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So I went through the motions, did what I had to do under Evangeline’s watchful eye. She hadn’t been any happier about the situation than I was, but we both knew what was at stake. And this was the only way to salvage what I had left.
We walked up Main Street, heading for Bettie’s for some lunch and light crowd schmoozing in silence.
Evangeline sighed. “This is brutal, Duke. Are you all right?”
“Not even a little.”
“It’s going to be okay. You know that, right?”
“No, I don’t. And neither do you.” I shook my head at the sidewalk. “I’ve known plenty of people who hit a crossroads in their life and took the wrong turn. And when they did, they fucked up so monumentally that there was no way to go back. I get the sense I just took the wrong turn, Ang. And now it’s too late.”
“No such thing as too late, Duke. That one statement is at least three-quarters of my job.”
Before I could argue, the door to Bettie’s opened, and out walked Grant, Keaton, and Wyatt with bags of food in every hand they possessed.
Three sets of eyes trained on me like a clay pigeon they were lined up to shoot.
Wyatt stepped toward me, his jaw locked and eyes narrow. “You’ve got a lotta nerve showin’ your face around here today, you fuckin’ traitor.”
The only change in my face was agreement. “I know.”
“You don’t know shit,” Wyatt spat.
Grant shook his head. “Dumbest thing you ever did was go after Dottie. You’re lucky our hands are full.”
Keaton sneered. “No—dumbest thing he ever did was go after any of them. You dragged Daisy and Jo into it too. Couldn’t just ruin Poppy… had to take them all down, did you?”
“You’re right,” was all I said.
The three of them fumed, but none of us moved or spoke until Grant shook his head and jerked his chin in the opposite direction. “Come on. Won’t help Poppy if we beat the shit out of this asshole in front of Bettie’s.”
Wyatt spit on the sidewalk and locked eyes with me. “I dunno. It’s a theory I don’t mind testing.”
Keaton turned. “Not today. After tomorrow, all bets are off.”
Wyatt eyed me for a long moment before turning and following the other two.
Nobody’d touched me, but I’d had the wind knocked out of me just the same.
“Okay,” Evangeline started, “let’s go back to the house for lunch.”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
“I don’t want to go home, Ang.”
“Well, you need to—”
I whipped around and stepped toward her, my teeth bared. “I’m getting really fucking sick of people telling me what to do. I’ve done everything that’s been asked of me, everything they wanted, and look where it’s gotten me. The people I care about here hate me with a fire so hot, it could melt pavement. There’s no coming back from this, and all because I did what I was told. So I’d like to just go ahead and say fuck that.”
Her face softened, but she gestured to me. “Can we agree that you need a break now?”
With a growl, I turned in the direction of the car and blew toward it like a tornado. Evangeline followed me at a clip, her heels noisy as she worked to keep up with me. When we’d climbed into the Escalade and I’d pulled onto Main Street, what little hold I had on myself snapped.
I tugged at my tie, ripping it off when it was loose. “I never should have come here. When I found out she was running, I should have fucking called it off. But I’m so desperate to please Charlie, I’d follow him straight into hell. Which, funny enough, is exactly where I’ve ended up.”
“It’s hot enough, that’s for sure.”
“This isn’t a fucking joke, Ang,” I snapped.
A pause. “I know. But Duke, this is where we’ve landed. This is where we’re at. What do you have to lose?”
“Nothing. I made sure of that.”
I felt her watching me. “I know you care about Poppy, but I have to admit—I didn’t think you’d be this upset about it.”
“These people are my home, my family. And Poppy… Poppy’s—” My voice broke. I cleared my tight throat to reset. “I love her. I’ve always loved her, but coming back? Running against her?” I ran my hand across my mouth. “We’ve been seeing each other.”
Everything about her stilled. “What?”
“We’ve been seeing each other since the debate. Every night.”
“Duke. Do you realize what you’ve—”
“Yes, I know exactly what I’ve done. I’m sitting in the rubble of what I’ve done. And now I’ve hurt her, her family, and pissed off half the town. I should have told Charlie no. We shouldn’t have done this to them. It was a mistake we won’t recover from.”
“It wasn’t a mistake. You know how this works. Your problem is that you got involved. So the question is, what do you want to do about it?”
