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My heart stutters at that ridiculous notion before flatlining when she reveals my name.
If I don’t die first, Alice will thoroughly enjoy murdering me over this.
“She doesn’t want you slinking around trying to… to sow your wild oats or some shit,” she finishes.
He balks. “Aren’t you at all concerned that this could have turned into some version ofMisery?”
“Hey,” I say to his reference of me being a crazed fan. “I already said I wouldn’t cut off your hair.”
Marcus pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly reaching capacity for putting up with the two of us. To Penelope, he says, “I wasn’t bothering her. Or trying to havesexwith her, for that matter.”
A visual I didn’t need, but will now be unable to part with, thank you very much.
“Something spooked Sparrow near the woods during our ride, and she decided to dump me here.”
When Penelope turns to me for confirmation, I bob my head rapidly. “It’s true. No fornicating commenced, scouts’ honor.”
Marcus narrows his gaze when I hold three fingers up in a scout’s salute.
She twists back to him, just now spotting the wrap on his lower leg. “Oh my god, are you hurt?”
“Very kind of you to notice, cousin, but as I was telling Heather, I’m fine.”
I don’t know what throws me more, the man saying my name, or learning Penelope is his cousin.
“Nice work,” she says to me before squatting and rotating his foot gently. “I think we should have the doc come see you at the house, though.”
“If I agree, will you get off my ass?”
I laugh to myself when she wiggles his toes, offering a sarcastic, “Will you stop being one for more than two seconds?”
Hooking her thumb toward the door, she says, “I brought the four-wheeler. We can come back for Sparrow once I get you back up to the house and settled in bed.”
Marcus’s rebuttal falls on deaf ears with the realization that we’re neighbors. I listen to them bicker with excitement vibrating my bones.
While they argue, I quietly back up to the kitchen table to unlock my phone.
I open the recorder app and hit the button just as Penelope complains, “This is just fantastic. Who’s going to help me man the ranch now?”
She pulls him from the couch to standing, then helps him distribute his weight to his good foot.
“We’ve got Russell,” Marcus says, adjusting his arm over her shoulder. “I’m sure he won’t mind picking up some slack.”
“About that.” Penelope grimaces. “Russell’s been given a paid vacation.”
His head whips toward her. “Excuse me?”
“What? I thought it’d be fun for the two of us to tackle the ranch together. You know, like the good ol’ days.”
A shadow slides over Marcus’s face before he crams a hand into his pocket.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
He fishes out his phone and mashes his thumb over the screen. “Calling the rehabilitation center.”
“Marcus,” she protests.
He waves the screen in her face. “You’re trying to kill me, woman!”
