Page 75 of Hot Irish Halloween

And for the first time in years, Penny finally allowed herself to release all that shame and the unbearable weight of tragedy. But only that. She was going to keep all her best, beautiful memories of Brendan. They were hers to cherish, the milestone markers of the first half of her life. The last bit of sorrow over Brendan and his life and death had poured out of her, leaving her clean inside.

She was at peace but wildly unsure what she was supposed to do now with all this unfamiliar freedom from regret. Then she caught movement in the corner of her eye. It was a doe and her spotted little fawn right outside the gate. The mother was appraising her with big, beautiful eyes while the fawn nibbled at some grass poking through the snow at the base of a tree.

Penny stared back at the pair, enchanted and heart-glad to see them. Honored they would grace her with their delicate beauty. There was a deep, snorting sound to her left, and she whipped her head to look, hoping it wasn’t a bear, which wasn’t uncommon around here.

It was a buck, tall and mighty, with antlers rising from his majestic head. He looked at her as if assessing her threat level to his doe and his fawn. Her stillness must have convinced him she was fine, but he waited, his eyes on her until the doe and thefawn walked away. He turned to look at her once more before his gray-brown hide blended in with the trees, and they were gone from sight.

She smiled, filled with a deep contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time, probably since the incident with La Roque. But the idea of Jack and what she’d left behind in Dublin sobered her, chasing away some of that smile. At some point, if he did survive the fight, they would have to talk, if for no other reason than the child they would share. Cross-Atlantic co-parenting hadn’t been what she’d envisioned when she found out she was pregnant, but plans changed. That was life. No matter how heartbreaking, no matter how disappointing.

Penny knew what she had to do next. Be strong. Be brave. Try to figure out how to keep a creature made of flesh and blood instead of yarn and plastic buttons alive and thriving, here in Owenville, where they would be surrounded by love.

But suddenly, Jack’s face appeared in her mind. As if he was reaching out to her across the dark ocean asking her to stop and reconsider. Asking for one more chance to change her mind. And just as suddenly, she needed to hear his voice.

Not knowing what she would even say, she was compelled to pull out her phone. Trembling, bracing herself for whatever reaction she might get, Penny pressed the call button for Jack’s number. It went straight to voicemail and her shoulders relaxed, feeling slightly relieved that she’d get to leave a message rather than face the conversation they needed to have.

“It’s me,” she said. “Yeah, of course, you’d know that. Caller ID, y’all.” She halted, then said, “When you get this…if you want…call me sometime so we can talk. I —” Her lips moved to tell him she missed him, loved him, needed him. But she stopped herself. That was enough for a first move. “If you…I don’t know when your fight is but good luck. I hope you’re okay and…hope to hear from you soon. Bye.”

Turning back toward her parent’s home, she marched onward to whatever destiny awaited her. Penny felt warm under her Aran Island sweater and puffy jacket. Her cheeks were flushed by the time she hit the first porch step. From behind, she heard a car pull up. At the top of the stairs, she turned, expecting to see her mother.

But it wasn’t Erica’s car. It wasn’t Erica, stepping out of the driver’s side looking tall and achingly handsome and infuriatingly delicious. The sight of anyone else didn’t compel her nerves to sizzle, her tummy to flip, or her fingers to tingle, remembering what it felt like to run across that jaw, which was now covered in that salt and pepper she loved.

But that jaw was so tense a diamond would break against it. She wanted to strike it as much as she wanted to feel it scrape against her skin.

Jack turned his head and zeroed in on her. Their eyes connected. His were deep-set and dark. There was no smile on those lips or in that stare. All she saw on him was seething resentment coupled with a fierce, broken hunger as he approached the bottom step, glaring up at her.

All she wanted was to race down those stairs and jump into his arms. Kiss that look off his face, make him hold her, and tell him to never let her go. But she was stock still, the doe in the face of the Hunter. Held captive by him and her own stupid, helpless desire.

“Hello, Penny.”

27

STRONG ENOUGH

JACK

There she was. Penelope Rose Mayfield. Looking down at him from the steps of this big house like the sun shining on the world. She was so brilliant and beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.

He’d never been so furious with anyone in his life.

He’d never needed anyone as much as he needed her.

Every muscle, every fiber, every cell in his body was revived to see her again after this month or more without her. It didn’t stop him from resenting the fuck out of her for leaving the way she had. For leaving him with that yawning emptiness. There were no roses and dinner planned for this meeting. He wasn’t there to woo her or impress her. He was going to tell her the fuck off and demand his rightful place in his baby’s life even if their love affair or whatever it had been was over. That was all.

Who the fuck was he kidding? He’d tracked her down because he finally couldn’t stop himself. This was a compulsion. Whether she knew it or not, she was still calling to him across cities,across mountains, even a goddamned ocean. He had no choice but to come looking for her, whether she wanted him to or not.

And the fact that he couldn’t stay away made him even angrier.

Penny’s eyes ran over him, a soft chocolate brown in the sunlight. A mix of pain and need shone in them. Good. That matched the sensations that were pummeling him from the inside out.

“You didn’t answer your phone,” she said after clearing her throat.

Jack’s own throat unlocked, and his tongue somehow untied itself. “I didn’t know you called.” His insides softened, just for a moment. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. Sure enough, she’d just left a message. Before he could fucking unravel at the tiny hope she still wanted to be with him, and that’s why she’d called, he held himself together, holding onto his towering anger.

“How did you find me?”

“I figured you’d come here. My cousin Matt spent a few years in Owenville. He told me where to find the Mayfield’s part of town.”

Penny smirked with a head nod. As if wary of him, she moved behind the railing while he slowly came up the stairs toward her. She needed to create distance from him even now? After the separation that had nearly destroyed him, she still needed herspace?

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