Until She Met Daniel by Callie Endicott Page A

poor terms with anyone.
    â€œI’ll have to try it.”
    Mandy stayed on the patio a while longer, in case Daniel realized she’d gone in and thought it was because of him. But the light was getting low and the banana she’d eaten while driving to Pioneer Memorial Park was wearing thin.
    In the kitchen she fixed a large salad, adding grilled chicken and cheese, then sat in the big easy chair to eat and watch baseball. The local cable mostly played the Giants’ and Athletics’ games, and tonight the San Francisco Giants were in Saint Louis playing the Cardinals. Having lived in so many different regions, it seemed only fair to cheer for the local team. So Mandy watched, hoping the Giants would do well—unfortunately they were in a slump and the Cardinals made sure it continued.
    Later, when she snuggled into bed, she thought she’d see huckleberries when she closed her eyes, but they vied for attention with Daniel...and his irritating attempt to tell her what she shouldn’t talk about with Susan.
That
was something she needed to remember whenever she noticed his sex appeal. She’d already committed disaster with one uptight rulebook and didn’t intend to get involved with another guy who showed signs of having the same annoying trait.
    Of course, there was no harm in finding Daniel Whittier physically attractive, even if she wasn’t sold on his personality. After all, there were actors on TV and in the movies who’d caught her attention. And while it was disappointing to learn some of them were jerks in real life, it wasn’t as if she had believed they were truly like a fictional character she’d enjoyed.
    And most important of all, she didn’t want to get involved with anyone that way. Willow’s Eve
might
be that special place where everything fit together, but she didn’t want any ties to keep her from moving on if necessary. Besides, the thought of Bill’s disappointment back in Phoenix wasn’t something she’d soon forget.
    She scrunched her pillow and sighed. Daniel hadn’t shown any particular interest in her in the first place, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep his faults in mind.
    * * *
    S ATURDAY   MORNING , S USAN   stretched and rolled over in bed. The previous evening she had managed to keep Chris completely away from the subject of water. After he’d seen her in the new dress, they almost hadn’t gone out for their Friday night date. In fact, they had been quite tardy for their dinner reservation—then they’d had more fun after getting home. It reminded her of the first months after they were married.
    She yawned.
    Where was Chris?
    Oh, that was right. He’d kissed her as the clock chimed eight and slid out of bed, so he could run into town to get their mail at the post office and pick up half-and-half for their morning coffee. She smiled sleepily, knowing he’d return home with doughnuts. That was the real reason he’d gone. Saturday’s mail wouldn’t actually be in the box until after ten.
    Doughnuts were one of Chris’s weaknesses, though he tried to restrict his indulgence to once a week. But he had to go early because the Vicksville bakery delivered doughnuts to the Handy Spandy at eight, and if you didn’t get there promptly, the pastries were sold out by midmorning. Folks from Willow’s Eve were so used to it, they didn’t question the arrangement. But Mandy Colson had asked a perfectly logical question when she learned about the pattern—why didn’t the market order a larger number of doughnuts, since it could obviously sell them? Mandy soon learned that Old Man Canfield had been running his store a certain way forever and had no intention of changing.
    Susan debated whether she should stay in bed, but decided to get up and fix eggs to balance out the pastry. She’d do it up special, with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, spinach and plenty of their