Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (Kinky Spurs 4)

“I guess Penelope called both her parents last night.” Maisie’s eyes saddened, and her voice softened. “They didn’t even want to talk to her.”

Darryl’s chest tightened. He wasn’t surprised. She’d mentioned calling home. “I’m sorry to say it, Maisie, but your aunt and uncle are assholes.”

“Don’t be sorry, you’re right. They’re a bunch of dicks,” Maisie agreed with a firm nod. “Our family has been estranged from them for years, but the thing is, when she was talking, she also mentioned you. That you were just playing bad with her this week, but she’s not someone that you could really want. That you deserve better than her. And that just made her sad.”

His gut twisted and his hands fisted in his pockets. “I wish she’d told me that herself.” Then he could’ve done something about it.

Maisie gave a long knowing look. “Yeah, well, would you speak about feelings if you were her?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “No, I wouldn’t.” How could she? The people who should listen to her, didn’t. “All right, and what’s the second thing that you’d never do?”

She reached into her back pocket, and her boot crunched against the snow on the driveway as she handed him an envelope. “This morning when I realized she had left, I found this in the garbage bin by her bed.”

Darryl Wilson and his old address were written on the front. He’d been through enough investigations to know the ink was old. And that told him in his hands he had the letter that she’d told him she’d written when she was seventeen. “It’s opened.”

Maisie’s shoulders curled and cheeks blushed. “Don’t look at me like that. I feel bad enough about it, but something compelled me to open it, and then I knew I had to bring it to you.” She couldn’t even look him in the eyes. “Okay, so I’ve done my part. Bye.” She turned to hurry away.

Darryl peeled his eyes off the envelope, noting the shaking of his hand. “Maisie.”

“Yeah?” She turned back to him.

It occurred to him that Maisie cared for Penelope a great deal and coming here went against everything she believed in. That stood for something, and Darryl wouldn’t forget it either. “Thanks.”

Maisie gave him a sweet smile. “Welcome.”

He watched her jump into her car and drive off, then he turned his attention to the letter inside the envelope.

Darryl,

I miss you. Is that weird? I mean, I know it’s kinda weird since we didn’t really even know each other, but I do. I miss how I felt that night with you. Don’t worry, I’m not a stalker or anything, but things are so different now. My parents divorced. That’s why I had to leave so fast. It’s only been six months now. They’re both getting married again, and I guess I’m getting stepsiblings. Whatever that means? Truthfully, I just hope they’re nice.

I don’t even know why I’m writing. I don’t even know if I’m going to send this. But I guess all I want to know is…will you come get me? Come bring me back to the lake, to where everything made sense, to that quiet where no one is fighting, and where life seemed so easy.

Penelope. xoxo

“You have got to be kidding me.” The police barricade was the last straw. First, Penelope’s Uber driver said his car suddenly died, when she’d seen him turn off his ignition. Then the cab driver drove stupidly slow. Now this. It took an hour to get to the Denver airport from River Rock, and two hours had gone by now. It started to feel like she was being sabotaged.

With a huff, she got out of the car, thankfully in her winter boots, jeans, and long winter coat. “Is there a problem?” she asked the police officer standing in front of the barricade.

He wore a uniform a little different than Darryl’s but had a similar matching black winter hat that she’d seen Darryl in before

. “I’m sorry to report there’s an accident up ahead. Road is closed.”

Okay, so maybe she was overreacting, and now she felt terrible in case someone was hurt. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yeah, all good,” another office said striding up. “There’s a horse loose up there, and we gotta catch him.”

Maybe she wasn’t overacting at all! Penelope crossed her arms, tapping her winter boot against the snowy road. “Really? There’s a car accident and a loose horse?”

The cops gave each other a long look, then the one on the right shrugged at her. “That’s right.”

“Forget this.” Oh, yeah, it became pretty clear what was going on there. Darryl was pulling in favors to catch up with her on the road. Why? To voice how she disappointed him last night? Or maybe that her drunkenness had cost him his promotion? She knew she messed up, and that was exactly why she was leaving.

The last thing she wanted to do was make matters worse. She already felt like shit about it all. And all she wanted right now was to hop on that plane, get as far away from everyone as possible, and then hide under her blanket at the hotel until she had to join the cruise for training.

No one had helped her get to where she was. That wasn’t going to change today. She headed back for the cab. “Can you open the trunk?” she asked the cab driver after he rolled down the window.

“Ah, yeah, sure,” the young guy said.