Page 53 of Just Business

I head back up to where Penny still sits in the hallway. She’s looking down at her hands, furiously picking at the skin around her thumbnail and chewing her bottom lip.

“You’re leaving?” she asks, not looking up at me, but worry is etched into her brow.

I sigh, lowering back down beside her on the hall floor to explain what's going on. “Cassie’s been dating this asshat, Alan, for a few years. I’ve hated him from day one. He told her he was working late, but tonight, let’s just say he was caught in a very compromising position when he was supposed to be ‘training’ the woman.” I put the word training in air quotes. “She’s getting a red-eye home. Cassie doesn’t even have a car.”

Penny looks up then. “Oh no, I hate this so much for her. Gah, men suck sometimes.” She looks back down at her nails, her teeth in her bottom lip.

“Hey, I can practically hear your thoughts right now. What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”

She looks back up, still worrying her lip. “Is this it? Once you’re back in Texas, are you staying there?”

I tilt her chin up to force her to look at me. “This town isn’t done with me, and I’m not ending what we have going here.” I motion back and forth between us. “I told you I’m all in. I meant it. Something really good is happening between us. You feel it too, yeah?

Penny’s eyes go soft and she nods.

Suddenly, I get the craziest idea, that doesn’t seem crazy at all. “Come with me. Meet my family.”

Her eyes widen and she huffs a disbelieving laugh. “I can’t do that! How would that look if you brought someone you just met home with you?”

“It’d look exactly like what it is. I’m bringing someone home who I care about, and I want my family to get to know her better.”

Penny has wormed her way into my heart effortlessly in such a short time, and I’m not ready to go days without her.

“When would we go?” she asks hesitantly.

“I think I need to go tomorrow.”

“I’d need to get some things lined up for the studio,” Penny says. I can tell she’s already warming up to the idea.

“You don’t have another session until next week, right? We’d be back in plenty of time for that,” I assure her. “I think we’d stay two or three days, but not the entire week.”

She stares in the distance, nodding her head back and forth like she’s mentally rearranging her to-do list. “I can’t believe I’m about to agree to this, but yes, I’ll come.” She looks at me with a bit more confidence and nods.

“Yeah?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she says.

I reach out and tug her head close to me, kissing her temple.

We stand and head downstairs. She goes to the kitchen, making arrangements for someone to feed Honey, while I head to the living room to call Ty. He hates Alan, too, so despite my sister’s pain, he agrees with me that this news isn’t the worst we’ve ever heard. He’s gonna book us a flight for in the morning and I can return the rental van at the airport.

Light footsteps approach right as I end the call, and I glance up to see Penny standing in the threshold.

“Hey, you. You get everything squared away for Honey?” I ask her.

“Yep. Josie and her kids will feed her. How about you? What did you and Tyler decide?” She walks over and sits on the couch beside me, tucking one leg under the other. I notice her toenails are painted yellow to match the swimsuit she had on earlier. This pulls at something beneath my sternum. Her nails are ragged from her biting habit that I’ve noticed, but something about those yellow toenails. It’s like she gave a big middle finger to everything that keeps trying to bring her down and she chose to paint them a sunny yellow anyway.

I fill her in on everything, and as I’m rising to head up to start packing, she reaches for my hand, a worried expression on her face.

“Are you sure about me coming? This feels like an intrusion on a private matter.”

I lower back down beside Penny, taking her hand and looking into uncertain eyes.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything. There’s not a doubt in my mind about this. It’ll be good for you, and I think you’ll love everyone. Plus, I can’t wait for them to meet the woman who will finally make me famous.” I knock my shoulder against hers, pulling a small laugh from her.

“Okay then, I’ll try to quit worrying.” She's quiet for a minute before a shy smile forms on her lips. “Austin?”

“Yeah?”

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