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“Yeah, Heather’s packing up the kids now, and we leave in a few hours.” Jack and Heather had two cute little ones, a girl and a boy, twenty-one months apart.
“Nice. Say hello to everyone for me.” Darryl read what he’d already typed: PENELOPE CARTER has agreed to ten hours of community service for the inconvenience of the public intoxication.
“So, give me something.” Jack slapped a hand down on the desk. “Nat’s going to ask all about this reunion with Penelope.”
Even to Darryl, the situation with Natalie could, at times, seem strange. But the truth was, Darryl knew Natalie felt guilty that she had moved on. She was two months pregnant with her new boyfriend’s baby, and Darryl was alone.
He was good with alone.
Well, maybe he had been good with the alone before last night. The type of alone that didn’t include the greatest sex of his life. The thought of going back to life that didn’t include sex wasn’t particularly appealing.
He knew Jack wouldn’t quit unless he gave him something, so he turned to his best childhood friend. “Unless you want to tell Nat that last night and this morning, I had more sex than we had in the last four years of our marriage, and that the sex was hot as shit, you should tell her there’s nothing going on with me and Penelope.”
Jack barked a laugh. “Poor Penelope. Surprised she didn’t get sick of you after the first time.” He paused, the amusement fading. “There’s really nothing there anymore?”
Jack had been the only one Darryl had told Penelope. After Nat had left and it became clear that his ex-brother-in-law wasn’t going to leave him alone about finding a better match, he’d told Jack about ‘the one that got away’. He knew that Darryl risked kissing Penelope, and maybe losing his job, all because he couldn’t help himself. He knew that when Penelope left, Darryl blamed himself, thinking he scared her away. And Jack had been the guy that Darryl had talked to when he wondered what she was doing in her life. “All that is happening is all that can. She leaves the day after Christmas.”
“You can’t convince her to stay?”
“Doubt it would be a good idea.” Darryl pulled the report out of the typewriter, giving it a look over, then added, “She’s a handful.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Jack laughed.
“When you’re up for a promotion and everyone is looking at you, yeah, that’s a bad thing.” Darryl spun his chair to face Jack fully. “It is what it is, then it will end. If you gotta tell Nat anything, tell her I
am fine.” He wasn’t sure how many more times he had to say that for everyone to start believing him. Maybe it was because he wasn’t saying I am happy, but he was never a liar.
“It’s a pity Penelope’s not staying longer,” Jack said and then rose, tucking the chair back under the table. “Probably for the best, though. Don’t think she could handle how much you stink in the summer.”
Darryl snorted. But getting razzed by Jack meant that Jack was happy for him in his weird way. “Merry Christmas, dipshit.”
Jack squeezed his shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Casanova.”
Chapter Five
“Oh, hell no,” Penelope sputtered, glaring down at the spread for the Christmas breakfast at the River Rock’s high school gymnasium the next morning. Scrambled eggs that looked over-scrambled were in big slow cookers on the long table. Sausages that may or may not be made of real meat, toast that had burnt spots, and even the hot chocolate packages that Darryl had given her at his place, lay resting for the person who quite possibly hadn’t had a real cooked breakfast in years.
“Problem?” Darryl asked.
She peeled her gaze away from the sorry excuse of a community breakfast to Darryl’s warm—albeit confused—eyes. When he’d picked her up this morning, she discovered that Darryl looked real good in a Santa Claus hat. “Yes, there is a major problem,” she said, pointing to the table. “You call this a Christmas breakfast?”
He surveyed the food set out, wearing a plaid button-down overtop a gray shirt, a frown pulling on the sides of his mouth. “It’s all that we’ve got in the budget.” He lifted his gaze to hers again with an arched brow. “And sadly, I wouldn’t say anyone on the force is much of a chef.”
Okay, that was a problem. She was a terrible cook too.
She examined the crowd around her entering the gym, taking a spot at the long tables with plastic chairs set up. When Darryl picked her up this morning, he explained that most of the people they’d be feeding today were having hard times, and yet, all she saw was beaming smiles.
Within those smiles, an idea began to form. She’d promised Clara she wouldn’t do anything stupid. And yet…the fountain. Maybe she could fix her wrongs by doing something right. “Come with me.” She took Darryl’s hand then grabbed her Santa Claus hat that she’d been originally reluctant to put on and headed for the gymnasium’s door.
Darryl matched her speed, keeping hold of her hand. “Plan on telling me where we’re going?”
“Nope.”
They quickly made it outside, and the brisk wind hit her face, taking her breath away. She released Darryl’s hand to wrap her arms around her sweater, regretting she hadn’t grabbed her jacket on the way out the door. She hurried across the street, passing beneath the big snowflake lights hung up on the lamppost. River Rock did one thing well. They knew how to Christmas. The storefronts had a competition every year to win the esteemed Downtown Christmas River Rock award, or so Maisie had told Penelope when she noticed the decorated town on her first day there. The effort River Rock’s store owners made for a gorgeous Christmas village with garland and lights added so much cheer to the town that the Grinch would’ve smiled.
One block down, Penelope entered Snowy Mountain Bakery and was hit with the overwhelming aroma of sugar and warmed bread. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm up, moving toward the all-glass counter with the treats inside.
Darryl shut the door behind him, sending the chime above the door to ring, looking like he wasn’t cold at all. Of course, he had enough muscles to keep him going all winter long. When he stopped in next to her, he frowned. “We don’t have the money for this.”
