Page 21 of Rescued Faith

And she couldn’t deny there was a part of her that wondered. What if what she’d seen hadn’t been the whole picture?

She’d never let him explain. And he had begged her—with numerous voicemail and text messages—to let him explain.

But it didn’t matter. She should thank Ashlee for bringing her back to her senses. Because Penny never should’ve let him get that close in the first place. She’d known better.

“Is he the reason you won’t come visit us here? Why you always want us to come to you?”

“Maybe.”

Libby paused. “I see.”

“Look, I’m sorry, Lib, but I need to go. We’ll talk later, ’kay?” Because time had just run out. Penny followed Bryce as he turned onto the street lined with industrial buildings and abandoned stores.

“Sure. Be careful out there, Penny.”

“You know I will.”

Penny parked at the curb by the warehouse. The blackened shell of a building was almost unrecognizable. She stood on the sidewalk, taking it all in. Through the gaping hole in the cinderblock structure, the inside looked like a giant game of steel-beam pickup sticks. Smoke still curled up from the piles of debris. The air smelled of burnt plastic and chemicals.

“It’s still too hot to get in there, but what do you see?” Bryce asked her as he walked up to her from his truck. The sun glinted off his dark-blond hair, scruff lining his squared jaw. She couldn’t see his eyes behind his aviator sunglasses, but she knew they were zeroed in on her. Intense as always.

She needed to get to work, focus on the job, but the opening to the building was blocked with a mountain of debris and ash. “I can’t see much. Let’s take a look from that side alley.”

“Ladies first.” He gestured for her to go ahead of him. But she slowed and waited until he caught up with her. They walked side by side around the corner of the building, their hands brushing against each other as they squeezed into the narrow alley. The contact immediately sent a jolt through her.

“Trying to hold my hand again?” Bryce winked.

She laughed, releasing the pent-up energy that swirled at his touch. Leave it to him to make a joke of it. “Old habits die hard.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. See? She could totally handle this. Keep it light. Keep it simple.

“So that’s all I am, huh? A bad habit?” His grin was playful, teasing.

She tried to match it. “I didn’t say it was bad.” She gave him a pointed, hopefully flirty look, something that told him this was no big deal.

“So why did you leave?” He kept the playful smirk, but there was something behind it she didn’t like. Something that looked a lot like she’d inflicted pain.

“You know why. Besides, I can never stay in one place long. And I told you from the beginning I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I thought you agre?—”

“Wait.” He cupped her elbow and tugged her to a stop before she could step into a mysterious pile of goo. He led her around, not letting go of her arm until they passed it. When he dropped his hand, the loss of contact was noticeable.

Ok. Fine. She’d missed this. That rare sense of chivalry, like someone was looking out for her. It had been a long time since she’d experienced that.

And maybe she had taken the coward’s way out by leaving town and ghosting him. Acid pooled in her stomach.

She could’ve talked to him before she’d left. But even if there was a perfectly good explanation, it was for the best that she’d left. It was never supposed to be serious.

Thankfully, it didn’t look like she’d caused permanent damage. But she did owe him an apology, at least.

“Hey, Bry—whoa.” They stopped at what had been the door she’d gone through last night.

The doorway had caved in, but the huge hole in the wall showed them the inside damage. A steel beam leaned precariously on the outer wall. A mountain of blocks and ash stood where she’d been thrown into that closet. She’d almost been buried in it.

If it hadn’t been for Bryce rescuing her.

She swallowed hard.

“You okay?” Bryce looked at her, concerned.

“Of course.”

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