Page 48 of All Stars Fall
One day Penny would leave.
Where did that leave us when she was gone?
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
She was supposed to be helping, not hindering, not making me feel things I hadn’t felt in…
I frowned out at the distance, the salty air hanging heavy around me like the universe was waiting for my honesty, for my truth.
I hadn’t felt that way about a woman in a long time.
And if I was being completely honest, I’d stayed with Jo because she was my children’s mom. I hadn’t slept with her in who knew how long? Separate bedrooms, separate lives. For the last two years at least.
A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I grabbed Penny’s bags and brought them into the house then up the stairs to the mother-in-law suite.
I walked by Eric’s room then Malcom’s. Both of them were sleeping, limbs hanging off the side of the bed ready to fall onto the floor in minutes. They were rowdy sleepers, which is why I didn’t typically let them in my bed, too many black eyes to count when they were three years old.
“Goodnight Moon…” Penny finished, then kissed Bella on the top of her head while I saw movement in Eric’s room.
How was it humanly possible to be sleeping that hard one minute, then snickering the next? Unbelievable.
“Boys. Bed!” I yelled.
“Sorry, Dad,” they muttered together like they were anything but sorry. Maybe I should let them share a room? I always thought that space was the way to go, but more and more Malcom was sneaking into Eric’s room and asking to stay.
I let out a frustrated breath and glanced back into my daughter’s room as Penny pulled the covers up to Bella’s chin and then gave her another kiss on the forehead.
Pain squeezed my chest so tightly, so effectively and efficiently that I had to look away.
Penny shut the door with a quiet click and faced me.
I wanted to torture myself with information about their date, even though I was pretty sure I knew exactly how good it had been for Drew.
Bastard.
“Drink?” I asked, apparently needing alcohol to have that sort of conversation with her.
Why him?
I mean, he was good looking, charismatic—okay, I needed to not go down that dark, depressing road. He was free. I wasn’t. Maybe deep down that was what she craved, to be someone’s world.
Kinda hard to compete with that when I already had three running circles around me on a daily basis.
“Yeah.” She frowned and then nodded toward the kitchen. “That actually sounds great. I’m not a huge beer drinker, though Drew tried to—”
“Convince you?” I bet he did. Why did she have to catch Drew’s eye? Him of all people? Really?
“It was okay but not my favorite. He kept ordering different kinds until I made him stop.”
I smirked. “He likes it when people like what he likes, mainly because he’s an expert when it comes to himself. Narcissist and all that.”
Penny scrunched up her nose and smiled. “Isn’t everyone like that, though? I mean narcissism aside, it’s nice to have similar interests.”
We couldn’t be any more different if we tried. “Yeah I guess so. Which means if you don’t like gin and tonic…” I tried to lighten the mood.
“Ahhhh, with lime?”
“Always.” I winked and grabbed two glasses, then looked around for the limes only to find Penny already slicing them open for us.
