Page 121 of Love is a Game

My heart stumbles.

Because that’s the thing, isn’t it?

I am fucking terrified.

Terrified to be with him.

And terrified I’ve finally lost him.

A hiss from the kitchen breaks the moment. Dad jolts to his feet as Laurie flutters her hands in alarm.

“Sean! That’ll be the batch of fish stock I put on when I made the sandwiches. Can you turn it down? Oh—and skim it, please?”

She watches him stride toward the kitchen, then turns her green eyes on me.

“You being here?” She smiles. “It means the world to him, Penelope.”

I chew my lip. “I actually came here because I was angry, Laurie. I didn’t expect…this. I didn’t expect to sit down and talk like this.”

Her smile softens. “Caitlyn always said you were a straight talker.”

My stomach lurches. “Wait—what? You spoke to her? You knew my mother?”

Laurie waves a dismissive hand. “It’s not like we were best buddies. But we spoke on the phone a couple of times. Even became Facebook friends! And there were the emails, of course—”

“What emails?”

She blinks. “Sweetie, you don’t know about the emails?”

She glances toward the kitchen before raising her voice. “Sean! Did you hear that?”

Dad reappears, brows knitting together. “What did I miss?”

“She doesn’t know about the emails!” Laurie exclaims. “With Caitlyn gone, Penny should really know about the emails. Surely?”

I’m so thrown that I let the ‘Penny’ thing slide—it’s one thing from my Dad, but there has to be a line, especially when I’ve railed against that version of my name since my teen years. Although the way Laurie says it holds a strange fondness, as if my name is something familiar to her…like they’ve spoken of me enough that she’s adopted Dad’s nickname for me.

But that’s not my focus right now.

“What damn emails?” I look between them.

Dad eases into the chair next to me. “Well, after all the arguments about me seeing you, Caitlyn cut off contact for a while. Wouldn’t even accept money when I finally managed to save some—after I got clean.”

“But when we got engaged,” Laurie interjects, “I told Sean he should try reaching out. That you both deserved to know. So I emailed Caitlyn via her workplace in Newcombe.”

Dad gives a sheepish shrug. “Typical Laurie, thinking everyone’s up for mending fences. Even invited Caitlyn to the damn wedding.”

“It was worth a shot,” Laurie says unapologetically. “You’re not much older than my kids, Penelope. I was caught up in the moment, in love with your dad, and I wanted everyone who mattered to be a part of it. But…I understand now that might have been a step too far.”

“But it did get us talking again,” Dad adds quietly.

“Caitlyn started sending us updates about you,” Laurie says. “Every month or so, she’d let us know how you were doing.”

I stare at her. “Are you serious? For how long?”

Laurie tilts her head, thinking. “Well, let’s see…the last one was in February?”

I scoff. “You mean this year?”

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