Not A Small-Town Girl

escaping death time and again. Trust had never come easily to him, yet this girl had become his reason to believe in love.

As the first rays of the morning sun peeked through the window, they softly illuminated Danielle’s face, gently waking her from slumber. She wrinkled her brow at the sunlight, gradually waking as she stretched her limbs. Opening her eyes groggily, she gazed at the ceiling, slowly coming to her senses.

’Where am I? This isn’t my room. What happened after dinner?’ Danielle wondered. A string of questions tumbled through her mind. ’Wait, who changed my clothes?’

Her head throbbed with the dull ache of a hangover, and she cursed herself for not knowing when to stop. Groaning softly, she quickly changed into her own clothes and went downstairs, where she found David reading the newspaper with a coffee in hand.

Sensing her gaze, David looked up, his eyes meeting hers as she stood at the staircase landing, looking dazed.

"Come have breakfast," he said, gesturing to the table.

her was filled with her favorite dishes-clearly prepared on

supposed to be at work by

Danielle asked.

events of the previous night. She had stayed upstairs longer, hoping he would already have left. Little did she expect to see

Charrington didn’t want you eating alone, so he

Ever since David’s mother passed away, Albert had never seen him smile, and he became

time Albert saw David genuinely care for someone, showing a rare glimpse of tenderness. It brought him a sense of comfort to know David had someone special in his

head hurt?" David asked

much last night, didn’t I?" Danielle

David raised an eyebrow. "You don’t remember

been told that when she drank, she became a completely different person. But since she always blacked out, she had no memory of what she