Page 20 of Here and Now
We reach the entrance to her driveway and she clears her throat. “Thanks again, Miles. I’m sorry I freaked out so much before.”
“I would’ve done the same if it was my kid.”
Although maybe not to that extent. Penny was beyond anxious, it was beyond terror even. I’ve never seen someone so distraught, as though she was sure he was dead or worse. Thankfully, she seems a little calmer now.
She turns to Ethan and Kai. “I think you boys should play inside until it’s time to go back.”
“Is my sister coming to get him?” I ask.
She shouldn’t be driving with her being so close to giving birth, but trying to tell Eloise what to do is like trying to stop the rain.
Penny shakes her head. “No, I’m going to drive him home before my shift.”
“I can take him if you need,” I offer. I’m not sure why I offer, because it seems there’s a perfectly good plan already in place, but something has me wanting to stay, or at least make this day a little easier for her.
“It’s fine, I’ll do it.” She takes a step back and wraps her arms around her middle.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask.
While we’ve been talking the last few minutes, it’s clear she’s still rattled.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“I can hang around if you want ... I’m pretty good at keeping Ethan out of trouble.”
She smiles but shakes her head. “I promise, I’m fine.”
“All right. If you need anything, I’m right down the road.”
“Thanks again, Miles. I’ll see you around.”
I flash my most charming smile, if I even have one, and dip my head. “I’m sure we will.”
I can’t stop thinking about Penny.
On my walk home, I kept wanting to turn around and make sure she really was okay. However, that would’ve been a little intrusive, so I went back, worked on the asinine emails I had, trying to respond with professionalism instead of—are you fucking kidding me with this shit?—and made sure my nephew didn’t appear again.
Not that I think he’d be that stupid to try it again after he saw Penelope’s face and how terrified she was.
Now I’m at practice and still thinking of her.
I need a hobby.
“Dude!” Everett yells. “Catch the fucking disc!”
I look over and it’s lying on the ground to the right of me. “Didn’t see it.”
He throws his hands up. “Clearly! We have our first tournament in a few weeks. You might want to at leasttryto give a shit.”
I shrug. “I could try, but there would be no fun in that. Hey, after this, I was thinking we could get coffee.”
“Coffee?” Lachlan asks.
“Yeah, you know that stuff that your fiancée is so hard up on. She basically keeps Hazel in business.”
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I know what it is, Ainsley clearly does, but you don’t drink it.”
“No, but I could start.”
