54 - Joanna

54

Joanna

I closed my jaw. "How do you know? Did Landon tell you?"

Danicka let out a high-pitched laugh. "God, no. He seems determined to cling to your little lie, even after that show on the beach back there. I've known for a while, dear."

"Since… the wedding?" I asked.

"Since the dinner two weeks ago, when he first paraded you out for us."

I stared at her. "I don't understand."

Danicka rolled her eyes as if my confusion annoyed her. "The woman who lives in the apartment next door to Landon. She's the daughter of a woman I play Bridge with. I gave her season tickets to the Chicago Opera in exchange for information on my son's female visitors. Since breaking up with his ex several months ago, he's had precisely one female guest. And it was not you."

Against my will, a flare of jealousy flickered inside me like a candle's flame. He'd had a woman over? It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did.

"Yet a week before the wedding," Danicka went on, "Landon showed up to dinner with you on his arm, claiming you'd been dating two months. It was easy to see through. Only an idiot would be fooled by your little charade."

"Do…" I gave myself a little shake. Was this really happening? "Do the others know? Clark, and Marisa, and Bradyn?"

"Of course not!" she said with a laugh. "They're all idiots. Aren't you listening to anything I'm saying?"

"So you've known all this time and haven't said anything?"

She smiled behind her wine glass. "It's been more entertaining than anything else at this resort, I'll assure you."

"Why did you go along with it?" I asked. "You could have blown it all up whenever you wanted."

"Oh, that was the original plan," she admitted. "I was going to confront you at that very first dinner. Make a scene. Embarrass Landon so thoroughly that he would never lie to us ever again."

"But you didn't."

Danicka sighed and turned to face me. "No, I didn't. Because against all odds, I actually liked you. You're certainly better than a lot of women out there, Landon's ex included. I decided I wanted to see more of you. That's why I insisted you come to the wedding, and the rehearsal dinner."

"To string us along for your amusement?"

"No," she replied. "To hopefully get you and Landon to fall in love legitimately."

I snorted. "What?"

"I hoped that if you faked it for long enough, it might actually stick," she explained. "Sometimes that's all it takes: a little spark. So I helped things along."

"I don't think you helped anything along…" I protested.

"I made sure you two kissed goodnight after dinner that first evening, and again at the rehearsal dinner," she said bluntly. "I gave Liz the bridesmaid food poisoning at the rehearsal dinner, freeing up a spot in the wedding party for you to fill. I made Chloe emotional right before giving her Maid of Honor speech, then pushed you to give a speech instead. I arranged for you to come on the honeymoon before you quit your job at the wedding. I even tried making Landon jealous by setting you up on a parasailing date with that boy Austin. Now that certainly backfired. I didn't think you'd actually sleep with him on this trip. And Teddy…" She shook her head and chuckled.

I stared at her in shock. Not only had Danicka known the entire time, but she had planned for this to happen? I could hardly believe it.

"You're manipulative," I said. "You knew and yet…"

"Careful," she warned with a smile. "You've spent the last two weeks lying to me and everyone in my family. I'd climb off that high horse before you fall off and break your neck."

I closed my mouth. She wasn't wrong.

"You've got fire , Joanna," she insisted. "That's better than any of the other women my sons have brought home, and yes, I'm not excluding the freshly-minted Mrs. Marisa Cozart. And I'm still going to try to get you that clerkship when we get back to Chicago. They have so many yes-men and yes-women working for them, you'll be a breath of fresh air. I'll be doing them as much of a favor as I am for you.

"And I hope you can work through what's going on with Landon," she added. "That's a tall order after Wanda's very public accusation, and your bungled admission. But I think it's salvageable. Landon has always cared deeply about what others think of him, but he has an independent streak, too. If he likes you, he'll try to make it work. But that's between you and him." Her lip curled in a half-smile. "And, I suppose, the other two boys you've become entangled with. Is Teddy really a dentist?"

"You mean you didn't bribe his neighbor to find out?" I said dryly.

"Of course not. I only do that for my sons," she replied simply. "Teddy Manafort, a dentist. What a world we live in."

I felt overwhelmed with new information, but one part stuck out in my mind. "The clerkship. How do I know you won't get me fired in the near future, depending on what happens with me and Landon?"

"I swear I won't," she said with an annoyed sigh. "I'll get you the job and then stay out of your business, at least as much as any mother can."

She knocked back the rest of her wine, then turned back to me with a serious expression.

"Now, a final word of advice. Or perhaps a warning. Whatever happens going forward, I do not want you to hurt my son. Date him or not, it doesn't matter. But if you toy with him, if you treat his feelings with a cavalier attitude, then I will be very unhappy indeed. In such a situation, depending on your cruelty, I will make my displeasure known to my judge friends. Landon falls for women hard . He always has. And from what I've seen in the past week, he's quickly on his way toward falling for you, Joanna Pullen."

I felt myself blushing. "I think you have it wrong. Landon…" I remembered this morning, how he had broken off our kiss without warning. "I don't think he actually likes me like that."

Danicka laughed again. "Now that's the biggest lie you've told all week. Landon can fool everyone else, but a mother knows. Promise me that whatever happens, you will be mindful of this."

"I can't promise that I won't hurt him," I admitted. "I don't even know how I feel about him, beyond a potential spark. But I will never toy with his feelings, and I will treat him with as much respect as a partner deserves."

"That's all I can ask for." She slid off the stool and smoothed out her dress. "Now, come on. We have a lot of damage control to do back at the resort."