Page 10 of PenPal Hero

She was silent for a moment before exclaiming, “Whoa! You don’t sound like you’re kidding!”

“I’m not.”

“Details, details,” she begged.

“That’s all I can tell you, babe.” He winced as the endearment slipped out. He hadn’t meant to call her that out loud yet.

“Holt,” she wailed, skipping right over his slip of the lip and making him wonder if she’d even heard it. “You can’t keep me hanging like this.”

He winced at the genuine frustration in her voice. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.” He didn’t like the idea of keeping secrets from her.

“No, really. You have to give me more than that.” Her voice grew pleading.

“Can’t. I signed a contract not to talk about my job.” He truly wished he could tell her more, but a promise was a promise.

She chuckled bleakly. “So, uh…when do you start? Can you at least tell me that?”

“Yep. I’m already on the clock.” His first case involved the current string of car thefts plaguing their town, something he didn’t mind looking into, not one bit.

“What about your detailing business?”

Fortunately, that was a topic he could freely discuss with her. “I’ll still be able to do that.”

“Really? Will you have to go down to doing it part time?” she pressed.

“No.” Man! It was hard not giving her direct answers. “I’ll be doing both jobs.”

“Wow!” She made a huffing sound. “Two full-time jobs! Will I ever see you again?”

“Yes,” he assured huskily. “That’s a promise.”

“Okay.” She blew out a resigned breath. “I guess on your busiest days, we can fall back to being pen pals.”

“Or,” he countered. “We can have it all. Hang out every chance we get. Text and call when we’re apart. Email is cool, too.”

He could hear the smile in her voice as she answered. “That sounds like more than pen pals, Holt.”

“Yep.” He hadn’t exactly been subtle about wanting to date her. “I’m gunning to be your pen pal with boyfriend benefits, remember?”

She chuckled breathlessly. “You’re very good at this arm twisting stuff.”

He was grinning when they said their goodbyes. Yeah, they still had a few obstacles to overcome before they became a couple, but he was more confident than ever that they would succeed.

Eventually.

Not soon enough for him, though.

CHAPTER 3: BIG DECISION

Two days later

Bonnie’s alarm jangled, waking her up. She groaned and reached blindly for her cell phone to turn it off. She’d never been a morning person. At the retreat, however, she’d been setting her alarm a half hour earlier than normal. It gave her time to read the latest messages from her hunky pen pal and write him back before breakfast.

Her heartbeat sped at the sight of the text message waiting for her.

Good news. I made an offer on Hank McGee’s auto body shop, and he accepted it. Bank approved my loan. We close July 30.

He’d attached a photo of the shop — a white adobe building edged in brown brick. It had an eye-catching red front door and two red garage bay doors.

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