Page 5 of If Our Hearts Collide

Nic opens the back door to the SUV, as I settle into my seat. When my brothers get into the front, I relax my shoulders as Graham pulls out of the parking spot and onto the main road.

Nic sighs, obviously not wanting to confirm what I’ve already figured out on my own. “Let’s get you back to Mom and Dad’s.”

“Please don’t tell them.”

“They are worried about you, Penny,” Graham says.

“So you aren’t mad?”

“We are upset that you came here alone,” my older brother says, speaking for himself and Nic. “You didn’t need to come here to prove anything to anybody, Pen.”

“I should have never visited Mark,” I admit. “The only thing it served me is a fresh, vivid reminder of what evil looks like in human form. Worst part is, Mark doesn’t feel bad about a damn thing.”

Nic lets out a huff. “That’s not surprising.” He exchanges a look with Graham, and I know some message was exchanged nonverbally. I swear they can partake in an entire conversation and never actually say a thing.

Glancing at me in the rearview mirror, Graham gives me a stern look. “Don’t pollute your mind with scum. You’ve come a long way with your progress. You don’t need to be having setbacks.”

I know this already.

I just thought coming to the prison was a move in the right direction for my personal growth.

I was wrong.

“Where did you find Penny?” Dad asks my brothers, when I am supposed to be upstairs showering instead of eavesdropping.

Graham’s growl can be heard a room away. “She was at the prison.”

I lean forward, trying to catch a glimpse of Dad’s reaction. There are two things I hate doing to my parents—being a disappointment and being a burden. I have managed to do both within an hour’s time frame.

Dad clears his throat. Even from this distance, I can sense his unease, where he is usually so calm and collected. “I know she’s having a hard time. There’s still a lot of healing left to do.”

“And she will,” Nic chimes in. “But she needs to stay out of trouble and give her body and mind time to assimilate back into how things used to be.”

While not normally the optimist, he sure seems to have a confidence when it comes to me. He believes in me when I don’t always believe in myself.

“I’ll keep encouraging her to touch base with her local therapist,” Graham says.

“Yeah,” Dad agrees. “That was the compromise for her getting out of the facility. Those sessions need to start sooner rather than later.”

Graham coughs. “I’m sorry to say I don’t think things will ever be the same.”

“Maybe the point in certain times of your life is to not stay the same,” Dad says thoughtfully. “Penny now has some life experience she hasn’t had before. If she can focus on the positives, then I think she’ll be okay.”

I lean my back against the wall, allowing my eyes to close. I feel claustrophobic in this house, like I can’t breathe right. Too many memories were made here with the Penny before the incident, and it is hard to reconcile with the girl I once was when I’m so vastly different inside now.

“Yeah…” Graham says softly.

“I just hope she learns to ask us for help if she feels like she is sinking,” Dad remarks.

Nic clears his throat. “There was no good reason to torture herself like she did today. She can be brave. She just doesn’t need to be brave in the presence of that predator.”

“Well, thank you for bringing her back,” Dad says with a choke, the telltale sign that he is about to cry. “I know youboth have a lot on your plates with being freshly married”—he’s referring to Graham and Angie—“and a baby on the way”—and now Nic and Claire.

Guilt stabs at my heart. Dad is right. They do have more important things to worry about than my pathetic impulsive urges that seem to get me into trouble. I could have easily called a taxi and didn’t need a rescue.

How am I ever going to stand on my own two feet when my brothers are about to slay every dragon that comes my way?

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