“Yeah.” He cracks his knuckles and watches me with a new look on his face. One I’ve never seen before—it gives me butterflies for some reason.
“Hey Penny?”
My breath catches.
“Thank you.”
I wave him off. “It’s not a big deal. It’s like an extended sleepover.”
“Maybe not to you.” His voice drops, quieter now. “But you kinda saved my life.”
“Oh,” I whisper, my lips pursing.
He gently bumps my shoulder with his knuckles. “Told you. You’re my lucky Penny.”
In every book I’ve ever read, every romance movie I’ve watched, there’s a moment—something small but pivotal—when a character crosses a line they can’t come back from. Something shifts, and they’re never the same again.
As I walk away from the park that night, Jesse heading in the opposite direction, I feel it in my heart.
I crossed that line.
Everything will be different now. There’s no turning back. I’ve entered a new territory, and my heart aches with both fear and love.
7
Jesse
NOW
“Don’t worry, she’ll be back.” Fia flashes me an apologetic look. “It’s freezing out, and Penny hates being cold.”
I trail my fingers over Tank’s smooth back as he sinks onto the braided rug at my feet next to the sofa. The kitchen opens into the living room, so no walls to separate Fia and me as we sit in the quiet wake of Penny’s storm. Fia hasn’t moved, still leaning against the kitchen island, as if anchored there. It’s only been minutes since Penny walked out, but the aftershocks of her earthquake are still very present.
“The last thing I want is to cause trouble here.” I pause, trying to find words that won’t unravel whatever trust I’ve managed to rebuild with Fia. “Me and your sister have our history. But I’m not trying to pull you into the middle of it.”
“I know.” Fia’s nails hover at her mouth—an old nervous habit. Nan used to give her hell for it. “This isn’t how I had it planned.”
Her plan was shaky at best, but I didn’t have time to get to the bottom of that.
My stomach rumbles, interrupting my thoughts. It’s almost lunch time, but the alarm on my phone reminds me that there’s no time for that.
“Shit, I gotta go.” I silence my phone, stand, and grab my keys from the hook near the back door. I pause to look at Fia. “You sure you don’t want to come with me?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll stay here and wait for her to come back. Next week, though?”
Danny’s going to be bummed, but I bite my tongue. “Yeah, of course. You cool with me leaving Tank?”
Fia crouches to his level, letting him slobber all over her cheek. She turns, laughing, and throws me a thumbs-up.
I’m still second-guessing being back here—not just in this house, but Wilmington. It was time to come back, settle up some things I left undone, but nothing about that is easy. There’s no roadmap to follow.
But seeing Fia on the floor with my dog makes me think that at least Tank’s happy and Fia’s not alone. That’s gotta be worth something, right?
“I’ll be back late. He gets one scoop of kibble for dinner. Thanks, Fi. I owe you.”
I tap her shoulder and head out through the back door, the cold slapping me the second it opens.
The sky is gray, and the wind whips against my car as asphalt stretches endlessly in front of me. Seventy-two miles left until I reach the state prison.
