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“Not like this,” she said, and he looked down at his feet.
He’s shy, Penny realized. That must be why he never talked to anyone or smiled—or part of the reason, anyway.
George coughed again and rustled his newspaper. Caleb’s gaze flicked over to him, then back to the floor.
“Honestly, until last week, I thought you didn’t like me,” she said.
Caleb shook his head. “That’s not it.”
“Then why were you so distant? Why wouldn’t you ever talk to me?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s just a habit.”
“Being unfriendly?”
“It’s easier,” he said to the floor.
“Than what?”
He rubbed his palms on his jeans. “Sometimes, if I’m too friendly, women assume I’m flirting with them.”
A mortified laugh bubbled out of her throat. “You didn’t think I was flirting with you, did you? Because I promise you I was not.” Caleb looked up with an expression of dismay, and she had the inexplicable feeling she’d landed a punch she hadn’t meant to throw.
George coughed again. She looked over at him and saw that he’d broken into a sweat. “George? Are you okay?”
He waved her off and got to his feet, swaying a little.
“George?” Caleb said.
George opened his mouth to speak, teetered, and started to crumple.
“George!” Penny leapt off her stool to grab him. He wasn’t a large man, but he was like deadweight in her arms. The best she could do was cushion the fall as they both slid to the floor.
Chapter Seven
“Elyse, call 911!” Caleb shouted, rushing to Penny’s side and easing George off her.
George’s eyes were wide and frightened as they laid him out on the floor, and he was clutching his chest like he was in pain. Penny snatched his jacket off the stool, balled it up, and slid it under his head to try to make him more comfortable.
“George, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Caleb asked, kneeling over him.
“My chest,” he wheezed. “Hurts.” Penny took his hand, feeling useless and frightened.
Caleb pressed his fingers under George’s jaw. “You have a heart condition?”
George nodded, grimacing in pain.
“Was that nitroglycerin you just took?”
George nodded again.
Caleb touched Penny’s arm. “Do you have any aspirin?”
She shook her head. “Only ibuprofen.”
“He needs aspirin.”
Penny’s mind raced. She could run down the block to Rite Aid, but that might take too long. Or maybe… “Is there a first aid kit here?”
