Some of the viewers dispersed. The police showed up but took Anson’s statement first. Dominic resisted punching Anson again when he tried to play dumb about not knowing why he was assaulted.
“He’s her stalker,” Dominic said calmly. “Zoe gave me a phone earlier and thought it was mine. I looked through the photo files for any evidence of a selfie and came across all the photos Anson leaked to social media, including the one from the cookie contest, Waverly. He’s been the one doing it.”
“For what?” Anson sneered.
“Oh, come on, you’ve been trying to get Waverly’s attention for months now. Dying for a chance to get her all to yourself. You’ve been tearing her down, chipping away at her pride with the memes, all so you can build her up again and she would fall in love with you.” Dominic shrugged.
“Dominic,” Waverly said. “The memes started before I met you.”
“I suppose I posted these memes to corral you to Southwood.” Anson grandly gestured, sarcasm oozing from him with a smug smile. “Get out of here with that, Mr. Waverly.”
Dominic lunged for Anson again. The crowd of ladies screamed but the police stepped in the way. “I’m good.” Dominic shrugged off their hold.
“Dominic,” Stephen said, “do you still have the phone?”
Patting his chest and pocket, Dominic couldn’t find it. He couldn’t remember where he placed it once he discovered the photos. Did he leave it in his seat? Dominic snatched his black jacket and searched the pockets, tearing the material inside out. No phone. He shook his head at the authorities.
“Sir,” said one of the officers, “we’re going to need to bring you in for a statement.”
Dominic understood and knew the routine. “Waverly?”
“I can’t believe you did this, Dominic. You knew I was up against the Morality Committee.”
Of course he knew. The damn committee came between their relationship at every turn. “Seriously, Waverly?”
Waverly folded her arms beneath her breasts. “You need to leave.”
“Waverly.” Dominic said her name once more and when she didn’t respond, he left.
* * *
“I don’t know what happened to the phone,” said Zoe, retouching Waverly’s eyeliner. “He had it when he was sitting with us. Yep, he saw the pictures and took off like a crazed man.”
Waverly preferred to go without the makeup. The fat tears threatening to spill were marring Zoe’s every attempt to make her pretty. The beauty portion of the show was going to be aired tonight and then narrow down the competition to the top three. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, those contestants would continue on to vie for their spot to enter Miss Georgia with the blessing of the pageant committee.
For now, the incident took the Morality Committee a couple of hours to sort through. Sponsors pulled out of tomorrow’s live event and without them, the pageant would lose funding. Lexi ended up bringing in her sister-in-law, Amelia Reyes, to help call in a few television network favors. While they waited for a ruling, Waverly ended up sending her mother out of the dressing room. The rest of the pageant would be aired tomorrow. Tonight they would film the beauty rundown, where the Southern contestants would each introduce themselves with small, one-minute reels of their lives in the counties they represented and splice it into the live show for tomorrow. Waverly wasn’t sure of the professional jargon but she took Amelia’s word for it. Knowing it was going to take a few more hours before she found out if she made it to the top three, Waverly decided she couldn’t take another minute of Jillian bad-mouthing Dominic. He wasn’t crazy. Dominic had a reason to attack Anson. Anson’s innocent stance was fishy at best.
“I don’t know what happened to the phone, but I did see Vera consoling Anson shortly after everything happened. She could have easily found the phone and hidden it for him.”
“What are you saying?” Lexi inquired.
“I believe him,” Waverly admitted. A deep shudder pulsed in her shoulders. She believed Dominic. Warning bells blew in her ears. Everything Dominic said made sense. The memes stopped once the threat was away—the threat being Dominic. Anson had worked harder to get close to Waverly at the time. But she’d been too busy working toward the tiara. Waverly scolded herself for not speaking up sooner to defend Dominic. The look of hurt in his eyes would burn her soul forever. She was about to lose the one thing she cared most about: Dominic.
Lexi pushed away from the makeup dresser. “Why do you believe him?”
Zoe took a step backward. “Girl, if you did, why did you let him leave?” Zoe asked, but went on without letting Waverly answer. “Don’t get me wrong. Dominic scared the hell out of me when we first met. I actually thought he and Will plotted together to get you to win.”
Funny, Waverly half laughed to herself. She’d thought the same thing. “Dominic wouldn’t go off on Anson without reason. It was more than the emasculating taunts Anson has been hurling since I was crowned Miss Southwood. But I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“We searched everywhere for a phone,” said Lexi. “We didn’t find it.”
Waverly shrugged. “I don’t care. I don’t need to see any evidence. I trust Dominic.”
“You do?” Lexi asked.
“With all my heart, Lexi,” Waverly replied. “I love him so much that I am sitting here contemplating if this runoff is even worth risking my chance at the Dominic.”
“Waverly.” Lexi gasped and clutched her heart.