Page 66 of Unbreakable Love

“Yeah, except Destiny Starr—that’s my mom’s stripper name, by the way, but the only name she went by—is a horrible, wretched, and broken woman.”

“I would think being kicked out at sixteen when you’re pregnant would leave its mark on anyone.”

“And I get why, given your age and own experience, you could sympathize with that, but it wasn’t what she did to raise us, or Penny really, it was how.”

Point made and taken. I sipped my coffee and let the woman speak. She’d clearly come for some reason.

“Our mom, from what I remember, was always selfish. If someone wasn’t standing right in front, she forgot their existence, and that’s not an exaggeration. She wouldn’t give Penny money to take care of me. Penny stole it from her purse before she could cash in her tips at the bank. She didn’t take us with her to her club so we could hang out and play with makeup like Penny likes to imagine. She would get pissed when we wanted to go with her because we were too scared to stay home by ourselves. It was things like that, that for some reason Penny has sugarcoated.”

“I understand the difference, but I’m not sure why it matters? Let Penny think her mom tried. What’s the harm?”

Maize scoffed. “Because when those men started coming around and hurting our mom? She gave up completely. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Penny and it pisses me off that she doesn’t see all the great things she did, but she shouldn’t have had to do any of them. And Penny doesn’t know how much worse things got when she left, or what I had to do to make sure I was safe. Our mom now lives at the bottom of a vodka bottle, barely able to make money to take care of herself, and when her tips are bad or when she’s had some bad months, guess who she goes to for help?”

Oh. Damn. “Penny.”

“It’s not often, at least I don’t think it is, but once or twice a year, maybe? And Penny doesn’t have that money to give, but she always does. Our mom is a taker and a leach, and I’m tired of Penny being the person who gives to every single person around her, yet she receives nothing in return. She deserves better than that, and I don’t want to see her hurt, not when she finally made a choice to do something for herself.”

I took that to mean moving here, getting away from it all. Maybe that was part of the appeal for Penny, to put distance from a woman she clearly loved, who had never done right by her, but she still couldn’t manage to stay away from.

“Understood,” I finally said. I couldn’t force Penny not to help her mom, but maybe if she saw healthier relationships at work, she’d see how toxic hers was and come to the realization herself.

It was too damn bad today wasn’t the day I could take her home. Not with the family and house so tense.

“I know I’ve been rude, and I won’t apologize for it, but I came today to beg you not to hurt her. I swear, you give her a chance and she’ll have you so happy you’ll feel like you’re floating on air for the rest of your life. That’s what she does. She gives everything to others. But don’t take it all either, and don’t start something unless you’re serious.”

“I am,” I interrupted. If there’d been doubt before, I damn sure knew it now. Penny was too damn special to ever feel otherwise. “And so you know, the days of her giving everything to everyone and getting nothing in return are over.”

“Good. I knew I liked you.” She gave me a fake salute before draining the rest of her coffee and moved toward the front door. “See you around, Gavin Kelley.”

I met her there and stepped out onto the porch. Like Penny, I’d make sure she got home safely too.

“Oh, one more thing.” Maize turned around on my driveway. “Her birthday is in ten days and she’s never had a birthday party. I bought her cupcakes when she turned eighteen and you’d have thought I gave her a million dollars. You throw something for her, and even I will love you forever.”

Done. Absolutely. Jenny Kelley knew how to throw a party, and even better, that was close to Josie’s. She wouldn’t mind sharing one time.

“How about I do you one better and fly you back in for it?”

She gave me a look of approval and then a nod. “You just keep getting better.”

That was the plan, at least in Penny’s eyes. But if I won Maize’s approval too, it’d only help.

NINETEEN

PENNY

I pulled out the roasted chicken I’d made for our Thanksgiving dinner and set it on the counter next to the stove.

“That smells incredible.” Maize inhaled, gathering her hair at the back of her neck to get even closer.

I swatted her hip with my oven mitt. “And we don’t need your germs all over it. Back up.”

“So bossy when you’re cooking. Any other areas you’ve recently become bossy in?”

A furious heat rose to my cheeks, and I glanced at her out of the side of my eyes. She was awake this morning when I was, reading on her Kindle I bought her for Christmas last year. “No…”

“Really?” She pinched a green bean out of the bowl and chomped on it. “Because someone thinks they were awfully quiet last night when they snuck out and didn’t come back for a while.”

“I did not sneak out. I left.”

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