Burned by Love

by Erin Wright

  “This is Ivy McClain, the painter from Once Upon a Trinket,” Troy said, once he could get a word in edgewise between her and Iris.

  “You’re Ivy?” Penny gasped, turning to Ivy and shaking her hand. “I should’ve known – I saw your picture at the arts festival. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here. You’ve got such talent! I just loved all of the paintings down at Once.” And then they were off, chattering away like old friends, and Troy simply shook his head as he grinned.

  Just like he’d thought – Penny would love it in Long Valley if she found the right group of friends. She’d been living a pretty lonely existence since moving back to take care of Wanda; of course someone like Penny would struggle with that. She was a social butterfly who’d gotten lost in the proverbial desert.

  The conversation just kept going and going, though, and finally he had to interrupt them. “Our tamales are getting cold,” he reminded Penny, holding the paper bag up.

  “Oh, did you get some tamales from Carmelita?” Iris asked reverently, like they’d been blessed with the Holy Grail of food. “You must go enjoy them. She is one of the best cooks in the valley. Come back later and we can chat some more!”

  “Sounds great!” Penny said enthusiastically. “What about under that shade tree?” she asked Troy, pointing to a large oak tree just behind the row of merchant booths. They made their way back there as Penny chatted up a storm. “Such awesome people here in Sawyer. I think I was born in the wrong Long Valley town!”

  Troy contented himself to simply nod, when he really wanted to take her by the shoulders and yell, “EXACTLY!” at the top of his lungs. His self control was top-notch, if he did say so himself.

  They settled onto the ground in the blessed shade from the heat of the August sun as Troy pulled the tamales out of the bag, handing her one. “Did you catch that Jennifer and Iris are sist-st-sters-in-law?” he asked as he began unwrapping his tamale. “Jennifer is married to St-st-stetson, the youngest Miller boy–don’t do that!” he shouted.

  Penny paused, the fully wrapped tamale partially inside of her open mouth, about ready to bite down…right through the corn husk.

  “You really never have had a tamale before, have you,” he said, and then started laughing. “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. I…” He bust up laughing again.

  She glared at him, looking less and less amused by every passing second of laughter, and the look on her face…it just made him laugh harder. “I’m not laughing at you!” he finally gasped out. “I’m laughing with you!”

  “You’ll notice I’m not laughing, though,” she said sarcastically, and that made him feel terrible enough to straighten up.

  “No, you’re not. I’m sorry,” he said seriously. “Ummm…tamales are cooked in a corn husk. A really tough corn husk. You don’t eat that part. You peel it back.” He took the tamale and showed her. “Now eat that part,” he said, pointing at the inner corn tortilla and filling.

  Doubtfully, she took a small bite, and then her eyes widened with pleasure. “Oh, this is delicious!” she exclaimed. “No wonder everyone is always talking about tamales!” She happily took another bite. “Where have you been all my life?” she asked the Mexican food in her hands.

  “To be fair,” Troy said, “Carmelita is a superb cook, so don’t expect all tamales to be this delicious. I’d hate for you to be disappointed if you have one by somebody else.”

  “What were you saying before saving me from my faux pas and then laughing uproariously at my ignorance?” Penny asked before taking another bite of her tamale.

  “Ummm…” he said, thinking back, gladly wanting to discuss any other topic that didn’t involve tough corn husks. He really shouldn’t have laughed that hard at her. “Oh! Right. Jennifer is married to the youngest Miller brother, St-st-stetson. Iris just got married to the middle Miller brother, Declan, earlier this summer. And then Carmelita is St-st-stetson’s housekeeper. Oh, and Ivy is the younger sister to Iris, and is dating Austin, one of Declan’s closest-st friends.”

  Penny gave him a wide-eyed look. “Is there going to be a test later?” she asked. “I might need a family tree. Or a diagram.”

  Troy pulled out a second tamale and began unwrapping it. “Isn’t it like this in Franklin?” he asked. “Everyone related to everyone else?”

  “Yeah, kinda. I guess.” She thought for a moment as she chewed. “Hmmm…Franklin is larger, first off, so it isn’t quite that same small-town feel, you know? Also, it’s a tourist town, so it’s a perpetual revolving door of strangers staying there for a vacation and then heading back home. Here in Sawyer, it seems like everyone knows everyone else; in Franklin, because of all of the tourists, that just isn’t true.” She shrugged. “I can tell you this, though – I attended Franklin School District schools for twelve years, and no one in my graduating class was anything like Jennifer, Iris, or Ivy.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to say, “You think you could be happy here if you had friends like them to hang out with?” but he couldn’t be that transparent. He couldn’t push Penny that hard. He had to let her learn to love the community, and choose to stay there of her own volition. If he pushed and nagged and finagled her into staying, she might resent him in five years, and then where would they be?

  Divorced, that’s where.

  Once they were done eating, they ditched their trash into a trash barrel and then Penny pulled him towards the merchant area again. “I saw a soap booth that I wanted to check out. C’mon.”

  He wanted to laugh – they were supposed to be there for a rodeo, not for a day of shopping – but he realized that of course Penny would be more interested in the booths than the arena. Despite how gorgeous she looked in her country girl outfit, he knew it was just outer trappings for her. She wasn’t a country girl at heart, and watching a bunch of guys wrestle steers to the ground just wasn’t going to keep her enthralled.

  Honestly, he didn’t care – being with Penny was all that mattered. If she wanted to go window shopping from here until next year, he’d be happy to do it, as long as she was holding his hand through it all.

  “So tell me about your products,” Penny said, pulling Troy’s attention back to the matter at hand. He realized they were standing in front of Kylie VanLueven’s booth, her boyfriend – Adam Whitaker and the local vet – sitting beside her. Adam and Troy shook hands and chatted about the weather that summer, about how dry it had been and how out of control the fires had been, while Penny and Kylie swapped soap and lotion tips. He heard Penny ask Kylie if she would mind being featured in the newspaper, and Kylie gushed happily that it’d be a big boon for her business if she could.

  Troy nodded towards the two girls chatting. “I heard about Kylie’s ex showing up, and what happened down at the clinic,” he said in a low voice to Adam. In a small town where not much happened, the attempted abduction by Kylie’s insane ex-boyfriend the previous week had certainly been the focal point of the local gossip mill. “I’m glad she’s okay.”

  Adam nodded, his mouth twisting with pain at the memory of what could’ve been. “Thanks for not mentioning it in front of Kylie,” he said just as quietly. “I know she doesn’t show it, but that really threw her for a loop. She’s been getting bad nightmares ever since.” He blew out a breath. “It’s been tough.”

  Troy looked between Adam and Kylie for a moment, marveling at what an unusual pair they made. He had to be a good decade and a half older than Kylie—

  “Sixteen years,” Adam said.

  “What?” Troy said, startled.

  “There’s a sixteen-year difference between us. I could see the calculator running in your head, and thought I’d spare you the arithmetic.”

  Troy laughed heartily. “Thanks,” he said, mortified but trying to hide it. He nodded towards Kylie’s swollen belly. “When is she due?”

  “Another three months.” They stood in silence for just a moment, listening to Penny and Kylie discussing the advantages of using goat’s milk over cow’s milk. Pe
nny was probably about eight years older than Kylie, and yet, there didn’t seem to be a chasm between them because of that age difference.

  Just like with Adam and Kylie. She must be something special, to relate to people of all ages so easily.

  He didn’t know Kylie well – she was probably still in diapers when he graduated from high school – but looking at her now…

  He could see the attraction. She wasn’t for him, of course, but for Adam – he was a lucky guy.

  “Where’s Sparky today?” Adam asked.

  “Home. Crowds are too hard for her. She’d spend the whole time trying to keep from getting cornered by someone she doesn’t know, which is practically everyone here…I couldn’t bring her to the fair.” It was tough to acknowledge that despite Troy’s best efforts, Sparky still didn’t trust most of the human race. She probably never would.

  “A real good call,” Adam said approvingly. “She’s been through a whole hell of a lot. You can’t expect her to deal with crowds at this point, or maybe not ever.”

  “Kinda what I figured.” They stood silently for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts about the bastard who hurt Sparky, and at least for Troy, hoping karma was a real thing.

  “Did you ever hear that the owner showed up at the firehouse?” Troy asked. Surprised, Adam shook his head. “A real asshat. Came in demanding Sparky, claiming I’d taken her.” He laughed humorlessly. “He picked the wrong night to come to the firehouse; Abby was training with us that night, and after she told him what kind of money he’d be on the hook for, since he was the one who caused that fire out in the hills, he decided that maybe he didn’t know who Sparky was after all.”

  Adam grinned at that. “Good. Someone like that doesn’t deserve a sweetie like Sparky.”

  “You ready?” Penny asked, turning to him. He nodded and shook Adam’s hand and waved to Kylie, but instead of heading in to check out more merchant stalls or to go watch the rodeo itself, Penny began dragging him past the bathrooms and dumpsters, towards a quiet corner of the fairgrounds where the occasional cowboy walked by with his horse, but was otherwise deserted.

  “Ummm…where are we going?” He was completely confused. Unless she wanted to tour temporary metal corrals and pet some horses, there was nothing out there for them.

  “I. Have. The. Best. Idea. Ever.” Penny’s whole face was alight with excitement as she looked up at him. “I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before!”

  “What?” He couldn’t imagine what would get Penny this excited. She looked like she was about to burst out of her skin from the sheer excitement of it all.

  “A farmer’s market!” she exclaimed, and then waited for his response, as if that was supposed to actually be an answer to…well, anything at all.

  “Farmer’s market?” he finally responded, when it became clear she wasn’t gonna elaborate if he didn’t nudge her in the right direction.

  “In the old mill! Look at everyone here today – Carmelita. Iris. Ivy. Kylie. And then there was that metal art booth that I spotted – we totally need to go check that out. Anyway,” she waved her hand dismissively, “they’re all selling items they’re making, but there isn’t one place to go to find them all, other than the fair this weekend.”

  She began pacing back and forth in front of him, like a lecturing professor in front of a class.

  “Carmelita – she doesn’t want to open up a restaurant, right? Too much work. But what if she only had to make tamales to sell once a week? And Iris. Her canes are gorgeous, but you can’t have a whole store of nothing but canes in Sawyer, Idaho. There’s no way to sustain enough sales to make it worth it. But if she just has to be there every Saturday, or her and Ivy switch off weekends…then it’s not such a big deal. Having the old mill to hold the market in means that no matter the weather, it would happen every time. It could be open year-round. And then you could sell your saddles and bridles and belts and purses…Troy, this is it!”

  She was practically shouting at this point, she was so thrilled. She began ticking it off on her fingers. “It would use all of that space rather than wasting it; there’s plenty of parking because it was originally built to accommodate large trucks; it’s right there on Main Street so the location is perfect…I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before!”

  Troy stood there and just stared at her, mouth gaped open in shock. It was the most blindingly obvious solution on the face of the planet, and he never, ever would’ve thought of it himself. He was the one from the small town. He was the one who knew all of the talented people who comprise Long Valley. And yet, it completely escaped him.

  He pressed a hard kiss to Penny’s lips in celebration. “Perfect, totally perfect. It’s exactly what this town needs to grow…”

  He trailed off.

  “What? What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look like someone just kicked a puppy. You know this is perfect, Troy – I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before.” She was talking faster now, almost as if she were trying to keep him from saying whatever his doubts were, not wanting to admit that there could be faults with the idea. “Adam could come down and do animal vaccinations and—”

  “When, Penny?” Troy broke in. “When would I have the time to remodel the old mill and bring it up to code? You’re the one who pointed out that the wiring is probably crap. It would need heating, new windows…I don’t have time to do all of that, plus run the Horvath Mill.”

  She’d fallen silent by now, her jaw set stubbornly as she stared up at him, defiant, unwilling to admit defeat.

  “I can’t do all of that and take over the mill. I’m—”

  “Can’t or won’t?” Penny asked, interrupting him. “Someday, you’re going to have to start living your own dreams instead of your family’s. Running that mill isn’t what you want to do.”

  “Like you living in Franklin and taking care of your mom?” Troy retorted back, a little pissed at her high-horse attitude. “That wasn’t your dream, and yet you’ve been doing it for years. Why is it okay for you to take care of your family, but it’s not okay for me to take care of mine?”

  “Because my obligation has an expiration date to it!” she shot back. “I’m going to be moving out of this place and living my. dreams.” She stabbed her chest with every word. “You’re going to be at the Horvath Mill for the rest of your life because it’s what you’re supposed to do. I’m willing to sacrifice for a little while, but not forever. I’ll be working towards my goals in life while you’re still grinding up wheat for Old McDonald and wondering where your life went.”

  They were breathing heavily, glaring at each other, neither one willing to give an inch. His anger only grew in size the longer the silence stretched out. It was so easy for Penny to spout all of that off – she didn’t have a four-generation legacy to uphold. City people never understood. He didn’t know why he thought she was any different.

  Penny broke first.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s good that you’re loyal to your family. It’s just hard for me to see…you’re not happy. Not really. Not out at the mill. I just want you to have it all.”

  He nodded abruptly, not trusting himself to say anything. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to move on; to pretend like nothing had happened. Her words were too harsh. Too rough. They stung too much.

  “Let’s go get an elephant’s ear and watch more of the rodeo,” Penny said, looping her arm into his and pulling him back towards the fairgrounds. “We can watch some idiot get up on a bull and almost get killed while gaining ten pounds from sugary carbs. You know, typical fair activities.”

  He grimaced in her direction, trying to pretend like she was being funny; that he was fine; that there was nothing wrong.

  I’ll be working towards my goals in life while you’re still grinding up wheat for Old McDonald and wondering where your life went.

  No, the sting of that wasn’t gonna disappear any time soon.

  Chapter 20

 
Penny

  There was a knock on the front door, and Mom turned to Penny, her face lit up with excitement. “Go, go,” she said, shooing her daughter towards the front door. “Your handsome man awaits!”

  Penny wondered as she went if that were even true. After the rodeo last weekend, there’d been a definite…cooling off between them. She probably shouldn’t have said what she did – it was her greatest failing, for sure. Always opinionated. Always happy to tell other people what to do and how to do it. But here, she wasn’t in charge of Troy’s life, and she sure as hell shouldn’t stick her nose in where it didn’t belong. She knew that. She just…

  Dammit all, it was hard to watch him dedicate his life to something he didn’t love, simply out of family loyalty. All of these months, and any time he mentioned the new Horvath Mill or work in general, he was just…flat.

  There, but not engaged. Not excited.

  But the old mill…his eyes lit up and he almost sparkled with excitement at the challenge of it – if a burly, quiet cowboy could sparkle, that was.

  Watching him choose against his own self-interests to please family members hurt her heart, honestly.

  She opened the front door to find Troy there, bearing not one but two bouquets in his hands, and wearing a Dodgers jersey. Penny’s eyes went wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth to hold back the bark of laughter threatening to bubble out. “Just wait until my mother sees you!” she said, dragging him inside and shutting the door behind him.