Page 79 of Try Easy

“Oh, yes,” Lou said. On Mondays, they went to Jefferson’s. “I’ll meet you there,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and pushing him out into the hall.

She closed the door and leaned against it, listening to Paul’s footsteps fade away down the stairs.

Penny went into the kitchen to call Henry. A few minutes later, she came back with no news. He hadn’t answered.

They sat down on the sofa to wait. They were both exhausted, but there was no way they could go to sleep without hearing about Bones.

“Are you going to tell Paul about Keoni?” Penny asked.

“I don’t know.” She stood up and paced the room. “Are you going to tell Joe?”

Penny nodded. “I’m breaking up with him tomorrow.”

“Penny!” Lou cried. “You don’t mean it.”

Penny glared at Lou. “I do mean it.”

“At least think about it for a few days.”

“Oh, come off it, Lou!” Penny said. “You don’t care about me and Joe. All you care about is living out your plan no matter what the cost.”

“That’s not true.”

“Of course it is. You could have had two weeks with Keoni if you wouldn’t have been so stubborn.”

“I wasn’t being stubborn,” Lou insisted. “I was trying to be faithful.”

The words came out harsher than Lou had intended.

Penny flinched as if Lou had struck her. “Guess you didn’t try hard enough,” she said.

Hot tears spilled down Lou’s cheeks, and she turned away. A moment later, she felt Penny’s arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” Penny said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I know,” Lou said, hugging Penny.

“Do you love him?”

Lou knew Penny wasn’t talking about Paul. She was talking about Keoni.

Lou nodded. Yes, she loved him. Yes, her heart was broken. But at least Keoni was alive. She would never see him again, but at least she knew he was safe, at least for now. She couldn’t imagine the pain Penny was feeling, wondering if Bones would live through the night.

“I’m sorry, too,” Lou said.

They went back to the sofa, and settled in to wait for a phone call from Hawaii, praying it would be good news.

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