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“She is. But nice doesn’t have much to do with it. Even the so-called good girls can make mistakes with their friends egging them on.”
Was Silver negatively influencing the whole neighborhood? Oh, she hoped not.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. To her dismay, she could feel tears burning behind her eyes and blinked as hard as she could to keep them back. “She’s never done anything like this before. I can’t understand what got into her head.”
Ruben’s features softened in a way that made him seem far less intimidating. “Don’t beat yourself up. She made a mistake and did something stupid. Probably won’t be the first time or the last time.”
Who would have guessed that she could take such comfort from the words of a tough deputy sheriff? She wanted to draw them close and hold on tight.
“I did plenty of stupid things when I was her age,” he went on. “So did most of my friends. We even got caught a few times. Despite it, we all turned out okay. One’s the county sheriff, one is an FBI agent and one is the town police chief. Don’t worry. Silver will get through this.”
“I suppose you’re right. I just wish she had chosen something a little less destructive to the community for her first stupid foray into teenagedom.”
“We can’t change that now. The only thing she can do is try to make it right and then move forward. The good news is, the other property owners are pretty reasonable people. As long as she makes the effort to fix what she did, things should be okay.”
She did not want to be in this man’s debt but that was exactly where she found herself. He was being extraordinarily kind and she was well aware of just how much she owed him.
“Thank you, Deputy Morales. I appreciate you bringing her home instead of making this a criminal matter.”
“After three months of being neighbors, don’t you think you could call me Ruben?”
She didn’t want anything that would bring them closer together but she didn’t know how to avoid it. “Ruben, then. I appreciate the way you have handled things.”
“I could have booked her for destruction of property. Technically it is the jurisdiction of the Haven Point PD but I was an officer on scene and could have made that call.”
“Why didn’t you?” She had to ask.
“I weighed the options, believe me. But when she seemed more frightened about coming home and facing you than she did at the prospect of going to the police station, I figured this was the better choice.”
“You must think I’m the meanest mom in the world.”
“Your daughter should be afraid of the consequences of her actions. She needs to fear disappointing her parents. In my professional life, I see too many cases where kids know their parents will never call them on their bad behavior. Guess what? That only leads to kids who don’t know how to function in society.”
“I will help her clean up the mess. Please find out the details of what we need to do. We’ll make it right.”
As if she needed one more thing to worry about in her life right now.
Oh, Silver. What have you done?
“I’ll let you know,” Ruben said. He was watching her with a strange expression, one of almost approval. Why? She was the bad mother who hadn’t even known where her child was that night. She had botched the whole thing, start to finish.
She had no business feeling this warmth seeping through her. She couldn’t let herself be attracted to Ruben Morales. He was a law enforcement officer who would have absolutely no interest in her, once he knew the truth.
“All right. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
He studied her for a long moment and she had to wonder what he saw. She had been watching a movie earlier with Mia, though that felt like hours ago. Her hair was probably messy where she had been leaning back against the sofa and she wore casual, comfortable clothes with no shape or style whatsoever.
“Doc? I know you’re angry but try not to be too hard on Silver.”
“Weren’t you just telling me about the parents who never give their children consequences?”
“She definitely needs consequences. That’s not what I’m saying. What she did was wrong, no doubt about it. But it might not hurt to remember she’s at a tough age, trying to fit in to a new community, which can’t be easy for anybody.”
Dani was entirely too familiar with what that was like. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” she said, forcing a polite smile. “Thanks again for your help. Good night, Ruben.”
He smiled a little at her use of his first name but also didn’t appear to miss the direct hint, especially when she held open the door for him.
“Good night.”
He reached down to give Winky another scratch behind her ears, then headed out into the night.
Dani closed the door and stood for a moment in her living room, feeling the heat of her little dog on her slippers. She wanted to sink down onto the floor of her entryway, gather Winky close and cry until she fell asleep, but that was the sort of thing she might have done as a lonely girl in foster care. She was a mother now, with a mother’s responsibilities.
Right now, she needed to deal with her daughter.
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