by Judy Nickles
“But I…”
“God knows what went on tonight. Do you think He’s going to send you to Hell for surviving?”
She lifted her face. “Do you believe in God, Sam?”
“I used to. Maybe I still do a little. Someone was giving us a hand out there tonight.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her, lightly at first, then hard.
For a moment she forgot everything but the warmth of his presence and the throb of desire pulsing inside her.
“Admit it,” he whispered. “You like me just a little bit.”
“I don’t want to,” she whispered back. “Who are you, Sam? If I just knew that much…”
“You’re just going to have to trust me for now.”
“Can I?”
“Yes. Yes, you can.” He kissed her again. “We’re survivors, Penelope Pembroke. And we’re alive. I learned a long time ago to live with what I had to live with. When I consider the alternative, it’s an easy choice. You’ll figure it out.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“Nothing. You weren’t out there tonight.”
“You want me to lie about it if Bradley…”
“When the sun comes up, nobody except the already buried dead will be there.”
“You mean…”
“You have to trust me. Your son will never know what went on out there tonight.”
She shook her head. “I’ll know. I’ll always live with what I did tonight.”
“You could’ve died if you hadn’t done it.”
“You’re sure of that.”
He stroked her hair and face. “What I won’t live with easily is that I put you in harm’s way. Even if I didn’t do it on purpose, I put your life at risk.”
“You really care about that, don’t you?”
He nodded. “I really care.” He let her go and started the car.
He parked as close to the back veranda as possible and left the car running. “Go inside and clean up. It’s over.”
She put her hand on the door handle, then remembered the forty-five. “Travis’s gun is out there somewhere.”
“No, it’s not. Don’t worry about it.”
She took a last long look at the face she’d probably never see again. The lines ran deeper, the eyes looked more haunted, and she knew she loved that face and the man who wore it.
“Go on,” he said.
Her father was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when Penelope limped in. The small car sputtered as it chugged away, but Jake gave no sign of having heard it. “It’s been a long time since I waited up for you, Nellie.”
“I know, Daddy.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not now.” She fell into a chair.
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing serious.”
“If you say so.” He went to the cabinet and filled another mug and set it in front of her.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“Need something stronger in it?”
“No.”
“Okay.” He sat down facing her again.
“Who was that masked man?”
She shook her head.
“Uh-huh. Did he happen to leave behind a silver bullet?”
Penelope laid her face against the table. “Only in my heart, Daddy.” She felt Jake’s hand rest on her head, almost in a blessing. “Only in my heart.”
Look for more Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mysteries coming soon to Amazon.
Book 2: The Stubborn Schoolhouse Spirit
When Penelope agrees to help the mayor’s wife turn the old school into a community center, she isn’t counting on what she’ll find at the bottom of the 13 steps leading to the basement.
Book 3: The Feed Store Floozy
A former Amaryllis resident returns to open an antique store in a building which has had many lives, including a saloon/parlor house. But Peneope and the other residents of the town aren’t counting on the murder and mayhem he brings with him.
Book 4: The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo
Penelope keeps the B&B slick as a whistle, but when the secrets of a forgotten community deep in the woods outside Amaryllis begin to leak out, she finds herself in the middle of a mess she can’t clean up.
Book 5: The Larcenous Legacy
The new priest of St. Hyacinth’s brings a breath of fresh air to the parish, but something about an ordination gift from his immigrant grandfather is rattling the bones of evil past and present.
Book 6: Sam’s Last Stand
Tiny the biker, aka Sam, is back again, and Penelope is head over heels in love—but if Sam can’t let go of his dark past, they have no future.
Visit Penelope online
http://www.thepenelopepembrokecozymysteryseries.yolasite.com
