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Emmett moaned at her suggestion. “That sounds amazing. I’m surprised though,” he said, taking another bite. “This isn’t the kind of dessert I was expecting from you, Fancy Pants.”
Maddie shrugged off the nickname. He was right—it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing she’d trained on. “I like to try different things. After you accused me of being too fancy, I thought I might try this recipe and see how it did. It sold out over lunchtime. I ended up making a second batch, and that’s all that was left.”
Emmett stopped and turned to look at her. “Are you actually admitting that you took my advice and found it to be sound?”
Maddie refused to look at him, peering out the driver’s window at the side streets with the binoculars she’d brought. No movement. She was hoping something would happen to derail the conversation, but she wasn’t so lucky. “I’m saying that I’ve realized people don’t necessarily want delicate high-quality pastries all the time. So, yes,” she admitted with a wince of pain, “I guess you were right.”
Emmett gloated for a moment, happily finishing his brownie before setting the box aside. After sitting silently together in the car for a few minutes, he said, “I haven’t so much as seen a rabbit run across the lawn of the courthouse.”
“Are you going to start this again?” Maddie complained. “Eat a cookie.”
“Why don’t we just talk? That helps pass the time, and I won’t gain five pounds.”
“Talk about what?”
“I wanna talk about what happened between you and your brother at the firehouse yesterday.”
Maddie tore her gaze away from her neighborhood watch and met Emmett’s curious green eyes. She frowned. “There’s not much to talk about.”
Emmett chuckled. “Oh, I sincerely doubt that. The tension between you two was so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife. I think there’s a long story there and we’ve got hours to kill. Lay it on me.”
He wasn’t going to let this go. Her only choice was to tell him the truth or give up on her quest and drive him home. She slumped back into her seat. It wasn’t as though he had a very high opinion of her that would be damaged by her confession, anyway. “I’m a mean girl,” she said simply. When Emmett didn’t respond, she had no choice but to continue on.
“Back in school, I was at the top of the food chain. I was popular; I was a cheerleader; I had all the latest and coolest clothes and gadgets . . . My father pretty much gave me anything and everything I asked for. Obviously, I was spoiled and I could be an even bigger handful than I am now.”
“That’s kind of terrifying,” Emmett said.
Maddie ignored his smart response. “Somehow, when I got into high school, spoiled kind of morphed into bratty, which ended up as just plain mean. There was a little clique of us, five girls who had the run of the school. Individually, we were okay, but once we got together, we could be really awful. We made fun of everyone, because we felt like we were better than everyone. We got a laugh out of it, and as friends, it was almost how we bonded.”
“You thought that was okay?”
“To be honest, I didn’t really think about it. I was sort of lost in my own personal daily drama. If someone went home and cried one night, I didn’t know or care. I was riding high on the wave of popularity and I felt almost untouchable. After graduation, things changed. My friends and I went our separate ways. Lydia is the only one who still lives in town, but she left for culinary school when I left for France. When I got back, there was less of the nastiness to others because I didn’t have that circle of friends feeding it.”
“But you still thought you were better than everyone else in town?”
Maddie frowned and let her gaze drop into her lap. “I think highly of myself and my family, yes. I feel like I’ve worked hard for what I’ve achieved, and I expect others to do the same. I have a sense of pride in myself and everything that I do, so to me, it doesn’t seem like I feel I’m better than other people, just that I’m the best me I can be. But that must not be how it comes off to others if so many people, including my own brother, think I’m so horrible.”
“I don’t think you’re horrible, Madelyn. You might have been a little terror in high school, but you’ve grown up. You donate to the homeless and you work hard to make Rosewood a more beautiful place. I think you just don’t always realize that some of the things you say or do, even when being helpful, can come off as snobbish.”
Maddie sighed. “I know. And it seems like no matter how hard I try, I can’t shake my old reputation. My brother was right. I would’ve made Gertie’s life hell in high school. She’s so awkward, in hand-me-downs and knockoff shoes. I never would’ve bothered to see that she’s smart and kind and thoughtful. She’s a good person, and I hate that people like me make things harder on a kid who’s obviously already struggling. It really bothers me to think about it and admit it to Grant, but I know it’s true.”
“You can shake your reputation, Fancy.” Emmett reached over and took her hand. Enveloped in his warmth, she found it difficult to concentrate on the topic. “You need to show people that you’re not the kid you used to be. Drawing attention to your good deeds just looks like gloating, but maybe you can find another way to give back to the community.”
Maddie thought about the conversation she’d had with Alice. She’d really been excited about the prospect of showing a movie and seeing what the turnout was like. It was a perfect community event and one that Maddie could play a role in by sponsoring it. “I am talking to Alice Jordan about doing a movie in the square. Do you think that kind of thing would help?”
Emmett smiled. “I do. That’s a great opportunity for you to get out there and mingle with everyone in town, not just the people who can afford to buy things at your bakery or socialize with you at charity galas or whatever you rich people get together and do.”
Maddie laughed. “Charity galas are just a cover for our secret plot of world domination.”
?
?That’s what I thought.”
Maddie’s gaze dropped down to her hand and she realized Emmett was still holding it. It felt so comfortable, so normal to be talking to him while they held hands. It shouldn’t, but it did. There was something about Emmett, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, that drew her to him. Yes, they argued; yes, he had many annoying qualities that made him completely unsuitable for a woman like her . . . Is that really being stuck-up? But in the end, she couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him.
His large, rough hands, his easy smile and messy hair were charming on him, yet seemed sloppy on any other man. He was the opposite of everything she’d ever sought out in a man. Since all those other relationships hadn’t really worked out, maybe she needed to change tactics. Maybe she needed to do more than just prove to the community that she was open-minded . . . she needed to truly be open-minded. To open herself up to the idea of dating someone outside her usual dating pool.
She was definitely open to the idea of another kiss. The one in the bakery had been surprising, tingle-inducing, and over far too soon. Being handcuffed together had complicated the matter, but now they were together of their own volition. No handcuffs. No court orders.
