I sighed and tried to tug him back down, but he wouldn’t budge.
“This isn’t Eastcliff, Pen,” I argued. “This isn’t your farm. The stakes are higher here, and so are the consequences. If he rallies the Sentinels, Merrick could force Levitt’s hand and find some way to have us killed. I need you to realize how dangerous he is.” I tipped my head against the arm of the couch and let out a long breath. “You don’t lash out at a bear that’s attacking you when you want to survive. You stay calm, you talk low, you retreat and, if it keeps coming, you make yourself small to protect where you’re vulnerable.”
Penny snorted. “Merrick isn’t a bear. And I spent too many years cowering to him to do that anymore.”
I knew that. Still, I’d insisted on attending the get-together that Penny actively tried to avoid. Asking him not to get antagonized by Merrick’s disparaging comments was pointless whenIwas the one who forced him into that situation to begin with. He tried to refuse, and I should have let him.
“I’m not asking you to cower. I’m asking you to walk away instead of engaging.” When I lifted my head again, Penny was scowling at me. At least this time when I reached out, he didn’t pull away, and he let me rest my palm against his cheek. “In that vein, the dinner was a mistake, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put the two of you in the same room, and I shouldn’t have accepted Violette’s invitation. I should have found another way to placate her without putting you in that position. I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you.”
Penny sighed and tipped his head fully into my hand. “So, no more family dinners?”
“Next time, I’ll tell them you’re sick.”
That earned me a laugh, and it was the best thing I’d heard all day. He grinned as he sank back down against me and tucked his head under my chin.
“More liketheymake me sick,” he said.
The tension in my shoulders eased, and I pressed a kiss into his hair. “So, will you try to avoid Merrick for me? I promise I won’t put you in that situation again.”
He yawned and snuggled in closer. “I think I can manage that.”
“And if he tries to approach you, will you walk away?”
He groaned. “That will be harder. But I’ll try. For you.”
“Thank you.” I slid my arms around him. “I feel like I owe you an apology for how I handled the situation with Levitt, too.”
“Do you?”
I leaned my head against his and closed my eyes. “While I still don’t think you went about it the right way, ultimately it didn’t matter. I would have had to tell him about us eventually. He’d have tried to pursue me, and he would have asked why we couldn’t be together when I turned him down.”
Penny yawned again, and his words slurred as he asked, “But he didn’t pursue you?”
“No, because I told him I’m with you, and he respected that.”
I could hear the grin in his voice this time. “And because I kissed you in front of him.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Yes. That conveyed the message that I’m off-limits to him quite clearly.”
“Good.” Penny’s arms slipped around my waist, and he pressed in a little closer.
The crackle of the fire in the hearth filled the quiet that stretched between us. After several minutes, it tempted meto doze, and Penny was well on his way to giving in. Between the wine and the late hour, he was fading fast. After the day he’d had, it seemed cruel to wake him and send him to bed when he seemed so comfortable here. I was more comfortable with him here, too. I slept better with him tucked against me and, after the last two days, I was desperate for a night of decent sleep. In my exhaustion, all worries about growing too accustomed to not sleeping alone were forgotten.
One more night wouldn’t hurt.
21
Penny
The next day came with much needed good news. Rosie and Tessa had returned with their body, and itwasn’told man Arkwright. In fact, I saw him in the market that morning. I had been keeping note of his comings and goings since Tessa suggested his murder. He had a routine that was easy to track. He made the same walk through the square in the early hours, paid the same visits to the same vendors, and purchased the same boiled egg and pastry for breakfast. Every day.
He seemed happy, always smiling, but I wondered if he was lonely. He had no children, no wife—or husband—and I couldn’t help but think that might have been my future. I had been near certain it would be… until recently.
I wore a smile of my own as I made my way down the lane to Rosie’s cottage. I’d missed her terribly over the past few weeks and had left the forge early to pay her a surprise visit.
When I knocked once, then admitted myself into the cozy little house,Iwas the one surprised to find Tessa standing in the living area, cradling Rosie’s cat like it was anewborn baby. My lip curled reflexively, and I fought the urge to retreat. I might have done exactly that if Rosie hadn’t rushed into sight with a wide grin on her face and her arms thrown open for a hug.
“Penny!” she exclaimed.
