Page 23 of Rescued Faith

Bryce could’ve kissed her right there. Really kissed her. Too bad someone had just tried to kill them.

But Penny was alive. Having her back in his arms felt right. True. No one else fit there like she did.

But…she’d left once. And sure, he blew it off to anyone else, but the truth of what she’d taken when she’d left was very evident in this moment, now filling the hollow spaces her absence had created.

She had taken a good chunk of his heart. And it felt like it’d just started beating again. But for how long?

And here she was lying on the cold, hard sidewalk. He was probably crushing her.

He rolled off and gently helped her up. They dusted the dirt off themselves.

He wanted to brush off her words just as easily. Pretend he wasn’t lapping them up like a dog lost in a desert finding water.

“Sure you’re okay? I didn’t hurt you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m fine.” She offered a wobbly smile, a hint of vulnerability he had never witnessed in her before.

“Good.” He slowly nodded. “Good.”

He combed his fingers through his hair, tangling them up for a moment. He should say something. Acknowledge her admission. “And, uh…thanks. For the apology.”

“Yeah. Of course. It’s…long overdue.” She brushed more dirt off her sleeve.

“Then will you finally let me explain what?—”

She slashed the air with her hand. “There’s no need to hash out what happened back then. It’s been over a year. We’ve both moved on.”

He stepped closer to her. “Maybe so, but we never discussed what happened.”

“We were just involved in a drive-by shooting. I don’t know that this is the best time.”

“Okay, so maybe not right at this moment, but we should sit down and talk. Soon.”

“Fine.” She blew out a long breath and muttered, “My sister is going to kill me.”

“Why?”

“She thinks my job is too dangerous. How am I gonna tell her about this? And if I don’t tell her, she’ll find out some other way, and it will be even worse.”

“Sounds like she cares about you.”

“Maybe, but she’s gotten weird all of the sudden. She’s talking about God and praying and…hugging.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Penny shrugged and rolled her eyes. “I dunno. It’s weird.”

Great. What would she say if she knew about Bryce’s recent faith journey?

Before he could consider that, she faced him, hands on her hips. “So, any idea who just tried to mow us down with bullets?” Her chin tilted up like she was ready to face whoever it was andteach them a lesson. Maybe also wanting to move on from the awkwardness of the moment.

Right. The shooting. He’d follow her lead.

For now.

“I didn’t get anything off that Chevy Camaro’s license plate. You?”

“Not when someone knocked me to the ground.” She offered him a light smile. “Thank you for protecting me.”

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