Page 4 of Edge of Unbroken

I’ve been around Penny quite a bit these past few weeks. I spend time with Vada at Steve’s not only after school but also on the weekends, which is usually when Penny makes the six-hour drive from Virginia to spend a couple of days with Frank. It took some getting used to her being in Ronan’s home and seeing how affectionate Frank is with her. After all, I’m well aware that Frank and Penny’s relationship was actually an extramarital affair—an affair that Ronan had apparently suspected for a while and that may or may not have been the catalyst for the near-fatal encounter Ronan had with his mom last August.

Penny’s lovely, though. She’s so nice, so sweet, her demeanor so unlike what I was used to from Ronan and Steve’s mom, who—even though I never in a million years suspected the abuse she was inflicting on Ronan—appeared standoffish, detached, and even cold. Just the way Penny speaks to Steve and Frank—warm and kind, her tone soft—is comforting. She moves about carefully, she’s considerate of Steve and his emotions, and she checks in with the Soult guys to make sure she’s not overstepping. She’s aware of what they’ve been through—are still going through—and that, for all intents and purposes, she’s the other woman.

She even checks in with me, asking me how I’m holding up, her words encouraging, reassuring. It’s impossible to dislike her, a fact that even Steve commented on soon after meeting Penny, when Ronan was still in the hospital.

“I think so,” Penny says to Frank. She looks at a small sticky note in her hand. “Cat, is your mom Jen?” she asks with a grin, and I nod. Penny starts to laugh. “Wow, talk about a small world,” she says just as my mom makes her way to the door.

“Hi guys, come on in!” my mom says jubilantly, then notices my confusion. “Kitty, this is my high school bestie, Penny, and her boyfriend, Frank!”

My confusion is replaced by delight, and I smile.

Penny laughs a beautiful, lighthearted laugh. “Oh my god, Jen, you won’t believe this, but I know Cat, and so does Frank.”

Frank’s handsome face, which looks a lot like Ronan’s but with some marked differences, holds a dazzling smile.

“Oh yeah?” My mom’s gaze moves between me, Frank, and Penny.

“Yes. In fact, Cat has been in Frank’s home a bunch of times over the past few months,” Penny says, amused. I can tell she’s having fun.

Now it’s my mom’s turn to be confused. “What? Why? How?” she stammers, probably worrying about what her seventeen-year-old daughter could possibly be doing in a grown-ass man’s home without her mother’s knowledge.

“Well,” Frank finally jumps in, apparently wanting to let my mom off the hook, “I have two sons. And one of them happens to be a seventeen-year-old named Ronan.”

It takes only a fraction of a second for recognition to spread across my mom’s face. “No way!” she says, her voice pitchy. She looks from Frank to me. “No way!” she says again, unable to contain her giddiness. “Ronan is your son? Ronan, as in Ran, as in Cat’s boyfriend?”

Frank nods. “The one and only,” he says with a warm chuckle, and he and Penny finally step into the house.

“This is just… I can’t believe… just… wow,” my mom huffs as she leads Penny and Frank into our living room, where she motions for them to sit down. I follow them, still shocked by this giant coincidence.

My mom smiles at Frank. “It’s really nice to officially meet you, then.”

“Likewise.” Frank’s eyes look just like Ronan’s, albeit brown instead of green, when he smiles.

“I’m going to check on the lasagna,” I say, giving my mom a chance to chat with Frank and Penny. I pull my phone out of my pocket to send another text message to Ronan.

Me:

You wouldn’t believe what just happened. Seriously, this kind of stuff only happens in movies. Can’t wait to tell you about it!

I throw a quick glance into the oven, scroll through my pictures of Ronan for a few minutes, and then meander back into the living room where my mom, Frank, and Penny are deep in conversation. They stop talking and grin at me when I enter the room.

“What?” I ask, feeling self-conscious.

“Your mom just said that you live in that sweater.” Frank nods his chin toward me and the dark-green hoodie I swiped from his home a few weeks ago. “She says she has to sneak into your room while you’re sleeping so she can wash it.” He laughs, and I blush.

“Don’t tell Ran,” I plead. “He’ll probably think I’m weird.”

“No, he won’t. I actually think he’d love it,” Frank says, his voice warm and reassuring. “I know he misses you.”

His words make their way right into the center of my heart and I plop down next to my mom on the loveseat. “When do you think he’ll be allowed to talk on the phone?” I ask.

Frank gives me a sympathetic look. “I don’t know. I know Doctor Seivert was supposed to see him today. I expect an update from her tomorrow. Cat, I know it’s hard. We all just have to try and be patient.”

I guess I don’t have any other choice. “Do you feel like he’s getting better?” I’m unable to hide the desperation in my voice.

Frank sighs heavily, a downcast look on his face. “I’m not sure. He’s…” Frank hesitates. “Ran’s really struggling. It’s been touch and go,” Frank says, his voice heavy. “But he’s in great hands with my parents and sister. He’s exactly where he needs to be to give him the best chance of coming back from this.”

“Could you… Could you send him something from me?” I ask cautiously. I’m not sure if this goes against any of the frustrating restrictions imposed on my communication with Ronan.

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