Immediately Darryl turned and launched the vase at the harrows, which the vase struck, shattering into more pieces than the vase he’d thrown at Weston.
Sheri and her parents looked bemused, as did several other people, but Weston’s vision quickly closed on Darryl, his blood having gone from barely lukewarm to a savage boil in an instant.
Surging at Darryl, Weston seized his shoulder and immediately started firing fists at Darryl’s face. Darryl tried to offer some punches back, but they were all poorly-timed and poorly-aimed, not to mention they weren’t delivered with much force.
Suddenly strong hands gripped Weston, who fought against them viciously, wanting to keep beating Darryl until Darryl’s face was bruised, swollen, and bloody.
“Weston Jeremy Edric Hazlett,” Dad’s voice hissed into his ear sharply.
Although Weston wanted to keep fighting, he knew he didn’t dare if Dad was saying his full name, so he let go of Darryl and released the tension out of his body. Dad hung onto his arm and towed him a distance away from the crowd.
“What was that all about?” Dad demanded profanely.
“We saw a vase that she wanted to buy for her mom for her birthday,” Weston replied quietly, knowing Dad would know who he was talking about and not wanting to use her name. “I bid on it for her, and Darryl saw me, so he bid against me, and he won the bidding because of the limit we’d set. It was a choice, and he picked the wrong vase, so I grabbed the one she’d wanted.”
Dad nodded, his gaze still stern.
“As I was going to show her the vase and let her know how much I’d paid for it, he threw his vase at me and it broke when it hit the ground, but he claimed I’d bumped him and knocked it out of his hands,” Weston went on. “Other people saw him throw it and said so, so he made a grab for it, but I got away and showed it to her, she gave me what she had for cash to pay for it, and I went to pay for it. He then claimed it was his vase and I’d stolen it before taking it off the counter and running here. I hope you saw what happened from there.”
“I did,” Dad replied, still stern. “But what did Darryl mean when he said you were Sheri’s boyfriend?”
“He guessed I was, and I didn’t deny it, so he thinks he’s right,” Weston replied. “But now she’s going to be upset because he stole and broke the vase.”
“Wasn’t she with you?” Dad asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
“No,” Weston replied. He didn’t want to tell Dad where Andie was with Darryl so close, though.
Dad’s eyebrows shifted into positions of suspicion consistent with the rest of his facial features. “You ought to tell her though.”
Nodding, Weston sighed with dejection and disappointment. He hoped Andie wouldn’t be too upset, especially considering he’d not even succeeded in giving the woman at the office the money for the vase before Darryl stole it.
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