Chapter 40 Ring Emoji. Heart Emoji.
ring emoji. heart emoji.
DAPHNE
“Okay, you need to breathe—”
There are three phrases you never say to a perimenopausal woman on a rampage:
Calm down.
It’s not a big deal.
And my personal favorite?
You need to breathe.
“Don’t tell me to calm down! I already heard that from the cops about a dozen times when I filed the report!”
I have no doubt they’ll never investigate the break-in because Emerald Bay’s finest spend more time with their thumbs up their asses than doing actual police work.
“I didn’t say calm down, I said you need to breathe—”
I adore Huxley, but right now I feel like reaching through the phone and putting him in a fucking sleeper hold. He’ll regret the day he taught me how to do that shit.
“It’s the same thing!”
It’s going to take us at least a week to clean everything up, not to mention the cost. We’ll have to buy new chairs, new pool tables, and even redo the booths since Cole slashed everything up.
And then there’s my grandpa’s guitar. I can’t even think about it right now or I’ll put my fist through the wall.
I grit my teeth and shut the office door; I don’t want to make things more awkward between me and the rest of the staff we called in to help.
“Daphne, I’m gonna say this gently—”
“Hux, it’s not about the bar, or the money, it’s the fact he refuses to let go! He’s trying to ruin me, and for fucking what?” I take a shaky breath, gripping the edge of the desk. “At this point I should just fucking kill him.”
Huxley chuckles as shame creeps through my body. This kind of anger isn’t who I’m trying to be anymore.
“I know it feels that way, but personally I’d rather not have to pay for your bail.”
I should have anticipated this, especially after I chased him off. This place, my grandfather… it’s my achilles heel, and Cole knew he couldn’t get at me any other way. God, it feels like he knows everything about me.
“I’m posting pictures of the bar and tagging him. I don’t give a shit if he retaliates again. I want everyone to know what a piece of shit limp dick little fuckbag he is!”
“Cool it on the mob-justice for now, okay? We wait for the cops, and once they’ve done their thing, you can post whatever you want.”
“If they even think he did it.” I sigh. “When I talked to them, they didn’t really seem to take it that seriously. Besides, he’s probably back in LA by now.”
“Well good, then he’d be out of your hair. Anyway, Daph, just let me handle the legal side of things, okay? Focus on you and the bar.” He pauses. “I love you, and I promise we’re gonna fix this. Good as new.”
He sounds so calm and so sure.
“Love you too. I’ll see you when you get back.”
The moment the call ends my head is in my hands. I want to cry, but there’s too much anger. All I can do is shake. You know those crime documentaries about women who just snap? I completely relate right now.
A soft knock at the door draws my attention and I let out a breath, trying to compose myself as best I can.
“Yeah?”
“It’s us.”
The door creaks open and the first thing I see is a big bouquet of flowers: Violets, lilies, sunflowers… all of my favorites. Instantly, all of my feelings are replaced with a flood of warmth… and more tears.
Fuck, I’m all over the place today.
“V and I got you a present,” Frankie says with a smile.
Violet rushes for me, handing me the bouquet and wrapping her arms around me. I squeeze her tight, trying to keep it together, but it’s no use.
“Frankie told me what happened,” she says softly. “We wanted to make you feel better.”
“You did, baby.” I pull back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before I examine the bouquet. “These are gorgeous, did you pick them yourself?”
“Yep! We got all your favorites– the ones I could remember, anyway.”
Fuck, I can’t stop crying. All I wanted was to turn this bar into something special, and now I’ve got another mountain to climb.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay, I got you.”
The sweetness in Frankie’s voice only turns me into an even bigger mess.
There’s no judgment, no trying to fix it, he’s just letting me feel.
However intense.
However irrational.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffle.
Frankie shakes his head.
“For what? Having feelings? You know those are still legal, right?”
I want to laugh, but I can’t muster up the strength.
So much of my life in the entertainment industry has been spent being ‘strong,’ always holding myself up in the face of scrutiny from the press, from fans, or even from strangers on the street.
People want you to be vulnerable, but not too much. Too much emotion is ‘messy’.
After a while, you get used to swallowing the anguish and smiling for the cameras.
Especially on the bad days.
“I never expected him to do something like this.”
Frankie shakes his head, gently wiping a tear away from my cheek.
“Cole’s a piece of shit. People like him will smother you with love and affection, because they think that if they go over the top, they can cover up what’s underneath.” He pauses, like he’s weighing each word with a heavy consideration. “Nothing he did is your fault.”
“No,” I murmur. “It’s not, but it’s my responsibility, and I should have known better.”
I spent too long chasing after Cole, making sure he was on time for shoots and red carpet events, because God knows his team was fed up too. The chaos that people like him cause affects everyone around them, even when they’re not intending it. It’s fucking exhausting.
“Doesn’t matter. If you spend your whole life beating yourself up, you’ll never move on.”
I press my forehead against his, taking another long breath.
“When did you become the wise philosopher-type?”
“I don’t know. Kinda wild, isn’t it?”
“Daphne?”
Audrey’s in the doorway, looking a little unsure of herself, and I turn to her, putting on the best smile I can manage.
“What’s up?”
“Okay, so I have some good news… the damage isn’t as bad as it looks. I mean, the seating and pool tables are gonna cost us a good chunk of money, but everything else is pretty fixable with some elbow grease and shop vacs.”
“And I’m making a motivation-playlist,” Violet announces, scrolling away on her phone. “Half done already!”
Audrey chuckles.
“Perfect. Maybe once you’re done with that, you can help us sweep and mop.” She turns back to me. “Denny just ran out to pick a couple things up. I gave him the company card, so he’ll be able to get whatever we need.”
I like Audrey, she’s an ask for forgiveness, not for permission kind of person, which means shit actually gets done.
“Good call.”
“Great, well that’s pretty much it then…”
Audrey bites her lip, swaying from side to side in the doorway, and I arch a brow.
“Something on your mind, babe?”
“Well…” she grins. “Denny brought up the idea of throwing a big party for a grand re-opening. He said it might give us something good to work toward, like a main goal. And then I got to thinking, maybe it could be a little concert? You know, something that would draw in a crowd. We clean things up, finish what’s left of the renovations…
with all the staff on hand for the next few days, we’ll still be on track to open next month, even with this speedbump. ”
“I love it.”
A goal is good. It helps keep everyone motivated, but most importantly me. I can already feel the wheels in my head spinning in an entirely new direction from the doom and gloom of a few minutes ago.
“Well that’s a relief, because we already started planning drink specials and a catering menu— oh, and don’t worry, I’ll take care of all that, only thing you’ve gotta do is pay the bill.”
“Thanks, girl. You’re a life saver.”
She grins, slipping out the door, and I start to feel a little bit of relief working its way through me.
We’re going to get through this.
We have to.
I just need to keep my eyes on the horizon.
My phone starts to ring, and I glance down at the caller ID to make sure it’s not Cole with one of his seemingly unending hidden numbers.
EMERALD BAY POLICE DEPARTMENT
I sigh, bracing myself.
“It’s the cops.”
“V, why don’t you get your music all hooked up for Audrey and the crew, okay?” Frankie gently guides her toward the door. “Your mom and I will just be a couple of minutes.”
Violet slides her phone back into her pocket, a look of excitement on her face at the prospect of sharing her perfectly curated playlist.
“I’ll make sure they save you a sandwich!" She calls as she scrambles out the door.
I take a deep breath, switching the call to speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Daphne Carmichael?”
The voice on the other end of the line reminds me of my dad— a little gruff and no-nonsense, but there’s some warmth underneath there.
“Speaking.”
“Daphne, my name is Officer Fielder, with the Emerald Bay PD.”
I recognize the name immediately. This is Mason Fielder’s father.
Mason and Cole were thick as thieves in high school.
“Have you looked into—”
“We also spoke to Mr. Powers regarding your accusation that he’s the one responsible for the break-in, but we weren’t able to substantiate your claim.”
“What the fu—”
“You didn’t even come over to look at the place!” Frankie cuts in. “What the hell kind of police work is this?!”
“I’m sorry, who am I speaking to?”
“Frankie Hughes, Daphne’s husband.”
“Alright,” Officer Fielder sighs. “Well, we spoke to Cole, and his alibi for last night was solid.”
“Are you serious? Cole doesn’t even know what day it is half the time!”
“He’s in town staying with his parents, and his mother confirmed he was there all night— anyway, there have already been a series of prior break-ins reported in the area. We suspect it’s probably a student, and we’ve been working on—”
“Look, Officer Fielder, I know he did it. I broke up with him a month ago, and he’s been looking for ways to get to me… besides he already showed up here before.”
“When?”
“Just yesterday. He was aggressive and violent, and…”
I trail off, knowing exactly what he’s going to say.
“Well, then you should probably file a report for that incident, it sounds like it may be more concrete. For the break-ins, all I can say is we have an open investigation and we’re doing the best we can.”
“Alright… thank you, officer.”
“If we find anything in the cleanup process that could point to Cole, should we reach out?” Frankie asks.
“Sure thing.”
I hit the ‘end call’ button with a little more force than intended, and shut my eyes tight.
“I don’t know how he gets away with all this shit.”
Frankie kisses my temple. If he hadn’t been here, I think I would have had a full-blown freakout. There’s just something about his presence that soothes me.
“There’s no use sitting around here and worrying about it. Cole will fuck up again, and soon, because that’s what he is: a fuck up.”
He presses his lips to mine and I feel sparks. I’ve spent my whole life trying to write lyrics that perfectly capture this feeling, but it always felt like I was lying.
Not now.
“You wanna get out there? Abi and Jay should be here in like half an hour, so we’ll have a few extra hands.”
“Perfect, just give me one second.”
I flip through my contacts, a little ghost of a smile growing on my face. The Hi-Dive deserves the grandest of grand re-openings, and I think I know exactly who can help with that.
ME
Got a proposition for you. It involves busting out your leather pants and getting back onstage. Interested?
“All good?” Frankie asks.
I smile at him, slipping my phone back into my pocket.
“Let’s go.”
He takes me by the hand, back into the bar where we get to work to the sound of Violet’s playlist. It’s a mash-up of ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, and… a bunch of shit I’ve never heard of.
“Good choice of tunes, kid!” Denny shouts from across the bar. “You’ve got taste!”
Violet gives him a little bow before returning to helping Frankie scrub the walls.
Well, helping isn’t exactly the right word. It’s more like he’s doing the grunt work while she talks animatedly about the book she’s reading, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
I pull my phone out and snap a picture of the two of them.
“You should post that,” Audrey chuckles as she walks past me. “They’re really cute.”
“Let’s just see if I remember my password.”
I pull up my Instagram and log in for the first time in months. The layout is as jarring, and garish as ever, and it takes me a second to re-orient myself and figure out how to work this damn thing.
Finally, I post the picture, along with a caption:
Thankful for the best cleanup crew in Emerald Bay.
Ring emoji. Heart emoji.
Hux is going to be pissed, but if Cole wants to play games, he better get ready to be crushed. Besides, I’ve always asked for forgiveness rather than permission.