Page 29 of Unbreakable Love

Penny opened the passenger door and tossed in a large black bag, a smaller lunch bag, and a sweater she’d draped over her arm. She looked packed for a weekend getaway not a day at the office and my lips twitched with the urge to tease her.

“Don’t start,” she said, like she could read every playful thought on my face. “I’m new and I still never know what I need.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your face said plenty.”

The door closed behind her and she turned to grin at Josie in the back seat. There was a playful twinkle in her own eyes. “Are you so happy it snowed?”

“Yes! This is the best kind because it’s wet and sticky, so I’ll be able to make a snowman after school!”

“That’ll be fun,” Penny replied. “I’ve never made a snowman before.”

“You haven’t?” Josie and I both asked at the same time.

Except where Josie was more surprised, my question came out with an angry tone.

She frowned at me, brows tugging down. “No. I never really had the chance.”

Who in the hell didn’t have a chance to build a snowman? It wasn’t like she grew up in Florida.

I pulled out into the street and headed toward the school. Penny’s car wasn’t the only one that would end up at Ryken’s Motor Garage. There were two others that had slipped off the road and there was probably more. It always amazed me how someone could spend most of their life driving in snow and yet every year, it took at least three storms before everyone remembered how to drive in it.

“You can make one with me,” Josie said. “I bet we can do it at recess! My friends and I always make one… and make snow angels if we all remember to wear our snow pants and stuff. Sometimes Avery forgets, though, and we don’t like to leave her out, so then we just play on the cement like we’re supposed to.”

“That’s really nice of you, Josie.”

“That’s because my dad always told me if I want to have good friends, I have to be a good friend.”

“Your dad is very wise.” The heat of Penny’s gaze seared my cheeks, making them burn.

“I know. He’s the best dad ever!”

Penny chuckled, turning back into her seat as we pulled into the school parking lot. And if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a dark pink color staining her cheeks as well.

I should have known not to put her in my truck. I’d most likely never get that image out of my brain.

With his navy-blue overalls buttoned up to his throat, Ryken shoved his grease-stained fingers to his hips and blew out a breath. His dark hair curled at his ears and went every which way as a gust of wind hit.

“This is worse than you described.”

“It is.”

Her car needed work. A lot of it. I hadn’t noticed how bad it was when I met Burt, one of Ryken’s garage employees, at the car for him to tow it in. Penny shouldn’t have even been driving on tires that bald, and the bumper and front paneling had taken a beating in the accident as well.

“How long will this take for you to fix up?” I asked.

He gave me a curious look. “She’s the new teacher, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wanna clue me in on why you’re invested?”

I absolutely did not, but I’d known Ryken for a long time. He was closer to Dalton’s age than mine, but in a town this small, the saying everyone knows everyone was fact. “She’s Josie’s teacher and a neighbor. That’s all.”

“Hmm.” He refocused on her car. “Word in town is that she’s really pretty.”

A burst of heat punched me straight in the chest and I found myself biting back a growl. Was he thinking about her? The fact it was none of my business and still I was getting pissed at the thought was something I refused to consider.

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