Page 129 of Driven Daddy

“We’re not supposed to start for another hour,” Rita said quietly.

“They’re all excited. It’s a good thing!” She squeezed Rita’s hands. “God, you’re ice cold. Come on in. I’m sure Penn can handle the boxes.” She wrapped her arm around Rita, then she glanced back at me. “I’ll send out one of the guys who volunteered to help today.”

“Thanks.”

Rita didn’t even look back at me, just let Colette usher her off.

I blew out a breath and headed to the back of the SUV. As I opened the hatch, Jensen Turner hopped off the dock.

“Hey, Penn.”

“What are you doing here?” I frowned. “Since when did you work at the library?”

“I don’t, but Darby sent out a SOS for volunteers. I figured it was a free way for me to see how you work.”

I remembered a couple summers ago when Jensen had hit me up to sign his copy ofKnights of Chaos. He’d been working at The Mason Jar at the time. “How many jobs do you have, kid?”

“Too many. I’m just glad Trick or Treat’s back open so I can stop bouncing around at five freaking jobs.” He lifted out one of the white banker’s boxes full of our packets out of the back.

I took the other one and hit the button for the latch to close on its own, then I followed him back up the stairs. “Are you looking to do comics or something?”

“Not really. I like mural paintings, and I do some commission work here and there. I did a few paintings for Nolan this year.” He held the door open. “But what I really care about is training to be a firefighter.”

“No shit.”

Jensen’s eyes were surprisingly serious. “Definitely. Watching Lyric get trapped in the basement…” His jaw tightened. “I’ll never be that fucking helpless.” He rushed ahead, his shoulders stiff with anger.

I blew out a breath. The fire at Trick or Treat last year had been a bad one. Nolan had to practically build the thing from the ground up again. I couldn’t imagine how something like that would change me.

“Penn! Hurry up.” Colette waved me in.

I didn’t have time to think about the fire or to worry about Rita for the next forty minutes, since all of us were running around getting the last of the workshop set up.

I glanced at my watch, then scanned the room.

“Where’s Rita?”

Colette turned to me with her arms full of carafes of coffee. “I think she went to the bathroom. They’re letting us use the employee one today.”

I followed the signs for employees only and heard muffled sounds.

Were those tears?

I rushed forward and through the door to find Rita at the sink pressing a paper towel to her face.

“Duchess?”

She blew out a breath. “I’m okay.”

I moved to her. “Are you sure? We don’t have to do this. I’ll send them all away.”

She buried her face in her hands. “God. I can’t believe this.”

“It’s okay.” I rubbed her back.

She pulled her hands away. “I don’t think this is nerves.” Her green eyes were huge and red-rimmed.

“You think you have food poisoning?”

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