“We were strict. I know that. But that’s how we were raised, and looking back, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if my parents hadn’t given me any boundaries or standards. We passed those on to you the best way we knew how. Now you’re a grown woman with a good head on your shoulders. I can’t tell you what to do. But I also can’t help but wonder…”
“Wonder what?” she asked, licking her lips that had suddenly gone dry.
“Penny, I will pay you not to tell your mother what I’m about to ask, but…is this town really where you want to be?”
Shocked and confused, Penny stared at him as dust motes danced between them in the cold room. “I don’t understand what you’re asking me. Youdon’twant me to come back? Because that’s what it sounds like you’re saying.”
“I’m asking if you’re really ready to leave Jack behind.”
Penny’s tummy wobbled, and this time it wasn’t because of the baby. She turned to head for the front door.
“It’s rude to walk out of a room when someone’s talking to you,” Russell said calmly. Immediately, she stopped at his firm tone like she was still a little girl. Sighing, she turned to hear him out. “When we talked on the phone, Jack made his intentions toward you very clear to me. He said he wanted to get married. Things sounded like they were going well, but suddenly you’re here, expecting a child, and acting as if the man no longer exists. We haven’t wanted to press, so Jade had to tell us —”
“Jade? Jade shouldn’t be telling anybody anything I say in confidence,” Penny retorted. Before her temper rose along with her voice, she tried calming herself.
“Don’t you think we’ve been concerned? I hear you crying in that room every night. Obviously, something went wrong, or you wouldn’t be here without him this long. But since you hold everything in and you don’t talk, we had to ask your cousin.”
Crossing her arms, Penny shook her head. “If Jade told you the story, then you already know about his head trauma. He’s on a suicide mission, and when he gets hurt or if he dies... I can’t be there when that happens. It was completely unfair of him to even ask.”
“You mean like with Brendan,” Russell said, and she blazed at the mention of it.
“Exactly like Brendan. It’s like the world is playing some kind of cosmic Groundhog’s Day joke on me, except it’s not funny. At least with Brendan, it was just something that happened. Jack is making a choice, Dad. Achoice.” There it was, the tremor and the hurt in her voice she couldn’t contain.
Russell’s gaze on her was now softened with sympathy. But there was a stern edge to his tone despite that. “I was proud of Brendan when I heard what he did. Not happy he paid the price with his life but proud of him because you’re my daughter, anda man that won’t step up for you isn’t worthy of you, in my opinion.” He stood taller, straighter. “And in my opinion, if I’m allowed to express it, you’re trying to tell a grown man that he can’t be the man you met. Jack is a fighter. Always has been. You don’t think I wouldn’t do the same if I were in his shoes and someone hurt your mother?”
“You fight with the law, not your fists. That’s what you taught me to do. Use my words,” Penny insisted.
“Babygirl, I watched that La Roque creep insult you on the TV.” Russell’s features were hardened, a look he usually reserved for the tough cases brought before his bench. “I saw that clip of you getting knocked down in a fight that he started. And I saw the look on Jack’s face when you went down. Now that I know you were pregnant at the time and could’ve lost that baby, I want to hurt him too. Badly. Forget about words. I’d find that man and beat the hell out of him myself if I was a young man like Jack.”
“Dad…”
“So yes, I’m giving Jack my blessing on this one. Whether you support him or not, it’s happening. But you’re Penelope Rose Mayfield, and you’ve got your own mind. It’s your decision.”
Penny’s eyes flooded, and she gulped down the well of salt that had overtaken her throat. It was too hard to speak for several minutes until, finally, she swiped her eyes. “There are easier ways to get Jack’s autograph if you want one that badly, Dad.”
Russell chuckled and came over to give her a hug, which she accepted gratefully.
Stepping out of his arms, Penny went to the door, her boots leaving footprints in the dust. She paused to look around the room.
“At this point, I don’t know what Jack wants. And like you said, I’ve got to think about what’s best for this baby right now.Tell the uncles I’m buying this house. I’m going to raise my child here. Alone if I have to. This is what I want for us.”
With a shake of his head, Russell followed her out. He locked the door after them, and they drove home.
Once they arrived and he got settled at the kitchen table with last night’s leftover casserole, he got into his lounger and pulled out his phone. After a flurry of back-and-forth messages in the family group chat over the course of half an hour, Russell set the phone down on the coffee table.
“We have a consensus. The house is yours.”
26
BIRTH, DEATH AND REBIRTH
PENNY
Aweek after she’d told everyone she wanted to buy Ma Mabel’s house and raise the baby there by herself, she still didn’t really know what she wanted. Her father’s words had been spinning in her head every day since, leaving her tossing and tangled in her lonely sheets.
She was lying to herself. Penny did know what she wanted. She wanted to be with Jack. That’s all. She wanted to play music for him and tease that smile out of him and love on him. Be loved.
Late one night, after her parents had quieted in their room, she was still wide awake. Restless. Missing a certain warm, hard body to curl up against. Tiptoeing past their door like she had when she’d been a teen sneaking out to see Brendan, she went downstairs and got the remote. She felt compelled to bear witness to the moment that had changed things between her and Jack.