Page 32 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

“Because you became everything to me so quickly. Nothing else mattered but you.”

Her eyes locked with mine. “But that’s not true anymore. You have your friends and family. Our family.” She pressed her lips together. “I need to go see Liam. I need to hold him. I need to tell him I love him.”

“He knows.” I placed a gentle kiss against her forehead. “Visiting hours are over, but I’m sure we can convince someone to let us up.”

“You’ve always been very good at that. I remember when you visited me after I got my concussion.”

“Hmm.” I brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. “I didn’t realize how important our memories were until you lost them. What else do you remember?”

“Besides the fact that you like to bribe nurses and that your mother hates me? Well…” her eyes dropped to my mouth. “Other things too. Lots of things.” She bit down on her bottom lip.

“What don’t you remember?” I tried not to stare at her lips, or else we’d wind up repeating our time in the shower. And Rob and my mother were waiting. We had already taken awhile in here. They were probably wondering if we were okay.

“I don’t remember that day…when I went into the hospital.” She placed her hand on her stomach.

“Nothing at all about it?” I wanted her to remember everything. But maybe it was better that she didn’t remember that day. I hadn’t been there for her when she needed me. I didn’t want that seared into her brain when our relationship was still so fragile.

“No. And there are other holes too. Where my memories kind of…jump ahead I think. Almost like they’re on fast-forward. I still want to read the rest of what I wrote. It might help.”

“Just the important stuff.”

She smiled.

“If everything comes back to you except the day of the accident, I think that might be for the best.”

Her eyes locked with mine. “You’re probably right. One advantage of losing your memory is that you don’t have to remember the bad stuff.” She took a deep breath. “Speaking of bad stuff…we should probably get this thing with your mom over with before I lose my nerve.”

“She’s actually hoping to come see Liam with us tonight. And Scarlett. I think she’s finally ready to be a grandmother.”

“She hasn’t met either of them yet?” Penny touched the side of her forehead. “I guess I’m missing more than I realized.”

“It’s going to be fine. I promise. And if you feel at all uncomfortable with her seeing the children, I’ll tell her she can’t come. Okay?”

“Okay.” She looked so adorably nervous. There was a vulnerability there that I wasn’t used to seeing in her. Again, it made me feel like we were back in time. Back where we began. I needed to make sure I wasn’t overwhelming her. I needed to make sure she felt safe with me.

I laced my fingers with hers and guided her out in the hall before she could change her mind. I was as nervous as her. My mom had agreed to apologize years ago, but an apology had never happened. She had been horrible to us before our wedding. Hell, she had been horrible to me my whole life. I felt that same sour feeling Penny did in her stomach. But I was sick of holding grudges. I was getting too old to harbor feelings of resentment toward my mother. I needed to let this go. My cardiologist would thank me later for being less stressed.

/> I was surprised to hear Rob’s laughter filtering through the hall. Apparently my mother was making nice with him as well.

“Penny. Darling,” my mom said as we entered the room. She stood up and approached us.

Penny was squeezing my hand so tightly it felt like she was going to cut off circulation to my fingers.

“I have so much I need to say to you,” my mother said. “I wanted to protect my son. And in doing so, I realize that I wasn’t really taking his opinions into consideration. I dismissed you as a young hussy with fluff for brains and never took the time to get to know you. Partially because of your family’s status and partially because I adored Isabella so.”

I couldn’t believe when she stopped talking and stared at Penny expectantly. “That wasn’t a good apology,” I said before Penny could even reply. “You have to admit that you were wrong about her and her family.”

“But her family is of unequal footing as…”

“Penny has half of everything I own.” I pulled my hand out of hers. “She’s better off than you now.”

Rob laughed from the loveseat behind her.

My mother cleared her throat. “Clearly I wasn’t calling her a poor hussy now. The idea that she changed by being around you was implied.”

“Geez, Susan, come on,” Rob said with a laugh and stood up to join the conversation. “You basically just insinuated that she used to be a hussy.”

“For the last time, Robert, do not call me by my first name. I am your mother.”

---