Page 10 of Mountain Man's Redemption

She smiles slightly, but when she looks up at me again, there are tears glistening in her eyes.

“Shit, Daphne, I’m sorry?—”

She holds up a hand to silence me. “Please, don’t be sorry. It’s not you. I…well, maybe talking about it isn’t such a bad idea. It’s been eating me up, to be honest.”

Instinctively, I reach across the table and grab her hand, soft and warm against my calloused palm. She squeezes mine in response.

“I’m from a small town called Plainville,” she says, her voice wobbling slightly. “My dad is…wasthe mayor, and on the outside, we were the perfect family. My parents were like small-town celebrities—everybody knew and loved them. We lived in the biggest house in town, had the best of everything. But it was all a lie.”

She takes a deep breath, looking everywhere but at me before continuing. “Almost a month ago, the police came knocking. My dad…God, where do I even start? The list was so long: bribery, corruption, embezzlement, fraud. My mom was in on it, too. Everything we had—the house, the fancy cars, the vacations—it was all paid for by money my dad stole from the town of Plainville.” She lets out a hollow laugh. “And that was only the beginning! Once the news broke, other things started coming to light. Turns out my dad was sleeping his way around town—too many affairs to count. And my mom? She knew all about the other women, but she turned a blind eye to keep up this image of a perfect family.”

My heart drops as she keeps talking, her tears spilling over. The pain in her voice stabs at my gut, and I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms and hold her tight. But instead, I rub circles around her thumb, urging her to continue.

“Everyone thought I was in on it, too.” She sniffs, wiping her eyes. “They decided it almost immediately—the mayor’s daughter, a pampered princess who knew all about Daddy’s corruption, but didn’t care because it meant she got a Porschefor her eighteenth birthday. I couldn’t handle it. The stares, the sneers, the hate mail. It was too much…” Her voice tapers off, and she looks at me with so much sincerity that I feel my breath catch. “But I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know about any of it.”

“It’s okay, Daphne. You don’t need to convince me. I believe you.”

She blinks at me. “You do?”

“Of course.” It’s obvious she’s telling the truth. I don’t believe for a second that this sweet angel was involved, and the look in her eyes only makes it clearer. “I’m sorry you were driven out of town by assholes like that. Must have made everything so much harder.”

“Thank you.” She offers me a watery smile. “It means a lot that you believe me. More than you know.”

I feel a rush of anger as I think about what those people put her through. First her parents, then the people of Plainville. Part of me wants to drive over there and fight the whole damn town. They kicked her when she was down instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt, and it’s clear Daphne suffered a hell of a lot as a result.

“I’m guessing the cops seized everything?” I ask, frowning.

“Yes. The house, cars, my parents’ bank accounts, you name it. Luckily, I had a little money of my own from my art commissions. It was enough for me to buy a cheap car and cover a month or two of rent. I didn’t really have a plan, but I had my heart set on coming to the mountains, and so I just started driving. When I stopped in Cherry Hollow for coffee…well, something clicked. So I never left.”

I let out a deep sigh as I think over everything she’s told me. It sure explains a lot, but I can’t suppress the rage bubbling away inside me as I think about what Daphne has been through. She was let down so damn badly.

“I’m really sorry you went through all that,” I tell her, rubbing a hand over my beard. “Hell, I know what it’s like to have people thinking the worst of you. It can be suffocating. Especially in a small town.”

Something flickers in Daphne’s eyes, and she’s quiet for a moment. Then she says, “Garrett, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

She bites her lip in thought, like she’s weighing up her next words carefully. “Yesterday, when you came into the bakery…well, there was this woman standing behind me in the line. Rita, I think her name was.” I flinch, but I don’t interrupt. “When she saw you…well, she made a comment about you being a…well, a criminal.” She sounds apologetic, shaking her head. “She was obviously just a local gossip. We had plenty of those back in Plainville. But it made me wonder whether you had been falsely accused of something, too?”

My stomach roils when she looks at me with those sweet, trusting eyes.

Falsely accused.

Of course this sweet-natured girl thinks the rumors about me are false. She thinks we’re in the same boat—two people dealing with false accusations in a small town. And she couldn’t be more wrong.

Goddammit, what the hell am I doing?

I shouldn’t be falling for Daphne. I shouldn’t be spending time with her. She’s so damn innocent, all light and goodness. I don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.

If she knew what I’d done…

If she knew what I was capable of…

Fuck, this needs to stop. I need to leave this girl alone. The painting will only take a couple more days—then this will all be over. Once it’s finished, Daphne can go back to her new life in Cherry Hollow, and I’ll stick to the forest where I belong.

This was all a huge fucking mistake.

Daphne is still looking at me, waiting for an answer. She’s so damn beautiful that I can’t bring myself to look at her.

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