My Dad Please Come 291
Wendy and Halsey huddled together under the same nket, neither of them asleep. They were deep in conversation.
"Wendy, have you ever met a guy like this?" Halsey asked.
Wendy turned her head. "What kind of guy?"
Halsey''s mind drifted back to the memory of the handsome Dwight with his buzz cut. "You know, the cold, cool type. The kind that''s really good at fighting and a little intimidating..."
Wendy nced at the ck baseball jacket hanging on the coat rack. It had originally been worn by Halsey, and after she fook it off, she had carefully hung it there. It was obvious it belonged to the guy who had saved her.
Wendy''s lips curled into a sly smile. "Are you talking about Dwight, the campus heartthrob?"
Halsey nodded. "Yeah."
Wendy winked teasingly. "Are you nning to repay his kindness with your body?"
Halsey''s face turned pink. “Shut up! I''m not talking to you anymore."
Wendy chuckled.
Halsey quickly covered her mouth. "Wendy, stopughing!
Outside, rain poured down in heavy sheets, but inside, the two girls were cozy and warm, their quietughter filling the small, humble room with warmth.
Stanleyy there on the bed, his thin lips curling into a faint smile.
Halsey yfully scolded, "Hey, stop making fun of me! I don''t know who else to talk to, so I''m telling you. You''re my cousin-inw, after all."
Halsey treated Wendy as both her cousin-inw and confidante.
Wendy paused, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean, cousin-inw?"
Halsey''s heart skipped a beat. She had forgotten that Wendy still didn''t know her true identity.
Wendy, however, had heard Halsey talking about her cousin before. "Halsey, are you talking about your scumbag cousin?"
Scumbag cousin?
Stanley turned toward them, his gaze sharp and piercing as he shot an icy re at Halsey. Had they been gossiping about him behind his back?
Halsey froze. She nervously stuck out her tongue. "Oh, my cousin''s quite the heartthrob. A lot of women would love to be with my cousin-inw, but there''s only one person I''d call that."
Halsey''s words were clearly meant for Stanley''s ears.
Stanley''s expression remained neutral. Jessica hadined to him about it before-Halsey.wasn''t interested in being friends with Jessica. She had called Jessica to the Lincolns'' residence that day to get back at her for Wendy''s sake.
Through her actions, Halsey had shown that the only cousin -inw in her heart was, indeed, Wendy.
1
Who Stanley chose to marry was irrelevant-she would only acknowledge her own cousin-inw.
What else could Stanley say?
Wendy, however, didn''t want to delve too deeply into the affairs of Halsey''s cousin. After all, they didn''t concern her. Her thoughts drifted to Dwight. She had
met him before, and the impression he left was still fresh in her mind.
"Halsey, do you know what I think Dwight''s like?" Wendy asked. Halsey, still a little lost in thought, responded, "What?"
Wendy replied softly, "Dwight''s like a wild horse. He''s not someone from your world."
Halsey thought about it for a moment, then yawned, her eyelids growing heavy. She grabbed Wendy''s arm. "No matter what, I''m going to take his jacket to the dry cleaners and return it to him. I want to thank him in person. Wendy, I''m so tired. Let''s sleep."
Wendy nodded. "Okay."
The two girls quickly fell asleep, their peaceful breathing filling the room as they drifted into slumber.
But Stanley couldn''t sleep. While the two girls were chatting softly beside him earlier, he couldn''t seem to drift off.
He turned to look at Wendy. Her small face was buried in the nket, and she was sound asleep. Reaching out, Stanley gently pulled the covers off of Wendy exposing her left calf.
Earlier, she had bumped it on a rock, but when Halsey had checked, she had shown her her right leg, which was unaffected. Her left calf, however, was swollen and bruised.
She just didn''t tell Halsey about it.
Stanley had never understood why Halsey and Wendy were so close. In fact, he
had tried to get Halsey to build a better rtionship with Jessica.
But now, he understood.