No Vacancy (The Aveline Series Book 2)

Chapter 73

PENN

I was lyingon my couch, finishing the last few pages of Pride and Prejudice, slightly embarrassed at how long it had taken me to get through it, and I couldn’t help but feel a kinship to Mr. Darcy. We had both been completely blindsided by beautiful and stubborn women who had the propensity to change our lives.

Who had succeeded in changing our lives.

Darcy had inadvertently shown me there was more to life than my career and money. She made me realize there were some people who were worth tearing down the walls you had built for yourself. There were some people who were worth doing the things you said you’d never do.

Like spending the night and having breakfast together.

How could I have let things get so bad? Why didn’t I stay and fight for her? I could have made her listen to me if I’d told her the truth, begged for her forgiveness, and yet I’d just left. I had royally screwed up, and the only person I could think of to help me was my brother. After all, he had been successful in love.

I was about to call him when there was a knock at the door. I walked slowly, wondering if my brother and I had some sort of unspoken connection, but when I opened it, I saw my sister, Freya, on the other end.

“Got any food?” She headed straight for my pantry and grabbed a bag of Doritos. She took out a chip and popped it into her mouth.

Or I could ask my sister. She had a slew of hopeless romantic tendencies and would give me sound advice for what to do next just as much as my brother would.

We sat on the couch, and Freya propped her feet up on the coffee table, eyeing me. “What’s with the face?”

I immediately spilled every detail from the last several months, bombarding her with every single thing that had happened and that I had not had the emotional capacity to relive until now. When I finished, I barely took a breath before continuing.

“Basically, Darcy has bewitched me, Freya, in the same manner Elizabeth Bennett bewitched Mr. Darcy.”

Freya was quiet for a moment before she responded, undoubtedly collecting her thoughts and deciding how to proceed. She chewed slowly, scrunching her face. “Why did you just say that, you weirdo? And who the hell is Elizabeth Bennett?”

I chuckled. “Never mind that. Just tell me, what do I do now?”

My sister sighed and licked her fingers. “You know exactly what to do, Penn.”

“I actually don’t. That’s kind of why I asked you.”

Freya groaned. “Sometimes you are such an idiot. You are obviously crazy about her. I have never seen you act or care this much about any woman... ever.” She emphasized the word. “I mean, you spent the night with her, and you woke up in the morning and didn’t panic and call me for a ride after grabbing your shoes and sneaking out?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh my God, Freya. In my defense, I never just snuck out...I left a note. You make me seem like such a douche.”

My sister squinted her eyes. “Well, you kind of were a douche.”

I rubbed my fingers on my forehead. “Okay, fine. Maybe I was, but I don’t want to be like that anymore.”

“Obviously,” Freya said. “I figured that out when you told me you saw Alexandra and you didn’t jump at the chance to...well, jump on her.”

I rolled my eyes again; Darcy was rubbing off on me even when she wasn’t around. “Okay, can we focus? I need a grand gesture or something romantic.” I looked over, and Freya had a smile that spread all the way across her face. To be honest, she looked a little creepy, but I didn’t want to tell her that. “Now why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just...I feel like you are growing up!” She scooted closer to me and tried to pinch my cheeks. “My whittle Penn is a big boy now!”

I backed away, batting my hands at her. “Okay...Stop it! Help me. What do I do now? She won’t answer her phone.”

“Well that’s easy. You don’t call her,” Freya replied.

“Okay . . .”

She clapped her hands in my face as though she needed to wake me up. “What are you waiting for? Go get the girl!”

Freya was right. I knew that despite all the mistakes and the wrong choices I had made in my life, falling for Darcy Miller was not one of them.

I had called Darcy immediately after I’d left Aveline to apologize, and when she hadn’t answered, I’d given her some time to cool off before I tried again. When she ignored my call a second time, I knew I needed to see her in person. I needed her to know I was sorry and what she had heard from Prescott was not all the truth. But since she was not answering me, there was only one thing left to do to try and salvage what we had.

I got into the car and drove back to Aveline, despite my sneaking suspicion the whole town had already built a barricade to keep me out.