Page 98 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

“I don’t think he’ll be mayor much longer,” Grandma Mabel said, “what with the embezzlement and all.”

“And the concussion,” Daphne added, shooting her grandmother a sideways glance.

Grandma Mabel sipped her coffee, smiled, and said nothing.

When her father came to sit next to her, Daphne leaned her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her, and for a moment, she felt like a little girl again, safe in her father’sarms. As her mother went around to refill everyone’s cups, then sank down in a chair of her own, Daphne listened to the excited chatter and realized that she’d been wrong about something else.

Shedidbelong here. She was just as much a part of this family as anyone else. Not because she had decided to be brash, but because they would always be here to support her. Her parents had encouraged her to leave the island for college. They’d cheered on her academic dreams, even when tears had streamed down their faces when it came time to say goodbye. They’d been there for her when Pete walked out; all she’d had to do was tell them, and the whole family had rallied around her.

Yes, she was different. She liked numbers and got a special kind of thrill when using complicated queries and pivot tables in her spreadsheets. Her family couldn’t relate, but they accepted it. Encouraged it. Celebrated it.

She’d never been on the outside of the Davis clan. The only person who needed to accept Daphne for who she was was herself.

“I saved you the heel of the bread I made this morning,” her father said, his cheek pressed against the top of her head as he held her. “How do you feel about having it with butter, maybe a little jam? We picked up the rhubarb stuff you like so much.”

It was ridiculous that an offer of bread, butter, and jam would mean so much to Daphne, but her eyes still prickled. Even though everyone in the family liked the heel, her dad would always save it for her when he could—even when she’d spent the night in a Fernley County Sheriff’s Department holding cell. No one else in the household liked rhubarb jam, but her parents had gone out of their way to stock it for her.

How could she have thought that they didn’t appreciate her for who she was?

“That sounds really good, Dad,” she croaked, throat tight with emotion.

He kissed the top of her head and got up to move to the kitchen. A second after he’d vacated his spot, Helen took it and wrapped Daphne in another hug. “I love you, Daphne,” she said quietly.

Brushing tears off her cheeks, Daphne nodded. “I love you too. I’m sorry.”

Helen laughed as she pulled away, pressing a kiss to Daphne’s forehead. “Nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart. I’m just glad you’re here, and you’re okay.”

Daphne nodded and wiped her cheeks again, and her attention was drawn by Hugh’s voice.

“So, wait, Archie’s been embezzling money? Those break-ins were him? Why?”

Daphne explained everything she’d learned about Archie Jr.’s schemes. “Not sure about the Romano’s break-in, though,” she noted.

“I’m sure it’ll all get figured out soon,” Grandma Mabel said, then brightened when the doorbell rang. “That’ll be Harry and Greta. They said they had something to show us.”

“I’ll get it,” Ellie said as she got up. A moment later, she came back, trailed by Harry, Greta, and Ryan Lane.

The teen had his laptop under his arm, and he gave everyone in the room a little wave. He held up a USB drive. “Got all the recordings from yesterday. You guys want to see them?”

“Hot damn!” Mabel said, jumping up. “Do we ever!”

“Shouldn’t you be giving those to the police?” Daphne asked.

“They already have them,” Ryan said, taking a seat on a rickety wooden chair and setting his laptop on the coffee table. “I figured you’d want your own copy.”

“Whatever we’re paying you, I’m doubling it,” Mabel announced. “Let’s start with that ridiculous dance.”

Ryan glanced at Daphne, a grin twitching at his lips. “Sure,” he said, and Daphne groaned. For the next while, the whole gang watched and rewatched the footage from the night, dissecting every interaction, laughing at every replay of Daphne kneeing Archie Jr. in the testicles, and going through the fight frame by frame.

Once her mortification had died down, Daphne actually enjoyed herself. She watched herself fight and dance and scheme, and knewthat the woman on the recording wasn’t a stranger. It hadn’t been an aberration of her character caused by temporary madness. She was that woman who retrieved family heirlooms and defended herself in the face of danger.

And Calvin had known it all along. He’d seen her, even when she hadn’t seen herself.

Chapter 39

Calvin threw himself into his work; it was all he had. Two days after the arrests at his mother’s vow renewal, he gave a press conference to the island’s media, explaining that a long-term embezzlement scheme had been uncovered.

Along with the video of Archie Jr.’s confession, Bobby Troy had given them the entire story. Ready to wash his hands of the whole thing, he’d cooperated fully, explaining that he’d been taking payments for being the registered agent of the company. He had years of texts and emails that proved Archie Yarrow Jr. had been the leader of the scheme, siphoning public funds into his pockets via the companies.

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