Page 25 of Loved

Jesus.She was going to kill us. I gripped the handle on the door, holding on for dear life.

She did a very jerky U-turn.

"Maybe I should drive," I said.

"I got this."

It took her a little bit, but she did start to adjust to the sensitivity of the gas and brake pedals. She looked very confident as she drove out of neighborhood and back onto Concord Pike. Overly confident, really. Because the car was still weirdly jerky under her control.

I kept holding on to the handle on the door. I was starting to wonder if Penny even had her driver’s license.

I needed a distraction from her terrible driving. "So is Wilmington one of those small towns where everyone knows each other?" I asked. I’d always been so curious about Delaware. Ever since high school when I was told that people were nicer here. And I’d only ever been in Newark and to the beach.

"If you haven't noticed, all of Delaware is like that."

I smiled. "I have kind of noticed that. It's very different from New York."

She laughed and turned into a parking lot next to a beautiful park. She pulled into an empty spot and miraculously didn’t hit the tree that she seemed dead set on hitting.

Thank fuck.I was never letting her drive again.

"Well you should be comfortable today then,” Penny said. “No one ever really notices me. So today we can pretend like we're in New York."

It wasn’t just the way she said it that made me frown. It was the fact that she really believed that was true. That she was invisible. She couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She handed me my keys back before stepping out of the car.

I climbed out after her. I closed the distance between us and immediately wrapped my arms around her.You’re not invisible, Penny.

She hugged me back.

And we stood like that for a long time. I felt so…calm. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Her cherry perfume mixed with the smell of the autumn leaves. No, Penny definitely wasn’t invisible. She was home to me. She was all I ever saw.

She slowly pulled back. "Let me call my mom. I'll tell her we're here and that she should come home for lunch. You're right, the sooner the better."

I stared into her blue eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

***

Penny had said she was sure. But…she still hadn’t called her mom. And the longer we walked on the path through the woods, the less sure she looked. We’d been walking on the trail for a good half hour. It was the most amazing fall afternoon. But it was a little hard to enjoy it when Penny was a ball of stress.

“Enough,” I said and dropped her hand. We were on an adorable little bridge. A perfect place to steal a kiss. But she looked like she was going to throw up. “Just do it.”

She groaned.

“Penny, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that your mother will find out.” I glanced at my watch. “And it’s almost 11:30. If you want to do it over lunch, you need to give them at least a little heads up.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.”

“But?” I said and raised my eyebrow.

“What if they’re really mad, James?”

I smiled. “It’ll be fine. You know how charming I can be.” But I was worried about the same thing. What if her dad tried to slug me or something? Was it okay to knock him out? Or was that poor etiquette when meeting the parents?Screw me.

Penny nodded.

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