It took the entire drive into Petersburg for me to calm down. Even then there was still a hot mix of anger and humiliation swirling inside me.
What the heck was wrong with him? I thought people in small towns were supposed to be nice, not act like the son of Satan.
I found Main Street with no problem, which literally seemed to be the main street. There was the Grant County Library on Mount View, and I reminded myself I needed to get a library card.
Grocery store options were limited. Foodland, which actually read FOO LAND, brought to you by the missing letter D, was where Douchebag had said it would be.
The front windows were plastered with a missing person's picture of a girl about my age with long dark hair and laughing eyes. The data below said she'd last been seen over a year ago.
There was a reward, but after she'd been missing for that long, I doubted the reward would ever be claimed. Saddened by that thought, I headed inside.
I was a speed shopper, wasting no time strolling aisles. Throwing items into the cart, I realized I'd need more than I thought since we only had the bare necessities at home. Soon, my cart was filled to the rim.
"Katy?"
Lost in thought, I jumped at the soft female voice and dropped a carton of eggs on the floor.
"Crap."
"Oh! I am so sorry! I startled you. I do that a lot." Tan arms shot out and she picked up the carton and placed it back on the shelf. She grabbed another one and held it in her slender hands. "These won't be cracked." I lifted my gaze from the egg carnage slowly oozing bright yolks all over the linoleum floor and was momentarily stunned. My first impression of the girl was that she was too beautiful to be standing in a grocery store with a carton of eggs in her hand.
She stood out like a sunflower in a field of wheat.
Everyone else was a pale comparison. Her dark hair was curly and longer than mine, reaching her waist. She was tall, thin, and her almost perfect features held a certain innocence.
She reminded me of someone, especially those startling green eyes. I gritted my teeth. What were the odds?
She grinned. "I'm Daemon's sister. My name is Dee." She placed the undamaged carton of eggs in my cart. "New eggs!" She smiled.
"Daemon?"
Dee gestured at a hot-pink purse in the front of her cart. A cell phone was lying on top of it.
"You talked to him about thirty minutes ago.
You stopped by...asking for directions?" So the dickhead had a name. Daemon -
seemed fitting. And of course his sister would be as attractive as him. Why not? Welcome to West Virginia, the land of lost models. I was starting to doubt I was going to fit in here. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone to call out my name." I paused. "He called you?"
"Yeah." She deftly pulled her cart out of the way of a toddler running amok through the narrow aisle. "Anyway, I saw you guys move in, and I've been meaning to stop by, and when he said you were here, well, I was so excited to meet you I ran over. He told me what you looked liked." I could only imagine that description.
Curiosity filled her face as she watched me with her intense green eyes. "Although, you don't look anything like he said, but anyway, I'd know who you were. It's hard not to know pretty much everyone's face around here." I watched a grubby little kid climb up the bread rack. "I don't think your brother likes me." Her brows furrowed. "What?"
"Your brother - I don't think he likes me." I turned back to the cart, fiddling with a package of meat. "He wasn't very...helpful."
"Oh no," she said and then laughed. I looked at her sharply. "I'm sorry. My brother is moody."
No shit. "I'm pretty sure that was more than being moody."
She shook her head. "He was having a bad day. He's worse than a girl, trust me. He doesn't hate you. We're twins. Even I want to kill him on days that end with a Y. Anyway, Daemon's kind of rough around the edges. He doesn't get along with...people." I laughed. "You think?"
"Well, I'm glad I ran into you here!" she exclaimed, changing the subject yet again. "I wasn't sure if I would've been bothering you if I popped over, with you getting settled in and all."
"No, it wouldn't have been a bother." I tried to keep up with the conversation. She went from one topic to the next like someone in bad need of Ritalin.
"You should've seen me when Daemon said you were our age. I almost ran home to hug him." She moved excitedly. "If I'd known he was going to be so rude to you, I would have been likely to punch him instead."
"I can imagine." I grinned. "I wanted to punch him, too."
"Imagine being the only girl in the neighborhood and stuck with your annoying brother most of the time." She glanced over her shoulder, delicate brows creasing.
I followed her gaze. The little boy now had a carton of milk in each hand, which reminded me that I needed milk. "Be right back." I headed over to the refrigerated section.