Chapter 3
DARCY
I left The Baking Tin,the little bakery Tuck and Lettie owned, and headed to my home on Willow Avenue. It was a small, ranch house with only two bedrooms, but it was enough for me and Bernie. I didn’t require a lot of space, and Bernie, well, he was my one-year-old hedgehog, so he didn’t need much at all.
I went to my bedroom and changed out of my clothes, putting on a pair of pajamas. I longed for my bed and its comfortable satin sheets and my book to distract me from the events of the day, namely Penn Murphy. He had only stayed at the bakery for an hour yet had somehow managed to wrap Tuck and Lettie around his finger. They’d been laughing and joking and acting like they were best friends.
To be honest, it was pathetic.
I, however, wasn’t going to be deceived by his charm and good looks. I was a stone wall.
Penn had no chance of winning me over, even if he was the most attractive man I had seen in a decade. Good looks could only get you so far, and I didn’t buy for a minute that he was in town to find somewhere quiet to live. Especially not when the watch on his wrist looked like it cost more than my house. He was up to something, I was sure of it, and I could only hope he’d leave as quickly as he had come.
I undid my hair from its braid and brushed through it a few times before finishing up my bedtime routine and gently taking Bernie from his cage to snuggle in bed while I read. He was a surprisingly good cuddle buddy, despite the spikes.
I pulled my book from the nightstand and began reading the first page. I was a sucker for regency romances, and this one was no different. I loved the historical context, the language, and the heavy descriptions. I enjoyed reading the classics, but I often fell for a newly written regency all the same, and this was just the distraction I needed to stop myself from thinking of Penn Murphy and his lack of driving skills. I was going to focus solely on what was going to happen on these pages between Eloise and Graham.
Honestly, there was no reason to stew over Penn anyway. In this small town, someone would soon discover his secrets, and when they did, that would be his problem, not mine. If Penn had any negative intentions, Aveline would eat him alive. And if it was true he just wanted to find a nice place to settle down, then he had nothing to worry about.
I couldn’t buy it, though. His story of wanting a quiet place. Most people used Aveline as a pathway to the next place, and only a select few of them stayed. Lettie was a prime example of that. She had stumbled here as a teenager and proceeded to leave her entire life behind to stay in Aveline. That was different, though. Lettie belonged here.
Maybe it wasn’t so crazy to think Penn Murphy might be doing the same thing?
I shook my head, attempting to refocus on my book. I wasn’t sure when my mind had wandered from Graham to Penn, but I was just getting to a good part when I found myself reading the same line again, unable to focus completely.
What was he doing here?
And why couldn’t I stop the fluttering in my stomach when I thought of him?
I placed Bernie back into his cage, suddenly feeling tired, and decided the only way to get the new guy out of my head was to go to sleep.
The next morning, I stopped for breakfast with Lettie at the Aveline Café. We were regulars here, and ever since I had been on my own, I was pretty sure I would have starved without this café, the bakery, and Bob Evans mashed potatoes from the Market. I couldn’t cook to save my life, which was why my parents still brought me leftovers multiple times a week.
I spotted Lettie at one of the tables as she waved me over.
“You look chipper this morning,” I said as I took off my jacket and sat down. It was spring in Aveline, which might have been my favorite time of the year. Spring meant everything bloomed, and new flowers were put out in the window baskets all over town. There were flower beds in the square that were filled with red and blue and violet colors, making everything seem brighter.
“I am always chipper. That’s what everyone calls me. Chipper.” Lettie was holding back a smile, and I eyed her.
“No, they don’t,” I replied, unsure of why she had such a look on her face. “No one has ever called you that. What is wrong with you? Why are you being weird?”
Lettie plopped her hands on the table and slumped her shoulders. “Fine! It’s just, that guy from last night was really cute. I can’t help but think maybe it was your meet cute, you know? Him practically running you over. It’s the start of a romance novel!”
Lettie was a bookworm, and it was one of the things I loved about her. We had our own mini book club, gave recommendations to each other, and shared a passion for the library and bookstores.
But now, at this moment, I loathed her romance loving heart.
I should have seen it coming, though. Everyone in my life was always trying to set me up, and I could never understand why. I’d never made any indication that I wanted to be in a relationship, or that I was actively looking for love in any way, but I must have inadvertently put off a lonely vibe. Lettie, my friend Peyton, and my mother were like a trio of terrible matchmakers. Not one of them had ever set me up on a worthwhile date, and any time they mentioned a man, it made me want to run away.
Lettie had always been my saving grace until she and Tuck got back together a couple of years ago. After over a decade apart, they were that happy couple who were so grotesquely in love, they wanted everyone else around them to be as well.
I shook my head. “No, Lettie. Just no. Do not do anything stupid, please.” I was begging, giving her a pleading look before Jonie came to take our order and we quieted.
“Mornin’ sunshines. You guys want the special? It’s French toast with a berry compote,” Jonie said.
“Yes, please. Coffee for me too,” I replied and turned over the coffee mug on the table. Jonie poured me a cup and pulled out some creamer from her pocket. “Thank you, Jonie.”
She smiled before walking away from our table, and I looked back at Lettie, my face serious. “As I was saying, let it go, Lettie. Let’s not have a repeat of the Landon Leming situation.”
Lettie giggled, choking on her coffee and putting her hand to her mouth. “That was an accident. I didn’t know he would propose to you on the second date.”
“I told you he was notorious for moving fast! You didn’t believe me!” I blew on my mug, watching the steam rise.
“You said he proposed to you in second grade! I thought it was a kid thing. How was I supposed to know he hadn’t grown out of that?”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “I warned you. He used to poke me all the time on Facebook, and it was so cringy.”
“Darcy, I swear, you write people off for the most ridiculous things!” Lettie took a sip of her coffee. “I mean, that is creepy, but you also have like zero tolerance for men.”
I scoffed. “He used the word pacific instead of specific.”
The door chimed, and all heads in the café turned toward that now-familiar, tousled, dark hair. I groaned. It looked like Penn Murphy was still in Aveline.
Lettie’s eyes darted from me to Penn and then back to me. She mouthed, I’m sorry, and I warned her with a very aggressive whisper. “Lettie, don’t you dare!” I muttered, but she raised her hand in the air.
“Penn! Here, sit with us.” She moved the condiments around, clearing a spot for him.
I scoffed and sat up straighter as Penn made his way over to our table, smiling.
Why was he smiling?
What did he have to be so happy about?
“Hey, Lettie… Darcy.” He looked over to me, his hands in his pockets, and nodded.
I moved my eyes down to avoid eye contact, afraid I would be put under the spell of his blue eyes. “Well, if it isn’t Ricky Bobby.”