No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 8

PENN

After a long debateon where the basket prize would live until the following afternoon, it was determined that it would stay in the safe hands of Mr. Fitzgerald until Darcy and I could meet to split up the contents. I tried several more times to just give her the basket, but she refused, saying there was no way she could do it in good conscience. It was the Aveline way, she said. Whatever that meant.

After it was settled, I went back to the bed and breakfast I was staying at, The Green Gables Inn. It was a beautiful old house, decorated in 19th century style, with a heavy influence from the classic novel Anne of Green Gables. I liked it well enough, but the rooms and space were limited. The lack of space seemed like all the more reason to build the new Prescott hotel to accommodate the number of people who would be flooding to this hidden gem of a town. It was no secret small towns had a charm about them that made people want to visit, and Aveline was no different.

After spending the last couple of days here though, I had come to realize if I was going to make the deal work, I was going to have to figure out the best way to approach the situation without immediately having the entire town chase me out of here with pitchforks. It didn’t seem likely that the residents of this small and quaint town would take interest in their quiet living turning into a hotspot tourist destination. I could only assume they would panic when people from all over the country flooded to Aveline to seek out a whimsical and unique perspective on small town America.

I would have to tread lightly.

I also needed to find the owner of the space Max sent me to look at.

I had planned to ask the first person I saw if they knew who it was or where to find them, but I was side-swept by Darcy and her flair for the dramatics. I had momentarily become distracted by her, which is never a good thing in a place like this. I had been tortured watching chick flick romances all my life, growing up with a sister, and I knew enough about them to know a beautiful girl in a small town always meant trouble for the city slicker ready to get back to his life.

I had a feeling the longer I was in this town, the more distracting she would become, so it was apparent I needed to keep myself focused so I could land the deal and get out of Aveline.

The next morning, Darcy and I met at a white barn in town just as we had discussed. The barn had a big sign on the front that read AVELINE TOWN HALL, and when I stepped inside, there were chairs lined up facing what appeared to be a stage at the front.

“Hello?” I called out. I saw the basket sitting on the same podium that was in the gazebo the night before. I stepped up to it, curious what all was in the elusive prize basket, when I heard a voice behind me.

“I memorized every single thing that is in there, so if you stole something, I’ll know.”

Darcy.

Sure enough, when I turned around, she stood there, hands on her hips and her long, brown hair pulled back in a flower clip.

“I wasn’t trying to steal anything,” I protested. “I was just curious what was in it that made it so special. I mean, there has to be something of value for you to be so...territorial.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “The fact you even have to ask shows just how much you did not deserve to win this.”

“Actually, I told you I don’t need—”

She cut me off, muttering, “How were there duplicates? I just don’t understand.”

I tried to reason with her. “I told you, I could just—”

“You don’t even live here!” she exclaimed as though I had been desperately trying to win the stupid basket. As though I hadn’t told her a handful of times to just take the damn thing.

“Thank God for that,” I blurted, not meaning to.

Her head whipped around, and she stared daggers at me. “Yes, thank God.”

Mr. Fitzgerald came from behind a curtain and greeted us. “Hello, Darcy. New guy.”

“Penn Murphy,” I replied, extending my hand. “Nice to formally meet you.”

“Okay.” Mr. Fitzgerald, to my surprise, did not take my hand, but simply handed the basket to Darcy. “Here’s your prize. The two of you can hash out who gets what.” He headed to the door and turned once more before leaving, “Darcy, be nice, will ya?”

“No promises,” she said quietly.

Darcy looked up at me, holding the giant picnic basket with both hands. I could tell just by looking at the strain in her face that the basket must have weighed a ton. She set it down where she stood and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said as she sat down on the stage before opening the top of the basket to divvy up the contents.