It was an odd coincidence. It almost made his hair stand on end, and he wasn’t the type to buy into fate or destiny or other crap like that.
But it was odd. The day her marriage blew up, his career– hell, his body– had practically been torn to smithereens.
And both of their circumstances had led them to living next door to each other at the exact same time.
Fuck this.
He’d been taking too many painkillers.
He picked up the prescription bottle, walked into the bathroom, and dumped the contents into the toilet.
Penny was gone. It was over. He needed to get over it.
The only good thing in his life right now was that his shoulder was starting to feel better. If all went well, the doctor would let him remove the bandage after his appointment next week and start doing some physical therapy. He might not be able to fly again, but he sure wasn’t gonna let himself go to hell.
The job offerwas exciting. It was something she’d always wanted to do, but she’d never dreamed she’d get the chance.
One of the top literary agents in the country lived in Denver and she wanted Penny to work for her as an agency editor. The only catch was that she’d require Penny to work on site. She said she liked the firm’s authors to meet her staff, to know who they were working with, to know how much they cared. There would be travel involved. She’d be working with some big publishers in New York on various occasions.
She couldn’t turn it down.
She’d taken the call the day after Kent left and then dropped everything to go up for the interview. In dire need, Jane Sparks, the agent, had rented a room downtown for her and put her to work right away. It was to be a trial period, she said.
Not only did Penny love the work, but it was a huge relief to not have to hang around Pine Springs watching Francine and Chaz take up where they’d left off.
He was sweet. He was sexy. Of course, he wouldn’t want to pursue anything long term with an older woman. That just didn’t happen in real life. Men weren’t wired that way.
They’d had sex, really great sex. She needed to be happy with that.
She wasn’t going to try to hang onto something he wouldn’t want.
She would leave. She’d put the house up for sale, cut her losses, and rent a loft downtown. She could afford it with this job. The pay was phenomenal.
But she was going to have to go back to Pine Springs one last time. She needed to pack up her things.
After accepting the job, and then working in Denver for two weeks, Penny made the drive back down one last time. At the thought that Chaz might already be gone, her heart sunk.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Now What?
Sweat dripped intoPenny’s eye as she taped shut the last box in her bedroom.
The Wright house had been closed up tight. Not a soul in sight.
Which was probably a good thing.
Yeah, probably.
Most likely.
Just a few more loads and she’d be done. The movers would take care of the heavy stuff. She’d insisted upon packing personal belongings herself. The idea of strangers going through all that she owned in the world seemed distasteful.
Walking to the other side of the bed, a piece of fabric caught her eye and her heart leaped into her throat.
She should just throw it away, give it to Goodwill.
The first T-Shirt Chaz gave her had somehow become wedged between the headboard and the wall. She’d wondered what happened to it.
