Page 112 of Penny & Royce

Move?

That was the last thing she wanted.

And yet that quiet voice in her head seemed willing to consider it.

“A week,” she whispered.

“No,” Morgan said, shaking her head.

“Morgan, it’s not your?—”

“That is my niece or nephew in there.” She pointed toward Penny’s midsection, then immediately dropped her hand, as if realizing how intense she sounded. “I’m sorry. I know this is your news. I know this is your marriage. But Royce is my brother, and he deserves to know before this goes any further.”

Penny looked at Rose.

Rose’s expression was gentler, but she nodded. “She’s right. You should be the one to tell him. But soon.”

Morgan closed the distance to Penny. “By Monday morning. If he doesn’t know, I’m going to tell him. You have the weekend.”

Penny nodded.

Because what else could she do?

She had the weekend.

28

ROYCE

“You haven’t signed them yet?”

Royce glanced up at Quinn. There wasn’t an ounce of judgment in her voice. Heck, he couldn’t even hear any pity.

Curiosity.

His best friend was simply curious.

It should probably bother him that she was asking him about the divorce papers. It should probably bother him that she’d shown up at his family’s farm at all. She had insisted he could stay at her place as long as he wanted.

Then, out of nowhere, she’d shown up here just as he was about to be done working. Paperwork in one hand and his duffel in the other, she dropped the latter at his feet before shoving the documents at him.

“Look, I know I’m the last person who likes to deal with baggage. In fact, I’ll run from it the first chance I get. But you’vegot to face this.” She placed her hands on her hips as she gave him one of her looks.

“The thing is… I don’t want a divorce,” Royce muttered, tossing the folder onto the bed of his truck before hoisting himself to sit on its edge.

“Well, yeah. That’s a given,” she muttered, climbing up beside him. “I get that. But there has to come a point when you accept that things don’t always work out the way you want them to.”

He snorted. “And there has to come a point when my friends accept that I feel like the world is ending.”

She went still beside him.

Almost eerily so.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” His voice cracked. “I don’t get it, Quinn. I did… everything. Didn’t I love her enough? Didn’t I show her that I’d be there for her no matter what? There isn’t much more I could do.”

He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. Apparently, getting emotional was a new state of being he had to get used to. When he withdrew his hands, his vision was blurry.