Page 17 of Unbreakable Love

“You don’t have to walk me home, you know.”

I shrugged. This wasn’t a big deal. As long as I kept my hands to myself and kept our interaction respectful and distant, it’d be fine. Besides, I could do nice. Sometimes.

“I’m walking that way, anyway, Miss Pesco.”

Her face scrunched up. “Penny or Penelope. Please.”

Fine. I could call her Penny. It wasn’t like I went around calling Faye Mrs. Parker. “All right, Penny. Let’s get you home and out of the cold.”

She huffed, close to a laugh, but she walked my way and then met my slow strides as I crossed the street. “I always forget how cold it really gets when the summer is hot.”

“Tends to come out of nowhere, I know. You have a good first day?”

“Everyone’s been great. Especially the kids, and your daughter is adorable.”

“Adorably spoiled is probably closer to the truth,” I admitted, and who knows why I did it.

I never ragged on Josie. She was perfect. She was precocious and goofy and had a vivid imagination and was kind to everyone, especially animals. I’d seen our rotten, nasty donkey be kinder to her than anyone else in the family. Maybe I didn’t want Miss Pesco to get a crush on my daughter like Josie had on her.

“She doesn’t seem spoiled, but she does seem very smart and witty.”

“She’s spoiled.” Gah. I couldn’t quit. “She was the first and only grandchild in my family in a long time, and since I have a big family, she has loads of uncles and grandparents who are certain she can do no wrong.”

She was quiet then, and I glanced at her. I shook my head, not even surprised she knew everything. Hell, I’d told her more than I ever told anyone—although to my credit, I didn’t need to explain Monica to a lot of people. Everyone in town knew. “Faye told you, about my family.”

“It was mostly Dolly.”

A laugh escaped me, and I turned left past the square. At least she hadn’t denied it.

“Of course it was Dolly. Did you have fun with them?”

“It’s nice to meet new people.”

So maybe no, she didn’t have fun. Maybe she was like me; she went out because she had to but not because she enjoyed the scene.

Not that I needed to find any commonalities between us.

“They said you do construction?”

“I do. I started with helping renovating homes after high school, rebuilt my own from the ground up. Then I branched out. Town’s growing, slowly, but I’m currently working on a new neighborhood north of town.”

“That’s impressive, given how young you are.”

It wasn’t the first time I heard that, but tonight, it sounded like more. Better. Like it really was impressive and not a job where I’d scrambled and fought for every successful inch of it.

I also wasn’t sure if she was trying to figure out how old I was, how much Faye and Dolly had told her, but even then, we had to be around the same age.

“I’ll be twenty-four in January, but I can’t believe my success in construction is any more impressive than finishing college and starting a career.”

It was dark, but there were streetlights on as we passed the creamery and I swear there was a blush on her cheeks before I turned away.

“Maybe we’re both impressive then,” she said.

“Maybe.”

And suddenly, having something in common with Penny didn’t seem so terrifying.

Which was the scariest thought of all.

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