You Belong To Me (20 page)

He did have to make sure that when he wasn’t following Danielle, he was spending time with Julie. Because without her alibi, he was
certain that he would have been caught. All he had to do was convince her to say that she remembered seeing him at the unemployment office the day of the break-in, add some input into the computer to make it all look legit and he’d have his alibi. Julie didn’t question Ethan, after all she liked him and told him that she’d do anything for him, and she meant it.

Had he not been so preoccupied with stalking Danielle, Ethan would have noticed that there was something a bit off about Julie. If he did see it,
he chose to ignore it. Instead he took advantage of the fact that Julie was quite infatuated with him. And even though he despised the thought of spending his spare time with her, he knew that Julie would be able to not only provide the perfect alibi, but he soon realized that it would be quite easy to manipulate her into thinking that Danielle was the culprit, should something sinister ever happen to him. Unbeknownst to Ethan, Julie Thompson was a predatory stalker just like him, and she backed up Ethan’s lie to the police.

Between work and helping Shay and Jason plan their engagement party, Danielle and Mitch barely noticed that the tourist season had arrived. Soon, summer decorations replaced the spring ones.  

“Mitch things have be
en good. Let's try not to think about it,” Danielle said, when one night over dinner he brought up the subject of Ethan.

“I know they have babe, better than good, but I just want to make sure the police stay on top of it you know?”
 

“I'm sure they are hon
ey. He hasn’t come around here, he hasn’t come into the store, and I’d certainly like to keep it that way. Besides, even though we all know that the alibi he came up with was phony,” Danielle frowned. “I'm glad the police still served him with the restraining order. Hopefully that’ll be that and we can get on with our lives,” she sighed.

Danielle had no way of knowing that to Ethan, his absence in her life had meant that it was just the calm before the storm.

Ethan had it all planned out, thanks to Shayla and Jason he had everything he needed. Now all he had to do was wait, wait for his moment. And his moment was coming up, not only would he be able to get to Danielle, but he’d finally be able to get rid of Mitch as well. Oh I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees what I’ve got in store for him, Ethan smiled to himself. I'm gonna get rid of you once and for all Mitchy-poo, Ethan grinned. Once and for all.

Living in a small town has its advantages. Ethan thought back to the nig
ht not so long ago when he spotted Shayla and Jason sitting in a booth at the local diner late one night. Once he recognized who it was he simply turned his back and continued looking over the menu.  After about twenty minutes when he saw that they hadn’t noticed him, he relaxed a bit and decided to sit; sit and listen to their conversation. What he heard had been the premise of setting his plan in motion.

Shayla and Jason inadvertently gave Ethan the date, time and place of where both Danielle and Mitch wo
uld be on the night of July fifteenth.  Ethan was so glad he had decided to go out that particular night. And what pleased him more besides the fact that neither Shayla, nor Jason recognized him, was that her two best friends without even realizing it had given her up to him.
Oh this is sweet
, he thought to himself as he perused online for the perfect mask. "It is after all a masquerade party isn’t it? I’ve gotta make sure that I fit right in. Wouldn’t want to ruin the party," he silently laughed to himself.

“Shay you must be so excited,” exclaimed Danielle as they sat in Shayla's bedroom getting ready to go to Vic's and
 try on their costumes. 

“Oh I am Danielle; I want everything to be perfect.”

“And it will be Shay, the ballroom is going to be gorgeous, it's going to be a wonderful evening.”

“Oh I hope so Danielle, I really hope so.”

“Have you gotten the R.S.V.P.’s back?” 

“Yes, it looks like everyone is attending,” Shayla said excitedly.

“Shay that’s great, I can't wait.”  Shayla, grinning with childlike excitement said, “Come on let's head on over to Vic's, I can't wait to try this on.”

“Come on, come on let's get these babies on she cried.”
 

“Well hello to you too Vic.”

“Oh I'm sorry girls, I'm just so darn excited to see the gown I forgot my manors, you girls want a drink?”

“We'll take wine if you got it.”

“Of course, in fact I think I'll bring the bottle right here in the den and we can change in there. And don’t worry about Joe; he's out in the garage muddling around with that old car of his so he won't be bothering us.  Now let's tear these boxes open!” 

Shayla managed to get all the packing tape and staples out of her package first, while Danielle and Victoria stood in awe; she pulled out the elegant, Victorian era costume.

“Shay its stunning, if it were white, it would look like a wedding dress,” exclaimed Danielle. 

The costume was an off the shoulder, pale pink gown with layer upon layer of tulle and hand embroidered pearl trim around the low cut neck line. Tiny scroll like patterns adorned with
delicate iridescent colored sequins were placed all over the gown.

“Oh Shay, try it on, try it on they both cheered.”
 

Seeing how gorgeous Shay's costume was made Danielle and Vic even more anxious to open their packages.
  After helping Vic with hers, Danielle finally got to her costume, it was a Lemon-colored satin gown, painted with La France roses. Although her gown did not have the intricate detailing or patterns, it was beautiful none the less as the plunging neckline was lined with faux diamonds, and had a mask to match.

“Oh Danielle, that is going to look so hot on you,” said Shay.

“Well girls so far we're two for two, let's see if we can make it three for three?” 

Removing the tissue from her gown, Victoria let out an excited gasp as she held up
her pale blue ball gown. “Victoria, it looks even better than the picture,” said Danielle.  Victoria’s gown was all lace with cap sleeves. Intricate beading fell across the cap sleeves as well as along the bottom of the gown. Instead of layers of tulle, Victoria’s gown housed a small lace train that could be trussed if she wanted it to be. “Oh girls these are gorgeous, let's get them on.”

After helping each other, zip, snap and attach, the three friends ran upstairs to Vic's master bedroom where they could
look into the full length mirror.  Each one loved the way the gowns looked and felt. 

“Oh Shay, this is going to be a great party,” cried Danielle.”
 

“I think your right Dee we all look gorgeous.”

“Oh Shayla,” said Vic, “I thought I’d look a bit silly in a ball gown, but after trying it on, I have to say, I love it.”

“So will Joe!” Danielle and Shayla chimed in.
 

“Oh you girls,” Vic said laughing.
 

“Your two fellas are gonna have to pick their wagging tongues up off the ground when they see the two of
you.” 

“I think your right Vic,”
 Shayla grinned.

“I hate to say it ladies, but we'd better take these off, don’t want to mess them up.”
 

“Your right Vic.”

Heading into the kitchen for a cold drink, Joe glanced in the den. Seeing cardboard boxes, tissue paper, and bras strewn about, he turned around, forgot about the cold drink and went right back out into the garage. 

As the ladies repacked their gowns, they couldn’t help but try on the masquerade masks that accompanied each gown. Each one accentuated t
he individual gown.  Once everything was neatly put away, Shayla decided to leave early as she had some last minute planning to take care of. After saying goodbye to Shay, and while she waited for Mitch to pick her up, Danielle sat in Vic's kitchen drinking wine and munching on some leftover pot roast that Vic had warmed up.

“How are things going with Mitch?” Asked Vic.
 

“Things are going great Vic; he can't wait for me to meet his parents during the holidays. Can you believe that? Here it is summertime an
d already I'm nervous about thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I want to meet them too, I just hope they like me Vic. Especially his mom, I get the feeling that she’s a little over protective,”  Danielle frowned.

“I mean don’t get me wrong, o
f course you would be, he’s her son. And even more so since she lost her youngest child, but I just hope that she understands how much I care about and love Mitch.”

“Danielle, you have nothing to be worried about, they are going to love you.
  You have made Mitch a very happy man. Danielle, let me tell you for as long as I've known Mitch, he’s always seemed to be lonely. Oh he tried to hide it, but I could see, I could see right through it and I felt so sorry for him.  I mean just look at him, he's drop dead gorgeous, he does very well for himself, and he built his home with his bare hands, I mean what’s not to love right? 

But the woman around here see, they weren’t exactly too keen on his womanizing ways.
  Mitch could wine and dine a woman but if she ever tried to get too close Danielle, that's when he would end things, put a stop to them.

He was afraid you see, afraid of letting someone in. And yes I believe that some of that fear is because of his mother, I mean let’s face it, after she lost her youngest
, she did become a little too protective of both Mitch and his sister Katelyn.   

Probably still is, but it also goes back to when he moved to New York. Don’t know why he did a dumb thing like that but he did it and someone there must have broken his heart
because he came back a broken man.

Then to find out that your baby brother got killed? Well let’s just say it took a long time for him to turn back into his old self, and rightfully so. But then he met you, and well… sometimes a man really does know whet
her or not the woman he meets is the one because for Mitch, honey you are the one. There is no denying that,” Vic said with such positivity, Danielle did not doubt her for a second.

“Vic, I love him so very much and I know he loves me.
  I mean look at how close we’ve gotten in these past few months, but I'm worried, is that normal?  Are we taking things way too fast? 

 
Telling each other we love each other already?”  Victoria came from behind the kitchen counter and put her arms around Danielle’s shoulders.  And while giving her a warm and friendly hug said, “Danielle take my advice, if that man told you he loved you on the first, second or third date, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he proves his love for you each and every day.

And I'm not just t
alking about the hugging and the kissing, that’s all well and good. What I'm talking about is the talking and the listening and wiping up of tears.

The holding you when you’re sad, the picking you up when you’re down. Those things Danielle, those things t
hat I'm sure he’s already doing for you, proves to you that he loves you.  Now you have been through a lot Danielle, more than most and that man has stood by your side through it all.  It doesn’t matter how soon you both said you love one another, what matters is that you've both proven it to each other and continue to do so every day.” 

“Vic, you’re so right, thank you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You'd sit here worrying and worrying because that’s what you do.”

“Your right again,
” laughed Danielle. 

“And speak of the devil, looked who just walked in,” said Vic.
 

 
Glancing over her shoulder, Danielle smiled as Mitch walked towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  He looked incredibly sexy in his work jeans and tight fitting thermal shirt. I could devour him right here, she thought to herself, as she eyed him up and down while he made small talk with Victoria.  Seeing the sultry look in her eyes, Mitch felt that familiar pang in his groin as he and Danielle said their goodbye's to Vic.  Once inside the dark truck, Danielle leaned over and gently nibbled on Mitch's bottom lip before she kissing him fully.

“I missed you,” she said as her hands groped between his legs. “Get me home so I can take care of my man.”
 

“Yes ma'am, wha
tever your heart desires,” said Mitch. He couldn’t stop smiling the whole way home.

A day before the party, a frantic Shayla called Danielle in a panic.

“Hey Shay, what’s up?”

“Oh my god Danielle you gotta help me!”

“Calm down Shay, your scaring me,
what’s going on?”

“I'm sorry, I don’t mean to scare you, it's just that I have a bit of a dilemma and it might ruin the party!”

“Okay Shay, I'll do anything to help, what is it?”

“I totally forgot to pick out the perfect handbag to go with my gown Danielle
.”

“Oh my god! Are you serious Shay? How could you do such a thing? I mean really?”

“I'm not liking the extreme sarcasm Danielle.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sure I have a nice evening bag for you to use, I'll go check my closet right now.”

“Well can you check your closet while you have me here on the phone Danielle, pretty please?”

“Fine, I'm heading up there now.” Shrugging her shoulders at Mitch who gave her an inquisitive look, Danielle headed upstairs and opening up the closet began searching through her unpack
ed luggage that Mitch brought from her old place. Finding a silver beaded handbag, she began describing it to Shay over the phone.

“Well how big is it?”

“Shay, it's an evening bag.”

“Okay, what kind of strap does it have?”
 

“Hey Shay, I have an idea, why
don’t I just send you a pic?”

“Duh,” said Shay, “I didn't even think of that.”