Page 102 of Penny & Royce

She wanted that so badly it was probably why every step toward ending this marriage hurt so much.

But it wasn’t a mistake.

She just couldn’t tell Royce that, or he’d never move on.

She swiped up the documents and locked her offices. Then she headed out to the Meyers property.

Cowboys were coming and going from the barn, and when they caught sight of her, she could sense the immediate shift in the air. Curiosity. Suspicion. Maybe even irritation.

She glanced at the house, considering whether she should call Royce to have him meet her outside or if she should knock on the door. There was also a chance he was working.

The men lingering at the entrance to the barn watched her too closely. They looked enough like Royce that her heart nearly tripped over itself.

Her chest tightened, and not for the first time, she wanted to curl into a ball and cry.

Why was she so emotional?

People didn’t get this upset over breakups with men they’d only known for a few months. It was maddening how bad this had become.

One of the men finally decided to put her out of her misery and strode toward her. He was familiar. Probably one of the guys who had shown up at her apartment the morning everything fell apart.

“Royce isn’t here,” he said, his eyes dipping to the folder in her hand. “Do you want me to pass anything along to him?”

Her hands tightened on the folder.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to give it to him now that she was here. Maybe it was her unusual emotional state. Or maybe it was the promise Royce had made her.

The next time she told him no, he’d listen.

She couldn’t bring herself to shut the door on this part of her life. Not through someone else.

Penny clutched the folder to her chest. “No. I’d like to see him in person.”

Royce’s brother scratched at the scruff along his jaw thoughtfully. “Well, he’s not staying here right now, and I’m not sure if he’s coming back tonight. Said he was going to run some errands.”

Her breath caught.

He wasn’t staying here?

Where was he?

Had she put him out on the street?

Panic rose in her chest, threatening to bring with it the nausea that had become her only companion. “Where—where is he staying?”

The brother lifted a single brow. “He’s not staying with you?”

The heat in her face was unbearable.

She wanted to scream at him. To point out that she wouldn’t have asked if she knew. None of this was how she wanted things to go. She wanted to throw the paperwork at his feet and tell him he was the one responsible for her misery because she couldn’t bear to be the person who came between Royce and his family.

Penny wanted so much in that moment.

But most of all, she wanted just one more day of perfection with her husband. She wanted to remember what it felt like to be loved by him, held by him, and spoken to like she was his whole world.

Just once more before she had to walk away from it all.

“Penny? What are you doing here?”