let her hand linger on the door handle. “Besides, don’t you need to get home to let Buster out?”
“I asked Abby to go over when I figured we’d be late.” With him on the ground and Delilah standing on the second step, they almost stood eye to eye.
“What’s on the agenda for the rest of the week?”
“The butterfly wedding is on Saturday. Do you still want to go?”
“Of course.” Her lips turned up in a weak smile. She had to be exhausted after the last twenty-four hours. But he didn’t want to let her go without making sure he hadn’t said or done something to add to whatever made her shoulders slump forward and had taken a little bit of the shine from her eyes.
“About earlier . . .”
Her head tilted, like she was studying him under the dim light coming from the moon. “What about it?”
How could he sum up everything he wanted to say in a few short words? “I just want you to be happy.”
She nodded, her head moving up and down so slightly that he squinted to make sure he hadn’t imagined it in the semidarkness.
“I appreciate that. And I am happy. Or at least I will be when I can finally start doing something that makes a difference.” She set a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for being there today.”
“My pleasure.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Tomorrow.”
She ducked inside the camper and he stood there for several minutes, trying to decide if he should go after her. It was so obvious to him that she needed to start putting herself first and figure out what would make her happy instead of sacrificing everything for her mother. She’d probably been doing it her whole life. The irony of that wasn’t lost on him. He’d been doing the same thing to some degree.
It made him wonder . . . would she ever be able to truly give herself to someone, or would she always be holding something back?
nineteen
“Are you coming to check out the wedding venue or not?” Delilah only had about an hour before she’d agreed to swing back to Taylor Farms and help Abby do her hair. Jasper’s sister had been invited to sing during the ceremony and he and Delilah had promised to take her. After the all-day fiasco with Franco, Stella had sunk back into a funk. Delilah tried to prod her mother into getting ready, but if she wasn’t going to budge, Delilah wouldn’t let it keep her from the commitment she’d made.
“Just go witho
ut me.” Stella waved a hand in the air and held it to her forehead, her palm facing out. “I’ll be fine here by myself.”
“That’s it. You’re being ridiculous.” Delilah hadn’t dared to use that sharp a tone with her mother before.
Stella must have realized it, too. She sat up on the bed and let her hand fall away. “I’m not being ridiculous. I’ve had my heart broken.”
“You and Walter dated for what . . . four months?” Delilah rummaged through the dozen or more dresses her mother had hung in the small closet of the motel room. “Is your heart really broken or are you just lonely?”
“He told me he loved me. I thought he was going to propose over the holidays.” Stella shifted to the edge of the bed and flung her feet over the side.
Delilah picked out a long, flowy light blue dress that would match her mother’s eyes. “Here, wear this. You’re going with me and that’s final.”
“I don’t know why you’re so worked up about this wedding,” Stella grumbled but took the hanger from Delilah as she passed her on the way to the bathroom.
“It’s important to me. Jasper and Suzy and so many others pulled together in a crisis to come through for a complete stranger. I want to see her reaction when they let the butterflies loose.” And she wanted to see it with Jasper. In the past several weeks he’d become such an important part of her life. She hadn’t quite decided what she was going to do when her time in Ido came to an end.
“I don’t know why you’re so wrapped up in all of these people’s problems. You’ll be heading home in another week. Won’t it be nice to get back on track with your own career?”
If Delilah hadn’t figured out how she felt about Jasper, she wasn’t about to try to explain it to her mother. “Sure. Once the gala is over it will be good to be able to focus on the cosmetics line and stay in one place for a while. I was thinking when I get back to Dallas, about maybe getting a dog.”
“A dog?” Stella stuck her head through the doorway, a lip liner in hand. “Don’t be silly. You don’t want to worry about dog hair all the time, do you?”
