by Becky Wade
They regarded her with confusion. “Why would you want to be the Rock of Gibraltar?” Theo asked.
“So many reasons!” Penelope wailed.
Theo put an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s step outside and take a breather.”
“’Kay.”
“Thank you for keeping Madeline last night,” Aubrey said to her.
“Of course. I adore Madeline and I want to help you guys any way I can.”
Theo steered her from the room and down the hallway to an alcove housing vending machines. He bought her a Snickers, her favorite candy bar. His favorite was Heath bar, which was why she’d named the Heath-bar-inspired pie on her menu “Theo’s Pie.”
They leaned, side by side, against a white patch of wall. A leggy brother and sister with matching brown curls that they’d inherited from their mother.
Her crying drifted away like a summer storm while she chewed her Snickers.
She’d won the sibling contest when God gave her Theo. He was three years older and, while she’d annoyed him when he was in middle school and hardly seen him when he was in high school, their vibe had never turned seriously rocky because Theo was good-hearted to the bone.
“What are the doctors saying about Aubrey?” she asked.
“Well, first of all, they’re taking great care of her here.”
“Good.”
“But, unfortunately, her risk factors make treatment complicated. She’ll need to stay here a couple more days, at least.”
“What are they giving her to treat the blood clot?”
“Blood thinners and clot dissolvers. For now, it looks like those might be sufficient. If not, they’ll thread a catheter through her blood vessels.”
“Yikes.”
“My focus right now is to get Aubrey and Madeline through this as smoothly as possible.”
“You’re going to need a lot of help.”
“Agreed.”
“And you have to take care of yourself, too. Can your employees at Blue Ridge Adventures cover your workload?”
“It won’t be easy, but over the short term—yes.”
“Okay, then I want you to prioritize sleep, food, water, rest. If you don’t, you’re going to start to fall apart. And that, we cannot have.”
He grunted.
“No, really.” She spoke in her sternest voice. “Tomorrow’s my day off and my work schedule is flexible, so I’m depending on you to rely on me as much as you need.”
He bumped his shoulder against hers affectionately. “Thank you.”
“If you need them, Mom and Dad will come back to help, too.” Four years ago, their parents had once again followed a job offer Mom had received and relocated to Boston. By then, Theo and Penelope both considered Misty River home. The two of them had stayed.
“I know. I’m not ready to ask them to do that yet. They took off work to be here last week.”
She peeled the wrapper farther down her candy bar. “So. How did Eli do taking care of Madeline today?”
“Great. I was later getting to the house than expected because I waited with Aubrey to talk to her doctor. When I got there, everything was clean and quiet. Madeline was sleeping and he was watching baseball.”
“Huh.”
“He didn’t burst into tears.”
“Touché.”
“Is something going on between you two?” This wasn’t the first time over the past eighteen months that he’d asked the question.
“Nope.”
“Would you tell me if there was?”
“Nope.”
“He likes you.”
“I don’t date Air Force guys.”
“He’s a much better catch than Cameron.”
Over the past month, she’d gone on three dates with Cameron Kaplinsky, computer programmer. “You’re not the one going on dates with Cameron, so your opinion hardly qualifies.”
“I’m your doting older brother who cares about your happiness. My opinion should qualify.”
“No, indeed.” She finished her Snickers. “Hit me again, please.”
His brows rose. “A double?”
“It’s been a long day.”
He slid coins into the vending machine and handed her a second Snickers.
“Just between you and me, it’s nice to take a break from that hospital room for a minute.” He resumed his position against the wall next to her and clicked through apps on his phone.
She remained beside him, offering silent companionship and tasting chewy caramel, chocolate, and peanuts.
Theo had started his own adventure tour business several years ago. He and his three staffers took people on hiking, paddling, and fishing expeditions that lasted anywhere from a day to a week.
Shortly after Eli had arrived at Ricker, he’d stopped by Theo’s business. Eli loved to fish and had signed up for a two-day fishing weekend Theo had led. The two had come back from the trip besties.
Eli had joined Theo’s weekly basketball game at the gym and, soon after, Theo had introduced Eli to Penelope at a party. Penelope’s rapport with Eli had been instantaneously good. He knew when to listen. He knew when to extend sympathy and when to deliver a joke. And he appreciated her just the way she was.
His easy-going demeanor could fool you into thinking he was low-key through and through. However, she’d learned that a smart, high-powered engine hummed beneath his exterior. If you looked closely enough into his eyes, you could see banked intensity smoldering there. Eli was driven. He’d entered the Air Force Academy out of high school, earned excellent grades, and eventually achieved his boyhood dream of piloting fighter jets. She’d learned from Eli’s Air Force friends that Eli possessed a legendary combination of nerves, reflexes, talent, and focus—all of which made him perfectly suited for his job.
Because she and Eli were both in Theo’s solar system, they’d continued to see each other often socially. Whenever they did, they joked and laughed and bantered.
Over a period of months, it had occurred to her that Eli might be just what she’d been hoping to find—a successful, honorable man whose faith was important to him.
Nine months ago, he’d started asking her out. She explained her rule and regretfully turned him down. Their paths continued to cross. He continued to ask her out. For the next three months, she continued to say no even as the chemistry and fondness between them mounted sweetly higher and higher.
Penelope’s friends and family liked to tease her about her tendency to get “too wrapped up” in things. At the age of seven, she’d famously gotten wrapped up in Legos and created masterworks that stretched from the floor to her bedroom ceiling. Since then, she’d become obsessed with the country of France, painting with watercolors, playing the violin, songwriting, Himalayan cats, Ford Broncos, and, most recently, pie-making. Each of these eras had lasted for years at a time.
She viewed her ability to immerse herself in a pursuit as an asset. However, she could admit that making Eli into her newest obsession was not wise. She refused to become the gullible local girl. She would not surrender who she was at the throne of his career, then weep tears over him her friends had to mop.
Also, she suspected that he could not possibly be as decent and trustworthy as he seemed to be. So she hunted for evidence to support her suspicion. When the other shoe dropped, she planned to point to it and crow, “Ah-ha! I knew dating you would be a terrible idea!”
Theo gave a weary grunt as he straightened. “I’m going back in.”
“I’m coming with.”
She chatted with Aubrey for thirty minutes, then drove her own car to her apartment, located on the second floor of one of the historic commercial buildings near the grassy park at the heart of Misty River’s downtown.
When she entered the space, her Himalayan cat greeted her by weaving through her legs. She lifted him and gave him a thorough head rub. “Greetings, Roy.”
As always, her cheery, light-filled apartment surrounded her with comfort. Ferns, ivy, violets, and
cyclamen lent bursts of color. Bookcases stuffed with volumes on cooking, music, and art lined several of the walls. She’d decorated the space with an eclectic mix of furnishings and artwork she’d scored at flea markets.
She loved living within walking distance of many of Misty River’s restaurants and shops. In fact, her relationship with Eli had come to a head six months ago, precisely because they’d attended a group dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from here and, afterward, he’d learned that she intended to walk home.
She set Roy on his feet and began the process of making iced tea.
On that long-ago night, as she’d donned mittens, a hat, and a scarf, Eli had offered to give her a ride home. She’d told him that she preferred to walk. At which time, he’d said he wanted to walk with her. At which time, she’d told him that would be acceptable.
They’d taken the riverwalk, deserted at that late and frigid hour. While they’d chatted companionably, she’d snuck glances at him when he wasn’t looking. As they approached Midnight Ranch, the sound of live country music tumbled from the bar. The lyrics of an old, familiar song by Lonestar reached her. I don’t know how you do what you do. I’m so in love with you . . .
They passed by and the music was lessening slightly in volume when they reached a small courtyard framed by winter flowers and dark businesses.
“May I have this dance?” he’d asked her.
Her caution whispered no, but her mouth said, “Yes.”
She placed her hand in his and her skin rushed with heat. Chuckling, they stopped and started a few times before finding the rhythm of the two-step. They made slow circles around the courtyard—a private, moonlit dance.
“Your stairs playground me,” he mumble-sang under his breath. “Baby, you astound me.”
Her laughter rang clear in the cold air. “‘Your hair all around me,’” she corrected. “‘Baby, you surround me.’”
The few times they’d attempted karaoke with mutual friends, she’d cajoled him into singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” the song Tom Cruise had immortalized in Top Gun. Even with the lyrics on a screen in front of him, Eli’s attention would wander, and he’d end up fudging some of the words. He was a lost cause with lyrics.
“But you do astound me,” he pointed out reasonably. “The words should be ‘baby, you astound me.’”
“And do you also contend that ‘your stairs playground me’ is a superior lyric?”
“I admit that one leaves a little to be desired.”
He spun her and she came to a stop flush against the front of his jacket. The motion between them ceased and their teasing melted into seriousness.
He looked at her with so much tenderness that it stole her breath.
His head bent toward hers. He paused, halfway, his gaze searching. The yes/no battle she’d been feeling toward him for weeks continued to rage in her mind even as her body rushed with ecstatic anticipation.
When his lips took hers, she curved her fingers into his down jacket. His arms banded behind her. They kissed like they were the last two people on earth and they had five minutes left to live.
Her blood roared. Possessiveness of him, adoration of him swamped her. As did the delicious scent and taste and feel of him.
It was the first time they kissed, and it was—by light-years—the best kiss of her life.
They’d held hands the rest of the way to her apartment. At the front door of her building, he’d asked again if she’d go out with him. She’d told him she’d consider it with great seriousness.
Penelope poured the iced tea into a huge glass of ice and sat at her small kitchen table illuminated by a slant of sunlight. Roy jumped onto her lap and provided a cat massage by kneading her thigh. Sighing, she drank half the glass in one long pull.
The day after she’d kissed Eli, she’d floated through her duties at the pie truck on leftover adrenaline. She’d been fairly certain that, in Eli, she’d found the man who’d make the setting aside of her long-held, well-known rule worthwhile.
Then one of her regulars had arrived at Polka-Dot Apron Pies with an appetite and news. Jodi was in her early forties and had been married to Chris, Eli’s squadron boss, for twenty years.
“I’m hoping to get Chris out here for one last slice of pecan pie before they go,” Jodi said to Penelope.
Foreboding skittered between Penelope’s shoulder blades. “Go?”
“To Syria.”
“Hmm?”
“The squadron’s leaving for Syria in three days. Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned it.”
Eli was leaving for Syria in three days? “When . . .” With effort, she cleared her throat. “When did the squadron find out that they’re deploying?”
“A few months back.”
Standing in her pie truck, looking into Jodi’s kindly face, the other shoe had, at last, dropped. But she didn’t feel like crowing, “Ah-ha! I knew that dating you would be a terrible idea!” because she was so wretchedly disappointed.
Instead of finding out from the man she’d just kissed that he was departing for Syria, she’d found out from a customer.
She’d given herself the rest of that workday to gather her composure, then called Eli as soon as she’d returned to her apartment. Pacing, she listened to the phone ring.
“Hey,” he said warmly. “I’m glad you called, I was just thinking about you—”
“Jodi told me that you’re leaving for Syria in three days.”
Silence.
“Is that true?” she pressed.
“Yeah,” he admitted after a few more seconds had passed. “Look, I should have said something sooner.”
“I really would have appreciated it if you had.” She’d thought she had her temper under control. But now the sound of his voice was stirring her anger the way hurricane winds stir deep ocean. “As it is, you didn’t give me full information and so I feel, well . . . tricked into last night’s kiss.”
“I didn’t trick you.”
“Didn’t you? You weren’t truthful with me.”
“I was going to tell you myself, my own way. I’m sorry. Let me take you out for dinner. We can—”
“No.” She spoke calmly, but also emphatically. For the first time ever, she’d made an exception to her rule. For him. And now this!
She wanted to kill him. But only hypothetically. There was nothing hypothetical about the dangers he’d be facing overseas. This was likely the last communication they’d have before he shipped off to a war zone. Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to unleash her indignation on him at this point because . . . what if something happened to him? “You’re headed to Syria and that’s going to require all of your focus.”
“But not every minute of my time. We can keep in touch by email and occasionally by phone while I’m gone.”
“I’d prefer not to.”
“Why?”
“Last night’s kiss was a mistake.” In fact, she bitterly regretted it already.
In the quiet that followed, Roy meowed twice.
“We’ll remain friends,” she said in a bracing tone. “I wish you a safe and successful deployment—”
“Penelope—”
“I’ll see you when you return.”
She’d wrapped up their phone call as quickly as possible.
He’d respected her wishes and refrained from reaching out to her while he was in Syria.
Penelope had moved on, her individuality and freedom intact. Frequently, she’d told herself she should feel fortunate to have escaped such a near miss.
As far as Theo and her friends were concerned, the kiss hadn’t happened because she’d never told any of them about it. Penelope herself often wished that it hadn’t happened. As it was, she remembered their kiss often. When falling asleep at night. When rolling out pie dough. When sitting across a dinner table from Cameron Kaplinsky.
And every time, the memory of it made her wayward heart beat faster.
Chapter Four
Madeline was
screaming. Eli immediately registered both that fact and Penelope’s tight expression when he arrived at Theo’s house the next night around dinnertime.
“Any chance you can make this stop?” She motioned to the red-faced infant in her arms.
“I can try.” Eli stepped inside and set down the white paper sack full of food he’d brought. The moment he’d learned from Theo that his shift would follow Penelope’s this evening, he’d decided to buy dinner for Penelope and himself. He was hoping the meal would convince her to stick around long enough to talk.
Eagerly, she passed Madeline to him.
He held the furious child around the torso with both hands, studying her with sympathy. “Bad day?”
“Yes,” Penelope answered.
Madeline wailed.
He pressed Madeline against his shoulder, rocking slowly, trying to calm her while studying Penelope. She wore a navy-and-white-striped dress that looked like a long T-shirt. The plain white slip-on Vans she’d chosen meant she’d been feeling practical this morning. Her beachy hair was all over the place. Pink colored her cheeks beneath her tan.
This was the third time in three days that they’d come face-to-face. The power of her nearness hadn’t lessened. When he was within thirty feet of her, it was like he was incapable of concentrating on anything but her. Even crying babies. “Um.” Focus, Eli. “What usually works with Madeline in this scenario?”
“Swaddle, clean diaper, pacifier, or bottle. She got angry when I was giving her a bath a little while ago. I’ve tried all the usual approaches and none of them are working. I’m worried I’m doing something wrong.” She filled her cheeks with air, then pushed it out in a frazzled breath.
“If you had to guess, what would you say is the matter?”
“Madeline’s deep hatred of baths?”
“Any other ideas?”
“It’s possible that I might not have burped her as well as I should have the last time I gave her a bottle.”
Eli placed the heel of his hand at the base of Madeline’s spine, then pressed it up her back in careful circles. “This is my brother’s technique.”
“If this technique stops her crying, I shall be overwhelmed with admiration for your brother.”