No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 69

PENN

When I got backto the city, I walked into my apartment, and suddenly, it no longer felt like home. It was cold, uninviting, and stiff. I had realized after walking through the front door that the entire place was too...gray. Darcy’s house had been vibrant, full of colors, patterns, and textures. It felt warm when you walked inside, like there were pieces of her everywhere. Mine felt impersonal, sterile.

I had taken Finn up on the job offer temporarily, still unsure of what I wanted to do with my life and yet not willing to eat up all the money I had in my savings account figuring it out. I’d started working for Max right out of college, and I had worked my way up to being his right-hand man within a couple of years. I had always been willing to put the company above everything else. Despite having a college degree, I spent my first years at Prescott International not only doing my job but also fetching coffees and taking Max’s dry cleaning anytime his assistants would quit. I slept, ate, and breathed Prescott International, and the first time I swayed from that mentality, I was pushed out the door.

It was a hard lesson for me. I learned that it didn’t matter how much blood, sweat, and tears you put into a company; you are replaceable. You are a body in a building, and at the end of the day, the company would look out for itself first. But for me, I had missed out on birthday parties for my nieces and nephews and Christmases and Thanksgiving dinners. I was out years and years of dedication and time for something that, in the end, didn’t matter.

It was only nine at night, but I was already in bed, wallowing in self-pity when my phone rang, and I reached over on the nightstand to grab it.

“Hey, Finn.” My brother had grown accustomed to checking up on me almost every night since I had been back. I would have been offended—I was a grown man, after all—but really, I was bored and, quite frankly, sad, so it was a nice gesture.

“What are you doing?” my brother asked.

I was quiet for a moment, trying to come up with a lie that didn’t seem nearly as lame as lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. “Taxes.”

Smooth.

“Really? Taxes? That’s what you went with?”

I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “I didn’t have much time to come up with anything else.”

Finn chuckled. “Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to go bowling with us tomorrow?”

My parents used to take us bowling as kids almost every week. We would get cheese fries and slushies and play in the arcade, winning pointless toys until my parents had to practically drag us out of there. My brother had kept the tradition with his family, and recently, he had taken to inviting me with him, his wife Maggie, and their kids, Bruno and Jane. I appreciated the inclusion in their family fun, and it brought out a side of my brother I hadn’t seen in a long time. And to be honest, it brought out a side of me I didn’t even think existed anymore.

“Can the kids and I get our own lane this time?” I asked. “You aren’t very good, and it kills my vibe.”

“Are you serious? I beat you by twenty points last time!” Finn retorted.

I scoffed. “You had bumpers, so it didn’t count.”

“We were in the same lane, you jackass.” I heard Maggie shush Finn. “I better go.”

I laughed. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hey, Maggie says you better wear the shirt Bruno and Jane got you. They have been asking about it since they haven’t seen you in it.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice, and I knew why.

My niece and nephew had gotten me a shirt a few years ago they picked out themselves. The shirt had Scar from The Lion King on it, drinking from a mug that says #1 Uncle. I had to admit, it was not exactly my style.

Or at least, it never had been.

I got out of bed, dug in the bottom of a drawer, and pulled out the wrinkled Scar T-shirt.

“You tell them Uncle Penn will be wearing the shirt.”

I think this shirt was quickly becoming more and more my personality, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

I was going through the motions—I woke up in the morning, worked out, showered, brewed myself some coffee, and sat down at my office desk and worked. Even though I was completing the tasks, I was not fully present. There was a huge part of me that was still back in Aveline.

I missed the smell of the air in that town. The way it always had a scent of blueberry and lemon scones from The Baking Tin, and the fresh coffee brewing in the Aveline Café. I missed walking out of the inn and listening to all the sounds in the square. The rustle of Margot’s broom, beginning her morning sweep of the sidewalk, the chatter of people on their way to work. I missed so many things about that small and trusting town...but most of all, I missed Darcy.

I had grown accustomed to spending every day with her, and even though the time we had together was short, it was enough to start to grow fond of her. Countless hours spent playing cards and learning little details about each other, watching the way she rolled her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear involuntarily whenever she was annoyed. I had learned more about her in that time than I had ever learned about anyone else. I wasn’t even mad about her plan to try and run me out of town. I could understand her reasons for doing it, but what hurt me the most were those last words she said to me.

They echoed in my ears, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter how much I had hoped it wasn’t, maybe her words rang true.

You don’t belong here.

If I didn’t belong in Aveline and I no longer belonged in the city—where did that leave me?