Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Tiredness dragged at Calvin’s eyelids. It weighed down his bones and made it hard for him to think. Even after everyone had been brought to the station and dealt with, after the district attorney had been notified of the arrests, after the first round of interviews had been completed, after he’d gone back home for a couple of hours’ sleep, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d never feel rested again.
His mother and her husband had provided security footage that included video and audio of the altercation outside. Archie Yarrow Jr. wouldn’t be able to wriggle his way out of this one. Calvin had watched the video at least twenty times, and each time he’d been rocked by a riot of emotions.
He hated seeing Daphne at Archie’s mercy, but he couldn’t help but admire her for staying calm. He was hurt and angry that she’d lied to him about her reason for attending the vow renewal, but in doing so, she’d handed him this case on a silver platter. He didn’t know whether to be grateful, relieved, or furious—so he let himself be all three.
What kept circling in his mind was the fact that he’d been right; Daphne hadn’t really wanted to be with him at all. She’d used him. It really had all been a bargain to her, an exchange of services. She’d be his date, and she’d steal her grandmother’s pot back. That weird instinct that had been triggered when he’d sat on the Davises’ couch had been trying to warn him from the start. Mabel really had been asking about half-century-old cast-iron cookware.
How much had Daphne faked? Was any of it real? The laughter, the long evenings on the couch, the way she softened against him? Had she used sex as a way to distract him from what she really wanted?
It had hurt to grow up without a dad and with a mom who didn’t care about him. It had hurt to realize that he was on his own.
But this?
To think that he’d finally found someone he loved, someone he could build a life with ... and all she’d wanted was a worthless bit of cast iron? Calvin didn’t even measure up to a cooking pot ?
She’d used him to get the pot back, and she’d planned to use him as an excuse to leave the island. Calvin had been the fool who’d thought he deserved something more. He’d never deserved a thing.
The reality was that Calvin wasn’t worth fighting for. He never had been. His mother had let their relationship deteriorate when it should have been her responsibility to be there for him; he hadn’t been a priority to Eileen, even as a hurting preteen and definitely not as a troubled young adult.
And now he wasn’t a priority to Daphne; she’d told him so from the start. He felt so stupid for falling for her. A woman who had the world in the palm of her hand, who accomplished everything she set her mind to. She’d been a brilliant investigator, of course. She was brilliant, period.
And Calvin? Calvin had scraped by with a high school diploma, and his greatest achievement was being handed the reins of a department in shambles, probably because he’d make a good scapegoat if he messed it all up.
No one went to bat for the kid who’d always been bad news. Daphne had probably seen that from the start.
Now back in his office with a cup of coffee as dawn tried its best to lighten the clouds to gray, Calvin stared at the black cauldron sitting on the end of his desk.
All this for an old cooking pot. It wasn’t like Daphne—but then again, what did he know? He’d been fooled by her. He’d actually thought she cared about him.
Teri walked in while he rubbed his temples to try to ease the headache that had only increased in strength over the past several hours. She dropped into one of the chairs across from his desk. “Just got done with Jenna Deacon,” she said. “Claimed to not know anything about anything, then asked for a lawyer.”
Calvin sighed as he nodded. “Fine.”
Teri hummed. She was silent for a few moments before she said, “We can’t keep them here much longer, Sheriff, and we’ve already interviewed them all. They’ve cooperated. The DA was pretty clear about which cases he was willing to prosecute and which ones he wasn’t.”
He didn’t need Teri to say who “them” was referring to. Jerking his chin down, Calvin pushed himself out of his chair and braced himself. Interviewing Bobby Troy and Archie Yarrow Jr. had been easy compared to who he’d have to face next.
For the duration of the walk to the holding cells, his stomach churned. Acid burned up his throat, and his muscles twitched all over. Then he turned the corner, and he saw them. Saw her.
Ellie and Mabel had their arms around Daphne, who was holding a paper cup full of coffee between her knees. The three of them looked up when he approached. He saw the way they curled their arms protectively around Daphne, how their eyes narrowed on him. The perfect family, circling the wagons against a threat.
Once again, Calvin was on the outside. Alone. Once again, he was reminded that he’d always stand apart, because everyone who mattered let him down.
He’d actually fallen in love with her. Even now, the dark smudges under her eyes and the watery tears clinging to her bottom lashes made his ribs tighten uncomfortably. He wished he could wrap his arms around her, but she’d lied to him. It really had been fake for her all along, and he’d been the fool who’d seen things that didn’t exist.
It felt like he was seventeen again, seeing the perfect girl with her perfect family, skipping off into the sunset of her perfect future. It didn’t matter that they were looking at each other through the bars of the Fernley County Sheriff’s Department’s holding cell, because Daphne had people to stand beside her, even when she was locked up.
Calvin didn’t have anyone to stand beside him at all. He never had and likely never would. He’d learned that years ago, so why did it hurt so much to realize it all over again now?
She wanted a clean excuse to leave the island, and she’d get one. Calvin wasn’t going to stand in her way.
His keys jangled as he took them out, and he tore his gaze away from Daphne’s. The three of them stood in unison, and even that rankled because they did it together.
All he’d wanted was one person— one person—who might care about him the way he cared about them. One person to give a shit.
But that had been too much to ask.
He didn’t recognize his voice when he rasped, “You’re free to go.”
Daphne blinked, and Calvin hated that he still found her beautiful. Tired and rumpled and dirt streaked in that horrid dress, she was still the most stunning woman he’d ever seen. And she didn’t want him back.
“We are?” Daphne finally asked, then shot a quick glance at her grandmother.
Calvin said nothing and stepped aside as he held the cell door open. Mabel shuffled out first with Ellie for support, Daphne following behind. She paused as he locked the holding cell again, wringing her hands in front of her stomach.
“Calvin—”
“I don’t think there’s anything else to say,” he told her, hooking his keys back onto his belt. He forced himself to meet her gaze. “I’ve reviewed your statement. We’ll call you if we need any more information.”
Daphne’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I’m sorry—”
“I don’t care.”
It was a lie, of course. He cared a hell of a lot. But what did it matter in the end? It wasn’t like she cared in return.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she pleaded. “I just wanted to do this for my grandmother, and it all kind of spiraled out of control.”
“Was any of it real?” Calvin heard himself ask, his voice cold and distant. He held her gaze and arched a brow.
Daphne gulped. “I ... yes, Calvin. Yes, it was real.”
He couldn’t listen to more lies. Not when he wanted so badly to believe them. What did it matter what she said? If she truly cared about him, she would’ve put him first. She would’ve treated him like a decent human being and told him the truth.
He jerked his head toward the exit. “Just go, Daphne. We had a deal, and it’s over now. We should just leave it at that.”
She lingered for another moment, then ducked her head and walked past him.
Just before she turned the corner, Calvin called out her name. She turned, brows lifted, something like hope creeping into her expression.
“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.