Penny was calculating how easily she could kill her brothers and make it look like an accident when her cell rang. They had only been home three days and so far, they had left their dishes piled in the sink every night, expected her to do their laundry, and drunk all her beer. San Diego was sounding better and better.
Come on, as if your brothers weren’t a reason to make you stay.
Penny glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Trent. She slid her thumb over the screen to answer. “Hello.”
“Hey, kitten. Feel like getting out of the house?”
Penny looked around the shit storm that was her place. “Definitely. Give me five minutes.”
She ended the call and grabbed two glasses of ice water. After walking into her brothers’ room, she stood between the two full beds and let the contents of the glasses fly across their faces, impressed by her aim.
Wes flew up first. “What the h—”
“Damn it!” Cal hollered, wiping at his eyes.
“Now that you’re awake and I have your attention, here is the deal. You will wash your own dishes, pick up after yourselves, and do your own laundry, or you will find somewhere else to crash. I am your sister and I love you, but my love will not turn me into your maid.”
She marched out of their room, listening to their curses with a smile. She went outside to wait for Trent, relieved to see him pulling in.
“You seem happy to see me,” he said as she climbed into his car.
“Actually, I doused my brothers with two cups of ice cold water. That put this smile on my face.”
“Yowza! I’d be locking my door tonight if I were you.”
“Ha! They wouldn’t dare retaliate.”
Trent backed out of her drive with a chuckle, and turned down the road. “If you threw cold water on me when I was sleeping, I would enact a thorough and diabolical revenge.”
“I feed them. They know not to mess with the person who handles their food.”
“Fair enough,” he said.
When he took a left, and started heading out of town, she frowned. “Where are you taking me?”
“I thought we’d drive to the airport and watch the tiny planes take off.”
“Exactly what I wanted to do on a Tuesday,” Penny joked.
“Don’t knock it ’til you try it. It’s how I relax when I’m stressed out.”
Once Trent pulled into the field next to the airport, they climbed out and crawled onto the hood of his SUV. There were more birds than planes taking off, but Penny had to admit that it was actually kind of peaceful.
“Penny, I know I’ve already apologized for punching Hunter, but I want you to know that I am really sorry.”
The sky above was darkening to a purplish blue, and she was sure she saw one or two stars popping up. “I know you’re sorry.”
“Not exactly an assurance of forgiveness.”
She turned her head to look at him, squinting her eyes against the setting sun behind his head. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m only a little distracted. Got a lot of stuff to think about.”
“Like what?” Trent leaned up on an elbow and blocked the sunset. “You know I’m more than just a pretty face, right? You can talk to me.”
“I know, but I haven’t really told anyone.” Penny didn’t think she should mention the conversation she’d had with Hunter. She sat up, and pulled her knees to her chest. She wondered how Trent would react to her news. “I got offered two really great jobs. One of them would allow me to stay in Bear Mountain, and the other would take me away, but it’s an amazing opportunity.”
“Then why are you hesitating, if the other job is so great?”
“I don’t know. I’ve wanted to escape this place for so long, but now that I have the chance to, I’m not sure why I was so eager to leave. I mean, I have a home. Friends. It’s beautiful and crazy here, and the thought of leaving it all behind actually hurts.”
Trent sat up and she felt the weight of his arm on her shoulders. When she turned to face him, his brown eyes were heavy.
“Then ask yourself what you’re staying for.”
He kissed her softly, and she didn’t respond—not because the kiss wasn’t good, but because it added to the burden.
He pulled away and surprised the hell out of her by whispering, “When you come up with a list of reasons to stay, I hope I’m one of them.”
Hunter stood on Penny’s front porch, knocking on the door. He’d been trying to call and text her, but he was only getting one-word answers from her. And he was damn tired of it.
He hadn’t said anything to her about her job offer, mostly because he didn’t want to add stress on top of everything she was probably dealing with, but he needed to be honest with her.
The door swung open and Cal stood in the doorway, a dark scowl on his face. It slowly melted away, and he grinned at Hunter. “Yo, Wes! Grab a couple of beers. Hunter is here.”
Hunter stepped in and accepted the backslapping hug from the younger man. “Hey, guys. Is your sister here?”
“No, she dumped water on us, told us to clean the house, and took off with that tool from the bar,” Wes said as he handed Hunter a beer.
Hunter’s stomach dropped out as he tipped back the beer. It tasted like ash in his mouth. “Great.”
Cal threw his arm around Hunter’s shoulder and pulled him into the living room. “Screw that guy, man! You’re way better for our sister.”
“I’m not with her,” Hunter said.
“Yeah, right,” Wes said. “We heard everything. Hell, the newspaper basically had a story about how Deputy Luke caught you two screwing on the side of the road. Which is disgusting, by the way.”
“We were not screwing! All the gossip has been highly exaggerated, guys. She had some car trouble and I was helping her.”
Hunter had never seen two grown men so crestfallen.
“Really?” Cal said.
Wes shook his head. “Damn. I got to admit, I was kind of looking forward to having you for a brother-in-law. You’re good people.”
Hunter wasn’t sure why the other men’s disappointment made him feel slightly better, but it did.
But then Penny came through the door. Her cheeks were pink and she looked too beautiful for words. Hunter’s stomach knotted up as he wondered what had put that color in her skin.
“Hi.” She glanced around the house. “Thanks for cleaning up, guys.” She walked past them into the kitchen and set a bag of takeout on the dining room table.
“Where’s the douche?” Wes called.
Hunter wanted to know the same thing, but was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of Penny’s angry scowl.
“Considering you hit him the first time you met him, I think he was a little hesitant to join us.”
“Good,” Cal said. “Hunter, you wanna stay for dinner?”
“Only if it’s okay with your sister.”
“There’s plenty,” she said, dispassionately.
Hunter got up from the couch and watched her pull containers from the bag. “Can I help?”
She didn’t meet his eye as she said, “Sure. Grab the plates out of that cupboard.”
“What is it?” Wes asked.
“Chinese. How about you get some forks and spoons?”
Hunter, Wes, and Cal followed Penny’s directions, and by the time they sat down at the table, Hunter was a little thrown. He’d always assumed that the three Davis siblings were a wild bunch, but watching the way the two young men treated their older sister, he saw the genuine respect and love they had for her. And vice versa.
Penny seemed softer around her brothers, and although Hunter liked Cal and Wes, he’d never really seen the family like this. She was still a snarky smart-ass, but she laughed more. She was relaxed and happy.
It was a side of her he wanted to see more of.
After dinner, Hunter loaded the dishwasher while the boys conveniently took off for the night, leaving him alone with Penny. When he hit the Start button, he turned around and found her standing in front of him.
“Have you decided what you’re doing yet?” he asked.
Her expression shuttered. “About?”
“Are you taking the job in San Diego?”
“Probably. It’s an amazing opportunity. Hard to pass up.”
“What about Bear Mountain? Wes and Cal? Allie?” Me. “This is your home.”
“People move away from their home all the time. The boys only come back a few times a year anyway and I can always visit Allie, or FaceTime with her. Selling the house would probably take care of the last bit of debt that I owe.” When she met his gaze finally, those blue eyes were completely blank. “After all, there’s nothing else keeping me here, is there?”
Trent had noticed Hunter’s new SUV outside Penny’s house when he’d dropped her off. He could have come inside and made a big deal about it, but what would be the point? Getting into another pissing match with Hunter wasn’t going to win Penny’s favor.
Plus, the very real possibility of her leaving weighed on him. Although he’d made friends at the station, Penny was the first real connection he’d shared with anyone in Bear Mountain. When he’d told her he’d hoped that he’d be on her list of reasons to stay, he wasn’t just feeding her a line. He didn’t want her to go, but didn’t feel like he had the right to ask her to stay.
Especially when he knew that Hunter was still in the running for Penny’s heart.
Trent had been surprised when Hunter had shown up at the Grizzly a half an hour ago. He’d figured he’d have manned up and told Penny how he felt already, but clearly he was in need of a little guidance. It wouldn’t be fair if Penny chose Trent because Hunter didn’t give it his all. Sure, Trent could take the easy win, but if she did stay and decided to be with him, he didn’t want to always wonder if she was thinking about Hunter.
The doc should thank his lucky stars Trent was such a saint.
He knocked back the last of his glass of whiskey and stood up. Hunter was sitting at the bar with his friend, Dex Belmont, but Trent wasn’t worried about having an audience. He had a few things to say to the good doctor that couldn’t wait.
“Where are you going, Trent?” his friend Mike Feldman asked.
“Got some business to attend to.”
“Hey, man, don’t start any shit with Doc Gracin. The chief won’t be happy about it.”
“I won’t. Cross my heart.”
Trent walked over and sat next to Hunter. When Hunter looked over at him, he tensed, but Trent waved his right hand in the air like a white flag.
“Relax, I’m not here to fight.”
“What do you want then?”
Trent ordered another whiskey and while he waited, swiveled in the stool toward Hunter. “What are you going to do about Penny?”
“Nothing. She’s taking a job in San Diego.” Hunter took a drink from his glass, shooting him a deadly glare. “But I’m guessing you already knew that.”
“She also has an offer from a sanctuary in Red Lodge. Did she tell you that?”
Hunter’s gaze narrowed. “No, she didn’t tell me. Which is reason enough to assume she’s made up her mind to leave.”
“Have you given her a reason to stay? I have a feeling she would take the job closer to home if she thought you had finally pulled your head out of your rear end.”
“It’s not up to me,” Hunter said.
Okay, now you’re pissing me off, Doc.
“Please. Just because you only realized that you’re in love with her a week ago, doesn’t mean she’s fully aware that she can now have exactly what she’s wanted for years.”
“How do you know what she wants?”
Trent smiled sadly. “Because from the first time I flirted with her, I knew I never stood a chance.”