Chapter 77
DARCY
There wassomething about having that time with Penn that made me feel significantly better. Maybe it was the fact we were both able to apologize, to clear the air, or maybe it was just hearing his voice. Whatever it was, I felt more at ease than I had since he’d left. I was happy to start fresh, to form a relationship with him that was built on truth and not one where both of us were playing a part.
Penn went back to the city, but since the seal had been broken and apologies had been made, our relationship grew over the next several months. While he came back to Aveline occasionally, he never made any indication he was going to move back permanently. He was trying to figure out his next move, and I was understanding of his need to find out what he was going to do with his life since Aveline had thrown a wrench in his previous one. But even when he wasn’t physically in Aveline, he might as well have been. We texted and FaceTimed each other often, on the way to work and on my way home. We texted during breaks and basically whenever we could sneak in a few words throughout our busy days. Talking to him had quickly become one of my favorite parts of the day.
DARCY: Settle this for us. Lettie and I have been trying to decide which dog breeds we would be. Tell me what you think.
PENN: Looks or personality?
DARCY: Looks.
DARCY: I think Lettie is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, no doubt about it. She says I’m a Boston Terrier.
DARCY: There is no freaking way I am a Boston Terrier. Don’t get me wrong, they are cute, but I think I am for sure a Border Collie. Which one do you think?
PENN: Border Collie 100%
DARCY: Knew it, thanks!
PENN: Personality though, I have to go with Tuck...you’re a chihuahua.
DARCY: Pshh. I am not!
DARCY: P.S. You’re a Husky. In both. Although sometimes you remind me of Peanut.
PENN: And who is Peanut?
DARCY: The feisty little Pomeranian who always growls at me.
PENN: Don’t make me bite you.
We had begun talking so often that I was bringing him along, pocket-sized on my phone, to family dinners at my parents and to Aveline festivities. Penn was still nervous to be out in public in Aveline, having not given his formal apology, and I wasn’t teasing him...too much. But tonight, I had decided to bring him along to the town meeting, virtually. I was walking up to the barn, the air crisp and cool, the sun setting on a late October evening, when I pulled my phone to my face as inconspicuously as possible.
“Mute yourself because we aren’t supposed to have phones in town meetings. I’ll be in trouble if they find me.”
“Why can’t you have phones?” Penn asked, curiously.
I looked around before hiding behind one of the bushes near the entrance. “Mr. Fitzgerald is paranoid someone is going to leak his ideas to the press.”
“What ideas?” Penn asked. He was wearing a backward baseball cap, sitting on his couch, and I couldn’t help but think about how good he looked. There was something about a backward baseball cap that women just devoured. It was a known fact by now. Wear a cap backward, and watch the women drool. I was pretty sure the men were on to us by now.
I rolled my eyes. “So many. He had an idea once that we could all form our own language in Aveline.That was a bust. Then, he had an idea that on Tuesdays, we would all have to buy two of everything we purchased that day, until someone pointed out that it would mean we would have to buy two Cokes or two things of fries and two hamburgers and that, just on food alone, it would be enough waste for an entire country to eat on.”
Penn nodded. “I agree. That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“Oh, it was. He also had an idea that every home in Aveline would have to put out the Aveline flag.”
“There is an Aveline flag?”
I shook my head.“Nope. That was another one of his ideas.”
Penn chuckled.
A voice startled me. “Darcy? Is that you? Why are you crouching behind that bush?”
I peeked out and saw Lenora standing on the step, staring at me with her eyebrow arched, obviously trying to figure out why I would be hiding outside of the town meeting.
“Oh, hello! Lenora. I just dropped my . . . tampon.” I cringed.
“Tampon? Really?” Penn whispered.
“Your tampon?” Lenora asked. “How on Earth did you lose a tampon in the bush?”
I could hear Penn cackling as I held my hand over the receiver and ran my tongue over my teeth, trying not to burst out in laughter. “No, sorry, I meant my—”
“Earring,” Penn offered, barely recovered from the “tampon in the bush” comment.
“My earring...yes, my earring. Oh looky here, I found it.” I stepped from behind the bush, whispering to Penn, “See you on the other side. Make sure you mute yourself!”