Amelia bit her lip, obviously to hold in her laughter.
“What is it?” Clara frowned.
There couldn’t be any lies between them, right? This was a new start, a fresh one. Penelope needed everything to be on the up-and-up. “Okay, so you know how I said I was helping Darryl with the Christmas events?”
“Yeah,” Clara said, suspicion in her eyes.
Penelope cringed, wiggling in the wooden seat. “Well…it wasn’t out of the goodness of my heart, per se, but because I did something that I needed to do community service for.” She grabbed her phone, pulled up the video, and handed it to a very disgruntled Clara.
As the minutes dragged on, the tightness on Clara’s expression slowly began to fade, and then she burst out laughing.
“Wait,” Penelope gasped. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” Clara laughed harder, rising from her seat and tucking it back under the table. “You’re the one that has to live that down. That ridiculous video is punishment enough.” Her laughter followed her out of the kitchen and down the hallway.
“You can stop laughing,” Penelope called after her.
“No, I really can’t,” Clara called back.
Penelope frowned.
Amelia chuckled. “Sometimes she really does surprise the hell out of me.” She gave Penelope a quick hug before leaving the kitchen.
Maisie took Amelia’s place, squeezing Penelope tight. “I’m so happy you’re staying. This is going to be so great, just like how it used to be during the summers.”
Penelope leaned away, her eyes stinging. “I’m so happy too.”
“No crying allowed,” Maisie said, wiping tears from her face.
“Yes, crying is not tolerated or arrests will be made,” a low voice said.
Penelope smiled, warmth immediately filling her from her head to the tips of her toes. Maisie stepped aside, revealing Darryl leaning against the doorframe, wearing and looking spectacular in his uniform. “Hi,” she said.
“Welcome back.”
“That’s my cue,” Maisie said, all but bouncing out of the kitchen. “Work starts tomorrow at nine o’clock. Don’t be late or Clara will murder you.”
“I would never let her hurt you.” Darryl grinned.
“Well, good.” Penelope shot to her feet and then threw her arms around his neck. “Because I have no intention of leaving any time soon.”
He caught her and pulled her in close against all his hard lines. “Of course, you don’t. You’re home, surrounded by people who love you.”
She hadn’t really thought about that yet, but he was right. In his arms. In this house with her cousins. “Yeah, I’m home.” And she knew now that she’d spent enough time living under the shadow of the pain and anger her parents had created. Maybe she was a memory of how their relationship failed. Or maybe she was taking the brunt of their anger toward each other. But that was on them, not her.
She refused to live under the shadow anymore.
This was her time for happiness, and she was taking it.
Acknowledgments
To my husband, my children, family, friends, and bestie, it’s easy to write about love when there is so much love around me. Big thanks to my readers for your friendship and your support; my editor, Christa, for being the best cheerleader around; my agent, Jessica, for always having my back; the kick-ass authors in my Sprint group for their endless advice and support; Jaycee for bringing my characters to life with amazing covers, and Jolene, for making my work shine. Thank you.
About the Author
Stacey Kennedy is an outdoorsy, wine-drinking, nap-loving, animal-cuddling, USA Today bestselling romance author with a chocolate problem. She writes sexy contemporary romance full of heat and heart, including titles in her wildly hot Dangerous Love, Kinky Spurs, and Club Sin series. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her family and does most of her writing surrounded by lazy dogs.
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