Page 62 of Baking it Merry

“Thanks, Sara.”This time when she hung up, Daphne felt like she was going to be sick.Could Tristan be that awful?Could she have been so blind and gullible?And all of this over some baked goods?Really?

The wait wasn’t nearly as long this time.When the phone rang fifteen minutes later, her hands shook when she picked it up.“Well?”

“I forwarded you the emails he had,” Sara explained.“I’m so sorry, Daph.If there’s anything else I can do…”

Tears stung her eyes.“Thanks.I’ll let you know.”After letting out a long breath, she said, “I’ll see you in the morning with muffins.”

“Sounds good.And my offer to kick someone’s ass still stands.”

Daphne whispered another thanks before hanging up.Her stomach churned as she stared down at the screen and tapped on her emails.There were four attachments with emails from Knight Architects, all signed by Tristan, and all complaining about what a nuisance she was.One of them even threatened to move Knight’s office to another building just to prove a point.

“Well that’s just excessive,” she mumbled.

Then her heart sank.

Everything had been a lie.

Every kiss, every touch, every conversation…all of it.

Including his apology.

“Hey, sweetie!”her mother cheerily called out as she came in through the kitchen door.“Look!I got us some gorgeous poinsettias!Aren’t they amazing?I thought they’d make a nice touch for…” She paused when she spotted Daphne.“Oh, baby.What happened?Are you okay?You’re crying!”

Daphne hadn’t even realized it until her mother pointed it out.And then the entire story came out—the fake dating, the real feelings, the fight, the apology, and…the emails.“Mom, what am I supposed to do?How am I supposed to face him tomorrow?”

“You should march down to his office right now and tell him you’re on to him!Tell him he’s an awful human being and make him talk to the landlord so you can get your spot back!How dare he ruin that for you!”

But she was already shaking her head.“I don’t want the spot now.There’s no way I ever want to see Tristan again after the holidays are over.If I didn’t have so many orders, I’d consider breaking my contract and not even going back.But I won’t do that to my customers.They shouldn’t have to suffer because Tristan Knight is an inconsiderate and awful human being.”

“I just…it doesn’t make sense, Daphne.No one’s that good of an actor.He genuinely seemed to care about you.”

“Cared about the sex,” she mumbled.

“Okay, okay…we don’t need to talk about that.I know you’re not a virgin, but I also don’t need for us to talk about your sex life.”

“Believe me, I’m good with that.”Sitting down on the nearest stool, she sighed.“You know the worst part?I was falling in love with him.”She snorted.“What a fool I am.No one changes that much overnight.”Another sigh.“At least I did the right thing and made all of those parties amazing.No one can accuse me of being a bad person.Tristan, on the other hand…”

Her mother walked over and hugged her.“I’m so sorry, Daphne.I hate seeing you so upset.What can I do?”

It would have been easy to sit there and wallow in self-pity.But like she said, she had a lot of customers who were counting on her.So, she pushed all her sadness aside and focused on her baking calendar.“I got a good start on the menu for the week.All the muffins and cupcakes are done, and so are the coffee cakes and sugar cookies.We need to start on the chocolate chip ones and the peanut butter ones next.Can you work on those while I go and splash some cold water on my face?”

“Take all the time you need.We’re going to get through this.”

Somehow, she didn’t think it was possible, but she also knew that she didn’t have a choice.Once she washed up, she put on her favorite playlist of Christmas songs, cranked up the volume, and let out some of her frustrations by smashing a five-pound bag of candy canes.

It was oddly therapeutic, especially since she envisioned Tristan’s face with every smash.

“The most wonderful time of the year, my ass…”

Things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Tuesday morning arrived faster than Tristan was prepared for.He had made arrangements for flowers to be delivered—poinsettias since they were so festive, and he thought they would delight Daphne—and he was going to have her lunch delivered.

Last night, he felt confident in the way things were going to go, but when he arrived at work this morning, everyone was giving him the stink eye.

Everyone.

The look Daphne shot at him as he walked by was openly hostile.

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