The Assignment Read online

  First Edition

  Copyright © 2021

  By Penelope Ward

  All rights reserved. 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 publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, things living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Editing: Jessica Royer Ocken

  Proofreading and Formatting: Elaine York

  Proofreading: Julia Griffis

  Cover Photographer: Scott Hoover

  Cover Model: Jay Byars, Instagram: @iamjaybyars

  Cover Design: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Newsletter Sign-up

  Other Books by Penelope Ward

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Aspyn

  “What’s up?” I asked my supervisor, Laura Rowlings, who’d just called me into her office.

  “Remember last weekend when Louie Serrano went missing?”

  I worked at Horizons, a home for the elderly, as the activities coordinator. Mr. Serrano was one of the residents. Last week, his adult grandson had gotten a slap on the wrist for violating facility rules.

  “Yeah. I wasn’t working that day. But I heard it was a circus. The grandson broke him out of here?”

  “Yup.” Laura nodded. “Took him for a joyride without clearing it with management. We thought Louie had wandered away somehow. Then the grandson brings him back here like it was nothing. He knew about the policy. Didn’t even pretend like he didn’t. And it was the second time he’s pulled something like this.”

  While I didn’t personally understand why it was such a big deal if someone took a family member out for a bit, I did know the facility had a strict rule about getting clearance first. Mr. Serrano’s grandson absolutely should’ve gotten permission, but people around here were treating this like he’d broken the old man out of prison. More often than not, the people who lived here had no family members visiting at all. So it seemed strange to vilify someone for paying attention to their loved one. I thought the whole scenario was kind of cute, to be honest.

  “Does that situation have something to do with why you called me in here?” I asked.

  Laura sighed. “Yeah. Apparently, this grandson has moved back to Meadowbrook from Seattle to look after the grandfather in his father’s absence. The man’s dad—Mr. Serrano’s son—is traveling around Europe for a few months. This guy insists his grandfather needs to get out on a more regular schedule. He’s now got permission from Nancy to take him out twice a week at designated times without having to clear it first, so long as he brings him back by a certain time.”

  “The way she was ranting about what he did…” I shook my head. “I’m surprised Nancy accommodated his request.”

  “Well, she was mad until he came in the next day and formally apologized. This guy is quite the looker, and pretty persistent—cocky but charming. I saw him when he went in to talk to her. I think Nancy fell for him a little.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay.”

  “But because he can’t be trusted to stick to the rules, given his past behavior, Nancy said she would only allow the regular outings if we sent along a chaperone from the facility who can make sure Mr. Serrano is safely returned on time.”

  It suddenly hit me where this was going. “Let me guess…I’m the one who gets to babysit the bonehead grandson?”

  “There’s no one else we can assign. You’re the only nonessential staff. You’ll just ride with them and stay in the background.”

  “When does this start?”

  “2 PM this afternoon.”

  What? I looked at the time on my phone. “Not much of a warning. That’s in ten minutes.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. She forgot to let me know about it until a little while ago. I’ve already canceled the singalong you were supposed to do in the dining room at three.”

  I looked down at myself. Even though I wasn’t medical staff, the center wanted me to come to work in the same garb the nurses here wore. Scrubs weren’t an essential clothing choice for an activities director, but I liked the fact that I didn’t have to choose an outfit for work—kind of like school uniforms back in the day, except much more comfortable. However, it also meant that today I’d be venturing around town in a pair of scrubs covered in the Disney character Goofy.

  The one consolation in all of this, I supposed, was that Mr. Serrano was one of my favorites. He was incredibly friendly and had a sharp and speedy wit. I wouldn’t mind spending time with him.

  I dashed to the bathroom and ran a comb through my straight, light brown hair. I hadn’t gotten a haircut in more than two years, so my tresses fell to just above my butt.

  After freshening up, I made my way down the hall. I had no idea where we’d be going and found myself a little nervous to meet this grandson who’d supposedly charmed our tough-as-nails facility director.

  When I walked into Mr. Serrano’s room at 2 PM sharp, I was surprised to find him alone.

  “Hey, Mr. Serrano.”

  He was sitting in his wheelchair, ready to go. “I heard you’re gonna be my chaperone today, Aspyn.”

  I chuckled. “Well, I think it’s your grandson I’m technically chaperoning.”

  “He’s a good kid. Well, not a kid anymore. He’s twenty-nine and a professional. Makes more money than I ever did. But I still see him like a boy. He’s a good guy. And if it sounds like I’m trying to sell you on him, you’d be right.” He winked.

  “Anyway…” Mr. Serrano continued after I didn’t respond. “He didn’t mean anything by sneaking me out of here.”

  “I know that, but it’s our job to keep you safe, so we need to know where you are at all times.” I opened the shades to let more sun into his room. “And apparently, this has happened more than once?”

  “Yeah. The first time, I wanted to watch the Mets. This place has cheap cable, so I couldn’t watch the game here. The second time I was craving an ice cream from McDonald’s. If he brings it for me, it’s too melty by the time he gets here.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, they didn’t want the third time to be the charm. So now you’re stuck with me.”

  “There are worse people to be stuck with.” He grinned.

  He’s such a flirt.

  Then a deep voice startled me. “Goofy is the one joining us?”

  I turned around to find a very tall, handsome man with a gorgeous mane of brown hair scrutinizing me. I now wished I’d worn anything but the Goofy scrubs today.

  “Aspyn, this is my grandson, Troy.”

  Troy.

  I squinted. Those eyes. This was no first-time meeting.

  No.

  It’s him.

  This is a nightmare.

  Troy Serrano.

  Good God.

  Troy.

  Serrano.

&
nbsp; Somehow I’d never connected Mr. Serrano’s last name to that guy from high school. It had been eleven years, which was why I hadn’t immediately recognized him. His hair was a bit longer. But not only had Troy Serrano been one of the most popular guys at Meadowbrook High, he was also the ex-boyfriend of my best friend senior year. He’d cheated on her, and let’s just say I…went a little apeshit on him. And after that, we became enemies.

  This was not good.

  He looked me up and down. “Aspyn Dumont. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  Mr. Serrano looked between us. “You know the lovely Aspyn?”

  Troy’s eyes narrowed. “Lovely? That’s not exactly how I remember her.”

  Mr. Serrano smiled, seeming amused. “How do you two know each other?”

  I cleared my throat. “We went to high school together.”

  “Get out of town!” Mr. Serrano smacked his hand on the arm of his wheelchair.

  I wished I could have. This very second. Far out of town.

  Troy flashed a smug grin. “Yeah. We go way back. But we didn’t exactly get along.” His eyes met mine. “Isn’t that right, Aspyn?”

  Without even knowing the extent of my misbehavior, his poor grandfather tried to defend me. “How is that possible? Aspyn is a sweetheart.”

  “A sweetheart who keyed my car and put laxatives in my team’s donuts,” Troy scoffed.

  “Not the entire team’s donuts,” I clarified. “Just the Boston cream one we knew you’d take.”

  He glared. “Oh, right. Forgive me. You only tried to kill me.”

  Mortification washed over me. If only I could sink into the floor and disappear. I cleared my throat. “It was a very immature thing to do. And I’m not proud of it. But at the time, I felt you deserved it for hurting my friend.” I let out a long breath. “Anyway, it’s been over a decade. No sense dwelling on something that happened forever ago when we were practically kids.”

  “What did he do to deserve it?” Mr. Serrano asked.

  “I cheated on my high school girlfriend,” Troy answered.

  “Well, then she’s right. You did deserve it.”

  Love you, Mr. Serrano. My stomach twisted. “Like I said, it’s ancient history. I’d ask management to assign someone else to chaperone your outings, but we don’t have the staff to accommodate an alternate.”

  “Are we taking separate cars?” Troy asked.

  “No, I was told to ride with you.”

  “They don’t trust me?”

  I raised my brow. “Should they?”

  “You don’t have any keys on you, do you? If so, I’m not letting you anywhere near my car.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I deserved that. And my keys are staying behind.”

  “I guess you can come, then.” He smirked.

  Troy wheeled Mr. Serrano out of the room. I followed to start what would undoubtedly be the longest two hours of my life.

  I focused on Troy’s broad shoulders. He’d always been attractive, with an incredible body despite his ugly personality. But now he was like the boy I remembered, only better-looking—a full-grown man. I could only imagine the damage he’d done to poor, unsuspecting women over the past decade.

  The August sun was nearly blinding as we walked through the parking lot. Troy drove a black Range Rover. Clearly he was doing well for himself. That didn’t surprise me. Men with the arrogant confidence he’d always exhibited typically went on to become successful—probably because they walked all over people to get there.

  I helped Mr. Serrano into the passenger side before Troy collapsed the wheelchair and placed it in his trunk. I then situated myself in the back while Troy got into the driver’s seat.

  The car reeked of his cologne. It was overbearing, just like him. His striking, bluish-green eyes locked with mine for a moment through the rearview mirror. I immediately looked away.

  Troy turned to his grandfather. “Where do you want to go, Nonno?”

  Nonno. Italian for grandfather.

  “McDonald’s.”

  “I can take you literally anywhere, and you always choose the same place. Let’s change it up.”

  “I like their ice cream. Sue me. And it’s where your grandmother and I used to go on Sundays after church. It reminds me of her.”

  Who can argue with that?

  Troy sighed. “Okay, old man. Whatever you want.” He turned down the road toward the plaza where the McDonald’s was located.

  A bit of awkward silence passed before Troy put on some music. Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me” started playing.

  “Well, at least you have good taste in music,” I said.

  “Sinatra is cool…” He pointed his thumb toward his grandfather. “I play it for this guy.”

  I smiled, leaning toward the front seat. “You like Sinatra, Mr. Serrano?”

  “What’s not to like? He was the best. Nobody better than Old Blue Eyes.”

  “I agree. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.”

  When we pulled up to the drive-thru, Mr. Serrano hollered back at me. “You want a frosty, Aspyn?”

  Frosty? I had to think for a second. He must have meant ice cream cone. “No, thank you.”

  “She’s frosty enough,” Troy quipped, flashing me a mischievous grin through the rearview mirror.

  Damn that smile. As evil as I’d always thought him to be, he was annoyingly handsome, even more so now than in high school.

  Troy ordered an ice cream for his grandfather and a large fry for himself. Of course, he could eat whatever the hell he wanted and still look that good.

  “You sure you don’t want anything?” Troy asked. “My treat.”

  As of the last fifteen minutes or so, I had a splitting headache. Some caffeine would really hit the spot. I decided to take advantage of his offer.

  “Actually, I’ll have a black coffee, but I can pay for it myself.”

  His brow lifted. “No cream or sugar?”

  “No.”

  “Figures.”

  My eyes narrowed as he ordered me a coffee.

  As he drove around, I said, “What was that supposed to mean…figures?”

  “You seem like a black-coffee type of person.”

  After he stopped at the pay window, I asked, “How so?”

  “You know…plain, bitter. But a lot of time’s passed since high school, so maybe you’ve changed. If you’d like to prove me wrong, I’m open to that.”

  “You don’t know crap about me—then or now,” I said, anger heating my face. “You’re basing your judgment on things I did in defense of my friend. Things I did because of your actions.” I shoved three dollars in his face, but he wouldn’t take it.

  He placed his hand briefly around mine and pushed it back. “Put your money away. You’re here because of me. You shouldn’t have to pay for anything.”

  I crossed my arms and huffed in the back seat as Troy paid the cashier.

  He pulled up to the pick-up window and a few seconds later passed a soft-serve cone to his grandfather. He placed the fries in his lap, and grabbed my coffee from the attendant.

  Troy turned and handed it to me. “Are you seriously still mad because of something I did in high school?” he asked. “We’re pushing thirty. There are worse things to worry about in the world, you know?”

  I shrugged. “You’re giving me an attitude and calling me plain and bitter. Sounds like you’re the one who needs to get over it.”

  “Well, maybe I’ve been on defense because you’ve been looking at me like you want to kill me from the moment you recognized me.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware it was that obvious.”

  He flashed his sparkling white teeth. “So, you do want to kill me…”

  “No. That’s not what I meant. I just…” I let out a breath and stopped talking.

  He pulled into a spot and put the car in park. Then he popped a fry into his mouth before turning to me and holding out his hand. “Let’s have a truce, okay? Might as well,
since we have to spend four hours a week together.”

  God. That sounded like a lot of time to have to deal with him. But I could certainly pretend to be cordial for my sweet client’s sake. I would do it for Mr. Serrano.

  I finally took Troy’s hand and shook on it. “Fine.”

  My traitorous body enjoyed the warm touch of his skin, and that made me disappointed in myself. It proved how instinctual physical attraction could be. Troy Serrano’s sex appeal had never been up for debate. Not then and not now. It was his soul that was questionable.

  I was ashamed to admit that before Jasmine had started dating him, I’d actually had quite a crush on Troy. He was the quintessential popular football player. And I was exactly the type of girl who was invisible to guys like that. My head was stuck in the books, not up the asses of jocks. I never wore makeup or flaunted myself in skimpy clothes like Jasmine and many of the other girls did. But I still had eyes, and I was only human. When Jasmine talked about what it was like to be with him, I remember the ache of wondering what that might feel like. Then he hurt her and became Enemy Number One to me.

  After a few minutes, Troy started the car again and drove down the road as Frank Sinatra continued to play. The smooth music was a stark contrast to my heightened nerves. The next song was “Under My Skin,” which I found to be terribly ironic, considering Troy had definitely managed to get under mine today.

  I could see Mr. Serrano’s face in the sideview mirror. He looked so content eating his ice cream and listening to his favorite music. If only life were that simple for all of us.

  “Where are we going now?” I asked.

  “The mall,” Troy answered.

  “What’s there?”

  “Stores,” he deadpanned.

  “I know.” I gritted my teeth. “But is there a specific place we’re going?”

  “Nonno just likes to browse,” he said, observing me through the mirror. “Why the long face? They have a Disney store. I can drop you off there if you want, Goofy.”

  “And this truce of yours has lasted all of what? Three minutes?” I blew on my coffee.

  “It’s still on. I just like messing with you. I mean, come on, you’re wearing freaking Goofy scrubs. That’s like asking for ridicule.”