Trouble (Dogwood Lane 3)

I snag the spoon out of the air. “You don’t have enough faith in me.”

“I think I have more faith in you than you do.”

I pull a face that makes her laugh. “I’ll be back once I meet Meredith and see what this thing is all about.” Turning toward the door, I stop. A flutter kicks up in my stomach. I look over my shoulder to see Harper grinning. “Why are you smiling?”

She plays dumb.

“Harper . . . ,” I warn.

“Go. Shoo. Tell Meredith I said hi.”

I furrow my brow and turn to the door again.

“Tell Penn hi, too, if you happen to see him,” she calls out.

I turn around, launch the spoon at her, much to her delight, and then leave.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PENN

I’m pulling up right now.” I steer my truck into the parking lot of the old library. “You owe me for this, you know.”

“I know,” Dane says on the other end of the phone. “I really do. Here, Mia wants to say something to you.”

The phone gets scratchy as he passes it to his daughter. I pop the truck into park and rest back against the seat.

The brick building that once housed the Dogwood Lane Library sits in front of me. There are a couple of cars in the mostly vacant parking lot, and the front door is propped open with an overturned bucket.

“Penn,” Mia singsongs. The static makes me think we’re on speakerphone. “You are my hero.”

I grin. “How are ya, Mia?”

“Good. On our way to Florida. Have you ever been there?”

“Once the year after I graduated high school. It was a good time—”

“That’s enough,” Dane shouts. “Move this conversation along.”

Chuckling, I rest my hand on the top of the steering wheel. “You’re gonna love it, Mia.”

“I’m so excited. Dad said we almost weren’t able to go, but you did a job so we could. So thanks, Penn. You are the best.”

“Of course. I couldn’t let my buddy get her vacation canceled, could I?”

“No,” she says with a giggle. “Neely wants to say hi.”

“Hi, Penn,” Dane’s fiancée calls out.

“What’s up?”

“Can you go make sure we closed the garage door? Dane swears he did, but I think it’s open,” she says.

Dane sighs. “It’s closed.”

As they debate the status of the garage door, I spy Meredith pulling up. She gets out of her cream-colored Range Rover with a white dog tucked under her arm. By the skirt she’s wearing, she’s not planning on doing any manual labor today.

She pauses on the doorstep and looks over at me, then sends a small wave my way. I wave back and contemplate throwing the truck in reverse and getting the hell out of Dodge.

It’s Mia’s voice that stops me.

“We’re stopping to pee. Talk to you later, Penn,” she says. “Thank you again. You are my favoritest person in the world.”

“You’re welcome. See ya, Mia.”

The phone snaps off speakerphone.

“You’ll check the door?” Dane asks. “Humor my girl, will ya?”

“I expect a raise for all this, just so you know,” I joke. “And your brother better be here today, or I’m going after his pansy ass.”

Dane laughs. A dinging sound rings through the phone before a series of car doors slam shut.

“I talked to him a bit ago. Not sure if Matt’s coming or not, but I brought it up. That’s all I can do,” he says.

“I’m just saying—if the roles were reversed and I was quote-unquote ‘injured’ like Matt, you’d have my balls if I didn’t show up.”

“It’s because I can count on you,” Dane says.

I laugh as I flip off my engine and then climb out of my truck. “I don’t know if I’m more insulted that you’re lying or that you’re pandering to me.”

“I am pandering to you a little bit, but you aren’t completely unreliable. You did show up this morning.”

The early-morning air that I thought I’d be spending with a fishing pole winds through the parking lot. The sun is bright but not hot, the air warm but not humid. It’s a perfect day . . . and I’m spending it here. With Meredith.

Fuck my life.

A truck revs up and coasts in beside mine. Matt gives me the biggest, fakest smile ever before he hops out.

“Dane, I gotta go,” I say.

“Is that Matt?” he asks.

“Yup.”

He sighs. “Good. I feel better, then.”

“You just said I was reliable,” I point out. “Make up your mind.”

Dane laughs as Mia shouts something in the background. “Okay, I’m going. Don’t forget to check the garage door, please. And thank you. All jokes aside, I appreciate this, Penn.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goodbye.”

I end the call and shove the phone in my pocket as Matt comes around the front of his truck.

“You feeling better this morning, princess?” I tease.

He scoffs. “That’s a better question for you. Did you wake up and wonder if you were living in some kind of twilight zone when you realized you actually got shut down last night?” He grins happily. “That might be in my top ten best nights of all time.”