side up again. She’d told him as much when they’d pulled into her driveway last Friday night.
“I would invite you in for a drink, but I know you have to drive back to Texas tonight. I don’t want a Smokey to pull you over,” she said as the headlight beams swept across the brilliant-colored Bradford pear tree and the detached garage painted to match the barn. After the showdown with Ellery, all she wanted to do was pull on her favorite pj’s and climb into bed with Jonas. Her loyal hound would help her lick her wounds with his solid presence at her feet.
“That’s okay. I would love to have one, but, yeah, I don’t relish a DUI on my record. Though coffee isn’t alcoholic.”
“I can make that, but I wanted to say something to you before . . . I mean, I don’t really know how to do this after that debacle of a dinner. Or rather the ending was a cluster, um, you know. But I enjoyed the actual dinner and conversation.”
Evan looked over at her. “Daphne, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I want to be totally transparent here because I like you. I would love to get to know you better and continue what I think would be . . . good. I think it could be good between us.”
He shifted into park and turned toward her. “I like you, too, but you threw me a bit of a curve tonight. I thought we already had something, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. I mean, I’d like to ask Ellery why she pretended to be you for so long. Still, I can’t say I’m not attracted to you. Dinner was pretty nice, well, up until the end.” His smile was sheepish.
In the faint light from her porch, she could see how attractive he was. The clean-shaven jaw, firm lips, whiskey eyes. Her tummy did its flippy thing, so she turned away. “Yeah, and that’s the thing. Ellery’s angry at me. Ellery’s angry at a lot of things in her life.”
“Growing up is hard. She’s still in that zone, truly moving from child to adult. That doesn’t happen at eighteen. A switch isn’t flipped and suddenly you’re a taxpaying, über-responsible adult with all the answers.”
“No, it’s not. I never went through what she went through. By the time I was twenty-three years old, I had a six-year-old and had been married for almost seven years. No traditional college, no dating, no first job. Not to mention, the world is so very different now. You’re right, she’s at that place . . . which means I’m at that place, too.”
He made a confused face.
“I’m newly single after being married for a long time, and I haven’t dated until now. I’m still learning how to walk in my big-girl shoes. They feel high and wobbly at present.”
“And you’ve never been with anyone other than your husband?”
Daphne’s face must have shown surprise at his query, because his eyes grew wide. “Oh crap, I’m sorry. I wasn’t exactly talking about sex. I mean . . . uh, I shouldn’t have asked that. Rusty, remember?” Evan’s face actually turned red.
Daphne managed a smile. “It’s okay. And ironically that’s what’s sitting between me and Ellery. I . . . well.” She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. “I slept with someone she didn’t approve of. She only recently found out and is very angry with me. So to answer your question, yes, I have been with someone else, but it was an embarrassing one-night stand that never should have happened.”
She snuck a look at his face. He tilted his head and she couldn’t read his expression. “I don’t understand. Why would she be so upset? You said you’ve been divorced for a few years?”
Daphne hadn’t wanted to come quite so clean. If she told him about Clay, she’d be so squeaky clean she might never see him again. But the upside would be starting a relationship with a blank slate—no secrets, no shame. For some reason, she was tired of hiding and pretending. “This is hard to admit because I’m such a rule follower and very conscious of my choices, but I went a bit crazy almost a month ago. I drank too much wine and slept with”—she sucked in another deep breath before closing her eyes and exhaling—“one of Ellery’s ex-boyfriends.”
A second passed, then another. Finally, she cracked one eye open and looked over at him.
Evan looked flabbergasted.
Cripes. She shouldn’t have told