Lovestrung: A friends to lovers romance Read online

  Lovestrung

  a friends-to-lovers romance

  Karen Ferry

  - For Lars -

  I told you I’d dedicate a book to you one day, didn’t I? It seems only fitting I chose this one. You’ve always encouraged me to fly free - to pursue my dreams, no matter what - and for that, I am eternally grateful.

  I love you. Always & forever.

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Lovestrung by Karen Ferry

  I. Penelope Montgomery

  Prologue

  1. From Friends to Strangers

  2. Mixed Signals

  3. The Past - A Special Boy

  4. Hurt Hearts

  5. Goodbyes Suck

  6. The Last Goodbye

  7. Mad As A Hatter

  II. Ethan Collins

  8. Longing

  9. Mine

  10. Anticipation

  11. The Past – Surprises Afoot

  12. Waiting

  13. Stalling

  III. Penelope

  14. Fulfilling Old Dreams

  15. What Now?

  16. The Past - Awakening

  17. Loved Up

  18. Utter Cuteness

  19. Secrets Are Revealed

  20. Sanity Has Left The Building

  IV. Ethan

  21. The Future Is A Scary Entity

  22. The Past - Planning

  23. Surprises

  24. The Sweet Life…Interrupted

  25. Timing Is Everything

  V. Penelope

  26. Excuses, excuses

  27. Welcome To Crazy Town

  28. The Sweet Life…For Real.

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Karen Ferry

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  In your hand, you’re holding a piece of my heart.

  Thank you for reading my book. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.

  Much love,

  Karen Ferry

  xxx

  Lovestrung by Karen Ferry

  Lovestrung. A period of time during which love is pursued but cannot be caught. Results in pining, angst, and a broken heart.

  Penelope “Pippa” Montgomery is lovestrung. Her condition started thirteen years ago, when Ethan Collins came to live with her family. She was only ten, and didn’t understand what romantic love was, but she knew Ethan made her feel special.

  They grew close as friends, while Pen yearned for Ethan’s attention and his love, only he never treated her as girlfriend material.

  After returning home from a year of world-travel, Pen is reacquainted with Ethan. He’s still kind, gorgeous, and about to start his career as a veterinarian. Pen’s suppressed feelings for sexy Ethan want to make themselves known and he seems to notice she’s not a little girl anymore. In fact, he’s known that for quite some time, but he had his reasons for keeping his distance.

  Can Penelope find the courage to tell Ethan how she feels about him, and will she finally break the lovestrung streak and find happiness?

  There’s only one way to find out.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, places, media, and incidents are either the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referred to in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.

  The publication/use of these trademarks are not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods) without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2019 by Karen Ferry

  Cover Designer: The Reading Ruth

  Stock Photos: Deposit Photos & Adobe Stock

  ISBN: 9781080913343

  Created with Vellum

  I

  Penelope Montgomery

  He was my friend in every sense of the word.

  My confidante.

  My safe harbor.

  The person I told all my secrets to.

  The one who didn’t think I was a silly little girl, like my brothers did,

  or that I was too young to talk about certain things.

  He took me seriously, and he made me laugh.

  He was the best friend every girl needs.

  Until he wasn’t.

  Prologue

  The boy was scared.

  That’s what struck me the most the day I saw Ethan Collins for the first time.

  I didn’t know why he had to live with me and my family – only that it was necessary. Daddy and Mama had talked about becoming foster parents for a long time and didn’t hide their wish from us kids.

  They had made it clear the night before at dinner that it was best me and my brothers, Parker and Max, didn’t ask any questions. To my then ten-year-old self, it was like waving a red flag in front of the bull; a sure way to spike my curiosity, and the exact opposite of what my parents wanted. When I’d asked them why it had to be such a secret, Daddy had looked down at me from the seat next to me at the dinner table and given me a sad smile. It looked wrong on him; Daddy wasn’t a sad man. If anything, he was a happy person, always smiling and ready to crack a joke. Or to tell us stories about his travels.

  “Because there are some stories that aren’t ours to share, Penelope. Besides,” he winked at me, “you’re way too young to know about certain things.”

  I scrunched my nose. I hated that they still saw me as the baby of the house.

  “That’s not fair, Daddy.”

  He smiled at me and touched my cheek briefly. “I know.”

  And that was the end of the conversation. But I was only a child who didn’t understand the way of the world yet, so I didn’t pursue it. Getting a new brother of sorts was the most exciting thing to ever happen in my small world, also known as Charlottesville, Virginia.

  Finally, the next day would be the day that their first foster child would come to live with us. I was in my bedroom on the third floor, sitting on the windowsill that had the best view of the street, when my dad and Mama pulled up in their shiny, black truck that had the logo of Daddy’s construction firm – Montgomery’s Houses – painted in bright, pink letters on the doors. Not for the first time, I was proud of my dad for picking such a bold color, but my pride gave way to curiosity when my mom stepped out of the passenger side and then held the door open. With her back to me, I couldn’t see if she was speaking, but I found myself holding my breath, waiting anxiously to see who Ethan Collins was.

  Ethan. It was a good name. I was obsessed with names – their sounds, what meanings they held, the way the letters rolled on my tongue when I spoke them out loud. The minute I’d heard my mom say his name, I’d looked up its meaning online. I’d found out that it originated from Hebrew and meant “strong” or “safe”. I really liked that. I knew that names didn’t define the person you were, of course, but I still found them interesting – hence why I didn’t want anyone to call me by my birth name, Penelope, but Pippa instead. At the time, I thought that Penelope sounded stilted; stuck-up, even. Whereas Pippa fit me so much better, given the fact it was close to the fictional character, Pippi Longstocking, whose life and adventures I was pretty obsessed with at the time. I wanted to explore the world, just
like she did, and somehow, I’d make my dream come true – I was convinced of it. That summer, after Ethan came to live with us, my parents realized that I meant business, and they gave in. Everyone did, even Parker and Max, after they stopped their relentless teasing.

  The fact that I wasn’t afraid to get into a fist fight about it probably also had something to do with it.

  I pressed my nose against the window, still waiting with bated breath for the moment when I’d get my first glimpse of the boy, and when I saw his head poking out the door, a mop of black, unruly hair on top of it, I finally gave my body permission to breathe again. It wasn’t until I breathed deeply that I noticed my lungs were burning and I took another deep gulp of air. I looked at the boy as he slowly climbed out of the truck and stopped next to my mom, keeping his head down. I wondered when he’d raise his head as my eyes raked over his ratty clothes – even from the distance, I could tell that they were very old. The blue of his jeans was so faded it almost looked white, and the sneakers on his feet were tattered and caked with mud. The gray shirt he was wearing didn’t look that bad, though it was at least two sizes too big for him and hung loosely on his slightly too thin frame.

  Mama closed the door of the truck, her movements careful and measured. It made me frown, because I didn’t understand why she was taking such care, but the minute she placed her hand on Ethan’s right shoulder and he jumped and took a step back, my body jerked in shock. My eyes flitted to Mama as she removed her hand as if she’d been zinged, and then Daddy came into my line of sight. He stopped next to Mama and the look they exchanged was one that I couldn’t figure out, at least not from my seat. All I could see was Daddy’s grim frown, and Mama shook her head slowly, for once not smiling. As it had the night before when my dad had seemed sad, it felt wrong. It was so rare that my mom seemed so grave, I’d almost forgotten what the emotion looked on her face until now.

  That’s when my instincts kicked in and told me exactly what was going on.

  The boy – no, I couldn’t think of him like that now.

  Ethan was afraid.

  I slumped against the window, my now harsh breaths fogging up the glass, as I tried to decipher my feelings. I was overcome with sadness, with a hint of anger thrown into the mix, and I didn’t understand it at all. But I knew that I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  I needed to get out of my room and I needed to go down there. Somehow, I had to show this new member of my family that there was no reason to be afraid. That whatever had happened to him to cause such anxiety wouldn’t touch him in my home.

  I scrambled down from the windowsill, eager to get out of my room, and stumbled through my things lying haphazardly all over the floor. I cursed under my breath at my mess, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. When I reached my bedroom door, I had a wild thought and turned back to my white desk at the far end of my room. I rummaged through the drawers and let out a laugh when my fingers found what I was looking for before I rushed out. I skipped down the two flights of stairs, excitement pulsing through my veins, but when I reached the front door, I slowed down. Our two red Retrievers, Molly and Sam, started whining and panting in front of it, no doubt eager to see my parents now that they were home again, but my instincts told me that I shouldn’t let them out. Instead, I clucked my tongue and when they saw me, ears pricking, they scrambled toward me as I ran down the hall to the back of our house and let them out in our backyard.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I promised them as I shut the door behind them. Then I hurried back to the front door, my heart racing again. I placed a hand against my chest and waited until I’d calmed down before I turned the doorknob and stepped out on the porch.

  Daddy and Mama were walking toward me, Daddy holding a small suitcase and a backpack. Ethan walked slightly in front of them and glanced up at me. I smiled but I wasn’t sure if he saw it because his eyes darted everywhere at once until he tucked his chin, keeping his head down once more. Suddenly feeling shy, I tucked my blonde hair behind my ears and turned my eyes to my mom, looking to her for guidance. I could tell that she was trying to act normal when she gave me a wave and called out.

  “Hey, baby girl. We’re home.”

  I nodded and waited for them to come to me, my hands behind my back. Silence descended upon us when all three stopped at the foot of the wooden stairs, and the courage that had flared up inside me ebbed away. Maybe I shouldn’t have come out here.

  “Penelope,” Daddy said quietly, “this is Ethan.” He looked down at Ethan who still kept his head down. Daddy sighed but then carried on like nothing was wrong.

  But it was. Everything about this whole picture was so very wrong.

  “Where are your brothers?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Probably in their room, reading comic books.”

  A small smile played on my dad’s lips.

  “Ah, thought as much.”

  I looked down at Ethan as he moved his weight from one foot to the other, and my courage returned. I went down three steps and stopped on the second to last step which meant our heads were at the same height.

  “Hello, Ethan. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Even though I’d kept my voice low, as if I was talking to one of our dogs, he flinched again. But I decided then and there that I wouldn’t walk on eggshells around this boy. No, the way to gain his trust was to be myself, and if there was one thing I wasn’t, it was a quiet and meek girl. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be patient with him.

  I pulled my hands away from my back and extended them toward him. I clenched my fists so that he couldn’t see what I was holding, and that got his attention. As if he couldn’t help himself, his eyes flitted between my hands and mine, and I smiled at him.

  “Pick one.”

  “Penelope, I don’t think –,” Mama started, but Daddy placed his hand on her shoulder and shushed her softly.

  “It’s okay.” I smiled at Ethan. “It’s a present, and one of my favorite things in the whole world.”

  Finally, he kept his gaze on mine for longer than a mere second, and I considered it a small victory. His eyes were blue. Cerulean blue and surrounded by the longest lashes I’d ever seen on a boy. His face looked gaunt, too thin for his age, and if Mama hadn’t told me the night before that he was thirteen years old, I never would’ve guessed it. He didn’t smile, but when he didn’t turn away, I nodded encouragingly at him.

  As he wet his lips, he slowly raised his hand. I held my breath again, my heart thumping wildly in my chest, but I tried not to let it show that I was nervous. He unclenched his fingers, his eyes darting back to mine, and when his index finger touched my left fist, I found that I could breathe again.

  “Good choice.” I grinned. “Here.”

  As I opened my hand to reveal the small bag of Skittles resting in my palm, Daddy’s low chuckle reached my ears, and I raised my eyes to him. The pride that shone back at me settled the last remnants of the fluttering nerves playing havoc with my insides.

  “A perfect present, Penelope,” he praised. I beamed at him, happy that he liked my choice.

  “What…what are those?”

  I tensed at the sound of Ethan’s scratchy voice. It sounded rusty, as if he hadn’t spoken in ages. How strange.

  “The best sweets that exist,” I explained. “Have you never tasted them before?”

  A blush crept up on Ethan’s cheek as he shook his head.

  I shrugged as if to let on that it didn’t matter. But it did matter. How didn’t everyone know what Skittles was? It was unfathomable.

  “That’s okay. You’re welcome to share mine anytime.”

  My arm grew heavy as he still didn’t take the small bag from me, but I stood my ground and waited. Again, my instincts told me that I needed to be patient with this boy. Patience is a virtue, like my Grandma Meagan always told me, but up until this point, I hadn’t always believed her. As Ethan at last plucked the bag from my hand, I finally realized that patience might not be such a bad thing.<
br />
  “Thank you,” he whispered, and I smiled again.

  “You’re welcome. Do you want to see my room?”

  “Why don’t we get out of this heat and get Ethan something to drink first?” Mama butted in. When I looked up at her, I felt relieved to see her encouraging smile. “Afterward, we’ll get Ethan settled in, and then maybe introduce Molly and Sam to him?”

  “Molly and Sam are our dogs,” I explained to Ethan when he frowned. “You’ll love them, I promise.”

  “You have dogs?” he asked Daddy and looked up at him.

  Daddy grinned down at us. “Yep. A home isn’t a real home unless you have a dog or two.”

  I watched Ethan as his lips twitched shyly, and happiness coursed through me.

  “Come on in,” Mama said as she took a step, then two more before she stopped at the door and waited for the rest of us. “I think we could all use a bit of sweet.”

  With one last smile aimed my way, she opened the door. I waited for Ethan to go after her. He hesitated but then seemed to make up his mind and followed her inside. The door shut closed on a soft click behind them, and it felt as if the wind sighed when I did. Somehow, it felt as if it was as relieved as I was that Ethan decided to come inside.