by Liz Talley
“I’m so glad you came, Daphne. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”
“I’m really glad to be here.”
Evan looked inordinately pleased at her remark. “Okay, so we have a couple of tour guides, but I’ll make sure you get Gage ’cause he’s the best. He truly has a feel for the whole process of wine making. I’ve been trying to talk him into staying here and making One Tree Estates his career, but he’s been here longer than intended and has his own dreams. I don’t know much about what he does because I’m not a gamer. I played Tecmo Bowl back in the day, and that was about it.”
Daphne smiled. “I don’t even know what that is.”
Evan laughed. “You didn’t miss much.”
They’d stopped by his mailbox. “I better go. Poppy just woke up.”
“How do you know?”
He twisted his wrist, and she saw his Apple Watch. “I have a camera in her room. This button blinks when there’s movement. That allows me to go out for a jog each morning. Poppy knows how to use Alexa to call me. I got one for her room.”
“That’s smart. The things you can do with technology, huh?” Daphne said, impressed with his attention to detail. The waitress had said as much yesterday morning.
“See? That’s her now.” At that moment his watch lit up. Evan pressed a button. “Morning, pumpkin.”
“Morning, Daddy. Where are you?” a sleepy voice asked.
“Right outside your window talking to Dee Dee O’Hara,” he said, giving Daphne a wink.
The whole thing was so sweet that Daphne’s heart warmed. Or perhaps that was because she was sweating beneath her three-quarter-zip pullover. Either way Evan McCallum intrigued her with his genuine demeanor and nice body. Oh, and that he was such a good daddy didn’t hurt, either. Really, the man was like a beacon to single women everywhere.
They saw the blinds in the far-left window part. Two little eyes peeked out. Daphne laughed and gave Poppy a wave. The little girl grinned and waved back, her tiny fingers wiggling against the pane.
“I need to get back myself. A delicious breakfast awaits,” Daphne said, jabbing her hands into the small pockets on either side of her pullover. The morning was cool, and she could feel a chill coming over her.
“It’s maybe a fourth of a mile back. Enjoy that breakfast. I’m having a protein drink and banana.” Evan turned and jogged up the driveway. “See you tonight, Daphne. We’ll talk more then.”
Daphne raised her hand and made her way back to the bed and breakfast, her mind turning over the pleasant surprise of a jog with Evan along with so many questions. How did he seem to know so much about her? And what had happened to his wife? Being a single parent wasn’t easy. Far from it, in fact. In that, she was glad she’d had a partner.
After a cup of hot tea, a soak in the hot tub (heaven!), and a quick shower, Daphne made her way to breakfast, where sunlight streamed into a rather busy dining room. No little name cards greeted her this morning. Seemed Saturday was a free-for-all on table grabs, but the aroma of coffee and bacon, though she didn’t even drink the former, sent her stomach into a growl. Maybe this morning, since she’d nearly killed herself on the early-morning run, she’d have some pancakes. The thought of her jog with the attractive owner of the vineyard made her smile.
“Well, you’re all smiles this morning.” Daphne turned to find Rex sipping a cup of coffee at a small table near the entrance to the dining room.
“It’s a beautiful morning, and I get to spend today hanging with our daughter and drinking wine. What’s not to love about that?” Daphne said, stuffing away the leftover irritation she’d felt last night and trying for lightness. New day. New Daphne.
Rex waved his coffee mug at the empty chair opposite him. “Join me. It will keep a table open for someone else.”
She didn’t want to eat breakfast with her ex-husband, especially after dining with him last night had given her a permanent case of ex-husband indigestion.
Her hesitation must have shown, because Rex made the “forgive me” face she’d seen a million times before. “Daph, I’m sorry about dinner last night. I drank a bit too much bourbon and acted like an ass. The guy that owns the place just rubbed me the wrong way, and I got all puffed up. You know how I am.”
“I do,” she said, eyeing an empty table on the other side of the room that sat beside a large picture window that overlooked the vineyard. She didn’t love eating alone but—
At that moment Clay walked in. Of course, half a dozen female heads turned to watch him meander toward the very table Daphne had been eyeing. He looked across the room and spied her, quirking his mouth in the most adorable (and too sexy for so early) smile.
“Come on. I won’t bite you,” Rex said.
Those were the exact words Clay had used the night she’d lost her ever-loving mind and had sex with him twice. Guess those were the words that worked on her dumb ass, because she pulled out the chair opposite her ex and sat down. “Fine.”
Rex seemed pleased, which was odd. Since they’d split, their relationship had been schizophrenic. Sometimes fine. Other times barely civil. That in itself had bothered her. If anything, she and Rex had always been friends. But divorce seemed to have a way of making one forget. Or maybe it was Cindy. She’d developed a healthy dislike for Daphne based solely on the fact she was Rex’s ex.
“Want me to order you a pot of tea?” he asked politely.
“I can order for myself. But thank you,” she said, feeling uncomfortable across from a man she’d spent over half her life with. So strange to know so much about him but be so far away from who she’d been with him. “Are you sure Cindy isn’t going to be upset with you for . . . this?”
“We’re just eating breakfast, Daph.” Rex laughed, his eyes actually warming as he regarded her, and she recalled that he wanted to talk to her. Did he think to make another run at reconciliation? She’d been shocked when he’d shown up at the house last April and wanted to talk. He’d started with an apology and then proceeded to tell her why they had made such a mistake in splitting. She’d reminded him that he’d been the one to leave, but he’d inferred that he’d only done so to shock her into seeing she was making a big mistake by continuing the path she was on. Daphne had stared incredulously at this man who wanted her to take the blame because instead of begging him to come home the minute he left, she’d discovered a new life without him. Finally, after he’d talked about how he’d been thinking that they could make it work again, she’d risen, opened the back door, and told him that she was happier being exactly who she was and wasn’t interested in reconciling. Rex hadn’t taken her refusal well. He’d stormed out and made life much harder for her. But lately, he’d been better. Well, sort of.
She glanced over at where Clay was sitting. He sipped coffee and watched her, which was sort of creepy and flattering at the same time.
Rex leaned forward. “I see Clay is here. How’s he been working for you?”
“He’s better than I imagined,” Daphne said, suppressing a smile even when she knew she shouldn’t take any pleasure in the double entendre only she knew about. It was an odd thing to sit with one man she’d slept with while the other one gave her come-hither looks. Twilight Zone music played in her head.
“That’s good,” Rex said, his gaze narrowing. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Thankfully, at that moment the waitress arrived and handed Daphne a menu. Daphne turned back to Rex. “The house is nearly done. When you’re out that way, you should come by and see it. The bathroom looks amazing. You wouldn’t believe the difference, and the kitchen is almost complete. It’s going to look like a totally different place.”
Conversation about the house they’d shared for years seemed like a safe topic.
Rex nodded. “I suppose the old place needed some updating. We never got around to doing what we said we would. Time seems to fly when you’re having fun or raising a kid, right? I mean, she’s turning twenty-three. How can that be?”
>
“I know. Out of college, looking to take the world by storm. Well, maybe for Elle, it’s more like a gentle shower. That whole J.J. Krause thing set her back a little.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t like the idea of her living in New York City by herself anyway. A looker like her in that place is like a little mouse in a roomful of alley cats. This gap-year thing so many kids do now ain’t a bad thing. Get their feet wet in a puddle they’re familiar with.”
Daphne thought about that. “Maybe. She doesn’t seem very happy, though.”
Rex studied her. “Why do you say that? Every time I’m around her she seems fine.”
Because she never showed her displeasure to you. You’re her daddy, the man who always gives her the moon and stars. I’m her mother, and my job is to keep her from burning her fingers on all the stars you rope for her.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” Daphne said, giving the waitress, who had returned, her order. “I’ll have the pancakes, side of bacon, and a cup of fruit.”
Rex’s face wasn’t exactly judgmental, but she knew what he was thinking. All those carbs will go straight to her ass and thighs. That’s how Rex rolled. Didn’t worry about the paunch he carried, but damn sure said something to her if her pants were the least bit snug. Daphne didn’t care. She was going to relish every damned bite.
“Listen, part of the reason I came here this weekend is because I need to talk to you,” Rex said, getting a look on his face she knew all too well. He wanted something from her.
She was almost afraid to ask. “What?”
“So this is a little embarrassing, but I don’t really know where to turn, and since it deals with the business we built, I thought you’d be more willing to—”
“Wait a second,” she interrupted. “The business we built? I think I remember you telling the judge that it was your business.”
“Daph, I admitted that you kept the books and helped me run Pinnacle, just like you readily admitted that I held down the fort when you were off peddling your books.”
“It’s not peddling,” Daphne pointed out.
“I know. I misspoke. So here’s the deal. Pinnacle is having some cash-flow problems. Cindy took over doing the books, and she didn’t know about payroll taxes or even estimated taxes. We had an audit. That’s why I had to get those files from the house, remember? Anyway, we owe a pretty penny. So between the new mortgage and paying all these credit cards, I’m almost overextended on the line of credit.”
“You got a line of credit?” Daphne asked, feeling her appetite fleeing. It was true that she didn’t have a stake in Pinnacle Heating and Air any longer, but she’d helped Rex build that business into a profitable, solid company with a stellar reputation. They had been fair and efficiently run. She knew Cindy would screw things up when she fired the office manager. “Rex, the company was in good shape two years ago. How have you run it into the ground?”
But she knew. All those trips and fancy gifts. Rex had always liked nice things, but she’d been there to temper his harebrained schemes and impulse buys. Cindy wasn’t the kind of girl to say no to Italy. Or Belize.
“It’s not run into the ground. We just have a little cash-flow problem. End of the year is coming up, and you know I have to give bonuses to the guys. Plus, that first tax payment is due. It’s just . . . a lot I have to pay next month. I wondered if you would be willing to . . . uh . . . maybe lend me some help.”
Alarm bells paired with flashing emergency lights went off in her head. “Define help.”
“A short-term loan. I have to pay the IRS close to eighty thousand, but that’s on an installment plan. I also have to start paying the bank back for the line of credit. Business is good, and so I’ll have money coming in. Just not enough to cover everything right now. I don’t want to get another loan, Daph. So I’m asking you to help me save the business. At the very least, if you’ll pay Ellery’s credit cards and rent for the next year, that would help, too.”
The waitress sat a stack of delicious-looking pancakes in front of her, along with the crisp bacon and fresh fruit. “Will that be all?”
Could you bring me a sledgehammer?
Daphne didn’t know how in the world to handle this request. Rex had constantly gaslighted her their entire marriage, making her feel as if she were a fuddy-duddy because she said no to extravagant vacations and a two-story mansion in Southern Trace. Seemed being financially responsible wasn’t much fun. So while it was horrifying that Rex had gotten Pinnacle in so much trouble, it was also very gratifying to know he had been wrong. But even as that tiny thrill of “I told you so” nee-ner-neenered in her head, she felt disheartened that Rex had endangered so many other people. He had twenty employees and several hundred customers who depended on him not to toss what little common sense he had to chase ridiculous dreams pulling Louis Vuitton luggage behind him. “So this was why you came to me in April? That whole ‘let’s try again’ thing was about fear . . . about wanting me to help you fix things?”
He didn’t have to answer because she could see it in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted her back; he’d wanted security. For some reason, that made her furious.
“Okay, so I knew there was a problem in April when George looked at our taxes, but . . . it wasn’t about just the tax thing. I missed you. I missed what we’d once had. I know you don’t . . . but I did.”
Her anger sulked off at the sincerity in his voice. “I didn’t want to split up, Rex, but once we did, I realized that I had lost part of myself. I have that back, and I like my life. So I didn’t want to try to work things out, but that doesn’t mean I never loved you. But I’m not going to fix this for you. It’s your mistake. You got your business into this shape, and you’re going to have to be the one to get yourself out.”
Rex looked at her with a pitiful expression. “But I don’t have anyone to turn to, Daph. Mom and Dad have already loaned me money, so that door is shut. I had to cancel our trip to Scotland. That’s why Cindy’s not here with me. She’s not speaking to me. I don’t know where else to turn. You’re about to sell the house and land, and your business seems to be really taking off. I mean, you’re working with Disney. They’re a cash cow, right? Or rather a cash mouse.” He tried to smile, but it fell short.
Daphne reached over and tapped Rex’s Rolex. “What are you doing, Rex?”
He pulled his arm back quick as spit. “What do you mean?”
“Rex.” Daphne used her soft voice on him.
He looked up, his eyes full of . . . regret? “I don’t know, Daph. I thought I wanted a different life. It’s not your fault I’m this way. It’s me. I thought I missed out on so much, you know? That one mistake we made defined my entire life. I tried to make the best of it, right? For a while it was fine. I liked our life.”
They’d had a good life, and they’d done a pretty good job of making a silk purse from a sow’s ear. She and Rex had raised an accomplished daughter, built a business, had very little debt, and loved each other . . . at least for a while. Maybe they hadn’t chosen how they started, but they’d gotten along pretty well. But his words said everything about who he was. That one mistake we made defined my entire life. Rex only saw himself as the victim of her getting pregnant. It was his life that was important. Not the young girl who’d had stretch marks at seventeen and, instead of going to senior prom, nursed a colicky baby. Daphne’s dreams hadn’t mattered. Only Rex’s.
That was why they would never reconcile.
Because Daphne dared to want more than being Rex’s wife.
She poured syrup on her pancakes, her joy in a carb-loaded, decadent breakfast as dead as the vows she’d shared with the man in front of her. “You said short term. How short?”
“I don’t know.” Rex rubbed his hands over his face and blew out a breath. “Six months?”
“And you said credit cards.”
“What?”
Daphne took a bite, noting that even though she felt upset, the vanilla-flavored pancakes were delicious. “You said Elle
ry had credit cards and rent. Like multiple credit cards that you are paying?”
Rex blinked. “I’ve always paid her credit cards.”
“Well, yeah, when she was in college, we gave her an allowance. She had a debit card.”
Rex looked away. “You know how credit card companies are with college kids. They seduce them with free T-shirts and prizes. She got a couple of them. I didn’t mind. Kids need things.”
Daphne set her fork down, irritation at her daughter gathering in her gut. Of course Ellery thought she needed things . . . usually designer things. How many times had she heard her daughter say things like “They expect me to show that I know what is in style” or “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Their daughter knew the words to say to get what she wanted. She always had, and her father was her favorite parent to manipulate. He was a cream puff awaiting a good squeeze. “Rex, Ellery has two jobs and should be standing on her own two feet. You gave her a car for graduation, one too nice for a twenty-two-year-old, I might add. Your job is done, and she should be footing her own bills, not running up credit card debt for her daddy to pay off.”
“Well, I don’t know about—”
Daphne held up a hand, and Rex snapped his mouth shut. “At her age, we were driving a used van and attending kindergarten open house. You worked twelve-hour days, and I went to work at Saint Peter’s. We were twenty-three and twenty-four respectively, and we adulted very well. Ellery has to learn how to hear no.”
“She heard no. That designer—”
Daphne held up her hand again. “That was Ellery’s fault, Rex. She didn’t apply for other internships.”
Rex inhaled and then blew his breath out, looking utterly miserable. “Maybe so.”
“Look, our daughter is a good person. She is. But our love for her has crippled her, and it’s not just you paying her credit cards or giving her a Lexus. I enable her, too. I swooped in with a job for her, and I’m paying her way more than anyone would pay an inexperienced assistant. And this whole weekend was because I felt guilty.”
