Page 39 of On a Fault Line

“Well, that wasn’t part of the plan,” I say with an obscene amount of sniffles.

Angie wraps her arm around me and pulls me down the hallway with Claire. We move into one of the spare bedrooms that is so luxurious that it could easily be a second master.

My brother must have upgraded some of the rooms, splurging on a designer and some upscale items since the last time I was here.

Once the door shuts, I feel a little better and less exposed from the open floor plan of the living room.

Claire passes me some tissues and takes some for herself, settling in on the bed.

“You are crying too?” Angie asks, joining her, and then chokes on her own tears. “Oh, dear. Every time I see someone cry, I join in.”

Claire blows her nose loudly. “It’s contagious.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, reaching for another tissue before plopping down onto the bed. “I didn’t mean to cry.”

“It’s okay.” Angie rubs a hand over my back. “Apparently we all needed to let it out.”

“It does feel good to actually cry,” Claire agrees. “I’m sad to see you so upset though, Penny. What’s going on?”

“I am lonely today.”

Angie sits up straighter to make eye contact. “You have us.”

“I know, but I know you both are busy. And sometimes I just need a friend to chat with.”

Claire levels her eyes with mine. “We are never too busy for you.”

“I just know that for over a year I was a burden to my family, and the last thing I want now that I’m released from the facility is to be needy.”

Angie wraps me in a full-on hug. “Being needy and having needs are not the same thing. You haveneeds, Penny, just as we all do. You were never a burden. We love you.”

I want to open up more. I want to tell them that the emotional distance I’m feeling today with Collins is deflating my happiness balloon at the first hint of sharpness. I want to tell them that I have a haunting feeling in the back of my mind that something—or someone—is going to snatch away everything good in my life that I’m trying to build.

It sure doesn’t help that I can’t even eat at a freaking cafe in the city without becoming paranoid. Something for sure happened today, and I’ll be damned if I allow Collins to keep me in the dark about whatever perceived danger is lurking.

We all rest on the king-sized bed, melting into the huge fluffy pillows. I dry my eyes using tissues from the box resting on the nightstand, trying to get my breathing back to normal.

“You need to tell us what’s going on,” Claire prompts. “What changed from the last time you and I talked?”

I trust the girls. I do. However, putting them in a position where it’s best to lie to my brothers is not something I’m willing to do. If I’m going to open up to them, then I need to do it on generic terms.

“There’s a guy…”

Claire smacks her hands together and lets out a squee, earning a look of disapproval from Angie—who calmly pats my leg for me to continue.

I shrug. “He is cute…” But in the dirty, rugged kind of way. There’s so much I want to share, if just to get advice, but I know I shouldn’t. Anyone associated with my brothers is strictly off-limits, and I’m basically trying to confide in the two women who are the closest to them.

Why is life so unfair?

Claire tries to roll to her side to better look at me but struggles. “Throw me a life preserver. I’m drowning in this bed,” she whines. “And to think that I’ve studied, mastered, and performed every single Kama Sutra position in the handbook, and now am unable to roll my beached whale body over on a bed. I have officially reached a new low.”

Angie giggles and slides off the mattress to give her a gentle push, while I pull her arm to get her to rotate. “Well, that tidbit of information is?—”

“Impressive?” Claire asks.

“Entirely too much information. Besides, you are barely at the halfway point. I can’t imagine how the next few months will go,” Angie teases.

“Poor Nic,” I chime in, clearly joking.

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