Page 54 of Unbreakable Love

Penny followed me into the small living area at the front of the house. It was supposed to be a formal dining room, given that the kitchen eating nook was so small, but I’d changed it to a sitting area slash office. My desk was a mess of papers and contracts and floor plans and designs for the new neighborhood. A coffee mug, half-filled with this morning’s coffee sat on my desk. Dried coffee drops ran down the edge of it. I didn’t bother cleaning any of it up, and instead, went to the chairs and flipped on the lamp that sat between them in the corner.

“I don’t have to be here,” Penny said but slunk down into one of the chairs.

“I want you here. Trust me, it’s best not to be alone with my thoughts right now.”

She brushed a condensation drop of water off her glass. “How’s everyone doing? I mean, I know this is hard, but Cameron?”

“He’s in pain, had surgery. He was supposed to stay another day before flying, but he refused. He’ll be here in a few hours.”

“Already?” Her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Yeah.” I kicked my feet up onto the fabric-covered, round ottoman I used as a coffee table. “Can’t imagine he’ll stay. He’ll need to get to Denver for follow-ups with his doctor, but my guess right now is that he’s worried about how Ava is handling his injury and wants to get back to her first.”

“And you said he doesn’t know.”

“No. She can hardly talk, so she hasn’t taken his phone calls. I’m thinking that’s what has him so worked up and needing to see her, at least partly. But shit… he’s going to lose his damn mind. Isaiah is picking him up from the airport to let him know.”

She puckered her brows and looked confused.

“Isaiah is Ava’s brother. He’s also a sheriff’s deputy.”

“And he knows Cameron?”

It was easy to forget she’d only lived here a month, considering how much time she’d spent consuming my thoughts in that time. She didn’t know everyone in town like the rest of us. “Yeah. Cam and Isaiah have been friends their whole lives—hell, we all practically grew up with them. Ava too. We figured it’d be better for Isaiah to tell him so he can take him to her parents’ house where she’s staying.”

We fell into silence then. It wasn’t comfortable, not with the conversation and the night we’d all had. I had no doubt the entire town was shaken up. Cameron’s career could be over, and his girlfriend might never be the same again.

Insane how things could shift so quickly when least expected.

“I’m sorry,” Penny finally said. “I’m really sorry about all of it. My mom…” She paused and shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No.” I dropped my feet to the floor and leaned closer. She’d mentioned her mom, and I’d been curious. Wondering why she’d said she had to raise her sister. Hell, I was finally realizing I wanted to know everything about this woman.

The good and the ugly.

“It’s nothing, and I don’t mean to make your tragedies about me. That doesn’t help.”

“Penny,” I said and reached out, settling my hand to her knee.

My body warmed ten degrees at the touch. The first time I’d truly touched her and with purpose. Her lips parted in shock, and she glanced down at my hand, then lifted her eyes back to me, biting the inside of her bottom lip. “Talk to me. I want to know.”

I also had the sudden burst of desire to never stop touching her. It’d been years. Years since I’d had such an intense desire to both know a woman and touch them. Be with them. For whatever reason, Penny was the one I wanted to explore all that with and I was running out of reasons, if I had any left in the first place, to run from it.

Penny watched me, debated. She must have decided to trust me because she leaned back in her chair and relaxed.

What she didn’t do was ask me to remove my hand from her. I gave her a light brush and pulled back, though, twisting so she knew she had my full attention.

It must have been the encouragement she needed.

“Our mom was a good mom. I want that to be clear. She worked hard, and she did her best.”

I got stuck on the first part. “Was?”

“Well, is. I mean, she’s still alive, but we don’t talk to her, Maize and I. That’s my sister. We don’t really have a relationship with her anymore.”

Odd, considering she started her story qualifying how good her mom was.

“Okay…”

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