Page 10 of All Yours

“How’s Patrick doing?” She asked, turning to Adrian.

Adrian stiffened. “I have no idea.”

“It’s such a shame you two have never made up.” Mrs. Penning said, lowering her voice.

“Who’s Patrick?” I whispered to Jonah.

Jonah leaned close, brushing against me. “His brother,” he whispered.

“There’s a brother?” I whispered back, ignoring the tingles running through my arm. “How did I not know there was a brother?”

“Long story,” Jonah said.

“So, you must be this Eden I’ve been hearing about.” She turned her attention to Eden, who squirmed in her seat. “I’ve not introduced myself, I’m Ellen Pennington.”

“Nice to meet you,” Eden said, sinking back into her seat.

“Are you staying out of trouble?”

Eden nodded.

Mrs. Pennington laughed. “I love your hair,” she said. “Is that red natural?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Eden said, wide-eyed.

“It’s gorgeous. It was good to meet you, dearie. And y’all don’t forget my Christmas party. And bring that cute little red head.” She pinched Adrian’s cheek, sending ripples of laughter across the table that we all tried to hide. Only Mrs. Pennington could get away with that.

Adrian stared for a beat, like he couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened. “Sure,” he said.

“I hope to see you there, cutie,” she winked at Camden, and was gone as quickly as she arrived.

“She moves fast for an old broad,” Adrian said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Camden said.

“It’s like a tornado. She swoops in and out, leaving a path of destruction in her wake,” Adrian said.

Everyone laughed.

“There’s no way I’m going,” Camden declared.

“Are you insane?” Jonah asked. “There’s no way you can’t go.”

“She’s creepy,” Camden insisted.

“Look,” Jonah began, pointing his beer bottle at Camden for emphasis. “She throws parties filled with the who’s who of the richest businesspeople in the area. These are the people that it’s advantageous to know. And between the two of us, you’re good at schmoozing. You’re going.”

“That woman?” Camden asked, incredulous. “The one in the aqua colored velour track suite you can see from space?”

“She’s the one that invested in this place, and gave my dad a chance to run it,” Adrian said. “She was barely twenty, and he was just out of high school.

“What?” Camden asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Lauren chimed in. “She’s from one of the top two wealthiest families in the area, and then married into the other one. So, she was old money in her own right. And now that Mr. Pennington’s gone to the big country club in the sky… Let’s just say she’s got more money than God and probably knows more people, too.”

“But they named the town after your family?” Eden asked Lauren, and the table went silent.

“We don’t talk about that,” Adrian said.

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