Page 57 of Love, Untangled

Carlo

Carlo realized he’d made a mistake by not telling Penelope about the training the moment he walked through the door from her mudroom to her kitchen. Penelope’s face bore both irritation and hurt.

“I thought about stopping by Blazers,” she said, her tone cold. “But I’m not really into public fights.”

He sighed even as he grimaced. “I told you I was thinking about getting back into firefighting.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “True. But you didn’t tell me you were actively pursuing the training. That I learned from our mutual friend today.” Her disgruntlement grew and she frowned. “That made me feel…not like an equal, Carlo. Especially because I’d just finished telling Marvin I wanted your opinion on how to proceed with an investigation of my mother.”

He groaned. “You’re right. I messed up. For what it’s worth, I planned to tell you on Saturday, when I brought back breakfast. I just wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

Penelope remained stiff and distant.

Carlo ran a hand along the back of his neck. “Cora hated my job. She made me second-guess it.”

“I’m not like Cora.”

He flinched at her name.

She raised an eyebrow. “Am I?”

He shook his head. He should show Penelope pictures of his late wife. He didn’t want Penelope to have questions, to feel like he wasn’t willing to share his past.

“Then why would you think I would behave like her? That a relationship with me would be like the one you had with her?”

He shifted so his gaze met hers. His eyes widened, his lips fell slack as the epiphany washed over him, carried him out to sea and slapped him back on the shore. “You’re different women,” he said. His voice grew stronger with his next words. “You have different interests, different ways of responding to situations…I’m different with you.”

Of course he was different with her. Because, together, they were Carlo and Pen, which was an entirely different entity than Carlo and Cora.

“So then why would loving you be the same?” He stepped in, running the back of his fingers down her cheek. Pen couldn’t help but nuzzle closer. He enjoyed how she reacted to him, wanted more of that.

He also hoped she hadn’t noticed his slip. He wasn’t ready to admit the depth of his feelings just yet, but they were there. He did love Penelope. And it was different than loving Cora.

“I thought your youth made you fresh, and without any of the pain or heartache I’d suffered.” Carlo rubbed his thumb down her cheek, enjoying how she nuzzled into his hand. Her skin was soft, smooth, so unbelievably perfect.

Penelope was a gift.

One he should have realized from the get-go instead of fighting her and the world.

“But now, after hearing about your mother and realizing how difficult your life must have been, I see that it was a choice to remain positive.”

“It is my disposition,” Pen said, seemingly compelled to admit.

Carlo smiled. It felt softer, warmer than the previous one. He wanted to indulge in Pen’s sweetness, her light, every day. All day. “Maybe. But it’s also you. You knew your mother cheated you, and instead of allowing it, you left. You took away her access to your account.”

“And Marvin suggested I fight for the money she embezzled from me here, but I might never see it again,” Pen said. She scrunched her nose. “It could all go to lawyer’s fees.”

“It could.” He seemed to consider this. “But that’s also a win because your mother doesn’t have it. She’s forced to face the fact that she can’t continue to take with impunity. She has to wrestle with the idea that she stole from you, her child, but also from an elderly woman who left clear instructions.”

Carlo had an idea of what that would do to a soul, but then Pen’s mother’s must already be black, unctuous, to treat the people closest to her with such disregard. He raised his other hand and cupped Pen’s other cheek, caging her between his large palms. He liked her there, attention fixed on him.

“You, Penelope Davis, are the strongest person I know. You have this inner fortitude that most people lack, and you wield it with such quiet dignity that many people miss it. But I see you. And I…I’m falling in love with you.”

Tears flooded her eyes and Carlo’s chest tightened.

“Oh…I didn’t mean—”

“Happy tears.” She grabbed his wrists, squeezing them even as she pressed her face tighter against him. “You…you make me s-so happy, Carlo.”

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