Chapter 17
PENNY
“Royce! What are you doing here?”
She could sense his unease, and it served him right.
“I told you not to come. I told you it wasn’t a good idea.”
He lifted the visor to his helmet, and he flashed her that smile that made it entirely too hard to stay irritated with him. She nearly forgot why she was upset when he looked at her like that. His smile was her kryptonite.
“You look gorgeous, Penny.”
She scoffed, folding her arms. “Nice try. You have some explaining to do. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Says the woman who chased me down so we could talk.” His voice softened a little. “Tell me, my wife, why did you do that? You could have let me go.”
Her mouth twitched of its own accord. He had a way of making all her frustration melt, and all it took was a few simple words, a couple soft touches, and that dang smile of his that she was far too addicted to.
Penny flattened her mouth into a tight line. “No.”
“No?” he asked, raising a single brow before he reached for her hand with one of his own. Even through the leather gloves that protected him, she could feel the way his warmth affected her. “That’s not an answer to my question.”
“No, you’re not just going to break the rules—your promise—then pretend everything is okay.”
His expression sobered.
Good.
“It’s not okay,” she said. “And you know it.”
“I know.” He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. “I didn’t want you to be alone. No one knows about us, and…”
Bringing her focus back to him, she studied his eyes a bit closer.
That was when she saw it.
The vulnerability.
He was concerned. Not just jealous or reckless or determined to do things his own way. There was something underneath all that. Something almost afraid.
Penny reached for his other hand and held both of them tightly in her grasp. “Hey.”
He tensed. “I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
His gaze flicked away.
He’d been acting strange when she’d brought up the wedding and told him it would be best for him to stay home. He’d insisted he wouldn’t be seen and only wanted to know what all the fuss was about.
But that wasn’t true.
She could see it now.
“What are you so worried about?” she asked.
Royce glanced behind her. He seemed to consider answering, but then he shook his head. “Later.”
Her irritation returned in full force. “Later?” Penny pulled her hands free. “You came all the way out here to the wedding… for what? To check up on me?”
“What? No.” He said it too quickly, and guilt flickered in his piercing eyes.
“Then why, Royce? Were you finally planning on telling everyone what we mean to each other? Because I should be let in on that kind of plan. You keep telling me to trust you and the timeline you want to use, but—”
“No,” he repeated. “I wasn’t coming here for that.” He tilted his head back in frustration.
A scowl pulled at her features. “Then why? Because I might have been able to understand if you wanted to come clean to everyone. It’s only a matter of time before they find out anyway. I’m tired of hiding. I’m tired of sneaking around and lying to my brothers.”
She blew out a harsh breath.
“I’m just so… tired.”
That seemed to reach him in a way her anger hadn’t.
Royce got off his bike quickly, setting his helmet on the seat before stepping toward her. He didn’t grab her. Didn’t try to kiss away the problem. He simply opened his arms, and for one fragile second, Penny hated how badly she wanted to step into them.
Then she did.
His arms wrapped around her, strong and familiar, and he held her tightly to his chest. One hand moved slowly up and down her back, setting off waves of goosebumps.
No longer could she hear the sound of the music playing for the wedding guests. No longer did the warm summer evening air tug at her senses.
All she could feel was him.
His breath near the hollow of her neck. His heartbeat steady beneath her ear. His familiar scent that grounded her and made everything feel less impossible.
In this moment, it was just the two of them.
And that was part of the problem.
Because the rest of the world still existed. Their families still existed. The truth still waited for them no matter how tightly they held each other.
His breathing was ragged, desperate. So many unspoken things sat between them, and yet it was clear they were both scared to take the next step.
The longer they kept this secret, the more it would hurt everyone around them.
When Royce pulled away, he moved his hands to frame her face. He stared into her eyes steadily. “We’ll figure this out together, okay? I know it’s been hard. You need your family. I’ve been selfish.”
She nodded, but her throat was too tight for her to say anything.
He brushed at her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, and only then did she realize she’d been crying. The concern and pain in his eyes nearly undid her. He needed her strength as much as she needed his.
How could she show him that she trusted him to do right by her? That he’d shown her love and care, even if everything was starting to wear on both of them?
Words didn’t seem like nearly enough.
So she framed his face with her hands and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
What started out as a quiet reassurance soon deepened into a passionate promise. She wasn’t going to let her frustration get the better of her. They had a mountain of issues to climb, but she was willing to scale them with him by her side.
Footsteps crunching across gravel shattered their moment, and Penny gasped. She spun toward the sound, but no one emerged from the side of the house.
When she faced Royce again, he already had his helmet on and had straddled the bike. She couldn’t see him through the tinted visor, but she knew he was looking at her before he gave a tip of his chin and started the engine.
In seconds, he was off the property.
She still stared where at the road where he’d disappeared when the source of the footsteps appeared at her back.
The wedding celebration had taken place on the Palmer property, and Penny doubted that Mateo would claim Royce was trespassing.
He was one of the more level-headed men she’d had the pleasure of meeting.
So she didn’t know why her nerves shot sky-high at the approach of someone from the wedding party.
Her stomach swirled once more, and for a moment, she thought she might actually lose the contents of her stomach.
Why couldn’t she get herself under control?
“Penny?”
The sound of her uncle’s voice made her flinch.
She bit back a groan.
Why did it have to be Uncle George?
Anyone but him would have been welcome. Heck, she would have happily turned to find Mathew even if he’d caught her in the throes of a passionate kiss with the enemy. At least all she’d get from him was an arched eyebrow and maybe a harshly worded lecture.
But her uncle?
If she was lucky, he’d tell her to go home and think about what family means to her. Unfortunately, she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t be as simple as that.
Turning, she forced a smile. “Hey, Uncle George. It’s a wonderful wedding, don’t you think?”
His scowl indicated he knew far more than she wanted him to. Especially when his focus swept over her before landing on the last location Royce had been seen. He looked disgusted with her.
Well, she was starting to feel the same way about him and his ridiculous feud.
The fact that two families couldn’t get along for generations irked her.
She folded her arms, bracing for whatever he wanted to throw at her. Royce wasn’t going to like it if she had to tell her uncle the truth about them, but at this point, she might not have any other options. What could George do if he found out she was married already? He wasn’t her father.
Her heart ached with that mental acknowledgment.
The truth was, she couldn’t be sure what her father would have said about her rash decision making lately. Would he support her? Or would he back his brother-in-law because of some misguided duty?
Uncle George mirrored her stance. Thank goodness he didn’t have any backup. He was intimidating enough as it was. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that there are certain rules for members of our family.”
Penny scoffed, then immediately regretted it.
As much as she disagreed with her uncle, she’d always been respectful to her elders.
His eyes narrowed. Uncle George had always been intimidating. He knew how to judge a person just by looking at them. His skills fell short, however, when it came to any person with the last name Meyers.
Technically, she fell into that category.
Or she would as soon as she went to the courthouse to file a name change.
Uncle George took a step toward her, his body language telling her everything she needed to know. “Do you know the story? Do you know why we refuse to have anything to do with that family?”
She straightened. “It’s some kind of territory squabble, right?”
He huffed out a humorless laugh. His eyes flashed, and he looked out toward the horizon briefly.
“My grandfather loved my grandmother very much. So much that he married her when she had nothing. Not a penny to her name. Her father was abusive, and her older brother wasn’t much better.
For years, he cared for her. Protected her from those who weren’t worth calling family, even though they lived on the neighboring property. He gave her everything.”
George’s eyes found hers, and she shivered involuntarily.
“What happened?” she asked.
George chuckled again, scrubbing his jaw as he did. “Years went by. Their children grew up and moved out. I suppose their love faded—at least on her end. Because one day, she up and left. Demanded a divorce and married someone new.” His lip curled. “His last name was Meyers.”
She held her breath.
That explained the hatred for that bloodline, but how did they manage to own adjacent properties?
Thankfully, she didn’t have to ask.
“One day, there was a freak accident. Her father and brother both died, leaving the property to her. Then, they moved in next door.”
Penny’s eyes widened, but just as quickly, she schooled her features. “So this is all about your grandfather’s jealousy? What? He felt entitled to that property?”
“Haven’t you been listening?” he muttered, his voice low and hard. “She broke my grandfather’s heart. Then year after year, we’ve had to be a witness to their legacy.”
“They had children?”
“No, she had no other children.”
“Then is it really the kids’ fault…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked away. “Sorry. But seriously, people fall in and out of love. I’m sure your grandmother didn’t mean for it to happen. And your grandfather has long since passed. Why keep carrying something that happened so long ago?”
His hands clenched at his sides.
And that was when she made the connection.
This betrayal was years in the making. It had festered from one generation and spilled into the next. Much like other kinds of hatred, it was taught. She was all too aware of how angry Royce’s family was, though for all intents and purposes, her family was responsible for the original broken heart.
It made her wonder what her side of the family had done to cause the hatred the Meyers harbored.
Penny shook her head, grateful at least that Royce didn’t harbor the same anger toward her cousins. Nor did Morgan, for that matter. It seemed that her uncle, Royce’s father, and Lincoln were the main sources of contention.
Pressing her fingers to her temples, she sighed. “You want to know what I think? This whole thing between y’all needs to be forgotten. You’re neighbors, for heaven’s sake. And adults. Who cares what happened decades ago?”
When she lifted her eyes to meet his, she wanted to shy away from him. Clearly, her uncle didn’t like to be told he was being ridiculous, even if she hadn’t used those words.
“I think you should go.” His tone was cold, unyielding, and promised she’d be sorry for her current life choices.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said, her voice tight. “I’ve had enough family history for one night.”
His eyes narrowed, but she turned and walked away before he could utter another word.
She was going to pay for that, and she knew it.