Penny shrugged and put a new tray of “bear’s breath” in the oven for tonight’s appetizer. The appetizer was just black bean dip with mozzarella cheese sprinkled over the top, but naming it something gross really brought in the locals and tourists. “I think that Louis is a great guy.”
Eve moved closer. “Mack says that Louis has been irritatingly happy over the past few weeks.”
Penny laughed, shaking her head. “Why is a co-worker being happy a bad thing?”
“Because Mack is a grouch,” she declared, speaking from experience. The women laughed because they knew that she would rush over to Mack and kiss him as soon as he stepped through the doors at night, grouch or no-grouch.
“He’s taken you out to dinner at least once a week, from what I’ve heard,” Annie called from the kitchen. “He and Ryan,” Cynthia’s husband, “took James and Tyler out to teach them how to rappel off of the mountain, right?”
“Yeah, the boys loved it!” she called back, not mentioning that she loved it as well. In fact, she and Louis had gone out rappelling every Monday, her day off, just the two of them. As soon as her boys stepped onto the bus, Penny was ready to go and Louis came around the corner in his big truck to pick her up.
She’d had him over for dinner one time, but the meal had been such a disaster that she hadn’t done it again. Instead, Louis invited her and her boys over to his place and she’d discovered that he really was an amazing cook! He’d learned about James and Tyler’s favorite meals and cooked them for her boys at least once a week.
Penny wondered if she should stop seeing Louis so often. But as soon as she thought that, she shook off the worry. Louis was a good man. He wouldn’t hurt her boys. He wasn’t like the men she’d dated in the past. He was good and honest. If he was going to leave town, Louis wouldn’t have befriended her boys.
Penny stopped after that thought, looking out the window. “Wow,” she whispered, realizing what she’d just done. “He wouldn’t have kissed me,” she corrected. “I’m worthy too!”
Annie set a freshly filled napkin dispenser on the table. “Of course you’re worthy, honey. What’s that about?”
Penny jerked around, staring at both Eve and Annie who were waiting, curious about her statement. The revelation was astounding. “I was thinking about Louis and comparing him to the jerks I’d dated years ago.”
“Not even in the same stratosphere,” Annie snapped. “Those guys were as-…jerks,” she corrected.
Penny smiled, but the expression faded quickly. “I was thinking that Louis wouldn’t have befriended my boys if he wasn’t serious.”
“You’re right,” Eve agreed, pouring a bottle of vodka into the cocktail dispenser. “He’s an honest guy.”
“Yeah, but my revelation was more about me than Louis.” She leaned against the bar, stunned by her thoughts. “I was thinking that Louis wouldn’t just disappear on my boys. But then I realized, he wouldn’t have led me on either. I’m worthy. I’m a special person and worthy of the respect of a man too.”
Annie laughed. “Honey, you’re absolutely right. You are worthy. That outdated way of thinking is what too many women think. We’ve been disappointed by men so many times that we no longer expect respect from them. We no longer anticipate common courtesies.”
“Yeah. But we should! And until we…until I,” she corrected, “expect men to treat me with respect, then they won’t. Because I didn’t respect myself.”
Eve gave Penny a hug. “I respect you, Penny. You’re a fabulous colleague!”
Penny smiled, thrilled that Eve had said “colleague” instead of “waitress”. That sounded so much more…equal!
“Thank you!” she told her friend and boss. Eve had given Penny a job on one of the darkest days of her life. She’d been laid off as a maid for the hotel and wasn’t sure how she was going to feed her boys. Eve had given Penny a job that very day, allowing her to earn tip money. The instant cash in her wallet had allowed her to get groceries. And saved Penny in so many ways. Not just her health, but her self-esteem and dignity.
“You’re worth it,” Eve told her firmly. “You’ve gone back to school to earn your degree and that’s tough. I’m so proud of you!”
Annie joined in the hug and Penny was overwhelmed with love and gratitude for these two ladies, plus Cynthia, who wasn’t here because her baby was due any day now.
An explosion took them all by surprise. They stared at each other for a long, horrified moment, looking to see if the sound had actually happened or if it had somehow been their imaginations.
A split second later, they rushed over to the window. Sure enough, there was a plume of smoke coming up on the other side of town.
“No!” Eve cried, pulling away and rushing out of the bar. But she didn’t go far. All three of them stood shoulder to shoulder in the parking lot as they stared at the smoke.
Penny watched as Louis’ official vehicle raced down the street, sirens blaring.
“Let’s go!” Eve ordered, pulling the bar door closed and locking it. Moments later, the three of them hurried down the street.
As soon as Penny saw what was happening, her heart stuttered, then ramped up, going triple time. Louis slowly approached the gunman holding Megan Avery, a real estate agent that sold properties in town as well as managed several of the local rental cabins.
The woman was breathing frantically and her face was now white as a sheet as the gunman, a big guy with a heavy beard, dragged her backwards, his heavy arm hooked around her throat.
“Don’t come any closer!” the stranger warned, pointing his gun at Louis.
Louis stopped and Penny held her breath, watching the scene unfold as if she were trapped in a nightmare.
“I’m not moving forward,” Louis answered. “Can you tell me your name?”
The guy was sweating and agitated, his arm tightening around Megan’s neck for a moment. His gaze darted left and right, looking at the growing crowd, then focused back on Louis. “Jeff! You can call me Jeff.”
Louis looked calm and unfazed, unlike Penny who felt as if she might throw up at any moment.
“Okay, Jeff. I’m Louis. It seems like you’re having a bad day today,” he said. Penny realized that Louis wasn’t looking at Megan.
“Don’t!” Jeff snapped, tightening his arm around Megan’s neck.
Louis noticed Megan’s increased struggle and lifted his hands higher. “Not doing anything, Jeff. I’m backing up, okay?”
Jeff shook his head, obviously not sure how he’d gotten into this situation, and not sure how to extricate himself from the fiasco either. “Get out of here!”
“I can’t do that, Jeff. You know I can’t. Not while you’re holding Megan like that.”
Jeff looked confused for a moment, not sure where to go. “I just need to find my wife!” he yelled. “And this bitch knows where she is! She won’t tell me!”
Louis nodded. “Got it. So, you had an argument with your wife?”
Jeff hesitated for a moment, his expression indicating the issue had been much more than a mere argument. But Jeff latched onto Louis’ explanation. “Yeah! It was just a disagreement!”
Louis moved a bit closer, but to Penny, it was almost as if he’d barely moved his feet. “You had an argument and then she walked out. Is that it?”
Jeff nodded as his arm relaxed slightly, obviously relieved now that someone understood the issue. More of the townspeople were starting to show up, which wasn’t a lot since the town was small. The tourists would still be fishing or hiking at this point of the day. It was mostly the locals who worked in town that were crowding around, watching the scene unfold.
Jeff’s gun wobbled slightly. “Yeah! It was just a disagreement, but she walked out and now she won’t return my calls!”
Louis inched a bit closer. “That doesn’t sound very fair. I’d be pretty upset about that too. What’s the point in arguing if the other person isn’t around to argue, right?”
“Exactly!” Jeff roared.
“She just…walked out! That’s not fair!” He looked around, up in the air and then down to the ground before realizing that he’d relaxed too much. At that point, he stiffened up, his body tense and angry again. “I didn’t hit her!”
Uh oh, Penny thought with increasing dread. A wife beater!
Louis still had his hands up, showing Jeff that he didn’t have a weapon. Mack was pushing people back further, but several had their phones out, recording the scene. Penny couldn’t even think, watching Louis put himself in danger as if he wasn’t terrified of the man holding a gun and a hostage. At this moment, she was so proud! So impressed! And so scared, she wasn’t sure what to do!
Louis was moving closer and closer. “You didn’t hit her, Jeff. I get that. But maybe she’s hurt emotionally,” Louis suggested. “Maybe if you give her some time, some breathing room, she’ll give you a call and work things out.”
Jeff groaned. “She’s been gone for three days! I want her back!”
Louis nodded understandingly. “Three days is a long time to be gone. What was the argument about?”
Penny watched, amazed at Louis’ skill as tears fell down Jeff’s cheeks. “I can’t even remember.”
Louis shrugged. “So, maybe she doesn’t remember either. Maybe she’s already home, waiting for you to get back. Do you think that’s possible?”
Jeff hesitated. Megan took a deep breath, her feet a bit more secure underneath her. Jeff was relaxing, hope in his beady eyes. “You think?”
“Anything is possible. Why don’t you put down the gun and then we can give her a call together? We’ll find her together.”
Jeff thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. “No. She’s going to say that I hit her but I didn’t.”
Another inch closer. “Well, then maybe a conversation would be a great idea. Both of you could talk and figure out what really happened.”
Jeff sobbed, the gun waving precariously. “I might have accidentally hit her.” He straightened up and looked at Louis. “But she should have stuck around and yelled back at me! She shouldn’t have just disappeared! How are we supposed to work things out if she just disappears?”
“You have a good point, Jeff,” Louis agreed, moving a few inches closer. He also moved to the left, bringing Jeff’s focus, and the wildly waving gun, towards the woods and not the gathering crowds. “When two people disagree, it’s pretty rude when one person just walks away. Nothing gets resolved that way. How can you figure out what happened when the other person isn’t even there to talk?”
“Right! You understand! So, tell this…bitch,” he glared down at Megan, “to let me talk to my wife!”
Louis inched a bit closer. He was about five feet from Jeff and Penny didn’t want to watch, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away either.
“Jeff, Megan can’t do anything with your arm around her neck like that. Why don’t you let her go? I know Megan’s computer system. Let Megan go, and I’ll look up where your wife is hiding. Then we can go talk to her, see if we can resolve all of this.”
Jeff wavered. Obviously, the need to talk to his wife was stronger than his desire to hold Megan hostage. “You know how to get the information?”
“Yep. I’m pretty good with computers,” Louis replied. “Just…let Megan get out of the way and we’ll go into her office and figure this out, okay?”
Jeff frowned at Megan who was still and silent. Then Jeff looked at Louis. “You promise you know how to work the computer? You know how to look up which place out here she rented?”
“Yep. Megan and I are friends. Just let her go before she passes out, Jeff. She’s not getting enough oxygen. If she passes out, you’ll have a dead weight on your hands and that’s not going to help anyone. I’ll have to tend to Megan instead of logging into the computer and finding your wife, then you won’t get the information you want.”
Jeff looked down at Megan and it seemed as if the whole world held their breath. Finally, Jeff pushed Megan away. Mack was right there, pulling Megan out of harm’s way.
Penny didn’t take her eyes off Jeff though, terror gripping her. And it was a good thing she didn’t. Because a fraction of a second after Jeff released Megan, Louis flipped around, grabbing Jeff’s pistol hand and twisting his arm. The gun dropped to the ground. Almost a split second later, Jeff fell to the ground as well, with Louis’ knee in the middle of his back. Handcuffs were flipped out and attached while Jeff raged that Louis had lied to him.
Penny stood there, frozen with fear and horror while the rest of the observers applauded. Louis hauled Jeff to his feet, saying something that she couldn’t hear. But as soon as Jeff was walking towards the vehicle, Louis looked over at Penny and…there was a grim look on Louis’s features.
Eve hugged Penny’s shoulders and Annie laughed with delight. “Wow! What a show!”
Ryan, Cynthia’s husband, and Mack took care of crowd control while the paramedics looked after Megan and Louis drove the idiotic Jeff to the station to be booked for numerous crimes, hopefully including battery for smacking his wife around, which he’d confessed to and many people had recorded on their phones.
Chapter 4
Penny trembled as she waited for Louis. James and Tyler had just boarded the bus for school. Louis had sent her a message asking if she wanted to go rock climbing today and she’d eagerly agreed.
But after last week’s drama with Jeff, Penny had other plans. Terrifying plans, but she was going to go through with it anyway.
She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Louis over the weekend since he’d been caught up in the firestorm caused by Jeff’s explosion and hostage situation. Apparently, Mack, Louis, and the third deputy, plus several explosives experts from the FBI, had been investigating the initial explosion. It took a full twenty-four hours to locate Jeff’s wife, who happened to be in California and not in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains. Plus there were a lot of reporters who wanted to interview Louis. The man refused all interview requests and, thankfully, over the weekend, a new big story popped up so the reporters headed out, sniffing out the Next Big Thing for their viewers.
So here she stood, wearing her best sweater and a bit more makeup than normal. She’d even driven into the neighboring town and bought some pretty new underwear, needing it both to impress Louis and also to give herself a confidence boost.
The trembling increased as soon as she saw Louis’ big SUV turn down her gravel driveway and she stepped out into the morning air to greet him.
“Be sophisticated,” she coached herself. But as soon as Louis stepped out of the SUV, a welcoming grin on his handsome features, she lost all decorum and raced down the steps of her small house, throwing herself into his arms. Louis easily caught her, beaming engagingly down at her.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked when she finally released her hold around his neck, pushing a lock of dark hair out of her eyes.
“You…!” she started off, only to stop and punch him lightly in the chest. “You scared me last week! You could have been shot!” She blurted, “I don’t like being scared!”
He chuckled, taking her hand with a friendly squeeze. “I know, honey. And I’m sorry. But…that’s my job.”
She sniffed, leaning against his strong shoulder. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she argued.
“I know. But we’re going climbing today! That will get your mind off of last week.”
Biting her lip, she wished that she had the courage to tell him how she really felt about him. But this was Louis and she was…well, she didn’t like the idea of becoming emotionally involved with him. Unfortunately, her heart hadn’t listened and Penny knew that she was madly in love with Louis.
Not that she was going to tell him that. No way! Men left pretty fast when confronted by feelings and emotions. So instead, Penny lifted her hand to cup his cheek gently. “I have other plans for us today.”
His eyes widened slightly but he stopped, his whole body still and waiting. “What did you have in min
d?”
She smiled, giving him that look that every man understood. “Let’s go inside, Louis,” then she took his hand and led him into her house.
“Penny,” he said, his voice wary. “You don’t have to do this.”
She turned and looked up at him. “I know I don’t,” she replied. Then something occurred to her. “Do you not…want this?” she asked, trying to hide the immediate hurt at the thought of him rejecting her.
“Yes, I do!” he groaned, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. It was a deep, sexy kiss and his hand tangled in her hair, pulling her head back to deepen the kiss. He grabbed her hips and pulled them against his, showing her how ready he was.
Then he pulled back, his hand moving from her hair to her cheek. “I want you, Penny. But I want it to be right. And I want our first time together to be about us.”
Relaxing, she smiled up at him. “Louis, I want you because you’re a strong, handsome, caring man. And I want to be with you.”
Still, he hesitated. “Are you sure? I know that this is a big step for you.”
Penny’s heart expanded. Normally, men pressured her into having sex with them and she’d push back, rejecting them. But Louis was waiting, wanting her to feel comfortable about this decision.
“You’re a wonderful man. Yes, I’m sure.”
“Damn, Penny!” he groaned, pulling her into his arms again and kissing her, his hands roaming across her back and down her hips, his mouth ravaging hers. She lost all sense of time while he kissed her like this. “Let’s go,” he ordered, taking her hand and leading her through her small kitchen and living room area. There were only two bedrooms in the house and it was easy to see which was Penny’s since the other one had twin beds. Hers held a full sized bed.
He kissed her as his fingers worked the buttons of her shirt, pushing the material away and then…freezing as he admired her pretty, pink bra with the small bow in the center. “You’re beautiful, Penny,” he whispered in awe.
She smiled, thinking he was the hottest man she’d ever known. Her fingers moved to the snap of her jeans, but he pushed her hands away. “Please, can I do this? I’ve fantasized about undressing you for so long.”
Carried Away (Sinful Nights Book 5) Page 3
