Not A Small-Town Girl

romantic evening had turned into an intervention.

"I don’t care..." Danielle began to act all coy just to get another sip, as though the wine were something magical she couldn’t resist.

David relented again. "Fine. But just a little bit more."

Danielle giggled as she eagerly nodded. She stared at the bottle, saying, "Okay."

She was so endearing in her tipsy state that David couldn’t help but melt.

By the end of the dinner, Danielle was thoroughly drunk. Clearly, she couldn’t return home in such a condition, so David pulled out his phone to call Howard. "Mr. Darling, it’s David. Danielle had a bit too much to drink. It’s late, so-"

cutting him off. "David, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to listen to me sing?" "What’s going

Howard asked with concern.

Darling.

Danielle interrupted again, clutching a makeshift microphone-a water bottle-

her balance. "Mr. Darling, I’m afraid I need to hang up now," he said hastily before

Danielle sang her way through an entire repertoire of nursery rhymes, jumping and twirling without a care. She even posed for him when he mischievously started recording her performance on his phone, blissfully unaware of the embarrassment she

the Darling residence, Howard and Vivian exchanged uneasy glances

that on the phone? What

replied. Even though he was fond of David,

nothing to worry about," Vivian