Page 97 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

“I’ll pack your things up and leave them on the front porch. You can come by and grab them while I’m at work tomorrow.”

The flash of hurt across her features made Calvin feel like he’d just driven a nail into his own heart, but what was he supposed to do?

They’d had an agreement. It was over. He knew where they stood, and now she did too.

Chapter 38

Daphne’s mom and dad were waiting outside the station, which meant the three troublemakers had to squeeze in the back seat. Daphne ended up in the middle, shoulders hunched up near her ears, thighs pressed against Ellie’s and Grandma Mabel’s.

Her mother turned around to look at the three of them. “Where’s the pot?” she asked, as if that was the most important thing.

“That no-good, stick-up-his-ass sheriff confiscated it,” Grandma Mabel grumbled.

“You did bonk Archie Jr. on the head with it,” Helen pointed out.

“Only the lid!”

“Besides,” Ellie added, “Archie was acting like a violent psychopath. Grandma saved Daphne’s life.”

Daphne shifted to grab her seat belt, shoving her sister’s hip out of the way so she could buckle it. “It was all for nothing,” she said.

“Oh, honey,” Grandma Mabel replied, wrapping her arms around Daphne’s shoulders. “We had fun, and I got to hold my mother’s Dutch oven one last time. It was worth it just to see you stand up for yourself.”

Eyes prickling, Daphne nodded. She didn’t have the heart to tell her family that it absolutely had not been worth it. She’d broken all the rules that she usually lived by. She’d acted recklessly, and now she was facing the consequences. Total humiliation, the loss of a good professional reference by the sheriff’s department, and a surprise breakup as the cherry on top.

As her father put the car in gear and drove away from the station, Daphne kept her eyes on the road ahead. All she could see was Calvin’s face when he’d spotted that stupid cast-iron pot. The recognition, quickly followed by a horrible, hollow look in his eyes. She’d watched him realize that she’d lied to him.

In that moment, Daphne knew she’d been wrong about him. She’d thought he would toss her aside as soon as he tired of her, the way Pete had done. Calvin would see that she wasn’t the brave, impulsive woman she’d pretended to be, and he’d grow bored. But she’d had it all wrong.

That brave, impulsive woman was real. She came out when Calvin challenged her, when he made her feel like she could be anything she wanted. Daphne had hidden from herself, had kept herself small, but the bad boy from high school who’d been driving her nuts for the better part of two decades had seen what was beneath the veneer of responsibility she wore.

Calvin had cared. About her. About what might be growing between them.

As they left the Carlisle town limits and drove north, Daphne had the horrible, sinking feeling that she’d hurt him in a way that couldn’t be fixed.

She should’ve been honest with him from the start, this good man with a big heart and a history full of hurt. There were deposits of courage buried deep inside Daphne, and she should’ve mined them when she still had the right to speak to him. Daphne had wanted to take risks, but she’d shied away from the one gamble that might’ve actually paid off. Now it was too late.

Calvin deserved better. He deserved a partner who saw that core of gold and valued him for who he was, not a cowardly little mouse who thought she was brave because she ran around stealing old cookware to make herself feel like she belonged.

At her parents’ house, Daphne sank onto the couch and remembered the Monopoly game they’d hastily set up on the coffee table. Sheremembered the couch dipping when Calvin sat down beside her, the way his eyes had sparkled when he looked at her.

He made her feel like she could do anything, and she hadn’t had the decency to return the favor. She’d taken the confidence he’d given her and thrown it back in his face. She hadn’t trusted in his affection, because her own insecurities had gotten in the way.

And now it was over.

“They could do with better coffee at the station, I’ll tell you that much,” Mabel said, sinking into her usual armchair with a fresh cup.

“Believe it or not, it’s better than it was the last time I was there,” Ellie replied. She glanced up when the side door opened, and Hugh strode in. His shoulders dropped in relief when he spotted Ellie. She beamed at him. “I’m back!”

“I thought you were done getting arrested.”

“It was Daphne’s first time,” Ellie protested as she sprang up to her feet and spread her arms toward her husband-to-be. “I was there for moral support.”

Hugh shook his head and wrapped Ellie in strong arms. He ducked his face into her neck, and the two of them swayed slightly as they hugged. Daphne watched, her heart squeezing when she heard Hugh say in a quiet, private voice, “I missed you last night.”

Ellie pulled away and pressed a kiss to Hugh’s lips. “Me too,” she told him, then turned to Daphne. “But you should have seen us! Daphne kneed the mayor in the balls!”

Hugh gave Daphne an appreciative nod. “Nice.”

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