No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 20

DARCY

I hadn’t heardor seen anything from Penn for two days and was under the impression I was much scarier than I thought I was. I felt proud that I had single-handedly run him out with my threat of competition. Now, if only I could be that scary when I played Euchre on Saturdays with the Black Widows.

However, my newfound confidence was short-lived. As I was finishing up work on Wednesday, Penn was waiting outside for me. I walked past him, my eyes focused in front as though I didn’t see him, but he caught up with me.

“Have you missed me?” he asked in his smug and pompous way.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, not slowing down. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Aww, come on. It’s only been a few days. You can’t have forgotten me that quickly.” His step fell in line with mine, and I stopped, facing him.

“What do you want, Penn?”

His hands found their way into his pockets, and he shrugged. “So, you do remember me?” He smiled coyly, and I turned back around, walking faster. It would be a lot easier to ignore him if he weren’t so damn good-looking.

He jogged up to me. “No, sorry. It’s just, you’re the only person I know in town, so I thought maybe you would want to hang out again.”

“You do realize that I know other people in town, right? This sounds very much like a you problem.”

“Right, right, but I thought that maybe we could become friends or something.”

“You thought very wrong.” I couldn’t believe he had the audacity to suggest the two of us hang out when I had made it perfectly clear that not only did I want nothing to do with him, but I was at war against his very reason for being in town. “Listen, I’m sure you don’t get turned down very often, what with those eyes and that jaw, but I have no interest in doing anything with you.” I started walking away from him but turned around once more. “And why would you think I had nothing better to do? I happen to have plans tonight.”

I didn’t, but there was no way in hell I was admitting that to him.

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Penn started to walk away, but this time he was the one who turned around. “I was just hoping that maybe you had changed your mind.”

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “About what?”

“About the store. About me.”

I laughed. “Not a chance.”

I stomped away, heading toward my house and knowing there was no way I would let him in if he followed me. But Penn didn’t follow me, and even though it was a relief, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. As I walked away, I could have sworn I heard him mutter something under his breath, and I wondered what he was up to.

After I settled in for the night, I called my friend Peyton. I met Peyton while we were in college. She lived in the town over, about twenty minutes from Aveline, and we became friends after we met one night in Mad Pirate Alehouse. The two of us spent a drunken night in the bathroom laughing and deciding we were soul sisters, and the rest was history.

Peyton answered. “Hey, Darce.”

“Hey, what are you doing? Do you want to drink wine and come up with a revenge plan with me?” I pulled my legs in a crisscross position on the couch.

“Um, do I ever! I’ll bring over some cheese. See you in a minute!”

We hung up, and within thirty minutes, Peyton was walking in the front door, a block of Colby cheese in her hand. I already had a bottle of wine and two glasses out on the coffee table in the living room.

Peyton plopped onto the couch and rested her feet on the table. “Never fear, Peyton and cheese are here!”

I giggled. “You know the way to my heart.” I poured us each a glass of wine, and we both took a sip. “How’s work?”

Peyton was a nurse at Mercy General, the only hospital in her town. She worked in the labor and delivery unit and spent her days helping families bring their new babies into the world, and even though Peyton worked around the miracle of life every shift, she was adamant that she would never have her own children.

“Okay, yeah, we are not doing that. You said revenge, and now I want to know exactly what we are doing. Spill.” Peyton grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and settled in.

“Well, there’s this guy...” I started, and Peyton squealed. “No, he’s awful. I mean he’s hot, I can’t deny that, but he’s horrible.”

“Hot, but horrible.” Peyton nodded. “We can work with that.”

“We can’t.” I cleared my throat. “He wants to buy the hardware store and turn it into a restaurant.”

Peyton narrowed her eyes and scrunched her brows. “I don’t think I’m following. And that makes him horrible?”

I scoffed. “Peyton, it’s a hardware store! It’s not a restaurant!”

“Riiight.” She elongated the word, still confused. “But it’s for sale, right?”

I placed my hands on my forehead and rubbed it down my face. “Yes, it’s for sale, but we want someone who will keep it as a hardware store.”

“Right,” Peyton said, downing her glass of wine and then pouring a little more. “I forgot that you can’t do change.”

My eyebrows pulled together, and my mouth opened. The audacity. “I can, too! I love change!”

I didn’t.

Peyton rolled her eyes. “No, you don’t. Remember that time Lettie said she was going to paint The Baking Tin and you almost lost your mind?”

“Well, that’s different. The Baking Tin has always been...the...same... Yeah, okay, whatever. The point is, how do I get him to go away? How do I get him to leave Aveline alone?” I poured another glass, feeling the fuzzy warmth running through my veins.

Peyton didn’t hesitate. “That’s easy. Seduce him.”

I choked on the wine and held my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God, Peyton. I’m not going to seduce him. I don’t just go around having sex with people to get my way.”

“Right, but like, is he hot enough that you would start having sex with people to get your way?”

I arched an eyebrow, and we both began laughing and settled back. I grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV.

“There has to be another way.” I leaned up and picked off a piece of cheese while watching the movie that was streaming. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. A classic. “Oh, I love this part. The love fern is so funny.”

We sat in silence for a moment until Peyton sat up straight, her eyes wide. “Oh my God. That’s it!”

“What is?” I asked her, taking another drink.

“That!” She pointed to the TV. “You need to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days his ass!”

I tilted my head, trying to understand as Peyton continued flailing her arms toward the screen. “What do you mean?”

“Do what Matthew McConaughey does. Get him to fall for you.” She read the confusion still on my face and broke it down for me. “You get him to fall for you, and then there is no way he will want to buy the store. Not if it is important to you.”

I thought it over for a moment, wondering if it was the wine clouding my judgment or if it was a good idea, but it was beginning to make sense. “I’m not sure I can manage to make someone fall for me. I haven’t exactly been fighting guys off with sticks.”

Peyton pulled her knees up to her chest. “That’s because you’re mean.”

“Peyton! What is this, Roast Darcy Day? I am not mean!”

“You are to guys. Remember that time—”

“Okay, whatever it is, I don’t need a replay.” I nodded, my eyes growing heavy with intoxication and my mind reeling with thoughts. “But what if he likes me too much, and then he wants to stay around even more?”

We sat quietly, eyes squinted, wine glasses to lips, thinking over the details.

“No. I can’t make him like me.” A grin widened on my lips like the Cheshire cat. “I don’t do what Matthew McConaughey did. I have to do what Kate Hudson did. I have to get him to date me, and then I have to scare the bastard away.”

Peyton closed her eyes and held up her glass. “Oh. My. God! Yes! In Kate Hudson we trust!”